~
Not Fearing God Shows a Lack of Understanding ~
God does not want His children living in
fear. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you
in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to
us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3). However, God does want His children to have a
proper respect and reverence for Him. We
are told in many places in Scripture to “fear God.”
This Week’s Passage ~ “Declare this in the house of Jacob and
proclaim it in Judah, saying, ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without
understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not: Do
you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will
you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of
the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet
they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people has a defiant and rebellious
heart; they have revolted and departed. They
do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives
rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the
harvest.” Your iniquities have turned
these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you’” (Jeremiah
5:20-25).
Fearing God Results in
Salvation ~ “It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews
10:31). “A wise person fears and departs from evil,
but a fool rages and is self-confident” (Proverbs 14:16). This does not mean the Christian is to live a
fearful life—but a life which reverences God and seeks to do His will.
Fearing God Results in Fearlessness ~ “The Lord
is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the strength of my life; of whom shall
I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). The answer is: only God. With the gift of salvation comes
responsibility.
Fearing God Results in Witnessing ~ “Come and hear, all you who
fear God, and I will declare what He
has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
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