I was thinking what to study and share and thought I was going to use this material I had on fear….and we ARE going to do some pondering about “fear” but from a different direction.
We are using GotQuestions and expounding on it.
Song: I Will Change Your Name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK7ubGt8NxM
Unbroken Praise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpvJDyLI07M
Enter His Gates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kgQNT6MIIw
Prayer: Lord we thank you for your love for each of us. We thank you for this place and this time tonight where we can set aside the cares of life and simply “be” with you for this time. We especially want to life up Violinist to you for peace and for complete and total healing. Thank you that he will be ok. And thank you also that you know every single need we each have and you CARE and you ARE doing something about them too. Help us to choose trust and faith and hope even when it is difficult.
In Jesus name, amen.

Question: "How is the fear of man a snare (Proverbs 29:25)?"
Answer: Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”
Dodi Note: Do any of you remember SJReid? She used to lead the codependency group here some years ago. At that time I almost stopped going to her share meetings because I felt intimidated by another chatter. She asked me if I was going to let FEAR or GOD dictate my life.
That is a valid question for all of us. Back then if someone was mad at me, or I felt like I displeased someone I would do anything to try to make them “not mad, or not displeased” with me. Even when I knew I had done nothing wrong.
But I came to realize, it is God alone I need to fear/please. And that was the beginning of what you all have heard me say many times. We do NOT get our idenity by what others think, say about us, or even do to us. Once we are secure in Who we ARE in Jesus, then we are safe to “be” ourselves. And at the same time, saved from codependency or the need to “fix” anyone else.
The devil DOES NOT like it when we become who God created us to be and KNOW who we are.
The author goes on to say:
A snare is a lure or a trap. Fishermen sometimes use snares to catch fish. Hunters use various kinds of snares to trap game. And Satan uses snares to trap human beings (Jeremiah 5:26). One of those snares is the fear of man.
Jeremiah 5:26
For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.
The fear of man can be both physical and psychological. Jesus said to His followers, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:4–5).
Jesus was preparing the disciples for the physical persecution that would follow His resurrection (Luke 21:12; Acts 8:1).
They would be beaten, stoned, flogged, and imprisoned (2 Corinthians 11:24–27). Many of them would be killed.
Yet He warned them not to let the fear of man stop them from proclaiming the gospel. Even though His followers would undergo tremendous physical suffering for His sake, the trials would be brief and temporary (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The moment they left the earth, they would forever reap rewards for their faithfulness. Wicked men could hurt them no longer (Revelation 3:5).
Now, let’s go back and ponder those verses which were just referenced.
Luke 21:12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
Dodi Note: Wow…..and we too will be picked on. Maybe at work. Maybe in our own family. Maybe even at our church. We can and many people over the world really do, suffer for following Jesus. The original disciples were mostly killed, right?
Acts 8:1
And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Dodi Note: This just floors me. Saul was a zealous persecuter of the Followers of Jesus and had many killed. BUT THEN GOD….. got ahold of Saul. His name was changed to Paul. And Paul wrote much of the New Testament and became just as zealous about following and sharing about Jesus and His love.
Paul surely ceased pleasing the popular crowd and began pleasing God, didn’t he?
2 Corinthinans 11:24-27
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
Dodi Note: Paul did not have it easy when he began to “fear” God, did he?
2 Corinthians 4:17
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
Dodi Note: So when people are mad at us, when we get in trouble for following Jesus or for refusing to “play games”, we can remember…Paul. Can you believe Paul called all that we just read “a light and momentary affliction”?
Revelation 3:5
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
Dodi Note: The GOOD news….our name will NEVER be blotted from the Lamb’s Book of life. Jesus himself will introduce us…sort of…. and stand up for us at judgement day. PTL
Dodi Note: We do not for the most part have to deal with the sort of persecution Paul did…the author continues:
But a threat more prevalent to most Christians, especially those in Western and free nations, is the psychological fear of man.
This fear is an anxious need to receive affirmation from those around us.
The fear of man manifests as people-pleasing, compromised values, peer pressure, and a choice not to share our faith.
The fear of man can be a snare when we allow it to influence our decisions.
Rather than obey the voice of the Holy Spirit (John 10:27), we opt for avoiding unpleasant interactions.
John 10:27 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
It’s easier to heed the fear of man than to invite the possibility of consequences.
Consider the bold words of Peter when he and the other apostles were ordered to stop preaching in the name of Jesus: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). The first disciples did not allow the fear of man to keep them from doing what God had called them to do.
Dodi Note: Is it hard for you to remember who you are and act like yourself among family or friends or people who simply do not like you? Or falsely accuse you? I think it is a process.
The fear of man is a snare in that it supplants the fear of God in our lives. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), the fear of man sets us on the road to foolishness.
Psalm 11:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
The fear of man has replaced biblical conviction in some so-called Christian circles today. Public opinion has overridden the clear teaching of Scripture on many social issues.
Entire denominations are caving to the fear of man, and it has become a snare to them.
Dodi Note: I bet you can think of some examples easily. Abortion. “Gay rights”. And on an on.
The desire to be viewed by the world as progressive, enlightened, tolerant, or politically correct is a snare Satan has used to reel people into his way of thinking.
The need to be liked and accepted has become more important than the Word of God to many professing believers, thus proving the truth of Proverbs 29:25. The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Romans 8:31 points us away from the ensnaring fear of man: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
While Christians should always be sensitive to current social issues and be compassionate and kind to all, we must never allow the fear of man to determine our course.
Thousands of martyrs could have avoided death had they only remained silent about their loyalty to Christ.
If they had allowed the fear of man to silence them, they may have won the world’s applause but lost heaven’s.
While Satan cannot steal the salvation of those born again into God’s kingdom (John 1:12; 3:3), he can and does use snares to steal our victory, our witness, and our opportunities to store up treasure in heaven by magnifying the fear of man (John 10:10; Luke 12:33).
John 1:12
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Dodi Note: We, all of us who have been born again have this new identity. We are CHILDREN of GOD. Dearly loved too.
John 3:3 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Dodi Note: Unless we are born again we are NOT children of God. Attending church doesnt do it. Singing in the choir does not do it either. We become born again when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and when we do that, our identity changes. We begin the process of learning who God is and Who we are in Christ and how to act like that. Even when we are hurt, or sad, or mad.
John 10:10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Dodi Note: Would you say a life of pleasing people vs pleasing God is an abundant life?
Luke 12:33 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Dodi Note: A metaphor reminding us that it is by living for Jesus and according to his ways that we are safe to “be”.
Any questions or comments? Next time we will talk about how the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
https://www.gotquestions.org/fear-of-man.html