God's Word Above All

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” -1 John 5:3.

Scripture proclaims that God gave His Son Jesus a name above every name, and so we read,

10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” -Philippians 2:10,11.

Yet in spite of this familiar passage, there's another Bible verse in Psalm 138:2 which asserts that God has also MAGNIFIED His Word above all His name; which in some ways fits perfectly with the scripture in Philippians, because JESUS is the Word of God incarnated;

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” -Psalm 138:2. Bold type added for emphasis.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” -John 1:14.

Many have been heard expressing their affection for Jesus, but it's RARE to find those who truly love ALL of God's Words; oh, how they claim love for the name of Jesus and what they think it represents, yet Jesus said His Words are often a stumbling block, turning people away (Mark 4:16,17).

The written Word of God is vital for our understanding, just like the wording of any contract or warranty would be, and it's the believer's handbook for living a victorious Christian life. There are 4 things of note I see the written Word doing, and the first is that it proves our God is the real & true God. Secondly, it shows that men's good works aren't accepted by Him to earn salvation (Ephesians 2:8,9). Number three is that it provides criteria for exposing false prophets, and fourth of all it helps to measure the depth and sincerity of our love for Jesus.

Jesus magnified the Word above His name, when He met 2 of His disciples on the road to Emmaeus after the resurrection; keeping His identity hidden from them until first showing them the scriptures about His suffering and death, lest the joy in seeing Him should overshadow the Word.

David was called, “A man after God's own heart,” (Acts 13:22) and he loved the Lord very deeply, and it was he along with 30,000 men of Israel who sought earnestly to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem; yet it was in his passion & haste that David failed to seek God for exactly HOW this should be done, which Israel had been instructed in hundreds of years before. This mistake led to the death of one handling the Ark, and ended the procession; with the whole event then being needfully redone correctly several months later. See 2 Samuel 6:1-11 and 1 Chronicles 13:1-14, with;

“12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. 13 For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.” -1 Chronicles 15:12,13. Bold type added to emphasize.

The Word of God also warns of false prophets & teachers (2 Peter 2:1-3), informing of the criteria & fruit of the Spirit we must see to separate what's true from the deceptive, an issue with eternal consequences.

“15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” -Matthew 7:15-20. See also Deuteronomy 13:1-4.

Jesus also taught things about His Word like we see in these verses;

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” -Matthew 4:4.

“23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” -John 14:23,24.

These teachings are unspeakably important, so if we're to fulfill them we need the written Word of God to be certain of walking uprightly.

In yet another example, Jesus' disciples knew the importance of His every direction, so even when He told them to go prepare for their last Passover together, they didn't just go and “take care of it”, but instead asked Jesus WHERE they should go; for they desired God's will to be done in all that they did. Do we seek God for every plan of action we take?

“8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?” -Luke 22:8,9.

Experiences and feelings are subjective to those who have them, but God's Word is equally true for everyone, and is unchanging; therefore God has magnified it above even His name, which gives us a lasting hope such as no momentary excitement ever could. Don't yield your affections to what's glamorous or eye-catching, but anchor down instead to the unmovable Word of God.

“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” -Luke 16:31.

“24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” -Matthew 7:24,25.

I also have some short YouTube teachings on this subject. They can be found at https://youtube.com/shorts/AFJitTbbDuQ and https://youtube.com/shorts/3zuVDmlukOg?feature=share.

Fear, Faith, and God's Love

“And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” -Mark 8:40.

Revelation 21:8 has a list of 8 qualities we'll see among those whose place is in the Lake of Fire,

and at the TOP of this list is the quality of being fearful, which at first puzzled me; why would a merciful God pass the sentence of eternal punishment toward those already suffering from fearfulness?

Here are verses 7&8 in their entirety, though the focus of this message is only about FEAR, and how it relates in a Christian's life.

“7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” -Revelation 21:7,8.

The 8 qualities mentioned here in order are; fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars. I find it interesting that the quality of being fearful is followed by that of unbelief, or faithlessness; which you can also find linked with the theme in the opening verse!

The Bible declares that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), which ultimately leads us to Christ; but it was LOVE that led our Lord to die for our sins on the cross (Romans 5:8), and this is the love of God scripture refers to when it says;

“16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him...18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us.” -from 1 John 4:16-19.

It's important to know that unreasonable FEARS are a fruit of the flesh Christians need to put away, for we already know the Bible identifies the fearful as having a place in the Lake of Fire, and we shouldn't be counted among them.

“12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” -Romans 8:12-14. Bold type added.

Daniel would've certainly had a reasonable fear of lions, but his love for God kept him praying despite the danger that went along with it (Daniel 6:4-10); and it also was likewise for his three friends with regard to the king's idol, but their devotion to the Lord readily overcame any fear of death in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:8-18).

Men like these were really looking through the eyes of FAITH (Hebrews 11:1,6) at the unseen God, knowing that all things are possible for Him, and their souls were safe in His hands.

“...Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” -from Revelation 14:13.

And at one point when Elisha & his servant were surrounded by the Syrian army, his faith saw the inumerable forces of God standing ready to deliver them!

“15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” -2 Kings 6:15-17.

So we see here examples of the fear-conquering love God gives to His children; a quality that is a part of us, because His Spirit dwells within; and equipping us to overcome in every trial temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13); the Bible says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7. Bold type added to point out that fear is not of God!

But scripture also shows times that faith has failed when facing fear, and one of these comes in Jeremiah 26, where both Jeremiah and the little-known prophet Urijah were being threatened for preaching the same warning of forthcoming judgment upon the people of Israel. Jeremiah trusted in the Lord, and his life was spared, but Urijah fled in fear for his life into Egypt; yet the king sent soldiers to recapture him, and he was soon executed (Jeremiah 26:20-24).

And it is this type of fearfulness that God condemns; it's a fear that doesn't trust Him, one that doesn't believe the promises from His Word; it reflects a love for life here in this world rather than for the eternal things of God. Jesus told us in Matthew 10:39,

“ He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” -John 12:25

Our enemy the devil seeks to destroy us with fear (John 10:10), but Jesus made the way for us to have peace in Him despite the tribulation He said this world will bring; never forget that God is love, and through His Holy Spirit within us we're already equipped with that perfect love scripture points to; which is the key element needed to free us from fear.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” -1 Corinmthians 3:16.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33.

I also have 2 short videos on YouTube about this topic: Love that conquers Fear, and Love Casts Out Fear.