The Fear of the Lord

To fear the Lord is a concept that is often known and understood, but not necessarily practiced.  To fear the Lord goes beyond our knowledge of God.  To fear the Lord goes beyond our understanding of Him as well.  To fear the Lord is to stand in awe of his nature and character.  It is to have a deep respect that surpasses the deepest parts of the ocean.  To fear God is to revere God.  Many, I believe, say they fear God; however that fear goes as deep as you can touch in a pool or beach front.  For some it may go as far a depth beyond their touch in a body of water; however it’s bounded by our ability to still swim to safety.  To fear the Lord is to be placed in the middle of the deepest part of the ocean with no safety in sight.  To fear the Lord is to float is a sea of reverence that places all safety and comfort in the hands of God.  I am not there yet, but I am swimming out to that place. 

Too often the fear of the Lord is confused with a deep respect for his character and nature.  You can know God, trust God, believe God, and everything that he does and blesses you with. You can believe all this, be a Christian, and still not be intimate enough with God to truly know what it is to fear him.  Only when you are willing to fully let go and let God will you be in that place.  To let go and let God does not mean you must give up all that you have like the parable of the rich young man (Matt 19:16-22).  God may not ask that of you.  He will ask something, but that will be between you and him.  Material possessions may not be a vice or idol.  It may be your friends, family, job, education, etc.  To fear the Lord is to strive to be in a place of holiness before him.

In order to love God, his truth, and his ways, our hearts must be tender.  A tender heart toward God is the gate way to the secrets of the kingdom of God (Mark 4:10-13).  A tender heart will see behind the knowledge and belief in God’s nature and character.  A tender heart will activate the spirit within you so that you may receive a greater and deeper emotional and cognitive understanding of God.  If ones heart is not tender to God they may recognize, believe, and know the parts of God, but they will not fully experience his heart.  They will miss out on the loving grip of God’s hand.  Only in a genuine relationship with God will you know, experience, and receive the heart of God.  To strive for holiness is to also learn what it is to fear the Lord.  Holiness is the obedience of all revealed truth.  To strive for obedience will tenderize your heart and open yourself up to the fear of the Lord.  We can experience God outside of intimacy with him.  However, it is only in intimacy through relationship that we will learn to swim in the deepest parts.  

Something to ponder:

Soul, Mind, Emotions, Will

·         Soul:  God wants to captivate our soul (whole hearted devotions)

·         Mind - God wants us to have Understanding (Matt 8:18-22)

·         Emotion - God wants us to have Passion (Matt 8:23-27)

·         Will - God wants us to have our Commitment (mark 10:17-31)

Fear of Men and Obedience to God

The fear of men is a snag (big and small).  To fear man and not God leads to disobedience 

·         Proverbs 29:25

·         John 12:37-43

Signs of fearing men (not comprehensive)

·         You are more concerned with the opinion of others than of God

·         You are lost in pleasing others (may lead to bondage)

·         You may not ever rebuke and hold others accountable

·         You deal with the symptom of sin and not the root

·         You confess your sin because it is uncovered by others, rather than taking initiative and repenting and asking           for accountability.

·         You are driven by the fear of rejection

·         You hide behind your personality (Example: you don’t speak up about what truly matters)

Signs of fearing God (not comprehensive)

·         You are more impressed with God's reaction towards yourself than the reaction and thoughts of others

·         You are obedient to God

·         You promote holiness

·         You are open (transparent)

·         You follow right standards (live out scriptural truth)

·         You follow through on God's commands and statutes

To fear the Lord….

1.        You have a deep respect and understanding of God.  In essence, you stand in AWE of Him.

2.      You hate what God hates, which is sin and the effects it has on yourself and others.

3.      If we do not honor and respect ( = fear of) God we will not see God for who He is.

4.      It is a means to an end.  In the end, our goal is to know, be known, and come as close to God as possible.

Mind, Emotions, Will

·         Lustful temptation Enters our mind

·                   It effects our emotions

                                  and then shapes our will (if we let it)

·         To withstand temptation begins with our will.  We must exercise our WILL to fight against the lies of the                   enemy, as well as to take our thoughts captive.

Sin vs Temptation

o    Sin is a temptation taken into action

o    Temptation is a thought that must be controlled (with God)

o    We often ask forgiveness for our temptation, which is not the correct action (although helpful at times).  We             must ask God to take captive all our thoughts to prevent temptation.  If we act on temptation we must than               repent, and walk in forgiveness and transformation as the outcome of our sinful choice.      

o    When Temptation occurs, as long as we do not act on it, we must rebuke in the name of Jesus.  Jesus is our           power source

·         Hate for the thought of sin or temptation is key

·         To hate sin empowers you (the will) to fight

·         The will is  a muscle that needs to be exercised to fight and withstand temptation

·         To not hate sin leaves you more vulnerable

o    Will, mind, and emotions – This is the order in which we should function

               Too often we lead with our emotions, which effects our mind, which weakness the will

o    Spiritual harassment - The consistent flooding of temptation into your thoughts.

                It needs to be met with a consistent rebuking of that temptation, and replaced with spiritual truths.

               Aggressive action is a must.  Passivity in controlling our thoughts leaves us open and vulnerable 

Lordship—and The Fear of the Lord

            The days are long but the weeks are so short. 

“Freedom is found in surrender and submission to God!”

“To get saved requires a yes, but to be a disciple of Jesus requires everything!...”This was a week that will change my life forever and I hope that as you read that God will as well change yours!

“God is not about self-improvement—He is about self-destruction!”—This statement will either terrify you or free you, I think to me it did both, but because God is both big and Good I know He is safe as I trust Him to take me and you through the refining fire to take away the dross and show us His gold in us!

