There are different motives for climbing the stairway to Heaven.The first incentive to begin to climb up from the sickness and vomit of sin -- is fear.This kind of fear - slavish fear -- is the fear of punishment or of suffering.When a person begins to see the penalty for sin, recognizes his or her vices, failures and sins, and begins to understand there is punishment for sin, he/she will begin to hate the sin rather than embrace it.Slavish fear in and by itself is not enough for the soul to stay above the temptations of the world, the incentives of the flesh and the influences of the demon.Those motivated only by slavish fear begin to climb out of sin, but are climbing imperfectly.Slavish fear must be transformed into holy fear.What is Holy Fear?Holy Fear, or Fear of the Lord, is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.It is also known as "wonder and awe," or "awe of God." In Proverbs 1.7 and 9.10, the fear of the Lord is called the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.Fear of God fills the soul with a sovereign respect for God and makes one dread above all things, offending God.It is a fear of separating oneself from God.(Thomas Aquinas).To gain the Kingdom of God, one must unite fear to love -- which is Holy Fear.This is powerful and effective because it unites us with the Strength of God.And the Strength of God is Love.Love joined to fear is transforming and lifts the soul to perfect love and to the Kingdom and helps one (and those around us) climb perfectly.Holy fear is not slavish fear, it is not a fear instilling dissension, disagreement, panic or terror.Holy fear is a loving response to God's love."The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers." Acts 9.31.Do you find yourself falling into the same sin pattern again and again? Do you ask yourself why? The answer is.Seek a greater love.The Law of Fear was the Old Law given to Moses in the Old Testament.The Law was built upon fear.Under the Law, if you sinned, you suffered the penalty, and you most likely suffered it in this life.Deuteronomy 30.15 The New Law, which is the fulfillment of the Old came about through Jesus Christ and His atonement for sin upon the Cross.The Old Law was not dissolved by Jesus Christ, but was fulfilled by Him, because His Saving Work was built upon love.Jesus said, "I have not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it." Mt 5.17.Jesus fulfilled the Old Law by joining it -- the law of fear -- with the law of love.He fulfilled in salvation history, on a grand scale, what you and I must fulfill within ourselves on a personal level, in faith, hope and love, being joined to Him.Thus the imperfectness of slavish fear -- the fear of suffering and punishment - will be transformed into reverential fear, which is, the fear of sinning, the fear of offending God.How is holy fear cultivated? By gazing upon Jesus Christ crucified.Love is cultivated by seeing Christ crucified and His love for us."How can I go on sinning in the face of love like that?" Love is cultivated if the soul, when awakening from sin, will lift her gaze to Christ crucified.The soul will see in faith the love God has for the soul and seeing God as supreme Goodness and Love, the soul will begin to recognize the reward of virtue, and take the next step upward.Soon the soul feels the slavish fear leave her and holy fear begin to replace it.The soul feels the forgiveness of sin, the refreshing Strength of the Holy Spirit and recognizes the Love inside."If He is here, in my bosom, I must be on the right path.".God is supreme Goodness and Love.Only if one turns to God and is united with Him, can the person remain in God.Thus holy fear is necessary for us stay above the flesh, world and temptations of the demon Happy is the man who has seen the greatness of God, has touched His Holiness, has sensed His unlimited Power, has encountered the sovereign Majesty."During Advent, a great yearning for God arose in my soul.My spirit rushed toward God with all its might.During that time, the Lord gave me much light to know His attributes."The first attribute which the Lord gave me to know is His holiness.His holiness is so great that all the Powers and Virtues tremble before Him.The pure spirits veil their faces and lose themselves in unending adoration, and with one single word they express the highest form of adoration; that is - Holy.The holiness of God is poured out upon the Church of God and upon every living soul in it, but not in the same degree.There are souls who are completely penetrated by God, and there are those who are barely alive.The second kind of knowledge which the Lord granted me concerns His justice.His justice is so great and penetrating that it reaches deep into the heart of things, and all things stand before Him in naked truth, and nothing can withstand Him.The third attribute is love and mercy.And I understood that the greatest attribute is love and mercy.It unites the creature with the Creator.This immense love and abyss of mercy are made know in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God's attributes." Sister Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, Marian Press, page 100, #180.Holy fear.Cultivate it.Pray for it.Prepare for it.Today, the gift of Holy Fear must be again kindled in hearts.Modern man has lost the sense of sin.