Are you a haunted house?

By Brother Rabbi Dani’el Rendelman
Emet Ministries
ravemet@comcast.net

MEMBER OF B'NAI YAHSHUA SYNAGOGUES WORLDWIDE

Stories of haunted houses have fascinated people for years. The idea of ghosts and goblins running wild in their former home seems to enthrall the curious in everyone.

Hollywood has capitalized on this idea with numerous movies including Poltergeist and Rose Red. And there are even some historical homes promoted as supposedly having ghosts living in them. The spook house in your hometown may be scary, but that is not our subject.

Nor does this teaching talk of the real demons rebuked by the Savior during His earthly ministry. The Newer Testament records the Messiah casting out demons on many occasions, so we know that the dark side does exist. Yet, there are also demon-like forces that perhaps are more dangerous than real disembodied spirits. These are ghouls of emotions that haunt the human soul.

Inside believers and unbelievers alike are the ghosts of anger and fear. These twin evil powers manifest when bad choices are made or when emotions are allowed to run free. Many people today live in a haunted house full of demons that they, themselves, have created. The relationship problems people face can usually be traced back to the ghost of fear or the goblin of anger.

Don't think that this is someone else's issue. Don't visit another haunted house and point the finger at your spouse, your boss, your enemy, or your friend. Fear and anger haunt everyone. Search your mind and ask yourself if your soul is a haunted house OR a holy house.

The Bible declares that the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit, or “Ruach HaKadosh” in Hebrew. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you? You are not your own; you were bought at a price," 1 Corinthians 6:19. The believer’s life should be full of peace, love, joy, and victory. Our house - our life - should not be a spook house run amuck by fear and anger. Yet it often times is. When choices are made to satisfy the lusts of the flesh, the Holy Spirit is kicked to the side and evil spirits are invited to oppress. Anger and fear manifest as yelling at children, being angered easily, worrying about future, or walking around offended at something.

Anger and fear are not forced upon us. These emotional attitudes are chosen. Scary movies suggest that a vampire can’t enter someone’s home unless the vampire has been invited inside. Each time the door is opened to fear or anger; these vampire-like problems are invited in. For example, fear is welcomed whenever you question “What if?”

This is what fear does. It questions and quivers against the believer’s faith. Fear is an emotion that the adversary will use against you. It grips the heart and stops the saint from walking in joy. What exactly is fear? If you can spell fear then you can define it. Fear is: False – Evidence – Appearing – Real. Fear makes you think that life will only get worse, you are all alone, and that nothing can help your situation. Fear feeds the feelings of anxiety and apprehension. This type of fear is NOT of YHWH. “For YHWH has not given us the Ruach (spirit) of fear; but of power, and of ahava (love), and of a sound mind,” Timtheous Bet -- 2 Timothy 1: 7. (YHWH is the ancient Hebrew name of the Almighty given to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. This is his “name forever unto all generations.” This four lettered Hebrew name is often hidden behind the capitalized terms LORD and GOD in English Bibles.)

If you are fearful, anxious, worrisome, or afraid then understand that these feeling do not originate with the Holy One. These are false fears that come from the fleshly mind and the adversary. This type of fear is not from YHWH. You should not fear what life throws at you. You should fear YHWH. “You shall fear YHWH, and serve Him, and shall swear by His Name,” -- Devarim / Deuteronomy 6: 13. It is a commandment and a directive to fear YHWH. Fear belongs to Him only. The place for fear is before YHWH only. Horror comes as this fear of YHWH is traded for a fear of whatever.

Fear paralyzes its victim like the venomous snake bite of a cobra. It is dangerous and deadly. And like the anti-venom to a snake bite, it takes fear to conquer fear. To break the power of fear, one must turn the fear from things and place it unto YHWH. Consider Adam and learn.

After Adam originally sinned in the Garden of Eden, Adam does something really strange. He does something very childish. Out of fear, He hides. “And YHWH called to Adam, and said to him, where are you? And he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the eytz (tree) that I commanded you that you should not eat?” Beresheeth / Genesis 3: 10, 11.

Just think about what happened to Adam for a minute. Here is a man, now hiding in the bushes that had “walked with YHWH in the cool of the day”. Why would he be hiding? Adam recognized that he did something wrong and that this, most-certainly-known disobedience brought about the emotion of fear. As a child who had been caught red-handed, Adam hides from His Father.

Now get this, Adam wasn’t afraid of snakes. He wasn’t even scared of a talking snake that had tempted him to sin. But, Adam was terrified of the consequences of his actions. This type of fear is good. Adam hid because he recognized his fall from his exalted state and knew that a holy and awesome Mighty One would most-certainly know about the situation. He wasn’t hiding because he got caught sinning BUT because of what sin did to his relationship with YHWH. Additionally, he recognized that YHWH would be displeased, for he and the woman had done precisely what they'd been forbidden! To Adam, fear was more than just reverence and awe; Adam was hiding because he had a reason to be scared to death! He was terrified! Adam, who had a perfect, unhindered, relationship with YHWH, was now hiding because of his sin! Like Adam, we, as children of Abba YHWH, know when we are caught. We ought to fear our heavenly Father more!