What do you make Lord of your life??? Everyone worships something… we have been created to worship—We worship, ourselves, alcohol, food, T.V. shopping, media, friends, family, sex.. we all worship something. What if God asked you to give something up or away, what do you hold so closely you could never sacrifice ???

Thoughts on what a Transformed Christian looks like:

1.        Has an undiluted devotion to Jesus—that means we need a personal relationship

2.      Worships with a spirit of continuous repentence.  Do you repent daily? Hourly??

3.      Builds healthy human relationships—Loves God and Loves people-do you have fences to mend?

4.      Knows how to engage the Larger world

5.      Senses a personal “call” and unique competencies

6.      Merciful and generous to those who are weaker—or are we judgmental or critical?

7.       Appreciates that suffering is part of faithfulness to Jesus-if you have never suffered for Christ are you living the life of love and conviction the Lord desires?

8.      Intentional and disciplined in seeking God’s direction

9.      Eager and ready ot express the content of Your faith

10.   Overflows with thankfulness—do you overflow with thankfulness or  complaining??

11.      Overflow and has a passion for reconciliation

12.    Intentional and disciplined in seeking God’s direction.

In an alter call—We must get ALTERED-how many of us answered a question or walked to an alter but never chose to be different, making God Lord of our Life takes our initative and hard work! It is the must glorious work we can accomplish.

Our teacher took us through an entire day of “application” to the Lordship of Christ.  We learned about the O.T tabernacle where God had careful instructions to build for His presence to dwell.  We learned the modern day application of the tabernacle pieces. I pray these stories touch your heart…

We were asked to bring something to praise—a song, an instrument, ect, a story of Thanksgiving, a “burnt offering” our sin and repentence and our hearts ready to allow God to bring change.  This day started at 8:30 and didn’t end until 11:00 in the evening…

            There were 50 of us that had this blessed experience to spend the day together.

First we prayed over one another, there is something beautiful when you ask God what to pray for someone and God gives you a word of truth and love for them.  God reminded me through prayer and our beginning worship that He sees me, He has always been faithful and He has always walked with me.  A small thought with big repercussions, so often we feel like God misses us!

            People brought a “burnt offering” with them, and people gave away physical things that God had spoken to them and blessed another. In an instance (not in our class) a girl gave a purity ring to a girl and another girl gave her a white dress not knowing what the other was giving.  The receiving girl had been raped and this was a beautiful picture of God blessing and healing.  In our class, people gave away clothing, watches, money, one young man paid for anothers entire outreach ($4000) A father gave away his very expensive camera to a man in our class that could not bring his children. A woman struggling with shame was given expensive perfume.  A girl struggling to learn English was given a precious bible and a promise that God would use her speaking in English! A girl in my class who gave away all her clothes before she came here except what fit in her suitcase gave me a jacket. I had borrowed it when I had been cold one day, and when she placed it in my hand with a smile I was humbled beyond measure, this was a girl who had so little in physical possessions, yet was willing to bless me and tell me that I would look beautiful in it. God smiled on me and reminded me not only does He provide for us, He blesses our socks off. Our God is a good father who wants to clothe us in robes of righteousness not leave us as a begger on the street!

Ture heard God speak to give his tablet to a young man from Uganda that has an awesome call upon His life. I know this blessed Shadrach, but even more for our family that we are living in obedience and in sacrifice that we will not allow physical possessions to control us or to have any place in our life higher than God. I have never been more proud of my husband and the incredible sacrifice He was willing to make to declare God Lord in His life and being willing to listen and obey.

            The next part of our day consisted of standing before the cross and surrendering “idols” in our life.  People got up and surrendered chocolate, fast food, credit cards, money, music, T.V . books, relationships, security, and we kneeled before the cross and had an incredible time of worship thanking God for pointing out places that we value other things and find security comfort and hope in other than God.  Many of these things are not sin in and of themselves, but we make them sin because we worship them and find security and comfort rather than in God.  People made commitments to surrender and replace. For example our roommate surrendered junk food and committed to getting up an hour earlier every day to have a time to read her bible and pray every day.

            The next part of our day we stood before the room and confessed any sin that still stood in our life before God.  God will forgive us of all and any sin, but we must repent, and turn away from that sin and accept God’s grace.  We must then live forgiven and live differently.  This was powerful. When we publically confess there seems to be beautiful opportunity for God to bring healing.  Public confession is not necessary, but there is incredible power when we speak, so even if you are in your prayer closet- repent-physically say Lord I repent for----- and ask him to forgive you and replace that action or though with a Godly fruit of the spirit.!

            The rest of the night was followed by holy communtion, incredible praise and jubilee, and prayers for freedom.  People laughed and danced and wept and were free of even demonic strongholds as we stood free from sin before God the Holy Spirit was able to move and speak and bless.

            There are not many days in which our lives will stop and give us an entire day to devote to praising God, often we don’t feel we have a moment to pray, but I urge you, I beg you to take these steps and infuse them into your days, Give God praise for who He is, “God you are great, you are strong and mighty. You are Faithful and Loving, Kind and Generous.”  Point out specific instances in your life that He has sustained you.  God you were loving as you wrote your heart across the sky in the sunrise this morning. I encourage you to hold loosely your earthly possessions, and be free to bless others, Be quick to repent and live a repentant lifestyle.  We often want to live in forgiveness towards others which is vital, but we need to also take responsibility and specific action against our sinful, thoughts actions, habits as to change our destiny. 

            To get saved requires a yes and prayer, to be a disciple of the King requires radical change in our lives on a daily basis! Love God enough to look deeply at your thoughts, actions and habits and ask if all are pleasing to Him, and then love Him enough to listen, He will love you enough to speak, and you will never be the same.!