Many born again believers have a
desire to witness for Jesus and to assist him as he converts the lives of those who pursue
sin. These groups of Christians have a wonderful Noahs ark mentality, they really
care for those who do not seem to understand why we were born. To those of you who are in
this group, you would be wiser to understand that some people fear the new birth
experience. There's a surprising number of people who want to be born again or are curious
enough to want to know about it, but they are strangely afraid. Uniquely trapped by an
inward fear fueled by forces unseen to them. In order to help this type of individual,
this fear must be understood. To understand fear you need to know what goes on inside
someone. The fear that people have now
is moving inward. The more selfish a person becomes the more his own fears will blind him,
his view of reality could become more narrow and distorted. This distraction is something
that the spirits of evil will capitalize on and take advantage of the person to cause
permanent damage to screen out God. To keep God away from someone the mind must be
distorted, all spiritual influences have to be kept at bay or perverted. Fear is a way to
cripple the mind. Fear, when properly understood, can also stimulate the mind to good
works or more careful living. The Christian can appeal to God to help in the proper
understanding of this energetic emotion. If you really want to help people come to Christ,
the more you relate to this subject the more affective you can be. Fear is an instinctual
urge felt which is unacceptable to the mind and creates the feeling of anxiety. These
feelings trouble the mind and affect different people in different ways. We all learned
about fear in the same three ways. It has been with us since childhood. We have three
natural fears. The fear of being alone, the fear of strangers and the fear of darkness.
Amazingly these fears follow us our entire lives, yet most would not admit it. Fear has a
two fold nature, it can be natural --which is to mean real, or it can be neurotic- which
can be associated with the magnification of imagined feelings. God allows what is natural
to be imbued in all humans early in their lives. (1COR 15:46). We are naturally carnal,
verse 49- and born with the image of the earthy. We are just plainly puthuman
beings, natural. Natural fear can be very healthy, for example: fear of fire can protect
from being burned. Natural fear is real. Although God is spirit, in one sense he is
natural -- he is very real. Gods exist, he is not artificial, he has not been altered and
he is not in disguise. God is innate-self generating real life.
The devil is keenly aware of the natural fears
that we have and seeks to magnify them. His goal is to take things that are natural and
make them crippling. He is the creator of neurotic fear. The human feeling of wanting to
repent comes from God. In Romans 2:4, the kindness of God actually leads one to repent.
Not his anger or the penalty of sin, but Gods love draws the human conscious toward
feelings of wanting to change their condition. The devil tries to cause people to be
uncomfortable with conversion. When a person begins thinking about being born again, which
is to think and live in a different way that will lead to peace of mind, the devil seeks
to immediately enslave that desire. He does it through fear. Examine Romans 8:15, it deals
with people receiving a spirit of slavery that leads to fear. Satan will use neurotic fear
to enslave the mind. Deep inside of each individual who secretly desires God, there is a
neuroses that the devil can appeal to directly or indirectly. This neuroses or this
capacity to transfer your thoughts and feelings within your own mind can be accessed and
manipulated. Behind the neuroses are thoughts and feelings directly planted by God through
diverse times in the person's life. Sometimes obvious and often hidden --these powerful
psychic influences are spiritual and in them are rooted our spiritual attitudes and
Gods guiding principles. The born again family-lifestyle is actually an advantage to
the individual as seen in Proverbs 22:6. Not only train the child, but ourselves. We need
to think in ways that will lead people to Christ as well as think of ways that will lead
to the new birth experience. This is why it is so vital to understand the dynamics of
fear.
God uses natural fear to build your confidence
in him. (Job 4:6). If you examine closely our three natural childhood fears, notice how if
viewed in different terms they could assist in leading one to Christ. The fear of being
alone shows the need for God and people. The fear of strangers teaches us the need for
guidance in wisdom and understanding of God and people and also the need for protection.
