The Biblical authors couldn’t envision reverence without a grain of apprehension.

That’s why they often described a deep adoration of the Lord God of Israel using the word “fear.” King David even provided the paradigm of true reverence—along with the positive outcome:

“Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His life shall dwell in goodness, and his descendants shall inherit the land. The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He shall make them know His covenant.” [Psa. 25:12-14] [my emphasis]

The secret? Really?

[Heb: סוֹד (sod) council, counsel, secret, intimacy, fellowship]

Imagine sharing spiritual intimacy with Him in the form of “secret” counsel while, at the same time, experiencing prosperity in every valid dimension of life in this age—only then to eventually inherit a portion of His real property in the age to come!

That’s what His covenant is all about!

But it seems my capacity to even understand what that actually is would be contingent upon my willingness to “fear” Him. That’s not to say my faith should be driven by fear—only that it manifests itself more fully when tempered with a healthy dose of deference and awe.

Fear can paralyze or it can incite.

The man who learns to recognize its methods will become its master rather than its subject.

Have you read about the promise God gave to the patriarch Abraham?

It’s the one that keeps on giving.

The Lord God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac. [Gen. 22:1-2] But then He stopped him from doing it [Gen.22:10-12] even though Abraham was fully convinced that if he’d actually taken his own son’s life, the Lord would’ve certainly raised him right back up again! [Gen. 22:5]

That’s the stuff faith is made of.

Because then the Lord promised Abraham that, through just One Man out of all his descendants, all people shall have the opportunity to be blessed:

“In your Seed [singular noun] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” [Gen. 22:18]

And the apostle Paul confirmed who that One Man is:

“…in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might [be able to] receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” [Gal. 3:14] [my emphasis]

The apostle Peter, after reviewing Scriptural prophecy to a crowd of rowdy disbelievers on the first day of Pentecost following Jesus Christ’s ascension, instructed them on what to do and why:

“‘Repent, and each of you be baptized on the basis of the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and [then] you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away—as many as the Lord our God might call to Himself.‘” [Ac.2:38-39] [my emphasis]

This is the clause to remember: “…as many as the Lord our God might call to Himself.”

“The promise” isn’t to receive the Spirit. It’s to receive the blessing of Abraham because of having the same degree of faith that he had. There was no doubt in his mind that God could bring the dead back to life, and there’s no other hope—or blessing, the apostles of Jesus sought. That’s why Paul said,

“So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the believing [man], Abraham.” [Gal. 3-9]

That was the embodiment of his faith, and it’s also mine.

The world tells us that the human heart is basically good.

But the God of Jeremiah? Not so much:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord…the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? [Jeremiah 17:5-9] [my emphasis]

On the other hand, who can deny the overflowing abundance of goodwill and compassion that we demonstrate to one another on a daily basis? For indeed, much of that is a result of the presence of the Holy Spirit Himself working in the transformed hearts of the men and women who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

So the “good fight” is a race that’s being won. [1Tim. 6:12]

But the highest hurdle for my flesh wasn’t built in front of me. It was built inside of me.

Satan never tries to sell himself. He knows I’ve learned to recognize most of his tactics through the presence of the Spirit. But one method still seems to be really effective. He convinces me that I’m the only one who can save myself.

Not God. Not Jesus. Not him. Not nobody.

The key is for me to instill a harmless, remedial sense of self sufficiency somewhere in my “basically good heart.” What careless God-fearing man wouldn’t jump at that!

Unfortunately, the Great Deceiver is often way ahead of us. The apostle Paul explains that I, having believed, belong to Christ and NOTHING can ever change that. [see: Eph. 1:13-14]

Yet while he can never diminish or take away that redemptive status, Satan can, however, prevent me from inheriting the very best the Lord has to give me when I sit on the judgment seat before Him [2Cor. 5:10] when He returns to inaugurate His millennial kingdom in the next age. [see also: Matt. 25:14-30]

Inheriting is the ONLY thing the Evil One can convince me to squander.