(Archbishop Fulton Sheen).Today sin is often promulgated (taught, published, put into law, decreed) and declared as a good! This is particularly evident in the laws that are being changed in our country, disseminated by the press, television and entertainment industries, and supported by many in the political and social arenas.It is a grave error not to warn each other of sin, in particular, deadly sin, because if the awareness of sin is not taught, or even more pernicious, if evil is substituted for that which is holy, taught and accepted as a good, then the Law of love becomes the "Law" of the world, the flesh and the demon.If evil is accepted as a good, this will lead to the death of the soul, which is damnation, because the impetus for repentance from sin is not there and there is no incentive for change.Sin which is not confessed, which is not atoned for by perfect contrition (sorrow for sin) will not go unpunished.Sin does not go unpunished! We are in a time of mercy as we walk the earth, but when we die, we will face the time of justice.Compromise with sin and teaching the acceptance of sin, rather than the warning and call for the personal and global rejection of sin is a grave error! Who will put our feet upon the stairway to Heaven? How will we recognize the sin we are in? When will we (as a nation) make the next step to perfect love? Pray for Fear! Your prayer is necessary.Your prayer will be heard.We each must ask for the gift of the Holy Fear, (Wonder and Awe) for ourselves, for our families, and for the USA.Philippians 2.12.Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov.1.7).And love is wisdom.Those motivated only by fear, slavish fear, begin to climb out of sin, but are climbing imperfectly.Do you find yourself falling into the same sin patterns again and again? The answer is.Seek a greater love.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The Gift of the Holy Spirit - Fear
There are different motives for climbing the stairway to Heaven.The first incentive to begin to climb up from the sickness and vomit of sin -- is fear.This kind of fear - slavish fear -- is the fear of punishment or of suffering.When a person begins to see the penalty for sin, recognizes his or her vices, failures and sins, and begins to understand there is punishment for sin, he/she will begin to hate the sin rather than embrace it.Slavish fear in and by itself is not enough for the soul to stay above the temptations of the world, the incentives of the flesh and the influences of the demon.Those motivated only by slavish fear begin to climb out of sin, but are climbing imperfectly.Slavish fear must be transformed into holy fear.What is Holy Fear?Holy Fear, or Fear of the Lord, is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.It is also known as "wonder and awe," or "awe of God." In Proverbs 1.7 and 9.10, the fear of the Lord is called the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.Fear of God fills the soul with a sovereign respect for God and makes one dread above all things, offending God.It is a fear of separating oneself from God.(Thomas Aquinas).To gain the Kingdom of God, one must unite fear to love -- which is Holy Fear.This is powerful and effective because it unites us with the Strength of God.And the Strength of God is Love.Love joined to fear is transforming and lifts the soul to perfect love and to the Kingdom and helps one (and those around us) climb perfectly.Holy fear is not slavish fear, it is not a fear instilling dissension, disagreement, panic or terror.Holy fear is a loving response to God's love."The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers." Acts 9.31.Do you find yourself falling into the same sin pattern again and again? Do you ask yourself why? The answer is.Seek a greater love.The Law of Fear was the Old Law given to Moses in the Old Testament.The Law was built upon fear.Under the Law, if you sinned, you suffered the penalty, and you most likely suffered it in this life.Deuteronomy 30.15 The New Law, which is the fulfillment of the Old came about through Jesus Christ and His atonement for sin upon the Cross.The Old Law was not dissolved by Jesus Christ, but was fulfilled by Him, because His Saving Work was built upon love.Jesus said, "I have not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it." Mt 