So often a religious spirit is rooted in the fear of man. With the religious spirit, there is a love for tradition. A religious spirit is a form of godliness but denies the power of God.
Pennie gave a list of verses that the Lord highlighted to her about the fear of man:
Mark 7:5-8 "So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions."
Matthew 11:25 "At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
The fear of God doesn't mean that we don't trust him. It means that we have reverence for Him. We have fear in the sense that we know his authority.
Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Fear of man would be holding that same reverence and sense of authority over man. We're thinking about what other's opinions of ourselves are more important.
Proverbs 29:25 "The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."
Pennie connected this to Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. "That verse is in the context of money, but it seems to apply to many other things. You get to pick who is going to be master of your life. The verse says that you will either love one or hate the other. You have to choose if you will fear the Lord or fear man.
John 5:30 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
John 2:23-25 "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. "
John 5:41 - 44 "“I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
Mark 12:14 "They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?"
John 7:16-18 "So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."
John 8:29 "The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."
John 12:42-43 "Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God."
Matt 21:45-46 "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet."
John 12:42 "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet."
Let's look a little closer at the fear of man. When you think about a religious spirit back in Jesus' time. The religious leaders back then loved God, but the resisted everything that came from Jesus. Pennie connected that to today. First it was resisting Jesus, then it went to "we'll take God and Jesus, but not Holy Spirit", then the religious leaders called Jesus blasphemous for saying he was God and that he hears from God.
Fear of God can manifest as approval addiction, people pleasing, caring what people thing, performance, and more. With these, there's usually a pulling back out of fear, or it manifests in the opposite with the feeling of the need to impress and prove something. When we see these things happening, it's an alert to check on where your identity is rooted.
Pennie shared a few stories of where the Lord has freed her from fear of man.
Bill Johnson says in his book The Way of Life, "Those who struggle most often with the fear of man, are usually people have the gift of discerning the hearts of others. This person becomes unusually aware of the ideas, opinions and convictions of others. Using this gift correctly, this person is able to serve well and they know the tender areas of another persons heart. But this gift used outside of the lordship of Jesus causes them to react to what they discern and fall under the influence of an unredeemed mind. When a discerning heart is used correctly, they're no longer intimidated by the opinions of others, but are instead positions to serve that one who tends to control others by their stance on issues. The issues at hand is the lordship of Jesus and that really is the key to a healthy soul."
Dancing is something that Pennie used to be so insecure about. She recalls being the insecure junior high student who would hardly move at school dances. She was so afraid to be embarrassed. But as she walked through revival, dancing was one of the first places that the Lord has set her free. Another place is with singing. She was always terrified to sing in front of others, but now she feels freedom to sing spontaneously as she interacts with the Lord and leads others.
A few tips as we work towards overcoming fear of man.
1. Pleasing people is not the same and loving them. If we focus too much on pleasing people, we might miss the point of loving them by speaking Truth.
2. Keep surrendering to the Lord. As we follow him obediently, he continues to break off the fear of man.
3. Sometimes it's helpful to just have a talk with ourselves when we're feeling heavy and burdened. The heavy yoke comes from caring of others' opinions. Jesus' yoke is light. Have a conversation with yourself and ask if you honestly care about what that person thinks more than what God thinks.
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