But he doesn’t want me to know it.

Little boys learn from what they see and what they don’t see.

And I’m afraid they’re not seeing some things they need to, that is—fathers being saviors.

It is indeed true that governments have been instituted among men and derive their just powers from the consent of those being governed. This is actually a Biblical concept. The Lord created men to judge by His Own standards, and His first [not last] line of defense against any form of evil was intended to be demonstrated through that government created by and consisting of men.

If a man fails to appropriate that role, he fails in that role. If he fails in that role, his family, his congregation and his culture will suffer as a consequence.

And the effects are cumulative.

So the true savior will always fight because he loves his God, not necessarily because of his love for anything else. He will confront evil from every dimension available to launch the attack—physically, intellectually and spiritually.

But even he can be caught off guard. The Great Deceiver preys upon his weaknesses. In his pursuit to build and preserve his domain of righteousness, the savior can easily lose sight of his Achilles heel. That’s why the man who claims to belong to Jesus Christ cannot afford to fight alone.

The good news is that the call to defend the innocent and vulnerable has always resonated with men. Just as young boys are constantly looking for real masculine behavior to imitate, so also are clear thinking men drawn to the call of battle.

Wholesome, prosperous people are the champions of courage and sacrifice—especially of men. But, unfortunately, most men allow themselves to be defeated spiritually before they succumb physically.

O’ man of God, He’s calling you to live and act in the likeness of His Son, the Christ, for the sake of posterity.

Will you teach them how?

How do we know what to believe?

Never used to be a problem for me. I’d simply ask the pastor what we all believed after I joined. Then I wondered why the enthusiasm didn’t last very long.

On the other hand, I normally had plenty of confidence navigating my occupation, having the necessary knowledge in that realm I could base information on. And I loved acquiring that knowledge.

So, is there any way for Jesus Christ’s disciple to validate what he hears?

I could confirm much of what’s said about the Bible by simply corroborating parts of the Old Testament with the New Testament—especially what the apostle Paul wrote because, believe it or not, not everyone just took him at his word:

“The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” [Ac. 17:11] [my emphasis]

[προθυμία, (prǒ-thū-mee’-â) willingness, readiness, eagerness, zeal]

Of course, at that time, Paul didn’t have quite the reputation he has now. Even so, the reliability of God’s written word is substantiated in the text of this passage—along with evidence of the audacity some people are willing to demonstrate just to be sure about what others tell them.

So, is it really that simple? Is truth available to me if I’m just willing to read the Bible inductively?

I’m convinced it is. Not unlike a job, a big part of discipleship is about attaining enough knowledge to be able to discern between truth and lies.

The Bereans knew what the Scriptures said because they loved them.

And they were determined to know the truth.

Something inside of me always suspected that gruesome, morbid festivities were inherently inappropriate.

But somehow, celebrating a day known as “Halloween” got a pass. I could dress myself and my kids up like zombies—all for a few laughs and some free candy. Then, later, when that tiny sense of errancy began to raise its ugly head , I’d raise my bar accordingly, allowing only costumes which were “cute” or “innocent.”

Gotta love that word.

Innocence is the absence of blame. It defines a condition vindicated from guilt. It can also be considered a virtue. But it was never intended to be an excuse for vacuous behavior.

For years, I attempted to justify using my child’s true innocence to protect my ignorance—and eventually, my obstinance about participating in Halloween activities. I was okay with enrolling my sacred trust from the Lord into what is the greatest folly of the darkness of this world.

But I never considered the consequences.

The world loves Halloween. But if I’m truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’ll allow the Spirit to guide me, because I can’t get a little bit pregnant: 

“Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her [Babylon] sins and receive of her plagues…”  [Rev. 18:4a]

Moms, dads, grandpas and grandmas, Halloween is your opportunity to shine:  

“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”    [Eph. 5:11-12]

Be bold.  Remember Jesus.  Remember Charlie.