5.17.Jesus fulfilled the Old Law by joining it -- the law of fear -- with the law of love.He fulfilled in salvation history, on a grand scale, what you and I must fulfill within ourselves on a personal level, in faith, hope and love, being joined to Him.Thus the imperfectness of slavish fear -- the fear of suffering and punishment - will be transformed into reverential fear, which is, the fear of sinning, the fear of offending God.How is holy fear cultivated? By gazing upon Jesus Christ crucified.Love is cultivated by seeing Christ crucified and His love for us."How can I go on sinning in the face of love like that?" Love is cultivated if the soul, when awakening from sin, will lift her gaze to Christ crucified.The soul will see in faith the love God has for the soul and seeing God as supreme Goodness and Love, the soul will begin to recognize the reward of virtue, and take the next step upward.Soon the soul feels the slavish fear leave her and holy fear begin to replace it.The soul feels the forgiveness of sin, the refreshing Strength of the Holy Spirit and recognizes the Love inside."If He is here, in my bosom, I must be on the right path.".God is supreme Goodness and Love.Only if one turns to God and is united with Him, can the person remain in God.Thus holy fear is necessary for us stay above the flesh, world and temptations of the demon Happy is the man who has seen the greatness of God, has touched His Holiness, has sensed His unlimited Power, has encountered the sovereign Majesty."During Advent, a great yearning for God arose in my soul.My spirit rushed toward God with all its might.During that time, the Lord gave me much light to know His attributes."The first attribute which the Lord gave me to know is His holiness.His holiness is so great that all the Powers and Virtues tremble before Him.The pure spirits veil their faces and lose themselves in unending adoration, and with one single word they express the highest form of adoration; that is - Holy.The holiness of God is poured out upon the Church of God and upon every living soul in it, but not in the same degree.There are souls who are completely penetrated by God, and there are those who are barely alive.The second kind of knowledge which the Lord granted me concerns His justice.His justice is so great and penetrating that it reaches deep into the heart of things, and all things stand before Him in naked truth, and nothing can withstand Him.The third attribute is love and mercy.And I understood that the greatest attribute is love and mercy.It unites the creature with the Creator.This immense love and abyss of mercy are made know in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God's attributes." Sister Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, Marian Press, page 100, #180.Holy fear.Cultivate it.Pray for it.Prepare for it.Today, the gift of Holy Fear must be again kindled in hearts.Modern man has lost the sense of sin.(Archbishop Fulton Sheen).Today sin is often promulgated (taught, published, put into law, decreed) and declared as a good! This is particularly evident in the laws that are being changed in our country, disseminated by the press, television and entertainment industries, and supported by many in the political and social arenas.It is a grave error not to warn each other of sin, in particular, deadly sin, because if the awareness of sin is not taught, or even more pernicious, if evil is substituted for that which is holy, taught and accepted as a good, then the Law of love becomes the "Law" of the world, the flesh and the demon.If evil is accepted as a good, this will lead to the death of the soul, which is damnation, because the impetus for repentance from sin is not there and there is no incentive for change.Sin which is not confessed, which is not atoned for by perfect contrition (sorrow for sin) will not go unpunished.Sin does not go unpunished! We are in a time of mercy as we walk the earth, but when we die, we will face the time of justice.Compromise with sin and teaching the acceptance of sin, rather than the warning and call for the personal and global rejection of sin is a grave error! Who will put our feet upon the stairway to Heaven? How will we recognize the sin we are in? When will we (as a nation) make the next step to perfect love? Pray for Fear! Your prayer is necessary.Your prayer will be heard.We each must ask for the gift of the Holy Fear, (Wonder and Awe) for ourselves, for our families, and for the USA.Philippians 2.12.Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov.1.7).And love is wisdom.Those motivated only by fear, slavish fear, begin to climb out of sin, but are climbing imperfectly.Do you find yourself falling into the same sin patterns again and again? The answer is.Seek a greater love.
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