The fear of darkness can certainly be explained as the absence of light in your
lifeJesus Christ. Darkness is the definition of existence without God. You cannot
feel safe and secure when you walk in darkness. One of the best ways to assist in leading
someone to Christ is to walk with them until you get them where they need to be. Walk them
toward the lightfarther away from darkness, then they will begin to see more of
Christ who is the way the truth and the light. Christ will show you the technique in
witnessing, teach you the correct knowledge, and guide you in all way's necessary in
teaching the new birth to the fearful. God wants his followers to give him full rein
full leadership in our lives.(Proverbs 3:6). Neurotic fears and feelings have a life
of their own and do not want to die. Under satanic pressure people who really want to come
to Christ tend to regress to carnal ways of dealing with fears. These ways do not work but
people are familiar with them. Understand this and neverever give up on your efforts
to help them, God will bless. This world is designed like a multi-complex prison with a
magnet as its base drawing you deeper into your own fears. People conducting themselves as
if they are free and yet they are not. The spiritual skills of offering Christ as true
freedom must be studied and perfected in trail and error with the confidence of knowing
that only in him do we have our being. The foundation of our existence is Christ, in him
we move and have our reality. (Acts 17:28). In verse 27, men should seek God, perhaps they
might grope and find himthough he is not far from each of us. We can actually teach
men this reality! Look at verse 30. God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should
repent, a constant invitation to be born again. Our desire to free men from this prison
must never be allowed to fade.
Understand that people are carnalsold
into slaveryin need of your help. Imagine trying to help someone out of a hole and
they're fighting you to stay in it. They do not know what they are doing. Falling back
into the hole they re-install their carnal nature, the old self is controlling them like a
magnet, pulling their emotions and thoughts while magnifying feelings of hopelessness. The
devil wants to enslave them in sin and seduce them into seeing things his way. When you
see things with the carnal mind you look at life with the eyes of the devil. Sin is like
leaven it works in darkness. (1 Cor. 5:6,7). It lies in the subconscious mind will grow
and multiply. Satan will fight like a lion to keep someone from being born again. He loves
for Christians to take a half-hearted approach toward evangelism. How can you escape if
you neglect so great a salvation, how will they escape if you neglect them?
The new birth is a wonderful experience. (John
3:1-8). In order to be born again self must die. To teach the new birth we must teach
people not to fear their "self" dying. Study 1 Corinthians 15:31-58. The death
men really fear is the death of self. The devil has seduced men into believing that
submission to God is bondage while he personally knows that it is freedom and freedom
indeed! Show men that by your own living. If you are depressed and heavy burdened why
should they believe you are free? Tell them your story of freedom from sin, if sin is in
your life ask God to put you on the road to recovery then share that with them. Show how
the process of overcoming sin is really killing the old, natural, carnal man. Nothing can
make a person happier than freedom from a sin that had you caught in its grip. Show how
that grip is really the loss of our supposed self control, our carnal minds
predominance over all that we think and do. Fear of what happens if we let go and let God.
Our carnal mind would rather plunge us into the depths of darkness and recurrent troubles
than to let go of its control and die. Teach them that this is serious war! The new birth
does not end this war, it begins it. Read Romans 7:22-25. Also Galatians 2:20. We live the
new birth by Christ living in us, his spirit rebuilding us inwardly, molding our mental
atmosphere , grinding our will into his own image and shaping our fears into fruitful
fulfillments of his eternal glory. Our loving father is trying to show us the pure,
natural aspects of Godly fear. Always be mindful that this is a hard lesson for some new
converts, but a necessary beginning. In Proverbs 1:7 it is revealed that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fear is the place for you to start learning about God!
The realization of the evil in this world, the impending danger of doom, the anxiety of
your own powerlessness, the fright and dread of eternal death--then having all that energy
turned into awe and reverence for God. Many of our childhood fears can be associated with
loosing our protective parent. If the parent is near the fear is sedated. Satan tries to
seduce the person wanting to submit to God into thinking that God is not there. That he is
not natural, not real. A neurotic feeling that the parent is gone. Here is a major reason
many fear the new birth. From this point they must continue living as if God is not there.
