An essay by G.D. Watson
If God has called you to be really like Christ, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all you good works.
The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His glory, which can be produced only in the shade.
God will let others be great, but He will keep you small. He will let others do a great work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when He comes.
The Holy Spirit will put strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do what He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealing with you.
Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that others are not dealt with.
Now, when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this particular personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.
Follow this link to learn more about G.D. Watson http://www.wellofoath.com/home.asp?pg=Bios&toc=G.+D.+Watson
When my daughter Carmen was about 3 years old, we lived in Sacramento, California. We did not put up our figurines and "whatnots" – we taught her not to touch them. For the most part she was obedient and never bothered them. But one day she was overwhelmed with temptation ... the need to touch the untouchable was just too much for her. When weakness met opportunity, she transgressed.
She was alone in the den, still wearing her pink PJ jump suit. She picked up the forbidden "fruit" and began to fondle it. About that time I entered from the other side of the room and caught her red-handed. As I started towards her with one of those stern "you're in trouble" looks, she quickly put down the figurine. A look of sheer panic flashed across her face. As I got closer, my 3 year old daughter dropped both hands to her side, looked straight into heaven, and with a voice of utter desperation cried, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
(Do you really have to ask? Well, of course not … how do you spank a child who is appealing for Divine intervention?).
I was astonished that she had learned this lesson so soon.
I have remembered that moment many, many times – not just because it was cute, sweet, and precious – but because there have been many times when I've needed to follow her example. Sometimes I had been caught red-handed by the Holy Spirit ... when I had picked up what I should have left alone ... when I knew I had disobeyed my Father ... when I was dismayed by my obvious transgression.
But more often it has been in those moments of life when I was simply overwhelmed by circumstances beyond my control and situations I could not change or manage ... when I was without strength ... or words ... and all that was left was a tattered faith and a stumbling determination.
More than once I have done what I learned from my child ... put my hands to my side, looked straight into heaven and said His name, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” No, it's not a magical formula ... not mumbo jumbo.
But if it has the same effect in heaven as it did in my living room ... if it touched the heavenly Father's heart the way it touched mine ... it may be the most eloquent and powerful prayer I have ever prayed.
In the night seasons I have sometimes wondered if I would make it. I'm still here. Bruised ... bearing the scars of battle ... limping a bit ... but still standing and still moving forward ... perhaps slower than in times past, but still moving.
“Because I the Lord do not change, therefore you are not consumed,” God said through Malachi. “If the Lord had not been on my side the enemy would have swallowed me alive,” the singer sang.
In my darkest hour I know that someway, somehow, there is a way of deliverance ... an answer ... help in the time of trouble. With hands at my side and my face lifted to heaven, my prayer is the one I learned so long ago from a little blonde beauty in pink pajamas …
“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”
The simple answer is “no.”
That’s not bad because some fear is good. I am afraid of a rattlesnake. I am afraid to cross in front of a moving train. I am afraid to drink poison. I am afraid to climb over the safety rail on top of the mountain. You get the idea.
But doesn't the Bible say, “Perfect love casts out all fear”?
No, it doesn't.
It is true that some contemporary versions of the Bible include the word “all” (Today’s English Version; New Living Translation). But these versions are often more like paraphrases rather than translations, and in this instance they have added the word “all” which is not in the Greek text, and is rightly excluded in the best translations of 1 John 4:18: “... perfect love casts out fear” (NKJV, NASB, NRSV)
“... perfect love drives out fear” (NIV)
“... perfect love casteth out fear” (ASV)
Not only is this text frequently misquoted, it is usually removed from its context (always a bad idea since context is the most important factor to determine meaning). In the text a particular kind of fear is pinpointed: By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment … there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:17-18; emphasis added).
The fear that is removed by perfect love is the fear of punishment ... the dread of judgment. Albert Barnes puts it this way: “The idea is, that he who has true love to God will have nothing to fear in the day of judgment, and may even approach the awful tribunal without alarm.”
“The one who fears is not perfected in love” -- lingering apprehension of future wrath, shows that love has not accomplished its full work. To the contrary, the perfection of God’s love within us gives us “confidence in the day of judgment.” It is not our perfect love for God that removes the fear of punishment, but His perfect love for us.
It is important to note from the context that perfect love is an expression of our personal faith in Christ: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:15-17).
True confession of Christ brings us into an abiding, mutual relationship with God described as “perfected love” which removes all sense of dread.
In this relationship we need not fear a God who loves us perfectly.