To fear YHWH is to possess an emotional trait equal to a leash on a dog. The fear of YHWH allows us to go and do as our Master allows. Then, our leash will be tugged if we go a little too far on our own. Our leash is pulled back when we don’t see the impending danger of our actions or if we cross a dangerous line. This is the type of fear we need! The problem is that most people trade the fear of YHWH for the fear of life. Instead of putting fear where it goes, before YHWH, we place it before our problems. We fear failure. We fear success. We fear just getting by. We change His word and many times choose fear over faith.

In the beginning when YHWH created the world he said, “It is good.” YHWH declared all of creation good, or “tov” in Hebrew. According to YHWH everything in the entire universe is tov. Fear, on the other hand, says “it is not good.” Fear says, “You can’t do it.” Fear questions “what if?” Fear argues with YHWH and stands in opposition to His word.

So, how does a person combat fear? It doesn’t take an exorcism to kick fear out. Instead simply watch yourself. When you feel it, identify it, and then reject it. YHWH has not given you a spirit of fear. If you are afraid or jittery, those emotions are not from YHWH. Take that fear and give it to Him. Pray about your situation and ask Him to intervene. Perfect love casts out all false fear. Understand that fear belongs to YHWH only. You should be cautious when you become afraid of anything other than YHWH. When the stomach tightens or goose bumps run up the back, just ask yourself, “where is this emotion from?” When you feel afraid, identify this emotion as false fear, and then reject it. Choose faith over fear and don’t allow this ghost to haunt your house.

Fear has a spooky twin that is just as dangerous. This evil emotion is anger. Nothing ruins more relationships than anger. To put it bluntly, anger uncontrolled is like a werewolf unleashed. Anger is as ugly as a half man half wolf. It has a dangerous bite. And the werewolf of anger causes pain, pain, and more pain.

We are told that a werewolf passes its curse to others through the bite. When a werewolf bites someone that person also becomes a monster. Anger is no different. It usually starts with one person and then bites another. Anger is usually passed until it explodes

When a person acts out in anger and bites their spouse or a friend, one is sure to be bitten back. This is the essence of anger. It is fueled by resentment, bitterness, rudeness, jealousy, and misunderstandings. It turns our nice glances into glares and our friends into enemies. The struggle is that anger is a natural human emotion. Anger is part of the human experience. Everyone must deal with this demon. Anger can be expressed in a righteous way. Yet more times than not, anger is a monster that must be bound with chains and not allowed to break loose. Anger must be controlled or it manifests itself worse than a werewolf during a full moon. (Does this resemble someone you know?)

Our Messiah told us to “be angry and sin not.” There is way to control this emotion! Anger does not have to run wild and hurt others. The silver bullet that kills evil anger is honesty. When you begin to boil over, be honest about the situation. Be honest with yourself about how you feel. Be honest with the person that offended you. Be honest with YHWH about your struggle to walk in peace.

First, it’s important to be honest with yourself about the situation. Don’t blow up in rage. Stop and think about what really happened before jumping into a fight. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger AND don’t rush to work out your anger. When made mad, take time to think before you speak. Why are you really mad? What was done or said that offended you? Are you just being too sensitive? Is this really an issue to be angry about? Perhaps write down how you feel so that you can express your position without yelling. Would the Savior be upset about this same issue?

Be honest with the person you are angry with. Go to that person after you have calmed your emotions. Let some time pass from the second you are offended so that you won’t react in angrily. Don’t yell and raise your voice. Think about what made you mad and ask the other person about it. Listen to what is said. Don’t automatically think of how to combat the person’s point of view. “Everyone should be quick to listen. Slow to speak and should not become angry easily,” James / Ya’acov. The best way to beat anger is to talk about it.

Be honest with YHWH and ask Him for help. Anger isn’t easy to control. Just ask anyone that has been bitten with its terrible bite. Pray about this problem and confess this sin to YHWH. Memorize verses on peace and love. Step back and pray when confronted with another sticky situation. Take your focus off what angers you and put that focus on the positive aspects in your life.

Left unbridled fear and anger can turn a person’s soul from a holy place into a haunted house. Saints are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKadosh. Fear and anger try to destroy the spiritual temple of the soul. Fear can be combated by being sensitive to its symptoms, identifying it, and then rejecting it. Replace false fear for devotion to YHWH. Another monster that rages is anger. Anger too can be controlled. Answer anger with honesty and reconcile differences without fighting. The issue at hand is simple. Will you allow your emotions to control you or will you control your emotions? These ghouls are real. Anger and fear haunt more people than trick-or-treaters. Don’t let your soul be haunted by these demons. Strive to make your body be a holy house, not a haunted house.