Dr.
David A. Jernigan
You
might think the statement about fear is just as obvious and self-evident as the
statement about the rose; however, few people really comprehend its importance.
A
wise friend of mine once told me a truth I have never forgotten. She said, “A person cannot be helped,
coached or taught who hasn’t asked for help.”
As
a doctor, I have the honor of helping many people overcome unwanted situations
in their life. All of these people
come to me asking me to help them get rid of unwanted things in their body, mind, and spirit.
Why
do unwanted, fearful, and bad things
happen to “good” people? The Bible says, “We are destroyed from a lack of
knowledge.” Understand now that there is only one way to get rid of fear and
fearful things in life. Once you
understand and have this knowledge, you can stop being destroyed by fear.
Almost
everyone in the whole country would be experiencing peace and joy if God had
said, “Be a nice, good person and only good things will be added unto
you.” However, God said, “Seek
ahead of all else, the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and then all
these things [benefits] will be given unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)
The
Bible in 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no
fear in love. But perfect love casts
out all fear” (emphasis added). Pay attention! This is the primary verse
that this entire chapter is based upon. Remember, fear is always about
something that is unwanted, therefore, “Perfect love casts out all unwanted
things!”
I
say this because so many people I have talked with about fear say that they are
generally not fearful people…they just have a lot of things they don’t want to
happen or they don’t want to continue to happen. These “don’t want” or “unwanted” things in their life are
based upon fear!
When
the Bible is talking about being perfect or having “Perfect love,” it is not
referring so much to the concept of being perfect, such as being without flaws.
In the ancient texts, the word “perfect” in this verse is talking about the
highest level of maturity of love.
This perfect love is not something we just get as part of the benefits
of being a born-again believer, although it does require salvation and Christ
within. This perfect love is a
learned and developed thing as we live and learn to love God more with each
passing moment and situation. (Phil. 4:12)
Perfect
love is similar to studying diligently until you get your Bachelor’s degree,
you study more and you get your Master’s degree, and even more and you get a
Ph.D. in God’s love – you are literally being the personification and
embodiment of His love. It takes time and practice. The better you do it, the better you embody and transmit
God’s love to the world around you, the better you get at casting out all
unwanted situations (fear) from your life.
One
might think of the “Perfect love casting out all fear” as being like a bright
light that chases away the darkness of the darkest night. The darkness cannot penetrate the
light, but the light can absolutely penetrate the darkness. Darkness must retreat. Fear and unwanted things must retreat
from the radiant love.
Young
or new believers are often inexperienced with God’s Word and in understanding
what it means to “Walk in the light as He is in the light”. (1 John 1:7)
As
young believers, God’s love light shines through only to the degree that it is
allowed by each individual, and only when the young believer remembers to do
so, because they have not yet experientially learned to fully understand what it means to be filled with God’s
love and to walk continually in His light. (Phil. 4:12)
A
young believer, to the measure of his faith, has full sonship rights to “speak
to the mountains of his life and tell them to be removed and it will be done;”
however, it is an ongoing learning process that never ends that leads to the
ever-greater perfecting of our love for God.
As
a result of our lack of knowledge, we tend to keep turning our “light and love”
off and the darkness of what we fear returns in the form of negative thoughts
and events that we perceive are negative in our lives. For this reason, we must do as God says
and, “Take every thought captive,” meaning until we attain great degrees of
continual perfect love we have to stop the string of negative thoughts, or
shall we say, “less than ideal thoughts” and redirect our thinking to those
things which are edifying and good.
(2 Cor. 10:5)
We
must take full responsibility for our thoughts, and definitely our strings of
thoughts, that inevitably lead us to ever more dark thoughts.
So
here we see that it is useless to ask God to make us not think bad
thoughts. He already instructed us
to take responsibility for them.
He also said for us to “Not LET our hearts be troubled; neither LET our
hearts be afraid” (emphasis added).
