Fear God, 38

~ Solomon Prayed That Foreigners Would Also Fear God ~

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  ~  “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name” (1 Kings 8:41-43).

Comment  ~  This is the prayer of God’s people today—that all may come to know and reverence the only true God.

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

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Bible Answer, 29

~ Did You Get It Right? ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~ bible answer ~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

question 29:  What king of Israel had the shortest reign?

answer:  King Zimri ruled for seven days (1 Kings 16:15a).

“In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days.  And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.  Now the people who were encamped heard it said, ‘Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.’  So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp” (1 Kings 16:15-16).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Quote: Jim Elliot, 14

~ The Greatest Prophet ~ 

As a Prophet Christ Spoke of Judgment

The following is an excerpt from a book.

Now I know that we’ve had the Scripture doctored up to us in the last hundred years or so. We’ve been saying that Jesus Christ was a meek sort of a loving kind of a Savior, and that He didn’t talk to us about punishment, that He didn’t talk to us about fire and vengeance like the Old Testament did. But, my friends, get a hold of this. Jesus Christ told us more about hell than any other prophet in the world.

Jesus Christ talked more about hell than He did about heaven. He had the right and the authority to describe hell because He had been on the other side of death, before birth. He was the only One who could have come into birth and say, “I came into the world.”  He wasn’t just brought into the world in the sense that we’re brought into the world, by natural principles. Jesus Christ came into the world in the sense that He chose to come, and He came because He was God and was able to take upon Himself the form of a man. Now He has gone back into heaven. When He was here on the earth He described to us the things that are on the other side of our life. Jesus Christ was a prophet in the full sense. Not through visions, not through ideas that had come into His head, but because He existed on the other side of death! He could tell us what heaven and hell were like. He knew it because He had been there. That’s what He Himself claimed in this passage, we read, “I don’t speak for Myself,” He says, “I tell you what I’ve seen and heard.” And in the third chapter of John, “I’ve been there and I know what I’m talking about when I speak about hell. Or when I speak about heavenly things, I know whereof I speak because I’ve been there.”  Jesus Christ is the only One who can say that, my friend, and that’s why His Word is so terribly important. So terrifyingly important.

~ from “JIM ELLIOT: A Christian Martyr Speaks to You, pgs 103-104  (ISBN: 9781615797646)

Learn more about this important book at Amazon, the Publisher, or the Author’s website.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .