From The album A Timeless Christmas

…what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God…
Deuteronomy 10:12

I have only recently begun a new role as some sort of youth leader at our local church. I had looked forward to the position for some time, ever since I began discussing it with the elders of the church. I waited over a year before I was commended officially by the church and have now begun working two days a week in youth ministry. Over the last year I had imagined what my role would look like – the sort of things I’d be able to do and all the exciting ideas I had for the youth group – I couldn’t wait to get into it!

Then the day came (time really does fly sometimes) when I was commended by the elders of the church during the morning service in front of the congregation. And suddenly it dawned on me about what I was getting myself into! The elders spoke so warmly and were so encouraging and really smothered me with prayer and Bible reading; but suddenly I felt this overwhelming pressure.

This church isn’t particularly small (200-300) but as far as I’m aware, I’m only the 3rd person to ever be ‘employed’ by this church. I thought of the other paid workers in the church and now  there was me: a somewhat immature 25-year-old who still pinches himself to remind him that, yes, I am married and yes, you are a father now, and you really are grown up, working, paying rent and doing the grocery shopping!

How or even why should I be supported by the church to lead the youth ministry? What if I’m no good? What if it all falls to pieces? Why should anyone trust me? All these expectations suddenly – so many supportive people encouraging me and assuring me of their prayers and counseling me to keep up the good work. What if I let them all down? Who am I? What do I know?

I was afraid. I really feared what people would think of me. What if they really knew how selfish and hard my heart can be. What if they found out I wasn’t perfect?

I feared man.

How wrong of me. Who, ever, has been perfectly equipped to serve God? None of us are able, and if we were then why would God want you serving him? Instead of casting my eyes out to all those now watching me, I’ve been reminded to cast my eyes up to the only one who matters. God.

Fear God.

How about you? Are you more worried about those before, after or next to you as you walk along the narrow path? Instead, let’s all fear the one who has his eye on the whole path, rather than those who can only see the short stretch we’re on right now.

I’m intentionally slowly reworking through a 2-volume work by Jerry Bridges “The Pursuit of Holiness” and “The Practice of Godliness” . Currently Bridges is talking about fearing God is a balance that drives us to stand back in awe and yet also enter toward Him in love. He writes about this tension (TPOG; pp.19-20) …

“It is impossible to be devoted to God if one’s heart is not filled with the fear of God. It is this profound sense of veneration and honor, reverence and awe that draws forth from our hearts the worship and adoration that characterizes true devotion to God. The reverent, godly Christian sees God first in His transcendent glory, majesty, and holiness before he sees Him in His love, mercy and grace.”

“One of the more serious sins of Christians today may well be the almost flippant familiarity with which we often address God in prayer. None of the godly men of the Bible ever adopted the casual manner we often do. They always addressed God with reverence. The same writer who tells us that we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place, the throne room of God, also tells us that we should worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, “for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 10:19, 12:28-29). The same Paul who tells us that the Holy Spirit dwelling within us causes us to cry, “Abba, Father,” also tells us that this same God lives in “unapproachable light” (Romans 8:15; 1 Timothy 6:16).

I am to be reminded that God is not only full of love, grace and forgiveness but also full of holiness, justice and wrath. Of course, both these categories are displayed in the person of Jesus. The gospel is truly amazing and humbling that we can intimately know this great God who is to be both feared and loved. And this works out practically in the way we approach God in prayer:

- By how we address God in prayer. God is our Heavenly Daddy but He’s not our Homeboy.
- By how consistently we approach God in prayer. Do we fear and stay away because of guilt? If so, this is a misunderstanding of the gospel. Our sin should drive us toward God because the cross is the only place we can go for freedom.
-By how we live the Christian life. God is to be loved and feared not liked and placated once a week or so. This Fearful Loving God should consume every waking thought and breath that we realize our utter dependence on and desperation without Him (Psalm 42:1-2).

God, help me to see more of You! Help me to both fear and love You!

I’m reading in the book of Deuteronomy in the morning. This is a book I’ve grown to love, in part because it clarifies an important theme running through the Bible.

Deuteronomy, you may remember, includes (as does Exodus) the Ten Commandments. The much maligned Ten Commandments. On one side, atheists are clamoring for the Ten Commandments to disappear from court houses and statues and cornerstones.

