Fear Factor

Isaiah_41-10

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.   Hebrews 4:1

RECOMMENDED READING:  PSALM 111:1-10  “ Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.2 The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.3 His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

COMMENTS:   Fear is the opposite of faith.  Fear is what gripped Peter’s soul and caused him to sink when he was walking from the boat on water towards Jesus.  Isaiah 41:10 “10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”  Isaiah is reassuring us to trust God especially during times of crisis.  It is easier to trust God when risk is little but when risk of sacrifice or death is greater, our level of trust in Him is revealed.  If we can trust Him to save our immortal soul from damnation and hell, shouldn’t it be easier to trust Him during life crisis or trials?  Unfortunately, satan is very skillful at convincing us to make illogical – foolish – destructive choices instead of wise choices.  But then again, God’s wisdom is foolish in the world’s eyes and mind.

So, what is the difference from the fear described in Isaiah 41:10 and the fear of the Lord described in Psalm 111:10 “10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.”  Reverence for God and Trust in Him is much different than fear from doubt and lack of faith in God.  Fear of the Lord reflects respect of His power and authority and Knowledge and Wisdom and involvement.  Fear of the Lord reflect faith in Him, which also empowers us to make wise choices and to be fellowship with Him, resulting in gained wisdom.  The Holy Spirit is available to help us gain the Fear of the Lord as well as the fellowship and wisdom and council necessary if we ever hope to sustain the quest of becoming more Christ-like each day.

Our problem is we, as humans, tend to default back into mentality we need to earn our way to heaven or work our way to courage or faith or obedience or Christ-likeness. But the Holy Spirit keeps reminding us the way to becoming Christ-like is to surrender to Him.  We must die to self in order to live. Luke 9:23 “23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”  Our carnal nature doesn’t die easy and like a bad weed, grows back again and again without discipline to defeat it.   Only Christ can defeat our carnal nature with His blood.  Only the Holy Spirit is able to defeat satan’s constant attacks on our souls and is near than our breath 24x7x365 without rest or absence to assure we will never be alone or defenseless.  But we must be in surrender to the Holy Spirit’s direction.  The Holy Spirit is always in agreement with His Word.   May 20 was Pentecost Sunday, the day celebrating the birth of the Church and day the Holy Spirit came to abide in and with the early Christian then and since.  The Holy Spirit enabled them and us to live faithful and consistently both in peace and in mist of crisis and imminent death without denying Christ or backing from His calling. 

When we are weak, He is our strength.  When we doubt and are fearful, He gives us courage.  When we are distracted and discouraged, He guides us back on path and on focus encouraged. We are not called to a life of comfort and pleasure.  We are called to have faith in Him and called to obedience even at risk of sacrifice or even death.  I have seen a number of faithful Christ followers, especially dear family members, face their death a wonderful confidence and peace.  They all knew Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross was sufficient for their redemption and they knew they accepted that sacrifice for their sins.  They couldn’t have had that confidence without knowing personally Christ and being in frequent fellowship with Him.  The Holy Spirit’s presence was vital for them and is for us too. 

It will be worth it all when Christ greet us at heaven’s gate.  It will be worth it all when our loved ones who passed ahead of us greet us and welcome us to heaven too.

So, we have plenty of proof and examples to convince us and encourage us to follow the good examples of those before us and join them in following Christ.   He has planned and is prepared to take the journey of obedience with us until He greets us at heaven’s gate too.

Even if we weaken and take our eyes of Him, He is still faithful to forgive and pick us up and put us back on the straight and narrow path again.  He loves us and so passionately wants us to succeed.  But He doesn’t force Himself on us nor His will on us.  We still can choose wisely or foolishly.  We still have that freedom but choosing wisely becomes easier and more consistent as we walk with Him more. 

OK, maybe all this discussion seems a bit dramatic, but we are at war against a formidable enemy.  We are defenseless against satan BUT WE ARE NOT ALONE! 

Do you know we will be there when Christ comes to defeat satan and bind him for 1000 years, as described in Revelation 18-22?  John reveals God’s revelation of satan’s final battle against Christ and his final defeat. We will join Him but in white robes.    Revelation 19:11-16 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He [ad]had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

When Christ returns to bind satan and establish His reign on earth, we will be with Him in white robes shouting His praises in worship.  As His army we are not armed to fight but in white robes to witness His defeat of satan.  We won’t be fighting but witnessing our Lord fighting and fulfilling His promise to us.  I encourage you to read these chapters in Revelation and reflect on the Christ we serve and resolve to follow Him with renewed conviction and praise.  He is more than worthy of our love and trust but also our devotion and obedience.  When you feel overwhelmed or discouraged or alone, remember where that is coming from and remind satan his future and reflect on your future.  I am doing just that.  AMEN?  AMEN!                                                                                                                                                       “It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man”                         John Witherspoon

 

If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 175 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.

You may also access my facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily.  My facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951

My hope and prayer is, they will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.

Published by donsdevotions

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Don McDaniel - Who am I? Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever. Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me. I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private. However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool. Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry. He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 . I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine. I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward. Don & Arlene McDaniel In His Service, Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951 If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ ) You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.

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