Fear

I've been reading a book called "The Chronicles of Nicodemus" where the premise of the book (a historical novel) is that Nicodemus and Joseph (who secured the tomb to bury Jesus) when out after His resurrection to talk to various witnesses to the events and chronicle the events of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. It has been a very cool book so far, and i would like to share a section of it with you. This section comes from the discussion with Peter, and this is what Peter says; "Fear, it was fear that motivated His execution. Religious charlatans crucified Him for fear He would expose their hypocrisy. Out of fear they posted a gaurd at His tomb. Even in death, they wer tormented by His life. Out of fear, the Temple Gaurd trembled at the angel's message of 'He is Risen.' Faithful women left His empty tomb with mixed emotions, both fear and joy. He allayed their fear with His words, 'Do not be afraid...' Fear stalks each of us like a cunning assasin. At the end of life awaits our greatest fear, death. One day regent Death will point his caustic finger at each of us and say, 'Your turn.' Death offers noone an appeal. Our peace is found in the fact that He defeated death and demonstrated by His resurrection there is life beyond the grave. Regarding death, the greatest fear, He said... 'Fear not.'" (The Chronicles of Nicodemus, page 141) Now, does the author not hit the nail on the head with this section. We as human beings live so much of our lives in fear, and make so many decisions we make based on fear. There are many people who get married just b/c they are afraid to be alone, and that often leads to much heartache for both parties involved. Sometime we put way too much time into our job, b/c we are afraid of losing it, and that often comes at the cost of family. Many young ladies in the world give up their virginity and innocence with some boy, just b/c they are afraid to lose him, and often with disastrous consequences. Many people get involved in drugs or alchohol b/c they are afraid to stand up and say no, and others still do so to cover up some other fear or hurt which they are going through. And then ultimatley, we all end up doing something stupid and fear death, simply b/c we don't want this life to end. Fear is sadly one of our biggest motivatiors as human beings.... But what does Jesus say about fear? He says, "Fear not!" What an amazing comfort and encouragment to us who follow Him. Paul goes on to say that we were not given a spirit of fear, but of boldness and of power. If you are a Christian, you are indwelt with the very spirit that calmed the waves, created the universe, split the veil, drove out demons, died on the cross, nullified the power of hell, and spat in the face of death and said, "NO MORE!" Don't let your flesh make you live in fear, but live in the power of that spirit that endwells you. Now, if you aren't a Christian, then you don't have that spirit yet... you still have the human spirit of fear, and I encourage you to seek out someone to help you meet the Jesus that I serve... the Jesus that told death it would no longer have the victory over His people....