On the other hand, professing Christians are disparaging the Law because it does nothing but induce guilt. From The Shack:

[Jesus talking] “My words [expectancy instead of expectation and respond instead of responsibility] are alive and dynamic—full of life and possibility; yours are dead, full of law and fear and judgment. That is why you won’t find the word responsibility in the Scriptures.” (p. 205)

Perhaps the character Mack’s words were legalistic, but the passage says “full of law” as if that’s a bad thing. I could point out what Paul says about the Law serving as a tutor, but I want to focus on Deuteronomy today.

Moses is passing on some last words of wisdom to the people of Israel before he dies. As he recounts what they’ve been through and what God has done for them, from time to time he says something like this:

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God will all your heart and all your soul and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deut. 10:12-13)

The key, I believe, is this: Before we are to walk in God’s ways, we are to fear Him (hold Him in awe). Before we are to serve the Lord, we are to love Him. In other words, Law divorced from relationship with God is self-effort and probably selfish, too.

But relationship with God will result in obedience and walking in God’s way—i.e. in His Law.

The last part of the verse above states that the commands are for our good. For Israel, Moses spelled this out as some remarkable, tangible gains—no barren women, an increase in the fruit of the ground, an increase in their herds and flocks, no drought, victory over nations mightier than they, prolonged days in the land, and so on.

For those of us in the Church, God’s good means, above all else, continued fellowship with Him. Sin separates us from God; obedience, in contrast, brings us near, as does repentance.

Throughout Scripture I see these steps:

-fear God and love Him
-obey Him
-receive His blessings or rewards

But look how different that looks if we make some alterations.

-obey God
-receive His blessings or rewards

Seems to me, that particular false teaching leads to legalism.

Or how about this:

-desire God’s blessings or rewards
-obey Him

That false teaching leads to the health-and-wealth ideas which in turn make people mad at God for “letting them down.”

Moses keeps relationship with God front and center. Here are just a few passages:

- fear Me and keep all My commandments (5:29)
- you shall love the Lord your God … these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart (6:5-6)
- you shall fear only the Lord your God … you should diligently keep the commandments (6:13-17)
- you shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him (10:20)
- love the Lord your God, and always keep his charge (11:1)
- to love the Lord your God and to serve Him (11:13)
- to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him

Seems clear to me. Relationship first, and from it flows obedience.

Days of Awe
by Barri Cae Mallin

Sundown Sunday night begins one of the holiest days of the Jewish people, Yom Kippur. As a child, I remember my father faithfully observed this Holy day. He fasted, he went to the shul unshaven, and from sundown to sunset, he prayed. If I defined my father’s religion by how he observed this one holiday, I would have called him a good Jew.

But there was one practice that my dad never did; he never forsook wearing his leather shoes on Yom Kippur. The Rabbis tell us that wearing leather shoes is forbidden on Yom Kippur. They note that the wearing of leather illustrates one’s submission over animals. But on Yom Kippur, one is to be wholly submissive to God alone. We are not to express our dominion over anything, so the wearing of leather shoes is forbidden.

More than the rituals that embrace this holy day are the truths that God desires to drill deep into our spirits: am I truly submitting to God? do I approach His holy gathering place as adamat kodesh – holy ground? Do I approach Him as my shopping-list granter? Is He just my sounding board? Is He the Sole Guest at my personal private pity party?

These ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the Days of Awe, Yameem Nora-eem. The root word of nora-eem is the Hebrew word yare. Yare means to be afraid, to fear, to revere, to have a positive feeling of reverence for God. We see the word used in Genesis 3:10.

And he [Adam] said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.

The midwives feared God and saved the male Israelite babies. Ex.1:17

Moses hid his face from God on Mount Sinai, for he was afraid to look at God. Ex. 3:6

“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever. ” Joshua 4:23-24

Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. I Samuel 12:24

Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Ps.33:8

Since these are the Ten Days of Awe, Ten days of fearing God, I have tried to focus not inwardly as numerous readings have exhorted me to do.

No, I have been focusing on God, and His Awesomeness. Ten days of trying to see God’s Awe, so much so, that I would love to call this time ‘Ten days of Ahhhhhhh”. This has been liberating.

