Fear of the Lord
Psalm 25:12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. 15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Psalm 25 says there is one condition to being assured of safety: the fear of the Lord. Those who fear the Lord lack no good thing, for out of this one attitude of the mind: to please God at the cost of the approval of everyone else, flows every good and right thought.
God wants to be our treasure. Jesus said when I really figure out what it means to know Him, this is how I would feel:
Matthew 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Because of this reality, the enemy is constantly placing substitute treasure before me: money, possessions, reputation, status...
The fear of the Lord, allowing God to be my source and my treasure, puts all of those things back in the perspective of being blessings that flow out of my real treasure, and does not let them elevate in my mind to the status of treasure themselves. This frees me from the traps of having a counterfeit treasure. Can you imagine having a forged bill in your hand as you stand in the cashier's line, only to get to the front of the line to find out what you thought was valuable to get you what you want is worthless?! The fear of the Lord prevents this from happening in the costliest of check out lines...your life story.
Once I have the perspective of the freedom in the fear of the Lord I need to remember another thing: I need not only wisdom, but also understanding.
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.
Understanding means this: if you have chosen to walk in the fear of the Lord, you must remember that this is the place of promise. It doesn't always feel or look like the place of promise. Understanding keeps you in wisdom. I could have all the wisdom in the world, but when the real consequences of trusting God are visible...when faith is all of the sudden spelled RISK, understanding keeps my feet planted in the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord, understanding reminds me this is where I really want to be. If I have these two, nothing can keep me from the dreams God has placed in my heart!
Psalm 25 says there is one condition to being assured of safety: the fear of the Lord. Those who fear the Lord lack no good thing, for out of this one attitude of the mind: to please God at the cost of the approval of everyone else, flows every good and right thought.
God wants to be our treasure. Jesus said when I really figure out what it means to know Him, this is how I would feel:
Matthew 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Because of this reality, the enemy is constantly placing substitute treasure before me: money, possessions, reputation, status...
The fear of the Lord, allowing God to be my source and my treasure, puts all of those things back in the perspective of being blessings that flow out of my real treasure, and does not let them elevate in my mind to the status of treasure themselves. This frees me from the traps of having a counterfeit treasure. Can you imagine having a forged bill in your hand as you stand in the cashier's line, only to get to the front of the line to find out what you thought was valuable to get you what you want is worthless?! The fear of the Lord prevents this from happening in the costliest of check out lines...your life story.
Once I have the perspective of the freedom in the fear of the Lord I need to remember another thing: I need not only wisdom, but also understanding.
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.
Understanding means this: if you have chosen to walk in the fear of the Lord, you must remember that this is the place of promise. It doesn't always feel or look like the place of promise. Understanding keeps you in wisdom. I could have all the wisdom in the world, but when the real consequences of trusting God are visible...when faith is all of the sudden spelled RISK, understanding keeps my feet planted in the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord, understanding reminds me this is where I really want to be. If I have these two, nothing can keep me from the dreams God has placed in my heart!
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