Fear or love?

[Rudy]

I never quite understood "perfect love cast out fear." I came across this and now I understand it a little better.. Also "faith works through love."



"Every human thought, word, or deed is based on fear or love. Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, hides, hoards, and harms. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, reveals, shares, and heals. The only question is: What choice will you make today?"

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[Michael The Disciple]

Try this:

[Rudy]

Good lesson. It seems being obedient to God's word would cast out present fear as well.

One would have to be careful not to be snared by performance Christianity.

There are so many that are fearful.

[Michael The Disciple]

Originally Posted by Rudy

Good lesson. It seems being obedient to God's word would cast out present fear as well.

One would have to be careful not to be snared by performance Christianity.

There are so many that are fearful.

"Performance Christianity"? That is a buzzword or cliché invented by modern Evangelicals.

Personally I find scarce few traces of the fear of God in believers nowadays.

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

"Performance Christianity"? That is a buzzword or cliché invented by modern Evangelicals.

Personally I find scarce few traces of the fear of God in believers nowadays.

The idea behind "performance Christianity" imo means earning your way to heaven by doing works/indulgences.

[Michael The Disciple]

Originally Posted by Rudy

The idea behind "performance Christianity" imo means earning your way to heaven by doing works/indulgences.

The word "performance" is like the word "doing".

There are things we must DO to walk with Christ and to enter the kingdom of Heaven. We are to DO them.....by FAITH.

Remember only that that DO the Fathers will are going to enter his kingdom. Matt 7:21

[KeptByTheWord]

There is more "fear of man" than there is fear of God, in my experience.

[Michael The Disciple]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

There is more "fear of man" than there is fear of God, in my experience.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Rudy

I never quite understood "perfect love cast out fear." I came across this and now I understand it a little better.. Also "faith works through love."



"Every human thought, word, or deed is based on fear or love. Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, hides, hoards, and harms. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, reveals, shares, and heals. The only question is: What choice will you make today?"

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Awesome post!

I was really torn one day about why we were all so divided and what it means to be "holy". I got different answers from everyone I talked to about it. So finally in prayer I went to the LORD Himself and I entered into a place of saturated prayer. That's when He spoke to me. It came to me as something akin to "impressions" from the Spirit, not actual words. I had to sit down afterwards and try to put it into words so that I could reflect upon it. I post it here because God speaks of love. After reflecting upon the conversation I had with Him... I've had little fear in my walk with Him. Simply awe, humility, and wonder. Here's what I felt the LORD tell me.

Me:
"Why are we so divided?"
"What must I do to be holy?"

God:
My child, I will tell you why you are all so divided. It is your religions. They are not of me. Each of you has a list. A list of do’s and don’ts. And each of you think that I authored your respective lists. Baptists have their list, Catholics have their lists, Pentecostals have their lists, Methodists have their lists, Lutherans have their lists, Charismatics have their lists, Messianics have their lists, Episcopals have their lists… each list is different. I’m not a God of confusion. Each list is a doctrine of man. Some say you must keep the Ten Commandments that I delivered to Moses to give to my people. Some of you expand upon these and add feast days, Sabbaths, dietary regulations, linguistic nuances of eccentricity wherein you think you are shown to be wise, yet you are looking foolish in your conceits. You want to be so much like my people… but not like me. You fail to realize… I’m the eternal, the constant, the source; the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the ending, the all in all, the great I AM that I AM… I’m not Catholic, Protestant, or Evangelical… neither am I Jewish. I’m GOD. Still some of you have codified my teachings into a strict body of church law in which you seek to please me by changing your “behavior”… but not your “being”. Teachings of mine were for spiritual development, they were not intended to be turned into dry do’s and don’ts to maintain a religious status quo. Then some of you codified the methods with which I addressed issues in Israel or the first generation of churches... making them “commandments” instead of seeing the spirit behind the reasoning. A reasoning that endures in any context, be it time or culture. Then you added historical traditions established by various religious leaders and founders. You codified congregation structures, financial models, added liturgies, added dietary regulations, added special days of worship, added dress codes, even added prohibitions on both men and women I never required. Each of you has these LISTS! Stop trying to please me by living these man-made lists! They divide you because you measure yourselves against one another based on your respective man-made LISTS. Ask the Pharisee to list exactly what must be done to please me! Let him present his list! And suddenly you’ll see another Pharisee argue against something on the first Pharisee’s list, or seek to add something from their list to it!!! Eventually they are all squabbling over which commandments on which list has to be obeyed and which do not! Why? It is because the spirit of legalism leaves you awash in the sea of subjective personal interpretation wherein one man’s interpretation is just as good as another’s. Yet you cling to them because you think they make you “holy”. These lists don’t make you holy. What makes you Holy is… ME.

You see… I am the Vine, and you are the branches. You are called to be living extensions of me… not living extensions of the ancient nation of Israel, your given church, or your given denomination. You are called to be conformed into the image and likeness of Christ… not the image and likeness of your respective church, movement, or denomination. When you live by their LISTS… you are becoming like them… NOT like me.

And so you ask… How do I become like you? I, the LORD, shall answer you this day. Let him who has an ear, let him hear!!!...

The answer is in the very nature of my being my beloved. You see… I AM… love. When you are loving, gracious, forgiving, kind, compassionate, patient, long suffering, temperate, and giving… you are being like Me. Do you wish to fulfill “the law”??? DON’T live by it. Find its core. Find its essence. Find my reason for delivering said laws in their given contexts. You’ll discover that it is because I was teaching many different things… but the core was and always has been… MY love. Love me my child. Love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And demonstrate your love for me by loving others as yourself. If you do this you will have fulfilled the essence of MY law. If there is any other commandment ever brought to your attention, know this… it is fulfilled in this single statement, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” In this you do no wrong… and in loving… you become like me… the one who is love itself.

So be not swayed by their LISTS. Do not be deceived by their vain and eccentric verbiage. Do not emulate a nation, a denomination, or a church. Instead… emulate Me and you will find rest for your souls. Love Me with all your being… and show me that you love Me by loving others as yourself. The only commandment I give you is this… LOVE. For love will not murder, steal, covet, slander, commit adultery, rage, revenge, or blaspheme. Love will set every day aside as holy… because love seeks to give absolute devotion every single day without end. I am not impressed with your LISTS. First, your lists all differ. And second, you don’t even keep your own lists perfectly! This makes you hypocrites of the worst kind. Why do you do this to yourselves??? Do you really think I’m IMPRESSED by anything you do? Am I impressed by any cherry picked LIST of commandments you’ve chosen to embrace… at the expense of others that you chose not to? Do you really think I’m going to open the books and judge you by each of your respective lists???! Will I judge according to dress code, hairstyles, feast days, and your labored mispronunciations of an ancient language??? Will I praise you for acting Jewish… even though if the truth were to be told… you don’t have a single drop of Hebrew blood in your body??? No. When you stand before Me… I will only seek to know two things: Did you love me with all your being? Did you seek to show your love for me by loving others as yourself? And you’ll then begin to see how your LISTS hindered you from loving your neighbors. You will see how your lusts, adulteries, thievery, slander, etc. are not rooted in failing to obey a rule on a LIST… but in your failure to LOVE. For love does no harm to the object of its affection.

So I leave you with this… become like Me. Be conformed into the very image and likeness of Jesus Christ, my beloved Son. And in this you will find true holiness. In this you will find the law of liberty… the law of LOVE. You will have discovered… ME.