VerseD: John 14:1
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
John 14:1, ESV
Do you focus more on your problems or on Christ and His promises? Do you believe God is greater than your problems? Do you trust Christ?
Posts Tagged ‘ Fear the Lord ’
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
John 14:1, ESV
Do you focus more on your problems or on Christ and His promises? Do you believe God is greater than your problems? Do you trust Christ?
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psalm 2:11, ESV
We must remember that our God is holy and just, that He does not abide sin.
Yes, He has saved us through Christ, but we also work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12) and examine and test yourself to see if you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).
Then we can rejoice.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1 John 4:18, ESV
We should come to Christ because of the fear of our sin falling under God’s wrath. Yet, that fear is washed away with our sin by the blood of Jesus!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7, ESV
A fool hates hearing they are wrong. Jesus revealed the truth of God, and none of us were right.
Will you listen to Him?
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 3:7, ESV
Do not assume you know more than God or that He lacks understanding. Realize your need for His grace and forgiveness, that His way is right, and that your life is in His hands.
Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
Psalm 2:11, NASB
God is so much more powerful than we could ever imagine, and holier than we could ever understand.
Realize how your sin has affected your relationship with Him, and you will tremble before Him. Realize how His grace has saved you, and you will ever remain in awe of Him.
As the book of Proverbs is finally “all commentaried out”, go catch some of the final wise words this week at Proverbial Thought!
“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”
Psalm 119:37, ESV“I made a covenant with my eyes . . .”
Job 31:1, NIV
A couple of weeks ago, I announced through Facebook that my wife and I were cancelling our Netflix and Hulu accounts.
This decision had very little to do with what we watch. We try to be rather discerning in what we watch because we do not want to let too many immoral and/or blasphemous things in our minds if we can help it.
Rather, the decision came after a comment made by one of seminary professors.
While working through the book of Acts, we were discussing whether Christianity was a threat to the Roman Empire. My reply was “Technically. I mean, look at when Paul got upset with the girl with the Serpent spirit and cast it out of her in the name of Jesus. The people who were making money off of her fortune-telling were suddenly out of a means of income.”
The conversation then focused on how Christianity messed with the economy of the Empire. This is because makers of idols, workers in pagan temples, and even tour guides around cities with temples would lose business throwing off the entire economy of entire cities if not the entire Empire.
Then the professor made this comment: “Imagine if Christians still gave up all of their idolatrous and ungodly pursuits. How many Christians pay for pornography in our society?”
My initial thought was “I’m glad that is not us!” (Caitlin and me)
Then some conviction set in.
How much have Netflix and Hulu used their profit to produce shows or movies that glorify sex and nudity?
How much have Netflix and Hulu used their profit to produce shows or movies that mock or blaspheme Christians and God?
At first I tried to justify having these accounts:
How many Christian-based things do they show?
It is not like I watch those things!
Netflix especially comes in handy working in a school, for both my wife and me!
I found myself getting angry that I should have to give up something.
More than anything, I needed to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
So, instead, I turned to my classmate and said “I am not very happy with the professor right now.” We then laughed about my silliness.
Most people I talked with about it went through the same justifications. A couple of them even said I was being too legalistic.
To combat that, a) I am not saying everyone needs to cancel Netflix and Hulu. This is a personal conviction. I certainly will argue for others to let go, because how much do we really need Netflix, Hulu, and television in general? This is especially true when we consider how useless most television is, how ungodly most television is, and how much God and Christians are blasphemed and mocked. b) We still occasionally watch TV. We enjoy being entertained as much as anyone, and not everything on TV is bad for us. c) We will still go to some movies (Speaking of which, The Lego Movie is rather fantastic in a purely entertaining vain!), for through this we might still be able to show Hollywood what kind of content we prefer while supporting some local businesses (or at least our friends who work at local businesses.
More importantly, though, is that we want to not only obey God in our lives but push others toward Christ by refusing to be a part in causing others to stumble:
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
“‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
Everyone will be salted with fire.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Mark 9:42-50, NIV
We both felt that our continued subscription to these businesses supported content that could cause others to stumble or even be led astray. We would rather not have these forms of entertainment and be closer to Christ than have to have our conscience troubled if what we are doing is moral and godly. Christ and other people are more important than our temporary enjoyment.
