YOU HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR (PART 2)
TEXT:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1st John chapter 4 verse 18, King James Version).
Indeed, the one that fears has not encountered God’s love. The Scripture reading for today says that there's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear! As Christians, we need to understand God’s love for us; the result of which made Him do for us the unthinkable: giving His only Begotten Son; going to the Cross to get us saved, giving us His Spirit, among other things.
God never intends His Children to wallow in fear because fear is not of Him. The Bible says that fear has torment. To deliver us from the bondage of fear therefore, God gave us His Spirit through Whom His love is shed abroad our hearts (see Romans 5:5). Also, remember that love is part of the Fruit of the spirit (see Galatians 5:22).
The desire of God is that everyone of His Children is filled with His love, His perfect agape love. Agape love is the kind of love that’s selfless, perfect, loyal, benevolent and enduring. It’s not based on conditions! Neither is it premised on what we have done to earn it. It’s the purest kind of love and it’s God’s love towards us. All of God’s acts towards us are motivated by His love for us.
To fulfill God’s desire for His Children to function in His love, He gave His Spirit, Who in turn sheds God’s love abroad their hearts. This is what Romans 5:5 tells us. The New Living Translation of Romans 5:5 says as follows:
"And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."
In other words, we come to grasp the magnitude of God’s love towards us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, without which no one can fathom or comprehend the extent of His love for us. He did this in order to perfect us in His love because "He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1John 4:18). Truth is, God wants us free from the bondage of fear because as our Scripture reading says, fear has torment.
Besides, we have it stated as follows in 2 Timothy 1:7,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” In other words, part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us is to fill us with God’s love. So therefore, everyone of us that’s filled with the Holy Spirit, has God’s love imparted into his heart, to the end, among others things that we do not live in fear.
Following this, it becomes imperative that we grow in God’s love in order to have it perfected in us (see Philippians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 3:12). This involves knowing God and the only way we can know Him is through His Word. It is only when we have His love perfected in us that we function in the unassailable assurance that whatever happens to us in life, we are in safe Hands. Hear Him in Isaiah 43:1-2
“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. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
As the redeemed of the Lord, we belong to God and He’s sworn to never leave us or forsake us. This is the result of His love for us. We know that though one is a child of God, it is still possible to harbor fear because he’s not perfected in God’s love. This is why the Bible says that “He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” In other words, there’s the knowledge of God’s love for us that banishes or casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
The way to function in God’s love is to first and foremost get filled with the Holy Spirit whose responsibility it is in turn to fill us with God’s love; and thereafter, we proceed to grow in the knowledge of God’s love for us. This is the way to get God’s love perfected in us which leaves no room for fear.
PRAYER:
Thank You Father for shedding Your love abroad my spirit to the end that I function in Your love perfectly, in Jesus name.