Who do We Fear the Most God or Ourselves—R Fritz
God was showing me this week that we fear ourselves and God. As the Holy Spirit showed that to me, I started to see my spirit seeing God’s nature or character such as righteousness, holiness, and justice and I started to question myself. This is why my spirit was concerned when I saw some of God’s attributes if I knew God as well as I should. My answer was “I did not.” This is why we need to spend more time knowing God. Sometimes we think that if we find out who God is we might not like what we see or what we see in ourselves. I think we see in the Bible where somebody had to pay a price for their actions because of their unbelief and disobedience. That is the side of God we dwell on sometimes and should but we need to look at all of our God’s characteristics because he was the example when Jesus came to earth.
I asked somebody who knows the Old Testament better than me about their interpretation of God first in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament and the difference in how people were treated. They said they believed people in the New Testament were treated harsher. I asked that question because one morning I was thinking about Jesus and thinking that Jesus did not punish or get angry except when he tipped the tables over. Matthew 21:12 says And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. These people thought they could make a mockery of the temple of God. Jesus showed them.
In the Old Testament, the people who were punished were told many times and were given time to make changes in their behavior and repent. Disobedience has consequences then and now. God is a patient God. He sees all and knows what you are going through and what you have gone through. We have to help God through the Holy Spirit to make our nature like his. We are a work in process. He treats people differently per our issues what are our needs and what it will take for us to change. There is “not one of us” who is where we need to be spiritually. This is what we need to know. Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” His nature and character do not change. How he does things change per person because he knows you. One person he might treat harshly the next he treats with kid gloves. It is up to us to get on the same page. That means we must start to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. That is the trust factor. When we trust and know God it gets easier to just believe because we know the Holy Spirit’s voice.
You might ask how do I know about some of the things I speak about. It is because I have gone through these things where the Holy Spirit was harsh with me. Also, I have seen where the Holy Spirit has treated me with kid gloves. Just like your father on earth disciplines you so does the Holy Spirit. When we refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit we will start hearing less and less and if we do not change or ask for forgiveness, we will not hear the Holy Spirit and we are back to our spirit teaching us with us believing it is the Holy Spirit. I hear people ask the question why do I not hear the Holy Spirit. The answers are you stopped listening or you do not know the difference between your spirit and the Holy Spirit. Either case requires you to speak to the Holy Spirit to get that relationship back. You might think God would not do that to me. Let me be clear we made all the decisions and did not listen. It is sometimes easy to blame somebody else but you have to know who you are blaming that being “God.”
Let me tell you a story that happened to me. I was at a bible study about 15 yrs. ago. I saw something going on, did not agree with it but did not say anything to stop it. The next morning the Holy Spirit said to me “Why did you not stop what was going on.” I started to answer and give an excuse and remembered who I was talking to and said nothing “I was told no excuses.” I have always remembered what I was told. What I was told was just for me. I look at some of the times I did not accomplish what I was supposed to do and the reason was my fault because fear stopped me. I always said to the Holy Spirit “Give me another chance to accomplish what you asked me to do.” This is the relationship I talk about where there is a conversation, sometimes one-sided when we are supposed to listen.
God has always given us tools to overcome ourselves and Satan. The problem that lies in us is our wisdom and understanding do not compare to God’s. We were made in his image but we still needed his tools and him to overcome our sinful nature. That explains the problem we have. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Proverbs 2:1-7,9 says “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thine heart to understanding; Yea if thou criest after knowledge, And liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou sleekest her (wisdom) as silver, And searchest for her (wisdom) as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgement, and equity; yea, every good path.” This is the formula to receive wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It all comes from God.
Man’s wisdom got you where you are. It will not take you where you need to go. We need to look at ourselves. If we trust in ourselves, we are not going to make it. That is why God sent the Holy Spirit to teach us all things because he knew we in ourselves will not make it. The Comforter or Holy Spirit is needed to fight the spirits and the spiritual battle that man cannot see but winning that battle comes with the trust in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. God Bless.