So again we see the error in thinking we can just ask for Him to make us
not be troubled or somehow make us not be afraid – although that certainly
would be easier, it seems, when one is first learning to control their
thinking. (John 14:1)
Trying
not to be afraid does not work. Trying to be brave doesn’t work. Believing to
not be afraid does not work.
Asking God to make you brave does not work. Asking God to take away the fearful situation does not work.
Distracting your self from thinking about what you fear does not work.
Resisting evil does not work.
Taking anti-anxiety drugs so you are not afraid does not work. Reciting
scriptures, while a step in the right direction, does not work…otherwise God
would have instead said, “Reciting scriptures casts out all fear!”
Only
by shifting all of the energy you have been using (trying to not be afraid) to
building your ability (to be the personification and embodiment of God’s love)
can you chase away all unwanted fear.
God
made it very clear how we should learn to love Him. In Luke 10:27 it tells us
that we are to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Really
stop and consider this verse. This verse is describing what a Ph.D. in Perfect
Love requires.
It
makes sense that a small flashlight shines only a small amount of light, and
therefore it casts out only a small amount of darkness. A million-candlepower spotlight shines
forth a very powerful light that instantly turns night into day! So it isn’t that a young believer
cannot cast out darkness of some of the unwanted (fearful) things in their
life, but the fully matured, completely love-filled believer can live without
any unwanted things in their life and fear never enters their mind.
The
mirror truth to the verse, “Perfect love casts out all fear” is the
understanding that perfect love fills
one’s life with health, peace, joy, and so many blessings upon you and your
family that your barns will not be able to contain them all. This is not a vague concept, but an
absolute promise from God himself! (Malachi 3:10)
It
is interesting how Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, one of his most famous
teachings, made the statement, “Resist not evil….” (Matt. 5:39) This simple
statement fascinates me. “Resist
not evil” is an example of how very often we read a sentence and think we
understand it, when in reality the statement requires much contemplation and
meditation in order to really understand what it means in daily application to
its fullest degree.
I
think most people would agree that “evil” things are fearful things. Evil is
the topic or object of what is feared.
We just learned that only “Perfect Love cast out all fear” (evil,
unwanted things). It might be said
that Perfect Love has no resistance against what is not wanted or evil, because
the person walking in perfect love has all the power over darkness and has no
place for evil/darkness. Like the
powerful spotlight, the one walking in perfect love shines wherever it is
pointed without having to mount an attack or put up walls to resist the
darkness/evil.
To
put up a resistance against what is unwanted empowers that which is unwanted
because the person is not walking in the full power of the Light and Love of
God. Resisting fear draws more power to that which is feared, as does trying
not to be afraid. This is why God told us resist not evil…be Love!
So
let’s really look at the whole “Be love” concept. You are to love the Lord thy God with all that you are…your
heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Basically, God wants you to completely love Him with every fiber of your
being.
Paul
in the Bible really understood this concept, though he admitted that he too had
not fully achieved the highest levels he knew were available in the Perfect
Love realm (Phil. 3:13-15). I like how Paul says in these verses that we may
have areas in our life where we know how to walk in “Perfect love,” but for any
other area where we do not walk so perfectly, God will reveal these areas to us
so that we can work on these areas also.
We
cannot achieve perfect love when we don’t trust Him. Worry is trust in reverse.
Worry is another word for fear.
Love
and fear cannot coexist in the same space any more than light and darkness can
coexist in the same space. So if
we really love God to the degree He is calling for us to do, then we absolutely
trust Him in every moment in spite of what our circumstances are doing around
us.
We
must walk in the complete expectation that He is working everything out for His
own purposes, and those purposes are for good and not evil. He specifically tells us, “For I know
the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
So
God is telling us that with everything that is going on in our lives that we
think is good and everything we perceive as bad…He is working out for good…for
those who LOVE HIM and who are called according to His purposes. If you love
Him, then everything you see is something God is working ultimately for
something above and beyond all that you could imagine, or even think to
imagine, that is good that you want! (1 Chron. 29:11-12, 1 Cor. 2:9, Eph. 3:20)
If
that does not convince you…Romans 8:28 and 31 says it all… “And we know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.” And “If God is for us [which He is] then who can
stand against us?”