The benefit of life with no obligation to the life-giver. This is actually the true nature
and situation of the devil. He has life but no obligation to God and wants to cause man to
be in the same condition. He wants to keep you from bonding with God and cause you to bond
with him. This is deception at its greatest, you cannot even bond with Satan it will
not stick-his very nature makes things fall apart! A bond with him is a bond with
deathshow men this, teach them about the future of death. Show them how with Christ
death is gain. Remember the movie the terminator, the robots wanted to eliminate the
future of the man who led the humans to freedom. They sent one back in the past to perform
a type of retroactive abortion and kill the father of the leader. A crude example but
fitting to what the devil is trying to perform. Man was created to be reborn to the image
of God. Christ death and resurrection has terminated the devils plan to abort mankind, we
can be saved from death through the life of our savior. (John 3:16). Jesus gives us
birthright, new birth papers written and signed in his blood shed for the redemption of
all mankind.
In Psalms 85:9, salvation is near to those who
fear God. Satan wants to cultivate a neurotic fear of God, a feeling of impending doom.
That type of fear will naturally give anyone without understanding a improper fear of God.
God is not out to kill his creations. There is no need to fear Gods wrath upon you,
the wrath Of God is his reaction to sin, in no way is it anger directed toward you. He
just knows perfectly how damaging sin is to you and he desires very deeply for you to
know. You are his child. Our fear of God can be extended in worship, reverence and awe.
(PSALMS 2:11, HEBREWS 12:28). Wouldnt you think that the important thing about fear
is who controls it. When you fear God and do those things that honor him, you are
instantly better off spiritually as well as mentally. There are some women who want to
have children but fear labor and delivery. This fear is called maieusiophobia. I
understand the fear, I was there when my son was born. I have never seen a woman suffer so
much to do something so beautiful. I consider myself to be a strong man but there is no
way I would subject myself to 12 hours of labor. If a woman goes through that and the man
abandons her by withdrawing support, he needs to be stoned. Women with this phobia desire
a child, they are just afraid. If the fear is greater than the desire, the woman could
cripple her chances to give new birth. Along this same line Satan seeks to cripple any
desire that a sinner has to be born again, by any means necessary .
Neurotic fear is a natural enemy of change. It
creates an anxiety that disrupts your communication with God along with your understanding
of God. God does not give this type of fear.(2TIM1:7). To be crippled is
punishment.(1JOHN4:18). Man and Satan give this type of fear. God does not intimidate man,
that is condescending. He could if he wants to , nothing could stop him. His power and
precepts are pure and clean.(PSLAMS19:7-9). He has no loving reason to strike us with
unfruitful fear, none that I know of. As you witness to people who have fear teach them
that it is part of character development. The ultimate benefit of the fear of God is
everlasting life. It is a neurotic contradiction to feel that being born again takes away
your freedom. Eternal life in the spirit is true freedom and it can begin in the flesh.
Now can be the day of your salvation. Right now is the time to be born again. (ROMANS
13:11,12). The quicker you do things Gods way the faster you will come out of the
wilderness. Jesus gladly frees us from the slavery of misguided fear. The world is
increasingly secular and rootless. Fear by itself is merely fear, but the experience of
fear coupled with an understanding that fear serves a worthy purpose adds meaning to
suffering. In this world we will suffer. When you understand and truly understand that the
fears in your life are necessary to balance your suffering then you are free to not react
to them incorrectly. Fear is meaningful. What is more worthy than fear that leads one to
Jesus. A spiritual psychology is necessary to understand the new birth. It will bring to
light those things you need to escape the pains of living with no purpose. The best way to
live is to die! Then let the lamb of life, the resurrection , bring you into a new nature,
a new beginning , a better way of thinking and feeling. Let fear bring you to the new
birth! |