Fear God, 164

~ Not Fearing God Will Result In Judgment ~

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  ~  “‘And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien — because they do not fear Me,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:5).

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/ .

Psalm 119, 17of27

~ Read God’s Word To Increase Contentment ~

119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

119:36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies,

And not to covetousness.

Comment  ~  The greater our knowledge of the Word of God and of God Himself, the greater our contentment will be. 

~ 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/ .

The Law: Questions, 13of25

~ Was This Law Given For A Limited Time? ~

Scripture  ~  “What purpose then does the law serve?  It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed {Jesus Christ] should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.  Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.  Is the law then against the promises of God?  Certainly not!  For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.  But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:19-25).

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He [Jesus Christ] is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.  Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’  In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete.  Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:6-13).

Comments  ~  Jesus summed up the Law this way:  “Jesus said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:37-40).

“So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.  You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, “Where I am going, you cannot come,” so now I say to you.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:31-35).

Reference  ~  You may be interested in a previous “Abundant Life Now” 14 post series entitled “10 Commandments Today” (from March 1 to June 28, 2018).  “Abundant Life Now” also posted a 12 post series entitled “Law vs. Grace” (from January 22 to December 24, 2013).  The Key Passage in this series is: “Do not think that I [Jesus Christ] came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

~ 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/ .