God's Response To Human Fear

Forthwith, without any ado and with more curious eye, we are taken to an even deeper depth, when we note God’s response to our human fear. I have presented, individually, God’s Divine response to each person’s human fear.

Zechariah - But the angel said to him: Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.

Shepherds - But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Mary – But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.

Beyond the shadow of any doubt, do not these familiar words hit you deep inside? Suddenly, as if visited by Divine revelation, this phrase, these words, “Do not be afraid”, have taken on Advent Life and have become, Advent Words to us.

Hey! Don’t you feel the change, the comfort of God’s, Circle of Warmth around you and within you? There is comfort and assurance that our God is able to remove all our fear with His blessed Word. These Advent Words do not just carry our God’s Word of Comfort, but His Word of Correction also. His correction comes to move us from what is not pleasing in His sight, to what is pleasing in His sight. It is to remove fear from us, that which is not of Him and that which will be a sure barrier and stumbling block to anything that He wants to do in us and give to us. Yes, there has to be correction, change in our response of fear, to a response of faith, belief and acceptance. 

Does our Lord’s Circle of Warmth stop there for Zechariah or the shepherds or Mary? It does not! Receive the Warmth of Courage, which swaddled these visited people at Advent. The urge is upon me right now, to revisit this verse from the Scripture text we had much earlier. Zechariah 2: 5. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be its glory within.

Our Lord and Heavenly Father’s Words of prophecy and promise to His people, when they were without walls, comes to life in fulfillment for us, right here and now.  We have understood and received the wall of fire around it, as the Circle of Warmth around us, we who are the New Jerusalem. Hereto, we also receive the promise of God being His people’s glory within, or inside those walls. This is the image, the Living Word, which is being given life in all who will believe and accept by faith. In our hearts and minds, deep within us, God’s glory, the joy and triumph of His Comfort, Courage, Correction and Consolation will swaddle us

May the Holy Spirit bring it about in every believing heart, that each may receive, in Spirit and in Truth, as those first Advent people received. Amen!

We shall now keep our focus specifically on Zechariah, as he is the person chosen to give example and light of God’s Circle of Warmth. We will ponder, marvel and seek, with longing hearts and minds, these Advent Words as they are given magnitude and scope.

Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. What was the prayer of this priest? It is true that Zechariah, as is the custom of the priesthood, in choosing a priest to enter the temple to offer incense, has had the lot fall to him. It is true that he enters the temple to fulfill a specific prayer duty for all the people, the burning of the incense. It is true that in this most sacred, holy and revered moment, all the worshippers who have come, are assembled outside the temple, no doubt surrounding this temple, praying. This is almost surreal in its vision, is it not? There is the priest, inside the temple, praying and there are the worshippers, outside the temple, praying. And when the time for the burning of the incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Will you by faith see this as personal?

There is the temple, and you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, as 1 Corinthians 6: 19 reminds us. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. What we are given vision to behold, is that prayer circumscribes the temple, meaning that prayer is all around the temple. You have the courage and strength of God’s Circle of Warmth, as a wall around you. Our Spirit-enabled vision also allows us to see and know that prayer inscribes the temple, meaning that it is all around, inside the temple. You have the courage and strength of God’s Circle of Warmth, as a wall within you.

There is no fear in courage, only faith, and faith frees you to believe and accept.

Please think, very deeply and carefully, on the words of the above statement. Let’s sincerely ask God to make us living witnesses to such truth.