Don't be afraid.

The fear of God's wrath/punishment is the driving force in many places of worship. This should not be the case.

Many churchgoers are afraid that bad things will happen to them and that Satan's weapons will prosper in their lives if they don't meet certain criteria of (self) righteousness that are laid down by fearmongers and accusers that pose as "men of God" behind many pulpits. People who profess Christ are still trying to break generational and other curses that Christ hung on the cross to redeem us from (Galatians 3:13)

Believer in Christ, by Grace, don't get into panic mode when these false teachers say humans and spirits are planning to attack you or that there is a curse in your life. You'll notice that such "pastors" usually give their victims a person/spirit to view as the enemy instigating the attack, things to do and dates to come back for prayers. This "time gap" between their "prophecy" and their "deliverance" is deliberate- their strategy is to make their victims stew in fear and anxiety that leads to depression during the waiting period: Proverbs 12:25-

"Anxious fear brings depression, but a life-giving word of encouragement can do wonders to restore joy to the heart."

Believer, by God's Grace, don't be afraid of their "prophecies." Christ says to us: "Fear not." This is a given- there will be gatherings against us. Our Lord God said so Himself so these false "pastors" are saying nothing new when they tell you that there is a plot against you. Our Lord God also said whoever assembles against us shall fall for our sake, so we have no reason to fear: Isaiah 54-

14"In righteousness you shall be established;

You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;

And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.

Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake."

The Lord even put "indeed" and "surely" in His word concerning this issue to emphasize that it will surely happen but many who profess Christ get surprised and frightened by the declarations of peddlers of evil reports.

Notice verse 14 says: "In righteousness you shall be established;..." 

In order to be free from oppression, fear, terror and for the promise in verse 15 above to apply in a person's life, one has to be established in righteousness. And whose righteousness are we talking about here? Definitely not ours from our puny efforts at keeping the Law which only serves to cut one off from Christ according to Galatians 5:4. See Whose righteousness it is that we who believe wholly depend on in the same Isaiah 54-

17 ""No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD."

Notice: ""And their righteousness is from Me,”Says the LORD." 

Believer, it is God's gift of righteousness that makes it impossible for the weapons of the enemy to prosper in our lives. The one who is trying to be righteous by keeping the Law cannot have it. One is either righteous by works or righteous by faith and no one can be righteous through the Law (Romans 3:20.) The Law condemns all who try to keep keep it.

Notice that these blessings of "No weapon formed against you shall prosper..." is not for everyone that can attach "in Jesus' name" to the end of each prayer point. It is an inheritance (heritage) for those whose righteousness is from the Lord, not their efforts at keeping the law to be righteous or by doing things that they think God likes/makes them godly. These acts of righteousness that are done to get right with God only serve to cut one off from Christ -

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you havebeen cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Galatians 5:4.

Believer beware of those who magnify your consciousness of how Satan can attack you above God's gift of righteousness to all who believe in Jesus Christ. Only God's gift of righteousness that proceeds from Christ's obedience suffices for God the Righteous Judge and He freely gives to all who believe in Jesus Christ and so, are no longer trying to be righteous/godly (be like God) by keeping the Law.

Many churchgoers are fearful and thus are running from pillar to post seeking escape from weapons of the enemy from "Daddies in the Lord" that prey on their fear and add to it by telling believers that there is a curse or whatever in their life. You that Christ has redeemed from every curse and disarmed Satan for your sake!

God's promise of "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn" to His children cannot be earned by human effort, law-keeping,  self-discipline or by any "silly effort to save yourself" according to our Lord God in Isaiah 30:15 -"...

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves...."

Believer, believe right. The weapon of the enemy - Satan the accuser - is the Law that he uses to accuse; the same Law that many false preachers are putting their congregation under in order for them to be godly (be like God.) Just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the letter kills. For all who believe Him, Christ has disarmed Satan the Accuser of his basis for accusation. See Colossians 2 -

13 "At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 14 He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But he has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross."

Believer, beware of wolves in sheep's clothing that try to put you back under the Law with their false doctrine that brings only fear and a false confidence for those who think they are "still okay" because they are doing their best to be godly by keeping the Law like the Pharisees.  This is the way that seems right to man, afterall, what is bad in striving to be godly (be like God) by keeping the Law? See the result in Proverbs 14:12-

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

Believer, Satan's strategy has not changed since he deceived Eve to depend on her own human effort at attaining godliness by eating from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Like eating from said tree, the end of this way of keeping the law in order to be godly is death.