If i focus on me and my badness, I feel worse! What can wash away my sins? Nothing I can do. I can’t apologize enough to all those whom I have hurt.

Nothing

Nothing, but the blood of Yeshua Jesus.

In Him, all things are new.

He is Awesome

He is Forgiving

He is Merciful

He is loving

He is good

He is working all things together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Try as I may, I cannot search my spirit to know how I have hurt others, but by the Power of His Spirit, He will bring to light the things that are hidden, He does perfect work.

A parallel word to yare is guwr. It can mean to stand in awe, be be in awe, to be afraid, to dread, to fear. But it can also mean to sojourn, to dwell, to remain, to inhabit, abide.

Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Ps.33:8

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Home to the Weavers
Spirit ofPrayer.com

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. -Revelation 14:6-7

This is a strange phenomena we see here: an angel in Heaven proclaiming the “everlasting Gospel” to all on earth. And as this angel preaches, what does it record as the words of his Gospel? “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

“What sort of Gospel is this?” I found myself almost subconsciously thinking as I thought about his words recently while reading through the book of Revelation. Why, there is no mention of the Person or atoning blood of Christ, of the Resurrection or the finished work of the Savior, of the manner of repentance or a description of saving faith, how then can this be the “everlasting Gospel”?  But then as I thought more I began to realize that this is not meant to be a thorough or exhaustive explanation of the Gospel, but rather a powerful declaration of that most important, foundational truth that the Gospel itself rests upon. And what is that most important foundational truth? -It is that the Gospel, the everlasting Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and everything in it, utterly rests upon the supremacy and glory of God, period. The Gospel is designed to exalt God above all. And this is what the angel himself declared.

“Fear God…”, the angel shouted. That is, God, the One who is infinitely exalted, who created all things, who dwells in perfect holiness and righteousness and justice and truth, the very God who rules all of creation, He is the One to whom men must give account. He is the One we all must fear. The Gospel starts here, where wisdom and knowledge start (Pro. 1:7, 9:10), with the fear of the Living God. All men must be brought to a point where the Holy Spirit so works in their hearts in the work of conviction that He shows them that they are hopelessly undone in and of themselves, hopelessly lost and unable to save themselves, and that God is a righteous judge who will punish sin, and causes them to see this and in the light of it strikes the holy fear of God in their hearts, a fear which causes them to depart from iniquity. We are commanded to fear God, but we do it not solely by necessity of command, but rather because that it is the first and proper response to having an understanding of how holy and awesome God really is. Fear Him! There is no other choice if you have a revelation of His holy character! He is jealous, He is a consuming fire, He is the great and terrible One! If you don’t fear Him, you have no idea who He really is! And thus the Gospel starts here, it starts with having a revelation of the nature and character of God, and as a result of having this revelation of who He is, of having the fear of Him strike your heart and lead you to repentance! There will be no genuine conversion and no real repentance if the fear of God is not understood in the heart -it may not be able to be explained with words or expounded upon with fine oratory, but in the heart of every true convert, there will be a healthy and real, holy fear of God.

The angel then goes on, “…and give glory to Him.” -And what is the chief, primary way in which all of us from among sinful men can give glory to God? The answer is clear: by believing in His Son! By trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us and trusting solely in Him, by renouncing our own self-righteousness, our own works, our own self-sufficiency, our own self-reliance, and forsaking all of self-trust and radically looking to Christ and Christ alone for real salvation. We glorify God by turning our eyes from self and exalting the true King of the earth, the Messiah that came to redeem us. No sinner can truly glorify God as a way of life until they first believe in the Savior that God has provided, by Whose merit our offerings are made acceptable in His sight. The everlasting Gospel calls us to glorify God as our primary purpose and goal in life, and we fulfill this calling by believing in, trusting in, following, serving, and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. When we die to self and allow Christ to manifest His real resurrection life through us, then the life we live is no longer our own, but Christ is continually glorified as He works in us and through us to fulfill the good pleasure of His own will. Our calling is to glorify God by loving Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. And we can only do this when Christ Himself lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the abiding Word, and we allow ourselves to be transformed by grace and become channels through which God manifests this grace to the world around. 