How many things in our lives do we devote too much of our time and money to instead of focusing on loving God and people?
In our culture of instant gratification, pleasure, and stuff, how often do we unplug, sacrifice, and get quiet?
Today I offer part two of the devotional time from the recent trip to the Desperation Youth Conference. Again, it has been adapted for the blog.
This devotion is taken from 1 Kings 3.
Have you read that?
Good.
Seeking Wisdom
Many Bibles title that chapter “Solomon Asks for Wisdom” or something like that.
I now invite you to read the entire book of Proverbs. (You can also head over to Proverbial Thought for some excellent commentary!) If you do not read it all right now, I understand.
Solomon made the right choice. Wisdom is the ultimate thing you can get. If Proverbs 8 is compared to John 1, we understand that Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God.
Wisdom helps us understand what God is doing in our life: Wisdom guides us to God; Wisdom helps us understand when the Holy Spirit is working in us or God is working in our circumstances
The usual theme for this passage is Solomon’s wisdom shining through.
It is a good example. Imitate Solomon in this regard!
But this is not the theme of our lesson today.
These two women are prostitutes. This helps explain why they were living together, they both had children, and there are no fathers mentioned.
In a previous devotion we discussed crazy things: Things that happen to us, things that we hear about hapening to others, and things God calls us to do. Imagine being labeled a prostitute, kind of like being called a slut in school or the workplace. Everyone knows you have this reputation. Would you be willing to go before anybody, let alone a king, to fight for your rights if everyone thinks you are practically worthless?
These women going before Solomon would be like school bullies going before the principal saying one stole the other’s stolen lunch money. Society did not look very highly on them! This is a crazy or even silly situation (at face value).
The real point of this devotion, however, is this:
What is your most favorite thing or person?
Would you … could you give that thing or that person up? Would you be willing to let your worst enemy take it? Would you be willing to let your girlfriend/boyfriend go to another person? Would you give up your child?
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:37-39
One of my favorite definitions of hate is that it means you love something more than another thing.
And the Wisdom that leads us to God, is Christ Himself. If you claim to love Jesus Christ, are you willing to give up your life for Him? Do you love Him enough to give up your life?
Just like prostitute who cried out to let her baby live with the other woman if it would spare his life, are you willing to say “Lord Jesus, take my life and do with it as you will!”?
Last year, I wrote on why I fear God. This past weekend I saw a video from Francis Chan on the topic, and I realized I did not finish my thought last year.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7)
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)
I mentioned last April that fearing the Lord includes respect and awe at His Holiness and Awesomeness. This is true and necessary.
We also need to understand what it means to respect. In that post I had a picture of a man sitting on the edge of canyon wall. I think this image can adequately demonstrate the need for respect. Ask any rock-climber, highrise construction worker, bungee jumper, deep-sea diver, hang glider, or any other dangerous profession/activity, and (the honest ones) will tell you that you must respect the danger. If you forget to respect the danger, you are that much closer to death (because you can make a mistake that will cost you).
This is the other part of fearing the Lord we must remember. God is ultimately the One who has power over life and death and everything in between and beyond either end. Many have taken the verse from Mathew 10:28, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” to mean God is the One who should be feared.
“Die in your sins, and suffer in Hell,” is how many preachers have put it throughout history.
Let us not forget God is also the One with the wrath!
This is all very important and must be remembered. However, this is not my focus, today.
If you were to look up the phrase “Do not fear …” in the Bible, it is used every time the Lord or one of His angels appeared. Most of the time, the people who were approached were relatively good people. Why would they have to be told to be unafraid?
Here is my take on this:
To go back to my original analogy, we must remember that we are dealing with Something rather intimidating: God. Therefore, we have to remind ourselves of Who He is. If we approach God as merely our friend, it is like acting blasé about a cliff-face and slipping due to carelessness. Carelessness and a lack of proper fear and respect can be fatal. So it is with God.
Any thoughts? Have I over-stepped my bounds, not gone far enough, or do you think I am right on the mark? Have you learned anything about the fear of the Lord?
