The fear of the Lord (4)

'God is outrageous in blessing people who fear Him', I wrote in my previous post. Now, we don't fear the Lord because we want to be blessed (although that would be a good reason), we fear Him because He is God!

I know that sounds too simple. But the Bible says we should fear Him because He is the Creator. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command (Psalm 33:8-9).

We should fear Him because He is holy. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy (Revelation 15:4).

We should fear Him because He is great among many other gods and idols He stands out. There is only One like Him. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4).

And maybe most of all, we should fear Him because He is love! He loved us before we loved Him. He gave His Son to die for a sinful world. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him (Psalm 103:11).

Fearing God means giving Him the awe and respect He deserves. We are called to fear God, not people!

The fear of the Lord (3)

When we give our respect and admiration to people we might get disappointed, because people and their ideologies can change over time.

God, however, deserves our respect and admiration because He is faithful, truly good, and He never changes. He is the great I am!

As Creator, He is supreme over all things which means mankind is subject to Him, whether we like this or not. To respect God or in other words, to fear the Lord is a sign of true humility... but it does not mean that we get treated as slaves. On the contrary! 👉Fearing God has great blessings attached.

True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life (Proverbs 22:4)

You gotta be kidding me. Riches, honor, and long life! Who doesn't want that? And there is more, believe it or not. God is outrageous in blessing people who fear Him 😍

• Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children. Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:26-27). The fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain! Does that sound negative, or scary, or religious? Of course not, it will be the joy in our lives to honor the Lord.
• Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need (Psalm 34:9). Oh my goodness, to have all you need, to never lack any good thing... that will end all worries and all anxiety, right?
• For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him (psalm 34:7). Hey, we live in a crazy and wicked world, we need a guard who surrounds and defends us!

All these great blessings for fearing God, isn't it wonderful? There are other reasons why we should fear the Lord as well, more about that in the next blog post.

The fear of the Lord (2)

Proverbs 9:10 says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

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.

Does your family need prayer?

In previous blog posts I wrote about starting Prayer for the Nations in our town as well as prayer for our region. Well, there is more....

About two years ago, when my brother-in-law became very ill and passed away much too young, we started up a family prayer group. Now, this is not a new phenomenon as far as my in-laws are concerned; my mother-in-law and her siblings prayed for many, many years for their children and grand children. We decided our turn had finally come to take over (thank you Lord!).

We come together with the (younger) believers in our family to pray for each other, for the children and grandchildren, our nephews and nieces and for the older generation that went before us and prayed fervently that we would live a life for God! We are very thankful for the parents and grandparents that did not give up on us when we were walking away from God and his Word.

I would like to encourage you... if you have family members who need prayer (and who hasn't?), please start a group and come together regularly to pray, to thank, to bless. Two is enough to start! Prayer changes things, I am living proof!

Give me a W

In my Bible Alphabet Blog Series W stands for Words. Yes, the words we speak with our mouth, words that can hurt or heal, build up or break down, criticize or comfort.

The Bible says that the power of life and death is in our words, The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Oops, that would make you want to think twice before you speak, right?!

Each new day we make a choice whether we will bless or curse with our words. Whatever is in our heart will come out of our mouth, and sometimes that is a weird mix. James 3:9 says it like this, With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.

Why do we do that? Why? If we truly believe our words have power, we should use them more carefully and certainly more purposely. May I encourage you this week, to savor your speech with grace?

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones (Proverbs 16:24)

Give me an O

In my Bible Alphabet Blog Series O stands for Overflow.

Oh (O) how I love that word in its Biblical context. It stands for an abundant and abounding outpouring, starting with Gods love and grace towards mankind. If the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Romans 5:15).

Overflow stands for the blessings the Lord will bring when we honor Him by giving joyfully and generously. Proverbs 3:9-10 says: Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

And yes, it stands for the sheer joy that we can experience when we are in Gods will, living by His Word. Psalm 119:171, May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. God is a God of healthy overflow, He always gives more than enough, whatever it is we need. And because He is so good and His love is so abundant, we can spill it all around us :)

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

Wishing all my blogging friends

Blessed woman

This past week I decided to read the gospel of Luke once again. I do not follow a certain Bible-reading-plan, but try to mix Old and New Testament as much as I can. And I keep learning new things :)

This time I discovered a beautiful verse that must have skipped my attention during previous reading sessions. Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, is having a conversation with Maria, the mother of Jesus, and she says: Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her! (Luke 1:45). Blessed is she...

Elisabeth spoke those words to Maria and I never noticed the prophetic meaning before. Her words are so much more than a common pleasantry, they are applicable to my own life. Actually, I believe every woman can adapt them: Blessed am I who believes that the Lord will fulfill His promises to me.

We can find many tools and promises for a blessed life throughout the Bible, for example:

• Psalm 1:1, Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers
• Psalm 41:1, Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble
• Romans 4:7, Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered
• James 1:12, Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him

And of course we have the Beatitudes! But for now I want to leave you all with the words as written in Luke 1:45, Blessed are you who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to you.

PS: Is there a certain promise or word you want and need to hang on to?

Happy New Year!

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.