The Gospel starts and ends with the glory of God. The primary aim of the Gospel is not merely to meet the need of man, as great and desperate as that need is, especially in the necessity of eternal salvation. That is certainly a great aim of the Gospel, but it is not primary. The primary aim of the Gospel is the glory of God, it is to glorify God. The salvation of man is so significant only because it gives glory to God. But the order is clear, first is God’s glory, and then is man’s need. Don’t get is backwards, or else you twist the everlasting Gospel into something else. Our calling is to give glory to Him, first by trusting in His Son, and then by living for His Son. Believe in Him, and worship Him. There is no other greater reason for existance.

The angel shouting the everlasting Gospel is declaring the utter supremacy and glory of God above all peoples and things, and this should cause us all to humble ourselves in repentance and to glorify Him by trusting in and obeying His Son.

Dear soul, have you thus gave glory to God?

Just the ponderings of a foolish thing of this world.
www.puregospeltruth.com

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 1st Chronicles 15:25

That verse from 1st Chronicles is one of more than fifty times in the Bible when fearing God is viewed as a virtue. Yet for all that frequency it may be one of the most ignored, even disputed concepts in all of Scripture. Why? Experience has taught me that anytime something so commonly found in the Bible is ignored or disputed it usually is because we don’t really understand what it means.

A friend of mine writes for www.probe.org. Her name is Sue Bohlin. Recently I read an article in which she talked about four questions that you should always ask when speaking with someone who disagrees with you. The first question is, “What do you mean by that?” followed by, “Where do you get your information, How do you know its true, and What if you’re wrong”. The first question needs to be asked when people say they don’t believe in the whole idea of being afraid of God. When it comes to fearing God, most people seem to think it means being terrorized by the thought that an angry and capricious deity may decide to smack you up side the head with a lightening bold for no good reason. As a result of that kind of thinking people decide that they don’t want to believe in a God like that so they give up on the God of the Bible all together. Well I don’t want to believe in a God like that and fortunately the Bible doesn’t want me to either. God is not some spiritual version of Freddie Kruger or Norman Bates. We are not to be terrorized by Him or the thought of Him. Jesus made that clear when he so often told the disciples, “Fear Not”.

Just by taking a look at the first half of 1st Chronicles 15:25 we can be sure that we are not talking about being terrorized by God. It says “great is the Lord and most worthy of praise”. God is amazing and should be adored and honored. That’s what it means when it says, “most worthy of praise”. The whole history of God’s relationship with His people is one of Him stepping in and caring for them, meeting their needs, protecting them, being their shield and defender, their Good Shepard. God is to be praised, not run from in fear. We are told that He loves His children to the point of coming into the world in Christ and giving Himself for them.

So what does it mean to fear God? I can’t help but make the analogy with my dad. He was 6′4″ and in many ways a disciplined and sometimes demanding father. I loved him, admired him, trusted him and in a certain way feared him. I was not terrorized by him, but I did have a very healthy respect for him. He was the boss, no doubt about it. There was just something about his presence that gave me a certain amount of awe for him. When the Bible speaks about fear of the Lord, that is what it means. The word for fear in the Hebrew is the word yare. It means to stand in awe of, to revere. When you stand in front of the Rocky Mountains for the first time, when you see the Sistine Chapel ceiling, when you hold your new born child, all these things can evoke a sense of awe, wonder and reverence. When we think of God, who He is and what He has done it should cause us to honor, worship and adore Him.

With that sense of awe and reverence comes a desire to follow and obey. The desire is not rooted in a need to avoid punishment but rather it is motivated by wanting to show respect. Far to often people approach God like He is some average Joe from down the street. Certainly we are invited into an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But that does not mean we treat Him like our golf partner or poker buddies. There needs to be a sense of being overwhelmed by the beauty, majesty, power, holiness and love of God. All of who God is should cause us to at times stand slack jawed before Him, speechless, overwhelmed, amazed. It should cause us to obey and follow Him because their is no other like Him. He is to be honored, respected, feared, above all gods. Nothing should demand our alliegance, worship or dedication like the Lord. That is at least in part what the Bible means by fearing God.

