Godly fear is what God has called every Christian to hold fast to so he or she will be successful in their walk with Christ. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” A wise man will fear God and heed His voice and seek to know His will and submit to it with reverence. Our wisdom in life comes from fearing God. Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.” Having Godly fear brings forth peace in a Christian’s life because you do not fear any obstacle that comes your way because you know God’s in control. Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” When a person fears God and chooses to walk in His ways he is confident that God is with him and God’s protection is on his life. Proverbs 1:33 “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.” Another great verse which gives us confidence not to fear lives challenges if we are walking right with God is Proverbs 2:7-8 “7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.” This does not mean that as God fearing Christians we will not have troubles in life but at least we will have peace that we are walking right with God and that He is in control and that He knows what’s best for us. Having confidence in Christ brings forth victory in All circumstances that come our way…Let us therefore pray to God to establish His Godly fear in our lives so we can be the children of God He has called us to be. Amen! Proverbs 14:26-27 “26 In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge. 27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.”

I would like to share with you my thoughts on different examples of what worldly fear can be. A good example of worldly fear is a Christian who does not live in Godly fear but is living totally in sin and has no peace at all but instead has fear of the consequence and penalty of his or her sins. This is where fear of death kicks in as well. A Christian deep inside knows that if they are living in continual sin the consequence is not going to be good on earth or after they die. That is if they continue living in sin without making an attempt of repenting from it. This type of fear can torment a person. The fear of sin being exposed is another example of worldly fear. Those who sin undercover always live in fear that their sin is going to be revealed. This too can torment a person just like the fear of the consequence of one’s sins. As you can see there is no peace whatsoever in worldly fear.

Another example of worldly fear is not trusting in God with our daily lives and having fear in every trial that comes our way just like those who do not have Christ in their lives fear. The world fears when they lose their job, or get diagnosed with some sort of illness because they do not have the hope and the promises that we as children of God have. The world fears of what they will eat or what they will wear or if they will be able to pay their rent at the end of the month but God promises in His word that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness that everything else shall be given unto us.

Matthew 6:25-33 “
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

The world also fears that they can’t overcome any kind of sickness or disease and that once they are diagnosed it’s over for them. That fear by itself can torment and kill a person. But if we choose to believe in His word which states that by His stripes we are healed and not fear what the doctor’s have diagnosed then we will wait on God with peace in our hearts for His will to happen in our lives. 1 Peter 2:24 “24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

These are just several of the many types of worldly fears that exist. But the concept is the same that not knowing God and not trusting in Him equals to falling into the category of worldly fear. Do not be discouraged if as a Christian you see yourself falling into any of these worldly fear catagories because I myself as a Christian have seen myself in more than one of the above examples. Even the disciples of Christ who actually saw Jesus and had Jesus with them during a storm feared for their lives. Peter a mighty disciple of Christ whom Christ build is church on even feared for his life and denied his Lord three times. But after Christ’s death and resurrection the disciples grew to another level with their relationship with Christ and Godly fear was actually being established in them. My fellow brothers and sisters it is a process in every Christians life, the more we know our Lord the more we will fear Him the right way and the more we will trust Him with our lives. Help us Lord! Amen…

Proverbs 14:2 “ He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.”

The Fall of Man

The Root of all our struggles and temptations started from the fall of man in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve disobeyed God and heeded the tempting voice of Satan. From that day forth the sinful nature of man came forth and the fall of man began. Man kind was no longer considered sinless.Romans 3:9-20 explains to us that “There is non righteous, no, not one;” and it continues describing the sinful nature of man. We can not blame others for our sinful actions and say because of so and so I sinned or fell into sin. Many times we like to blame others for our short comings and sins but at the end of the day we are all going to answer to God for our actions because any sinful desire we might have comes from within. Paul explains to us in Romans 7:13-25 that it is the sin that dwells in him that causes him to do the things he really does not want to do. He explains clearly that the root of his sinful actions dwells within him and no one else is to be blamed. Of course wrong influences and wrong fellowships can surely contribute to the sinful desires that come from within us but that is where we have to be wise and discern who we should and should not associate with. We need to constantly remain in prayer asking God to show us our short comings and sins and ask for discernment from Him on how to avoid situations that may cause us to stumble.

You may start to wonder why God would create man with a sinful nature when He is Holy and commands His children to live Holy. Well my answer to that question is that God did not create man unholy and sinful, as a matter of fact He created man in His image. Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Another very good bible verse that confirms that God created man upright is Ecclesiastes 7:29 “Truly, this only I have found:
That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.” These two bible verses clearly sum up that the root of all our sinful desires does not come from God, nor did He create us with sinful desires. God is Holy and He will never tempt us or encourage us to sin. On the contrary, He sent down His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to live in the flesh Holy and Blameless and then to die on the cross an innocent death for our sins so that we may be free and overcome any kind of sin and temptation through His son who is resurrected from the dead and who is interceding on our behalf to the Father. So we basically came to one conclusion, that it is our own evil desires that cause us to struggle and many times give in to sin and temptation.

(James 1:12-15) “12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. “

Introduction to Daily Struggles

As Christians and children of God we daily struggle with sin and temptation. As long as we are living in the flesh the battle between our flesh and the spirit will occur. It is up to us as children of God to choose who we will serve and who we are going to allow to lead us, our flesh, or the Spirit of God. Let us strive not to be slaves of sin but slaves of the mighty Word of God! If we want to have victory over our daily struggles we need to daily study the Word of God and search for passages where God promises us victory over sin and temptaion. The more we fill our hearts and minds with the mighty Word of God the less room we will leave for any kind of sinful craving or temptation. As you start studying the Word of God, and getting to know the truth, that is when God has promised freedom from any kind of bondage of sin. Get to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and you shall overcome all of your struggles. As our Lord has promised in His Word,

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32