Fear of the Lord

Isaiah 11:2 - The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

Psalm 19:9 - The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.

If I haven't already written something about this, it's at least been on my mind for some time.  We have completed a study for Women's Ministries by John Bevere called A Heart Ablaze. It was a very powerful study beginning with the awesomeness and power of God our Creator to the reverent fear of the Lord we ought to have. We ended with a video called The Fear of the Lord by Bevere as well.  

Bevere is a straight shooter and does not mince words.  The study is not for those who only want to hear of God's love. I just know it was sometimes difficult to hear the words he spoke, in the truth of God's Word.  We have decided that we can no longer be satisfied with milk but it is time for meat! I praise God for a director who has made this decision.  

I believe we are at a crossroads in this world--and definitely at a crossroads in our church. I believe God is calling His people to truly seek Him with all their heart and soul. I believe He wants to move among all His churches and stir things up and start truly worshiping Him and giving of ourselves for Him.

I started this partly because of this study, partly because I was desperate to begin hearing from the Lord by sitting at His feet and sharing my thoughts about what I believe I am learning from Him. This study, the direction our Pastor wants to take in our church and my sitting at the feet of Jesus cause me to believe that the day is coming when we will have to let go of all the things that cause us to not seek Him for all things. The director our WM's spoke words of compassion that we need to be on our knees and faces before God for a true move of His Spirit in our lives and the life of our church, especially the prodigal children. 

She has seen firsthand how some of the children in our church who were once on fire for God have now become athiests and talk against God.  And I wonder why this is? Is it because they have seen parents or other parishioners compromise their lives? Have they fallen into the peer pressure trap? Have they begun to fear what their friends (or family) would say if they stood up for their faith? Lord, help us all.

I know I fall into the category of fearing what others think and fearing that I will lose friends because I have spoken something they are uncomfortable hearing.  If there is one thing I need to overcome it is that fear. This fear is not of God and the fear also tells me that I do not trust Him...and it is an affront to Him.  How can we say we love the Lord our God and allow this to happen?  I'm thankful that when we are ready to make a change, God will not turn His back on us.

Another point was brought up this morning in the video:  There are many who say they love the Lord but believe that they are in right standing with Him despite how they live their lives. I may be counted as one of them, which causes me great concern. Bevere made this statement: "You don't just come to the Lord to be blessed." How true that is. It's not just about His love, but also about His judgment. We must have the reverent fear of the Lord.  He also said "There is a time to jump in His lap and a time for great reverence."  To be honest with you, I don't know that I even understand what true reverence is. It's something very unfamiliar to me. I've not truly seen it in operation. Yes, our Pastor has shown repentance and grief in some our services.  He has been on his face before the Lord for himself, his family, his ministry and especially for our church, which seems to be stuck. It's like we're afraid of changing, afraid of the unknown, afraid of anyone seeing us weep or cry out to God. The fear of the Lord is missing.

Yesterday I spoke of little children. Are they afraid to cry when they are hurting, unhappy or frustrated?  No!  They let their voices be heard. We are to be as little children before our Father. He desires to hear us cry out to Him, to bare our souls and come to a place of intimacy--and obedience--with Him. Is the Church afraid of intimacy? Is it afraid of looking different? Is it caught up in me, myself and I and phooey on authority? Are we afraid to let the others within our church body know that we are imperfect beneath our perfectly poised, well-dressed exteriors? Are we afraid to admit we are sinners? God help us. 

Our Pastor has been trying for years to get our church to this place and he's not succeeded.  Not because he hasn't spoken the truth but that people are selectively listening and not allowing the truth into their hearts...and not being obedient to the truth. Pastor and his wife did not discuss the possibility of moving to Milwaukee to anyone when they were approached. They did not want to move, but they wanted to do God's will. A word spoken to him while they were seeking God for His answer came from a woman who was only visiting their church.  It revealed an answer to a question our Pastor's wife had: "Why would God take us out of a sovereign move of His Holy Spirit [at their church] and move us some place else?"  The woman's answer was: "God took Philip out of the first known revival of the New Testament and sent him to the desert." Their conflict was they did not want to be sent to a desert place. They, too, were content where they were. Then another Sunday a different woman prayed for Pastor saying, "God, Pastor is struggling with going to a desert place, but You are not calling him to a desert. You are calling him to a hungry people. If the Ethiopian had been in Rome, You would have called Philip there. If he had been on a ship at sea, You would have called him there."

This past Sunday our Pastor called us to begin to seriously seek the Lord. I praise God that He started working this same message into me even before this time! It's telling me that despite my occasional question, the Holy Spirit is at work in me.  It's telling me that I am hearing God speak.  And it's telling me that the more I listen and pay attention, the more intimate, perhaps the more childlike and more obedient, I will become before God. And in time the reverent fear will become a reality.

Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God...submitting to one another in the fear of God. Then a voice [will come] from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!"  (Revelation 14:7, Luke 1:50, 2Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 5:21, Revelation 19:5)