This segment of In Lies We Trust: The CIA, Hollywood & Bioterrorism, produced and freely contributed by consumer protector and public health expert, Dr. Leonard Horowitz, features the world’s leading vaccine expert, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, who explains why Merck’s vaccines have spread AIDS, leukemia, and other horrific plagues worldwide. Please forward this clip (link) to everyone you know who thinks vaccines are “safe and effective.”

I would really love to see the uncut version of this film footage!  However, with or without that, this is really sad if Merck knew at the time the vaccine was being given.   As a person who had polio, I remember the event of the vaccines coming out in my childhood. Even though I was naturally protected then having had the disease, I got the vaccine anyway (both Salk and Sabin as I recall)!

This video should make you pause before injecting any substance into your body don’t you think?

The very thing man does to ‘protect’ himself, may actually be more dangerous than the disease itself.

The thought is worth pondering and praying about to be sure and hear the Lord in all matters.

Fear of God more than man would be a healthy place to start.  Did you know that fear properly placed can actually protect you?  The Bible says that the Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  May you know Him through Jesus and May He guide you in Truth and Wisdom and Understanding!

Blessings,

Sandie

Related scriptures KJV:

1. Psalm 111:10
   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
   Psalm 111:9-10 (in Context) Psalm 111 (Whole Chapter)
2. Proverbs 1:7
   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
   Proverbs 1:6-8 (in Context) Proverbs 1 (Whole Chapter)
3. Proverbs 9:10
   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
   Proverbs 9:9-11 (in Context) Proverbs 9 (Whole Chapter)

Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

As Disciples of Christ we must not only watch out for false prophets (vv. 15–20) but also false disciples. Lord, Lord. An verbal confession of Jesus as Lord does not always indicate a repentant heart.

We need to be very careful that we don’t become busy Christians, and always do things for the Kingdom as a priority. We must know our Father who is in heaven and spend time in relationship with Him, speaking to him, getting to know him and his voice. So when He tells you to speak to someone, to pray for someone, to raise someone from the dead, you will go in a greater confidence (John 5:19). I believe that in the next season if we loose sight of God what he is calling us to do then we will be heading down a steep slop that will quickly turn into rivalry between congregations, or hurt people getting even more hurt (Philippians 2:3).

To me it is becoming more clear for me in this next year of my life, I am desperately trying to seek God’s council about what I should be doing, where I should be involved in my community, how much time will I put into this. I strongly believe that he who does the most for the Kingdom is not going to be the first in and have the biggest house and be in charge of the most cities etc.

The Father is after you, he is seeking you out, desiring a relationship with you. He is a Jealous God and he is the most passionate person in the Universe. He is our God, our Father, and our Friend, who just happens to be the creator of every single thing in the entire Universe!

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 (ESV)

⁹Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. ¹⁰The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. ¹²My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.¹³The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

We have to Fear God. If we don’t then we are just living a life where we are disobedient Sons and daughters. Don’t grow weary. Be strong in who God made you to be, A Son and or Daughter, Princes and Princesses, heirs to His Throne.

Please see “Urgent! For American!” for more related warnings!

FALL OF BABYLON – a VISION -by Darren Smith. (1 Jun 09).

The Lord kept me up most of the night bringing a word for me to share and to share now. Many times I wait until I have prayed over what I hear in my spirit, but I can’t wait to send this word out.

Last night while praying before I went to bed, The Lord gave me a vision that really rattled me. In the vision I saw this land split into four parts with each one under its own flag. Each region had terrible destruction and many people were dead. As I looked over the destruction I was crying and the Lord asked me, “Why are you crying over the fall of Babylon? As a matter of fact, why have you been praying for the healing of Babylon?”

In this vision I didn’t have an answer and the Lord opened a scroll and started reading off the indictments against our country, but before each one he clearly called the USA Babylon.

The list was long and to the point, with such points as the killing of several generations of unborn children. Beside this charge He added that these babies had been sacrificed to the god of self. The list also included greed, idolatry, pride, fornication, and many others, so many I could not even read them all.

As I looked at the list of charges I was overwhelmed and broken by the fact that we live every day in a nation that is so far removed from God and in total opposition to the Kingdom of God, yet we are comfortable here. We have become just like Lot living in Sodom, the prosperity that the nation offers us has blinded us from the evil that rules this land. We complain about how bad it is but still stay attached to it with every ounce of strength we have.

