This world is in dire need of wisdom, supernatural wisdom! So, if it begins with the fear of the Lord, it makes sense that we have to find out what that means exactly, right?!
Well, the fear of the Lord or the fear of God does not mean that we should be afraid of God, that we should have an unhealthy or slavish fear. The Hebrew word for fear as mentioned in Proverbs 9:10 is יראה (yirah) and it means reverence or awe.
About the first believers, it is written that they lived in the fear of the Lord (Acts 9:31): Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
It is clear they did not live in fear, for they enjoyed a time of peace and were encouraged. They had reverence for God, which means: deep respect, high regard, admiration, worship.
👉Why should we fear the Lord? Because He is the Creator of all things and all people, and He is holy, just, righteous, loving, kind, patient, gracious, and forgiving. If we humble ourselves and stop acting like we have it all together, but instead acknowledge Him as supreme God, He will bless us:
True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life (Proverbs 22:4).
Oh my goodness, one has to be crazy not to fear the Lord! It is not just that the Lord deserves our admiration, there are many blessings attached. More about that in the next blog post.
May we all stand in reverent awe before the Lord our God.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Marja!
Amen, I pray and hope we will ALL come to this point indeed!
DeleteMarja: Thank you for this splendid reminder of our need to have reverence for God. Our society has stepped so far away from this that it concerns me. Peace and blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me to see so much ungodliness setting itself up against God and His Word. I'll keep this blog series simple but to the point, that it may help us all!
DeleteAmen! Yes, such a good reminder and post. I love the reference you made to Acts 9:31, I hadn`t really noticed that before the way `Shalom`, peace and `Fear of the LORD` were together in that verse, its a beautiful lesson for us in the Body of Messiah and may we do so and may `Messiah`s community` keep muliplying!! It makes me think from reading your post, that the world will get wisdom in that way, as we become strong as His body, then others will join Messiah`s community until everyone is running into the Kingdom of God!! Personally I think I learned the fear of God once I became a believer, so its interesting to think of that from reading your post!! Rambling a little, hope that makes sense! Look forward to the next post, Blesssings and Shalom!
ReplyDeleteJoanne, thank you for your valuable comments! Yes, I wanted to bring this 'fear of the Lord' to the New Covenant, many believers today have not so much reverence for God. And I totally am with you that if we begin to live this way, people want to connect to the community of Messiah, especially now that the world is in such turmoil. He is peace, Messiah is shalom!
DeleteAmen! Thank you Marja. ♡
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