Jesus was afraid of nothing and no-one. He was prudent in leaving places where he wasn’t welcome or where there was an arrest warrant for him, but being afraid was never part of who he was or is.

The only fear that Jesus had during his time on Earth was fear of the Lord, which wasn’t fear in the sense of being afraid of God but respecting and acknowledging God’s power. Jesus feared God, he wasn’t afraid of God. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and so we, like Jesus, should also fear God.

Jesus was afraid of nothing and no-one. As his followers, we should likewise be afraid of nothing and no-one. If you fear something or someone other than God, you are letting the spirit of fear lord over you. The spirit of fear is not from God.

The world is under the power of the spirit of fear, which is why the world is now so deeply afraid. For the world, the pursuit of safety has become the highest good. Where people used to say “Good bye!”, they now say “Stay safe!” Where people used to open their letters and emails with “I hope you’re doing well”, they now open with “I hope you’re staying safe”. The desire to be safe from whatever it is that is prompting their fears is driving the world to take drastic measures that are destroying whole economies and cultures. Some would say this is a controlled demolition that has been conceived as such (and there is ample evidence to support that theory), but still none of this would be possible if people had not given in so completely to the spirit of fear.

Followers of Jesus have no cause to fear what the world fears. In one of his final recorded prayers in the book of John, Jesus asks God to protect those who are his in the world. He doesn’t ask God to remove them from the world; he asks God to protect them. Jesus made that request to God out loud for the sake of his followers – for the sake of us – so that we would know that we are protected.

We are not to fear what the world fears. We are to fear God and God only. We are not to be afraid of those things that make the world afraid. We are to stand before God with our faces uncovered, certain of God’s protection. Born-again believers are ALWAYS before God. There is no time when they are not. We are not to cover our faces, not for any edict or mandate or policy or rule or threat or law or doctrine of man. Jesus died so that we could again stand before God without a covering veil between us. When you cover your face in response to the world’s fears, you nullify what Jesus accomplished for you.

We are not to live as the world lives or to fear what the world fears. God is protecting us to live as Jesus lived. If you are prohibited or forcefully prevented from living as Jesus lived, then you are to leave that place and shake the dust off the bottom of your feet as you go, as a sign against them.

We followers of Jesus have no excuse not to live as Jesus lived, no excuse not to live free from the spirit of fear that is deceiving the world. Through Jesus’ prayer, God has empowered us to live as Jesus lived, certain in our protection. We should be afraid of nothing and no-one.

Let the Spirit of God – not the spirit of fear – be your guide.