Fear
"Fear not" is a common admonition in the Bible because letting go of false hopes and embrace the truth can be frightening.
↑People made excuses to Christ. Many who fail to gather together or produce that "oil" which only comes through sacrifice and service may go the way of the foolish virgins.
Even though Christ "commanded" us to gather in "tens" and the early Christians could not have done what we see being done in Acts if they did not gathered in the tens.
Nor could Moses and the Israelites have become a nation of free people and been that kingdom of 'kings and princes" in the desert caring for their common welfare through charity alone.
Yet, people still fear, hesitate, and are often lost.
We must learn to love one another as Christ loved us.
Where there is a void in our soul fear will come. If we Cry out for ourself in fear should our cries be heard?
Only when we cry out for others and care for others as much as ouselves will our fear diminish...
I pray we will not forsake the gathering of ourselves together.
Fear
Fear is an antonym of hope. We are told to fear not many times in the Bible.
Coupled with commands to not be afraid the topic is breached over 350 times.
Learning to live by love in the practice of pure religion through a daily ministration of faith, hope, and charity, instead of fealty, force, and fear has been the message to the world from the beginning.
Fear is not merely a cause but also an effect that comes from something that has crept into our hearts by a changing of our minds.
Fear was not the beginning but the result. The beginning was selfishness and pride.
Dennis Prager begins his video on fear:
"The most famous words of Franklin Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving president, were “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”"
But FDR and his New Deal did more to set society up for a State of fear than all other presidents before him combined.
Dennis goes on to say:
"All of my life, I thought love and hate were the two most powerful emotions." "But owing to recent events, I have changed my mind."
"I now understand that for most people, fear is the strongest emotion."
Is Dennis suggesting that fear is more powerful than love?
Where does Fear come from?
Like the question of who came first, the chicken or the egg, what came first an irrational paradigm or fear?
An irrational mind lacks reason and fear is absent courage if not faith itself.
Darkness is the absence of light. Is fear the absence of something and if so what?
Irrational minds come from a mind's unwillingness or inability to see the whole truth. That was the story of Adam and Eve who denied the truth about their error. But before that denial there was their pride.
This departure from truth and the light of course led to the civil institutions of Cain, Nimrod, Pharaoh, Caesar, and of course FDR and LBJ.
They have all tempted the masses to engage in "covetous practices" desiring benefits at their neighbor expense and in that process "curse children" with endless unpaid debt while all become human resources owned by the "merchants of the earth".
The end result is that the people degenerate into "perfect savages" as the institute force rather than love which decimates the family and the "social bonds" of a free society.
The state of fear
The "welfare State" through it's systems of "legal charity", the first tool of clever tyrants, institute a world where the foolish feed fear and those who were once free but now fancy force rather than faith and hope fall under fealty.
Yoda said, “Fear is the path to the dark side … fear leads to anger … anger leads to hate … hate leads to suffering.” — "The Phantom Menace," 1999.
But what leads to fear?
Hate is the absence of love just as darkness is the absence of light.
Then we might conclude that hate is the absence of love.
You cannot have real love without real forgiveness. The best way to determine if you have real forgive ess is voluntary unconditional sacrifice for others.
When the people no longer practice a "daily ministration" of love through "pure Religion" and their personal "power of choice" the divine spark of God's love dwelling in them diminishes.
Like the foolish virgins there is no oil in their lamp. They will be shut out and will sit in darkness.
But if they also choose to engage in "legal charity" they will be caught up in the deeds of the Nicolaitan and Balaam which God hates.
Good grief
Grief is not the best evidence of love but rather true voluntary Sacrifice. It is sacrifice that is more the ultimate proof of love because it is voluntarily letting go of something you love or value for the benefit of another.
Love is sacrifice. Without sacrifice there will be no love but there will be fear.
Christ was telling us how to overcome fear, anxiety, depressions, and all strong delusions which will set the captive free and bind the tyrants of the world.
Not afraid
Proverbs 3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
Deuteronomy 1:17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 1:29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Deuteronomy 7:18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Deuteronomy 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 11:6 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
1 Samuel 31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
2 Samuel 1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?
Old Testament fear not
- Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
- Genesis 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
- Genesis 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
- Genesis 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
- Genesis 43:23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.
- Genesis 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
- Genesis 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
- Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
- Deuteronomy 1:21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
- Deuteronomy 20:3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
- Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
- Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
- Joshua 8:1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:
- ][Joshua 10]]:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
- Judges 4:18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
- Judges 6:10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
- Judges 6:23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
- Ruth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
- 1 Samuel 4:20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
- 1 Samuel 12:20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
- 1 Samuel 22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
- 1 Samuel 23:17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
- 2 Samuel 9:7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
- 1 Kings 17:13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
- 2 Kings 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
- 2 Kings 17:34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
- 2 Kings 25:24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.
- 1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O
- Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
- Psalms 55:19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
- Psalms 64:4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
- Isaiah 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
- Isaiah 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
- Isaiah 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
- Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
- Isaiah 43:5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
- Isaiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
- Isaiah 54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
- Jeremiah 40:9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
- Jeremiah 46:27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
- Lamentations 3:57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
- Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
- Daniel 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
- Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
- Zechariah 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
- Malachi 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
New Testament fear not
- Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
- Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Matthew 28:5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
- Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
- Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
- Luke 5:10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
- Luke 8:50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
- Luke 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
- Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
- Luke 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
- John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
- Acts 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
- 1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
- Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Poisoning the Mind
Fear can actually poison the mind from the inside.
There are many things you can do to reverse that process and proper meditation which is a form of prayer, repentance and seeking righteousness are all essential elements of a divine process of restoration and renewal.