We
must all get these concepts to be burned into our hearts as absolute truth.
When we understand how God set up this world to work, we realize our only hope
of having all the blessings He made available to us who really believe is this:
to continually build ever greater our ability to sell out 100% to completely
loving Him and doing what He has told us to do.
How
do we build our ability to love God more?
First
of all, we study his Word, the Bible, so that we know how to live and conduct
ourselves in the manner in which He instructed us. This is concisely addressed
in Proverbs chapter 3, which I encourage you to read and memorize.
We
acknowledge Him in all we do and say and He will establish our thoughts. (Prov.
16:3) This verse is important for anyone who fights with controlling his or her
thinking. Many people say that
negative or fearful thoughts just pop in their head. The reverse truth to God’s promise in this verse is: don’t
acknowledge God in all that you do and say, and the darkness will establish
your thoughts and the negative or fearful thoughts will just “pop into your
head.”
God
already set the foundation for this verse earlier in Prov. 3:5-7, which says,
“Trust in the Lord (God) with all your heart and lean not unto your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” Remember, you cannot truly love what
and who you don’t trust, so trusting in the Lord with all your heart is the
same as loving Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
If
you want to really walk without unwanted things (fear), then you must trust Him
in spite of how smart you think you are in any given situation.
Another
way to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is to constantly
seek to bring Him praise and glory.
It is said, “If you want to know who is behind what is happening, you
should follow the money.” If you
want to know who is behind some extraordinary thing in life, just follow the
glory. Consider the magician, who
dazzles and baffles the minds of those watching him. Where does the glory for his near-miraculous deeds go? It glorifies the magician.
If
a person is famous for being a great healer of the sick through any means,
follow the glory to find out if he is with God. If the healer seeks to glorify their self and their methods,
then God is not with them.
The
healer must at all times strive to bring glory to the Father, reminding others
that “Every good and perfect gift [including healing] is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows.” (James 1:17) This is an intriguing verse, especially when we recall
the analogy of the strong million candle-power spotlight which turns the
darkness into light. God is the
Father of heavenly lights and through Him is no darkness at all! (1 John 1:5)
Matthew 5:16 reinforces this by saying, “Even so let your light be
shining before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
I encourage everyone reading this to read and memorize the entire
chapter of Psalm 91. My parents had all the family memorize and recite this
chapter at the dinner table when I was growing up. I thought it was greatly
difficult at the time, but I now see the great wisdom in having this entire
chapter “engraved,” if you will, upon our hearts.
In Psalm 91 you will notice many promises for “the good life,” but you
must not miss the several points that say that all the benefits of God towards
those who love Him are contingent upon the fact that 1) In verse one it says, “He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the most High…” you get all these benefits! 2)
In verse nine it says, “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my
refuge, even the most High, thy habitation…” you get all these benefits! 3) In
verse fourteen God says, “Because you have set your love upon me [God]…” you
get all these benefits!
Perfecting
our ability to truly love and trust God – combined with our doing as He told us
to do in His Word, the Holy Bible, as well as acknowledging Him in all that we
do and say – is our highest calling in life!
Likely there was never a more comprehensive
teaching of what “Perfect Love” is than that given by the Apostle Paul in 1
Corinthians 13: 1-13:
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not
have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I
have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I
may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient. Love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It
does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, and always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But
where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will
be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we
know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness
comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked
like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a
man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a
reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
In the words of Paul, I
too pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes
of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of
His calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all
in all.” (Ephesians 1:17-23)
My continual prayer is that if anyone sees anything good in us, they
see God in us, so that He can be glorified through His children, as the giver
of all good things as He works in and through us all to want to do what He
wants us to do.
“Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be
evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
“Finally,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil. 4:8)
“Whatever
you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into
practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:4-9)
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