The Lord told me to look at the nation as He sees it, not through my eyes but through His. I could not look too long before I had to agree and repent of loving Babylon. Once I repented the Lord told me to prepare for the fall as time is running out. I must preach the Gospel of The Kingdom not the Gospel of America.  America is already judged, the time of shaking is now and will increase rapidly this summer. Water shortages and food shortages will become common this summer, as well as fuel shortages. Civil unrest will become common place in large cities first but will spill over into the rural areas as well.

Natural disasters will stretch the resources of the nation to the breaking point and the government will use this to take freedom away. Brothers up north take note, you will see this start to happen quickly. Please seek the Lord for direction as you are out of time.  The west coast will see this soon as well, please prepare.

In this vision there was a great wasteland that appeared to be in the center of the nation where everything was wiped out and I saw masses of people wandering without direction. They were dirty and ragged, almost dead and there was no relief in sight.  Most of you reading this think I’m crazy I’m sure, but I must be faithful to share what I’m given to share.

The Lord told me to cry from the mountain tops to repent and seek the Lord now!! We don’t have any more time to seek after the things of this world. He has also given me teaching to prepare people to pass through this time of shaking into the Kingdom and I must be faithful to preach this word anywhere I have an open door.

If you want to hear this word please contact me to set up times and places, but again I must warn you, we are running out of time.   We must stop living like we have all the time in the world.  We must stop crying over the fall of Babylon and press into the Kingdom.

-Darren Smith –

PRAY, PRAY, AND PRAY!!! TIME IS RUNNING OUT…….

Fear is the biggest obstacle in your life. I’ve learned that it is the only thing that stops you from achieving your goals.To overcome fear doesn’t mean we forget our responsibilities. It means learning how to find balance between what we risk losing and what we seek to gain. Sometimes we allow fear to overwhelm our decisions and it becomes a barrier to fulfilling our dreams. We never take a step outside of our safe zone; we settle for less than what we can be. Rising over fear makes us realize that some risks are worth taking and if we happen to fail, we pick our selves up and move forward with new insights and possibly new opportunities.

Hi friend.

I want to share with you something that sure concerns you, sometimes hear the voice that’s saying. you are a sinner, you do this specific sin, how do you think that the Lord is going to hear your prayer,how is he going to turn his ear towards you, he has turned his face away from you, why would he hear you asking for forgiveness, or asking for peace, or asking for him to come closer,he hears no sinners.

King David wanted to tell us about this issue

in psalm 66
 ¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who fear God,
         And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
 ¹⁷ I cried to Him with my mouth,
         And He was extolled with my tongue.
 ¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart,
         The Lord will not hear.
 ¹⁹ But certainly God has heard me;
         He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
         
 ²⁰ Blessed be God,
         Who has not turned away my prayer,
         Nor His mercy from me!

—

those previous words are clear, if i regard iniquity in my heart . God will not hear me this is what we think but in the next verse 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

he hears.what God told me is that it’s true that you regard iniquity in your heart. but my mercy is not turned away, and i will hear your prayer. God is not ok with me regarding iniquity in my heart.but if this voice telling me that this iniquity should keep God’s mercy away. this is not true, because if i listen to this voice what will happen is me leaving payer, and this is the exact thing satan wants , is me leaving my relationship , my connection and my company with God,and when i do so, i will get so so far away, but because God loves us,and because he is merciful, he doesn’t push us away,but have mercy and hear our prayers. it’s like he is openning his arms for us, he doesn’t want us to go away from him despite our iniquities.

please remember romans 5: 8 “ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. “

and i encourage you to start reading the book of romans and pray to God to show you his thoughts for you.

just one last thing, what a reaction king David had after God showed him mercy and heared his prayer ,it’s in verse

20: Blessed be God,
         Who has not turned away my prayer,
         Nor His mercy from me!

God bless you .

Summary from Exodus 1:6-20: A new king, who didn’t know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He did not know about Joseph so started to deal shrewdly with the Israelites. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. Then the king asked midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, to kill the boys and let the girls live when they helped the Hebrew women in childbirth. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live. So God was kind to the midwives and the Israel people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

We now live in the place where the government does not know God and starts to dislike what we have and what we believe. The laws are being gradually set up against the Bible. I am very encouraged to see these two midwives –Shiphrah(means beauty) and Puah(Glitter)—have played the role of savior among her people. These 2 midwives stood between the king of Egyptian and the Hebrews (God’s people) and decided to obey God instead of obeying the king.