The letter kills, no matter how little or how much one eats of it or whether one is just keeping it as a guiding principle for morality. Satan, through his ministers on many pulpits, is still seducing many into depending on their arm of flesh (human effort) in the quest to be godly, be accepted by God or to position oneself for His blessings, a direct contradiction of His word in Romans 3:

26"...and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

Believer, our heavenly Father in Christ Himself provided the Way for us to be godly (be like God.) Isaiah prophesied about the suffering of Christ in Isaiah 53. See the result of His suffering for us in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

Isaiah 64:6 describes every righteousness that proceeds from human effort at keeping the Law as "like a menstrual rag" in God's sight - "We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

But see God's heart towards you who believe that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus alone- Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Believer, with Christ as our righteousness and strength, we no longer have to be afraid of punishment. We have been saved from God's wrath. We will never experience it. 1 John 4 tells us:

"17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us."

The TPT version puts it thus: 17 "By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world. 18 Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. 19 Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us."

Believer, all that Christ is right now, so are we in this world, not when we get to heaven and not because we did anything to deserve it. This is the crux of the gospel of Christ: Righteousness by faith and apart from works. Believe it by His Grace.

Of ourselves, we are imperfect people made alive in His perfection. You look at yourself and see all of your flaws and imperfections. But He wants you to see yourself as He sees you: "Yet you are so lovely." Song of Songs 1:5 -

[ The Shulamite ] Jerusalem maidens, in this twilight darkness I know I am so unworthy—so in need. 

[ The Shepherd-King ] Yet you are so lovely! 

[ The Shulamite ] I feel as dark and dry as the desert tents of the wandering nomads. 

[ The Shepherd-King ] Yet you are so lovely— like the fine linen tapestry hanging in the Holy Place.

This is a conversation between the Shulamite (you and I who believe Jesus) and the Shepherd-King (our Saviour Jesus Christ.) Believer, as we continue to see ourselves through the mirror of God's Word (Christ Himself: Grace-personified) and not through the Law (which Romans 3:20 says was given to show us how sinful we are,) we are being transformed by His Spirit: 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Let's take our blessed brains to church: only imperfect people need transformation. The one who can transform himself by will-power and human striving does not need the Spirit of the Lord to transform him.

Believer, by Grace, don't let any false prophet deceive you into believing that you are not 100% righteous and "so lovely" in the sight of our Shepherd-King. He gave His life for your righteousness.

He gives Grace for right living.

In Him, if you sin and mess things up, know that our Saviour Jesus Christ the Shepherd-King will never discard you. He is not in the business of beating or abandoning His sheep that mess themselves up to the ravages of the devourer. He will help you. Our heavenly Father will correct you when you sin but never with the death that Christ already died for you and I at the cross. His correction is not unto death but unto life: Hebrews 12:

9 "Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness."

Notice "His holiness"? Of ourselves, we have none. Beware of any "man of God" that condemns and threatens you who believe with God's wrath in whatever form (generational curse, death, lack) and for whatever reason, even for your sins that you struggle with. They will only make you live under a constant cloud of anxious fears that lead to depression.

To you, Christ says "Don't be afraid." Christ's perfect love casts out fear. Christ came to free you from those very sins that you struggle with and that Satan's ministers condemn you for; He knows that of of ourselves, there is no good in us. He knows how screwed up we can be, so He came to free us from every kind of sin, no matter how horrid they are: Titus 2:14-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Believer in Christ, God is not an angry Taskmaster that is just waiting in the wings to catch you in sin so that He can beat you or let the devil have a go at you. For us, He is Abba, Father. He gave His own Son to die our death and give us life. By His Grace, heed His counsel in Isaiah 30:15 -"...

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves...."

By Grace, stop looking to man for salvation. See Christ lifted up for you as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. What more would our Heavenly Father not do for us? He gave His own Son for us that we might live the abundant life in Him. In Christ, He fills us to overflowing with His goodness that we do not deserve, so much that with what is spilling over, we cannot but be a blessing to those around us.

In Christ, we get to live fear-free. We get to give, love, do exploits and live a life of moral excellence that exceeds that which the Law demands; we get to give beyond the lawful regulations of the law tithe without being under Law, yet not us but Christ in us, so we cannot boast about how works done with our puny arm of flesh (human effort) that will fail is what gingered God to bless us. For ALL our abundance of giving and receiving, Christ gets ALL the glory.

Right believing always produces right living.