THE FEAR OF THE LORD
November 15, 2011
"Should you not fear Me?" declares the Lord. "Should you not tremble in my presence?" Jeremiah 5:22
After I have sinned this day, Daddy asked me, “Why did you do that? Why did you lie?” And I ashamedly answered, “Because I fear them…” And He said, “You fear man but you don’t fear Me.” His Words strikes my heart within and there’s nothing I can do but to cry and asked for forgiveness.
I lied. I lied out of fear of man. I have lost my fear of the Lord. The fear of being scolded for what I have done dominated over my fear of Daddy God. At that moment I don’t know why I have done it. All I think of is my fear of being rebuke or being scolded.
Before I go home, I went to church and asked for forgiveness and guidance for what I have done. During my prayer, Daddy told me that I have lost my fear of Him because I chose to sin. I thought to myself that it is okay because Daddy God will forgive me.. because Daddy God will understand.. while people are not easy to forgive and forget. But it is not right. I should have feared Daddy God more than I feared man or the punishment or the tendency of being rebuked.
What does it mean to fear the LORD? I have learned from my mistake today that if we really fear God, we must fear sin. We must fear God above anyone else. Most people commit sin because we do not have the fear of the Lord. When I have sinned today, I have lost my fear of Daddy God. I feared man more than Him so I decided to lie and try to save my face even I know that what I have done is wrong. I have learned from Daddy that if we fear Him, we should always turn from evil.
"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Proverbs 8:13)
Daddy God made me remember His three servants who feared Him more than they feared the king. They are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Even at the point of being thrown in the blazing furnace, they faithfully obeyed God not to worship the image of gold. They willfully disobeyed the orders, even though their lives were threatened because they feared God.
Daniel 3 : 17, 18 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up”.
Most of us today fear human authority, we fear our government, our boss, our elders and yet somehow we don't fear God. We tend to think that human authority and its punishment is far higher than the very Hand of God. No matter how great human authority is, it is still incomparable to the greatness of the Living God. Whom should we fear? We should not fear anything or anyone other than God. God is the only One who is worthy of fear. God is the King of kings.
“Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.”Isa 8:12-13
I have learned that no one can walk in the will of the Lord if we don’t have the fear of God. The fear of the Lord means obeying all His laws and commandments. If we fear the Lord we will hate evil knowing that whenever we do evil things, we sinned against our Holy God. If we fear the Lord we will always choose to obey His commandments with seriousness knowing that breaking them is dangerous.
It is like the fear of a child who has a righteous, good father for whom the child has the greatest respect. The father demands obedience and the child is afraid to disobey. The child knows that his father expects to be taken seriously. Thus he fears his father in this sense. However, although he fears his father, he also loves him. He knows that his father is righteous, just, and good and that what his father says is true and for his own good. He knows that although his father requires respect and obedience, his father loves him. This must be the same with our fear to our Almighty God. Because we fear God, that doesn’t mean we can’t love Him. Fear does not prevent love. Our respect for God and obedience to His commandments is the very basis for our love.
"My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5
"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he should choose.” Psalms 25:12
I give glory to my Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit for teaching me what it really means to fear Him.
ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Daddy’s girl
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