I have been praying for a few months now that the Lord would remove the fear of man in my life.
Jesus is the Faithful Witness, shown in Revelation 1:5, and He rightfully portrayed the Father as He was a Man on this earth. All throughout the Bible I am finding that Jesus never exaggerated, lied, was critical in His speech, or backed down from what He believed. This is unthinkable. All of what He said and all of who He is was true, because His name is Truth (John 14:6). If He is true, then some of the fears, and the disagreements within me need to be aligned to His truth.
When He became a Man, He was counting the glory of being God as nothing to hold onto (Phil 2), and He lived out (life, death, and resurrection) being a Faithful Witness. If me being a faithful witness means that I do not back down from what I believe about Jesus, and I speak forth truth, I need some help because this isn’t going to be easy! I seem to buckle when I think people will reject me, or I try to change my opinions to match theirs so I don’t upset someone, or I leave out certain things depending on who I am talking too. If I struggle now with the fear of man, when my “reputation” is on the line, what will I do when my life depends on what I do or don’t say?
In Revelation 3, Jesus reveals Himself to the Laodicean church as the Faithful Witness. He had some pretty harsh things to make them aware of, that they were: wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, when they thought they were rich, wealthy, and had need of nothing. He kindly rebuked them (it says He does that to those He loves) and then tells them all the amazing things they can have (He’ll fellowship/dine with them in the next age, and have them sit on His same throne!!! Which is a lot of power and authority) if they zealously repent and then overcome. It’s an amazing letter. Keep in mind that He doesn’t exaggerate the positive or the negative… His name is truth! All that He said to them is true.
Beholding Jesus in the Scriptures actually brings inner transformation to your heart and mind. The more that I seek, ask and pray for revelation concerning Jesus being the Faithful Witness, and also ask Him to root out the fear of man in my life, the more He will increase the activity of the Spirit’s transformation to my heart.
If this is something that you deal with, begin praying that Jesus will root out the fear of man in your life, and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you about the little pockets of unbelief or lies that you have in your heart or mind. His name is truth so He will be faithful to point things out to you! Align yourself with the Word of God by agreeing with His identity as the Faithful Witness. He will mold you into His likeness if you keep asking Him too!
-Bethany