When most people here the phrase of Fear the Lord, they tend to think of punishment or from a worldly stance they see the phrase “act of God” in their insurance policies and see a God who causes loss of property, or loss of even life. The world tends to look at God or the Act of God as something bad that happens.
It is interesting to note that these acts of God are for one, unstoppable and unavoidable. Our God is sovereign and above anything that we, as man, can not prevent what “God” may unleash here on earth.
But where does that leave us in benefiting from fearing the Lord?
In Romans 3:18 it says “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” and in Psalms 36:3 it goes on to say. He as ceased to be wise and to do good.
Many of us do not fear God or talk about the fear of God as we have an unhealthy attachment to what that means, whether we are walking with God or if we have no grid for God due to ignorance or because we have pushed God out of our lives.
This concept of fearing the Lord can be a key reason many Christians are not walking in the fullness of God and the victory of the Lord that is promised in the Good Book. Over the next several posts I am going to address this issue using multiple sources of readings that will attempt to address this issue.
The main source is of course the Bible. But another source of inspiration for this series of posts on the fear of the Lord comes from a book I am reading called “The missing ingredient to success” by Michael Cameneti which was written under Kenneth Hagin Ministries and Rhema Bible Church in 2004.
In the introduction to this book, Micheal Cameneti poses a very important question that many of us wonder about, Why am I not successful? What am I missing? He goes on to ask…”Do you mean there could be a missing ingredient in my life? And if I add this one ingredient, would it help me become successful? The answer to both of these questions is yes.
King Solemn, who is revered as one of the wisest men of the history of mankind sums up and even calls it, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments. For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
In our society and life of free will, many have chosen to move away from God because of the limitations that God has spoke about in the Bible. As we move forth, we can see that the World does not want the limitations that God puts before us in the Word of God. God has shown us a way to live life fruitfully and happily, but the message from the world is just the opposite. The world says live life however you choose and be FREE…but are you really free?
Let’s see what the Bible has to say about what happens when “there is no fear of God before their eyes”
Romans 3:9-18 From the Living Bible says…
Well then, are we Jews better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all men alike are sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles. As the scriptures say, “No one is good–not one in all the world is innocent.” “No one has ever really followed God’s paths, or even truly wanted to. Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. Their talk is foul and filthy like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are loaded with lies. Everything they say has in it the sting and poison of deadly snakes. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They are quick to kill, hating anyone who disagrees with them. Wherever they go they leave misery and trouble behind them, and they have never known what it is to feel secure or enjoy God’s blessing. They care nothing about God nor what he things of them.”
So here we see the answer to what happens where there is no fear of God before our eyes.
If God created you in his image, it only makes sense to work at becoming what the catch phrase says of “Christ like” … In Ephesians 5:1 it says “Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father.”
If we are to walk this path that God calls us to, then we must have this healthy fear of the Lord to do what is right in the eyes of God, not in the eyes of this world. We must be the hands and feet and mouth pieces of God as a Christian. There is a simple word for this and it is Integrity.
