Terror From Above, An Instrument From Below: Nuggets of Knowledge, Article 2

Hello again everyone, it’s been a while. Since I last wrote, I have learned much more in my walk with our loving God. 

This article, though, is less about what I have learned about Him and more about what I learned about the enemy–satan–and his demons. 

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As you know, I have gone through many changes spiritually in my walk with God, each one met with opposition from satan and his demons. 

The main thing he tried to use to keep me in bondage at the start of my journey was fear. Not just of change, but of God Himself. 

the evil one tried to use many, many, many instances of recrimination, condemnation, and guilt over my many sins to make me fear God, instead of running to Him. I was constantly deathly afraid of our LORD Jesus and our heavenly Father YHWH, afraid of what would happen to me because of the sin-filled, unsubmitted life that I led for nearly two full decades. 

I am writing this article to hopefully help some of you to avoid this phase of fearing God entirely.

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Now, the Bible does say that we are to fear God, but that is a different type of fear. 

The fear of God described in the Bible, the type we should have, is one that inspires and brings forth respect. It isn’t the type that paralyzes us and stops us from ever going to Him for help, but could rather be described as “reverence.”  

What does this word mean, though? “Reverence” means to have deep respect for someone or something (from Oxford Dictionary). 

Reverence is the natural result of encountering The Maker of all, and is what “the fear of God”  puts into or brings out of any rational creature with the capability to observe his or her surroundings; He Is The all-powerful LORD Of the universe and Almighty Creator, after all, but He also Calls Himself our loving Father, our Refuge, our Source, our very-present Help in times of trouble, and so much more. 

Based upon even one of these Roles, He should be given all respect, honor, praise, and dedication that we can possibly muster.

A few scriptural references for honoring and respecting The LORD our God:

Honor God with time

•  Psalms 144:4: They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

•  Isaiah 58:13-14: If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord…

•  Colossians 4:5:  Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Additionally, several New Testament verses exhort us to honour God in and with our time (and other resources) in the following manners:

Matthew 25:14-30 says to Honor God with our God-given gifts and abilities and bodies

1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us that we (who truly gave our lives To Jesus) are the temples of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in us; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 adds some urgent advice about honouring him by protecting the purity of our temples.

Even more of my favourite Bible verses about respecting God

•  Deuteronomy 6:5: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and might

•  Proverbs 3:9: Honor the LORD with your substance and with the firstfruits of all your increase

•  Hebrews 12:9: Submit to the Father of spirits

•  Psalm 145: Exalt God, the King, and praise His name for ever and ever

•  Isaiah 25:1-9: Honor and praise God

The enemy wants for himself all of what we should give to God. he (who doesn’t get a capital letter) knows that sin against God is both praise and worship to himself. he also knows that sin pulls us farther from God and closer to him. 

As you may know, lucifer (again, no capital letter for him!) was cast down from heaven for trying to take the place of our LORD YHWH, for trying to make himself (a) god. 

his pride was his downfall. 

I personally believe that is why we, as humans, struggle with pride as a whole: because the enemy wants us to fall in ways that mirror his own. 

Until we have a true connection and a bond of love with our Gracious Creator, satan has the opportunity to make us fear God’s wrath, retaliation, and judgement in a way that would keep us away from our Creator, and, therefore, out of the reach of His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. 

This is a very important point, by the way, so I’ll say it again: it’s not that God has DENIED us His Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness, but that satan causes us to FEAR God, so we AVOID God, so that we deny OURSELVES the aforementioned blessings.

God Didn’t Go anywhere–He Is Omnipresent, and Wants connection with us, besides.

But by making US feel far away from or denied By GOD, the enemy can sometimes get us to “say no FOR God,” even when God Had no intention of Saying No at all.

I like to call that fear “non-Biblical, paralyzing fear that cripples us on our walk with God,” or, the instrument from below, manufactured by satan to keep us away from God.

If we allow satan to control our lives here on earth with that non-Biblical fear, he will own us in eternity, as well. (God FORBID.)

Which is exactly what he wants, but we, as followers of Christ, should NOT give that to him. (Or, rather, “we may have fallen for it before, but now that we KNOW it’s all a satanic trick, we REFUSE to let him play us like that!”)

What is the difference between the devil’s fear and a Biblical fear of God?

As previously mentioned, the Biblical “fear of God” is showing Him reverence and respect. It is a fear of disappointing God rather than a fear of His wrath. This fear is brought on by the deep love a true follower of Jesus has for Him. 

Think of it in terms of the dread felt by many children, with regard to disobeying their parents. I cannot say that this was or is the case for all children; as for me, I did not fear punishment from doing something wrong.

What I DID fear, though, was the thought of disappointing my parents and saddening them. That is a reverent fear, the type of fear that God wants us to have For Him.

The fear that the devil tries to push on us is very different, though. That is the type of fear that a criminal would have for a judge, or that the victim of a violent crime would have for the perpetrator. 

Such fear is not constructive, but rather destructive; it does not draw you closer to God but pulls you farther away from Him.

That is the difference between the two types of fear we are discussing: one brings you closer to God and helps you to stay on top of doing what pleases Him while also generating a healthy disdain for displeasing Him, while the other one makes you want to hide from God to avoid punishment.

How do I stop fearing God in the non- Biblical sense and take that weapon away from the devil?

The first step to stopping the “wrong” way of fearing God is to realize that in this case, “knowledge is power.” 

We as Christians MUST be well versed in scripture, we must be saturated in the Word of our GOD!

Why? 

Simple, that’s how we get to know Him. It’s also how we get to know about the enemy, and about his bag of underhanded tricks and strategies.