When the laws of the government conflicts with the Word of God, we have to stand on the Word without fearing to lose our lives.  The midwives might (and probably would) lose their lives by disobeying the King’s order, but they feared God more than the King.  Because of their decision, the lives of the boys were saved. If they had obeyed the King’s orders, then can you imagine how much bloodshed would be upon them?

“The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men”(Daniel 4:17).  Jesus said “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(matt.10:28) “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”(matt.16:25)

The midwives didn’t lose their lives! Instead, God blessed them, and dealt with them well. He made them households of their own. Plus, the population of the Israelites have increased and even more numerous!

When we determine to stand on the Word of God and prepare ourselves to die for righteousness sake, it is sure that God will deal with us well and His kingdom will increase. And our reward will be great in heaven.

God bless you.

]]> http://thepauls.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/the-final-matter-whole-duty-of-man/ Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:16:28 +0000 Mano Paul http://thepauls.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/the-final-matter-whole-duty-of-man/

While the First Requirement of man is to “Be Holy”, the Final matter, or the conclusion of the whole matter is this, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 12:13, which is to “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man“

Fear God – Be reverent and Faithfully Express Awe and Reverance (F.E.A.R)
Keep his commandments – Love God, Love one another

The wisest of the wise says, “This is our DUTY“.

Is there even such a word as Menpleasers and what does that mean? Menpleasers – the Authorized King James Version of the Bible uses this compound word in Colossians 3:22 to reflect workers who work to please men with merely eyeservice, without really any regard for God or singleness of heart. These menpleasures, I believe is not referring to those who work to please their bosses, although it could be if they compromise the commands and Word of God, negating their witness.

Colossians 3:22-24 express the attitude in which we should be working and how we can demonstrate HOLINESS in our work life.
vs. 22 – Servants, obey in ALL things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
vs. 23 – And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
vs. 24 -  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall recive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts – demonstrating HOLINESS in WORK LIFE

Point(s) to Ponder:
Can we demonstrate Holiness in our Work Life. Sometimes this may seem difficult and you may have a team member or manager who makes it even worse, but think about these things – that our work should be as if it is toward the Lord and KNOW (for certain) that you WILL RECIEVE your reward of the inheritance, God (not men) has in store for you. For we serve the Lord, Jesus Christ!

TODAY’S VERSE
“Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe.”
Isaiah 8:13-14 (NLT)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
Can it get any clearer than this? Isaiah calls God the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” What would be more comforting if we are afraid? This is a clarion call, “We are to trust God with everything we have. He is the only one that deserves our fear.” The God who has all the awesome power to make us tremble with fear, is the one we can trust. Why? Because we are not the object of His wrath, we are the object of His love. He will keep us safe.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, I come humbly to You because I deeply respect You and Your mighty power. And yet You have called me to be the object of Your love. Help me today to completely trust You with everything I have and in everything I do. Because of Jesus.
AMEN

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Lately I’ve been reading my Bible, just flipping around reading random verses. Well I flipped to Deuteronomy, random I know, to a story called, The Reading of the Law. In this story I noticed that it said for us to fear God, and well i didn’t know what it meant. So I researched it and I am going to explain it the best I can. I am doing this because maybe if I didn’t understand it, there are probably other people out there that don’t understand it either. So here we go.

The Bible doesn’t say, “Be scared of God.” To “fear the Lord” (Deuteronomy 31:12) means something very different. And very important.
“Fear sharks” means that you don’t go splashing around in the ocean when sharks are near. “Fear fire” means that you remember what fire can do and don’t toss lighted matches around your bedroom. In each of these cases “fear” means ” to have respect for”- to give sharks or fire serious consideration.
That’s what the Bible means when it says to fear God. You give God serious consideration in your life. You have a growing respect for him. Some people don’t fear God at all. They ignore him, as if he didn’t exist. But you’re wiser than that. You’re not scared of God, because you know he loves you. But you do fear him, because you know he deserves all your respect.

Well alright,
God Bless

Peace

Dillon