John 5:44 NASB
[44] How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
Hebrews 11:7 NASB
[7] By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
The fear of man is closely related to unbelief; and the fear of God is closely related to faith.
If our major concern is how we look to man and what we can do to please man, so that we can walk in man’s favor, then risking it in faith will be something that we rarely do because the chance of failure or looking foolish is too great. If pleasing God is our one great ambition in life, 2 Corinthians 5:10, then we will be quick to come into agreement with what He thinks and what He wants to do in a situation.
Walking in the kind of faith that will change the world around you, will cause you to only say and do what Jesus is saying and doing, which will likely be in contradiction to what man is saying and doing about a situation. I believe that discovering what Jesus is doing and saying is not very complicated, but it’s the absolute inheritance of every person who is in Christ. We are wired to hear His voice, and being born again, we have spiritual eyes to see the kingdom and what is going on in the kingdom of heaven. We have actually been seated into the kingdom of heaven, in Christ, and therefore, we are born spiritually equipped to discern the reality of heaven and what Jesus is up to.
The real issue is not we can see and hear what Jesus is up to, but are we really willing to lend our humanity to do what He’s up to, no matter how much it may offend people and their religious mindset. Jesus did a lot of things that would appear foolish to men, like spitting in the mud and putting the mud on a blind man’s eyes, but that’s what He saw the Father doing, and He was prepared in absolute surrender to totally participate, lending His humanity whatever the Father was up to. Are we? Do we fear God more than we fear man. Fearing God enough, that is respecting Him enough and holding Him in awe enough (so that reverencing man out of our bent insecurity becomes irrelevant) is essential if we are going to house and express the supernatural lifestyle of Jesus.