Here are some verses to show you WHO our GOD IS

God Is Patient

Psalm 30:5 – “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Psalm 103:8 – “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

Nehemiah 9:17 – “They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You Are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”

Romans 15:5 – “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”

1 Timothy 1:16 – “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.”

2 Peter 3:9 – “The LORD Is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but Is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

God Is Love

Jeremiah 31:3 – “The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:8 – “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for Us.”

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD.”

1 John 4:8 – “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God IS love.”

1 John 4:16 – “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God Is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him.”

1 John 4:19 – “We love because He first loved us.”

God Is Just

Exodus 14:14 – “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Deuteronomy 32:4 – “The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.”

Job 34:12 – “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”

Isaiah 30:18 – “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

Isaiah 61:8 – “For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”

Luke 18:7 – “And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them?”

God Is Merciful

Joel 2:13 – “’And rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 – “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Micah 7:18 – “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love.”

Matthew 9:13 – “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 6:36- “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

God Is Holy

Exodus 15:11 – “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

1 Samuel 2:2 – “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God.”

Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My Righteous Right Hand.”

2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the LORD one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

1 John 1:15 – “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Revelation 4:8 – “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Is the LORD God Almighty, who Was and Is and Is to come!’”

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This is only a small sampling of scriptures that speak Of our Glorious Heavenly Father’s character; there are many, many more.

I don’t know about you, but to me, The Most-High GOD sounds like SomeOne I ALWAYS want to be With, to always run towards when I have problems or need help. 

To the “Me of today,” He doesn’t sound like SomeOne to hide from, in trembling and fear, but SomeOne to come to– to RUN to!–with a repentant heart when I DO mess up, seeking both forgiveness and love, and seeking ALL His Love at all times, and in all situations… even when someone else was the one to make a mess, and left me with the task of cleaning up. (Or they just plain left, aka I’m “just” lonely, but it’s FINE, because He’s The Friend Who Sticks Closer than a brother.)

Even when things are scary (from thunderstorms to the whole “too many bills, not enough cash” situation) or just plain annoying.

If “a friend loveth at all times, when things are good or bad,” and we HUMAN followers Of Jesus are supposed to “bear one another’s burdens,” then how much more of a Friend Is LORD Jesus To us, in times of trouble?

And how much more “unkind” is the cut attempted by the enemy, against both us and our LORD, when that rebellious ex-angel of light tries to paint a picture Of God As an “eternally-angry and vengeful” creator, Who “wants nothing more than to toss us into the fires of hell and be rid of us, already!”

It’s laughable, really. 

But to so many who don’t really KNOW God for themselves–to those like the previous me–it really ISN’T laughable at all. 

Hence this impassioned plea for you and me and all of us, ALL His children, and all who desire that status (which He wants for us all, too!) to learn and internalize the facts 

Of WHO our Heavenly Father IS, and seek a deeper relationship With Him.

satan is not just “kinda different” from GOD, but GOD’s complete opposite. 

While GOD seeks to bless, give life, build and strengthen His children, the devil wants nothing more than to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to steal away our lives and God-Given blessings, he wants to kill our joy, and take our actual lives, but before he does that, he wants to destroy our faith in GOD. 

Why? Because if we die in that state, a state of separation from GOD, then we are doomed, lost to the same fate that satan and his demons themselves will suffer: burning forever in the lake of eternal fire. (Which was Made for him, not us, btw.)

That is his goal, to take us away from our Heavenly Father, just as Heaven was taken from him. (Another way to think of his goal is that he gets US to walk away from God, just as he walked away from God.)

satan’s primary goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) by deceiving people, leading them away from God, and hindering God’s work through temptation and deception; key verses illustrating this include: 

• John 8:44 (calling Satan “the Father of lies”), 
• 1 Peter 5:8 (describing him as a “roaring lion seeking someone to devour”), 
• Ephesians 6:11 (mentioning the “schemes of the devil”), 
• 2 Corinthians 4:4 (referring to him as the “god of this world” who blinds people to the truth), and Revelation 12:9 (describing him as the “deceiver of the whole world”).

Key points about Satan’s objectives:

Deception: Satan’s primary tactic is to deceive people with lies and false teachings to lead them astray from God.

Destruction: He aims to destroy people’s lives by causing conflict, sin, and spiritual blindness. 

Hindrance of God’s work: Satan actively tries to obstruct the work of God and prevent people from coming to Christ.

Pride and Rebellion: His original sin was pride and rebellion against God, which continues to motivate his actions. 

Other relevant verses:

Matthew 13:19 – Satan snatches the word of God from people’s hearts

1 Timothy 4:1 – Satan promotes false doctrines and “doctrines of demons”

Luke 22:31 – Satan desires to sift believers like wheat to test their faith

Genesis 3 – The account of Satan tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden, illustrating his strategy of deception

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In short, the devil is nothing but a thieving, lying, murderer who cannot and should not ever be trusted. 

Do not let him deceive you and pull you away from our loving and merciful GOD!

What satan offers is nothing but lies, pain, emptiness, suffering and death. 

Seek the face of GOD in all things and keep Him in the center of everything you do. Seek to act as He would, think as He would, speak as He would and feel as He would in all things. As His children, we should strive to emulate Him in every way possible.

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Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me in this second instalment of the Nuggets of Knowledge series, here on metanoiameans.com.

I encourage you all to find, read, and study the scriptures referenced in this article for yourselves. Spend time in prayer before and after you study our LORD’s word and seek a deeper understanding of it through His Holy Spirit.

It is my genuine hope and fervent prayer that this article has blessed you and helped you to know our loving GOD a little bit more.

Thank you for reading, see you again soon!

-MB