I have another blog, a private one, called Serendipitous Intersections, which features one post every day of the year. The gist of the blog is, it's a melding of three other 365-day "devotionals", one the famous work of Oswald Chambers and two others containing the work of George MacDonald. What I do is, I juxtapose the daily readings, usually in excerpt form but sometimes in whole, from the three sources and then add a heading of my own intended to unite them in a single concept or angle. Here in Armenia
(Based on my May 21st post in Serendipitous Intersections: "Beyond the fear: surrendered to the Making Will (or, From first fear to first love)"-- which is itself based on the May 21st readings in "My Utmost for His Highest" [Chambers], "Diary of an Old Soul" [MacDonald], and reading #142 in "365 Daily Readings from George MacDonald", [MacDonald, edited by C.S. Lewis].)
Does the Bible say that love casts out fear?
No, it doesn’t exactly say that. Let’s read 1 John 4:18 (read).
So it is perfect
love that casts out fear. Yes, “there is no fear in love,” but it is only perfect love that casts out fear, all fear.
Just as the Law was a good tutor to control
and guide us till we came to Christ, so fear is a good “supervisor” until we
come to perfect love. Ultimately, love
is the whole essence and substance of our relationship to God, but until perfect
love is realized, it is good that fear serves as at least a poor, elementary
bond with God, a bond between Man and his Maker. [Mc]
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.” It’s not the end of wisdom,
but it’s the beginning, and if you don’t begin
the journey you’ll get nowhere!
Jesus told His disciples, “I have called you
my servants, but now I call you my friends.” The servant fears his master, and,
yes, he may love his master, too, but only friends partake together in perfect
love that casts out all fear.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus scolds the
Ephesian church for losing their first love. They have lost their first love in
two senses: the love they experienced at
first, when their faith was new and vibrant and zealous; and the love that
should always have first place in
their lives. “First love” is first
with respect to both time and priority. It is the entrance into life with the living God and it is the “pearl of
great price” for which we are ready to lose everything
else… if, by God’s mercy, we are in our right minds.
And in His
perfect love Jesus gives the Ephesian
church something: a reason to fear; He will remove their light if they
don’t repent and return to their first love.
Thank God for a healthy, correcting fear. But
fear cannot be the perfection of our
life in God; it is only the beginning
of wisdom. The soul that stands distant from God, in alienation from Him and
darkness—there is no hope for that soul if it never experiences fear. The path to the true fulfillment of the
human soul is from first fear to first love, from first love to the perfect love that will cast out all fear
forever, when we live for only “the
Making Will” and the soul-filling breath of God [Mc]. When we live for that
alone, no place is left for fear,
only for perfect love.
Then we will understand, in starkly new dimensions of understanding, what it means to seek first--first of all, most of all, in all and after all--to seek first the kingdom of God [OC]. Perfect love casts out all that pretends to be first but is not the life of God. Perfect Love is First Love's conclusive victory and triumphant arrival, with all contenders vanquished, at the union of wills with the Beloved.
Then we will understand, in starkly new dimensions of understanding, what it means to seek first--first of all, most of all, in all and after all--to seek first the kingdom of God [OC]. Perfect love casts out all that pretends to be first but is not the life of God. Perfect Love is First Love's conclusive victory and triumphant arrival, with all contenders vanquished, at the union of wills with the Beloved.
