Tag: fear of God

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Exodus Devotions

Fearing God’s words

Reading God's Word

Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, but those who didn’t take to heart the Lord’s word left their servants and livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:20-21)

Father, do I fear your Word? Do I take it to heart?

Solomon said the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10)

Do I really believe that?

Yours are the words that give me life. (John 6:68)

Forgive me for the times I don’t fear your Word.

It’s one thing to say that I honor your Word.

It’s another thing to let it shape my actions. My heart. My attitudes.

Let your Word do just that: shape my heart, attitudes, and actions.

In Jesus’ name amen.

Categories
Genesis Devotions

Fearful words?

I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1)

I don’t know about you, but those words arrested my attention.

“I am God Almighty. Creator of all. Ruler of this universe.

“Live in my presence. Don’t stray from me, going your own way. Walk with me, moment to moment, day to day.

“Be blameless before me. Don’t simply indulge in your sin. As I am holy, you also be holy. Imitate me in everything. My character, my values, my heart.”

Think about those words for a minute.

Honestly speaking, for me, those words would be pretty overwhelming were it not for one thing:

He is our Father who loves us.

And just as he made a covenant with Abraham, he’s made a covenant with us.

Not a covenant based on our performance, but on what Jesus did for us on the cross.

And because of that, we can always come boldly before his throne even when we fall short, knowing that he will accept us. (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19)

So let’s walk with our God moment to moment, day to day, blameless before him. And when Satan would accuse us, let us cling to these truths:

For [God] chose us in [Jesus], before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:4-8)

Categories
Proverbs Devotionals

Humility

It’s kind of ironic that as we near the end of the book of Proverbs, after hearing all this wisdom, we see someone still saying, 

I am more stupid than any other person,
and I lack a human’s ability to understand. 

I have not gained wisdom,
and I have no knowledge of the Holy One. (Proverbs 30:2-3)

But maybe that’s the kind of humility we need. Because no matter how wise we think we are, our wisdom cannot compare with God’s.

Yet when times get rough, we start to question God.

We wonder why he allows Corona. We wonder why he allows natural disasters. We wonder why he allows all the evil we see in the world. 

Like Job, we can try to demand answers from God. Like Job’s friends, we can pretend to know what all the answers are.  

But in the end, we realize, “I know nothing.” 

Only One truly knows and understand all things, and that isn’t us. (4)

So we have a choice. In our ignorance, we can rail against God. Or we can humble ourselves and say with Job,

I know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted. 

You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”

Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wondrous for me to know. (Job 42:2-3)

At the beginning of the Proverbs, we saw these words, 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Proverbs 1:7)

And again,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

We will never understand everything. But if we want to make a beginning, it starts with this: fear the Lord. And trust him. 

What will you choose?

Categories
Jeremiah Devotionals

A prayer

Jeremiah

It’s always good not only to read scriptures, but to pray them. And as I read this passage today, it led me to pray. May it be your prayer today as well.

Father,

You are my God, and I am your child.

Give me integrity of heart and action so that I will fear you always, for my good, and the good of the next generation.

Thank you for the new permanent covenant we have in Jesus. Because of this new covenant, you will never turn away from doing good to me.

Put the fear of you in my heart, so that I will never again turn away from you.

In your faithfulness, and with all your heart and mind, plant me in this land. And today, may I bear fruit for you. May I be a channel of your love to those around me today.

In Jesus name, amen.

Categories
Psalms

The blessing of fearing and delighting in God

Psalms

Fear and delight.  Those are two words that you don’t often seen thrown together.

But the psalmist here does use them together, talking about the blessing that comes from fearing God and delighting in him and his word.

He writes,

Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.  (Psalm 112:1)

What does it mean to fear God?  I think it’s a combination of things.

It’s an overwhelming sense of awe at his greatness.

It’s understanding that he is so much greater than we are, and that he is so much holier than we are.

And because of that, there is some actual fear, because we know we are so unworthy to even be in his presence.  That we deserve to die because we are sinners in front of a holy God.

All the saints that met God in the Bible face to face experienced that feeling.

Yet, at the same time, they knew his love and mercy towards them, and because of that they were able to delight in him and desired to please him.

The psalmist says that such people will find blessing.

The interesting thing to me is that they then take on the character of their Father in heaven.

They too become gracious, compassionate, and righteous in all their ways.  They are generous, lending freely, and are fair and just in all their dealings (4-5).

What’s the result?

Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
they will be remembered forever.

They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. (6-8)

So often, because people trust only in themselves, they are worried about the future.  Why?  Because they can’t control it.  And when they hear bad news, they panic trying to figure out what to do.

But when we trust in the Lord, even in the bad times, our hearts remain secure, and we have no fear.  Why?

Because we’re not trying to control things.  Instead, we put control into the hands of the one who can handle it.  And even though people may oppose us, God will give us the victory.

As the psalmist puts it,

The wicked will see and be vexed,they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.  (10)

But as for those who trust in God, we can continue to be generous, blessing those around us.  More than that, God will honor us for it.  (9)

So each day, let us fear and delight in the one who is holy, awesome, and good.