The Fear Of God

Thriving In The Presence Of The Lord (Deutoronomy 10:12-21) And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,13and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (Deutoronomy 10:12,13) This fear is not about being scared or fearful of God, but rather it is approaching the very throne of God with a holy reverence in awe wth a submisive attitude. In so doing we are cultivating a life of righteousness and devotion by stepping into His presence on a daily bases. It means puting aside time for reading the scriptures, and bathing in the greatness of who He is. Seeking to walk in obedience to His word and giving thanks for the great love He has bestowec upon us, when He lovingly went to the cross to pay the price for our sin. In living this kind of a life style, you are drawing closer to God, as you walk deepens with Him yourr desire to follow Him gets stronger and your life become more rich in Him. Because we are reflecting on God's character more and getting to know Him more and more. The more we do this, the more satisfied we will be with life. As we fear Him and understand how truly holy He is we also see how fundimental His mercy also in in our lives. mercy is foundational. An added strength is learning to spend time in prayer , intentionally and as we do, we will learn what ot means to pray withput ceasing, from the heart moment by moment through out our days. I the moment, we stop to adore Him, acknowledge His majestic nature, and as we do it helps us, center our heart, ince again and plant our feet once again of the firm foundation He has given us, in His Son Jesus Christ. Friends, understand the difference, tjhe fear that an unbeliever has is not the same as the Fear Of The Lord, that you and I have. You see the the unbelievers fear of God is the fear of judgment and the fear of eternal death and separation from God.(Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). Where on the other hand, for the believer, the fear of God is much different. As a believer our fear is a reverent fear of God. (Hebrews 12:28-29) Which says “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe. We inderstand the song Surender Sweet Surender that is why we can sing it with such gusto, because our fear draws us into God's presence and protection. Proverbes talks much of the fear of God, have a listen from (Proverbs 1:7) “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand that and who it is we are to fear and why, we will not develop a reverential fear of Him and we will not have true wisdom of God. True wisdom comes from above and only when we understanding who God is, in His holiness,that He is a just and loving God, and HE is completelt perfect and righteous.(Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21) says “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him. We need to grasp this paragraph, if we are going to get closer to our loving God. A short answer to what the fear of the Lord, is that it is respecting God. Respect is included in fearing God, but it is much more than that. For you and me as believers it means understanding how much God hates our sin and having us fear Him brcause of Him being the great judge of the world, and yes even in the life of a believer, we will judged by God for the things we have done, and if not confessed, we will loose rewards. (Hebrews 12:5-11) tells us of God’s discipline that we as believers wll endure. There is a certain fear of disciplinge, even when it is done in love. I would say, I learned to discipling my children in love, but as a father, I always seen the fear in their eys as they kne discipline was coming. (Hebrews 12:6), This same healthy fear should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in a way that pleases Him. Seriously, we are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him, because He promises that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We can be thankful for His Holy reverene that greatly impacts our lives when we are obedient to Him. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe. We serve an awesome God. Many times I stand in awe of His great love for me, for us as His creation, that was perfect, and once again, because of Jesus can be made perfect in Him. Its not about me, but its all about Jesus and His love shown to us, in paying the debt for our sin. Let me finish off with David, He is a prime example of how we do notneed to "FEAR" God, but rather we need to fear Him because of His righteousness. I have lost my joy often, just as David did, (2 Samuel 6:12-15) and found myself estranged from God because of sin (Psalm 32; 38:1-4; 40:12). David committed adultry and murder, and he was unrepentant and separated from God for almost a year, then the prophet Nathan brought him up short and got his attention. Read (2 Samuel 11-12). Psalm 51 they discrie Davids confession of his sin (vv. 1-7) as he longed for his joy to return and his desire to renew his intimacy with God. I have prayed as David prayed, “Oh, give me back my joy again; . . . Create in me a clean heart . . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (vv. 8-12 nlt). Father God, as David prayed, and confessed his sin, so I prayed ansd pray and confess my sins, Lord I know that as I do, you will forgive my sin, your word says of I confess my sin, you are faithful and just and will forgive the sins I have committed (1 John 1:9). Lord, take the seal from my lips so I can praise You again and “joyfully sing of your forgiveness” (v.14) Lord God, O praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It is in your name I pray AMEN