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 Daily
Grace At
Jesus` Feet
January 31, 2010
Fear God! Forsake Evil!
Blessed is the man
who fears
the LORD –
Psalm 112:1
God created us in His own
image and He gave a wonderful life to
live in this world. He desires the best for us. He has great plans for
our
lives. When we place ourselves in His mighty hands and are mindful of
our every
action and focus those to glorify His Name, there is no limit He can
bless us
and take us to the greater height we could hardly imagine for our
lives. David
says in Psalm 112:1: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.” Further,
he tells
us the way Lord blesses the one who fear Him in this Psalm. Indeed,
there is a
greater blessing when we fear our Creator. So what it means to “Fear
God?” Is
this the worldly “scary thing” we fear or we fear Him because like
other gods
He may “kill” us if not feared? Do we fear Him for the punishment HE
may give
us or we fear Him for the punishment He endured for our sins sake? We
read the
answer from Proverbs 8:13 that say, “To fear the LORD is to hate evil.”
The
Lord hates pride and arrogance, evil
behavior and perverse speech. God blessed all those who shunned evil.
We know
of a man from the Bible, from the land of Uz
who was blameless
and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. His name was Job! He was
so
perfect and faithful to God, that none can touch him. Even satan has to
get
God’s permission to touch Job. Not many in the Bible, God commends so
directly
mentioning the name as He did for Job. God gave him a “certificate of
honor” to
Job mentioning, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and
upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." How Job could get this
certificate. Surely “not online”! Rather Job invested his time in God’s
presence daily. We read in Job that daily he would get up early in the
morning
and offered a burnt offering for his children. He
prayed for his family and his own life to
stay away from evil. Sounds like Job had a pretty regular quite time
with our
Lord, leading his family in Godly ways. To shun the evil, we must ask
God to
help us shun the evil; to pray we must have God in our lives. Remember “To have the fear of the Lord in a person,
first he needs
to have Lord in Him.” With out God in our lives it is impossible to
fear Lord
and shun evil. Someone quoted, “If
one fears the Lord: he will no fear anything in this world.”<>If we fear the Lord we not
only spend time in His presence like Job, but we also will serve the
Lord. Joshua,
an immediate successor of Moses who led Israelites into the Promised
Land
encouraged Israelites to fear God and serve Him alone. We read in
Joshua
24:14-15,” 4 “So fear
the Lord and serve
him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped
when
they lived beyond the Euphrates
River and in Egypt.
Serve the Lord alone. But
if you refuse to serve the Lord,
then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your
ancestors
served beyond the Euphrates? Or will
it be the
gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my
family,
we will serve the Lord.”
Further,
Joshua declared that “he and his family will serve the Lord.” From both
examples, we can see that God, to fear God and shun evil, we will like
Job
“Sit” with the Lord daily; and “Serve” the Lord whole-heartedly. To
stay away
from sinfulness in our lives; we must stay close to God. This is the
secret of
shunning the evil. The result of this process is called the “fearing
God.” One’s
old self before coming to Christ, as Paul mentions in Romans 3:10-18
where
lists that condition of an unbeliever and he finally tell that,” They
have no
fear of God at all.”
The person who fears the
Lord will have great delight in His Words
or Commands (Psalm 112:1); will walk in Godly ways (Psalm 128:1); and
will be a
wise man (Proverbs 14:16). We read in Proverbs 19:23, “The fear of the LORD leads to
life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” Do you know the
blessing
that comes from fearing God? Read Psalm 112! We read specifically, in
verse 7,
“He will have no fear of bad news; his heart
is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.” Yes…it is not “no news is good
news;”
rather it is “no fear amid bad news.” Is this not a blessing! Indeed
there is a
great blessing in fearing God!
One time
many years ago, the
king of Hungary
found himself depressed and unhappy. He sent for his brother, a
good-natured
but rather indifferent prince. The king said to him, "I am a great
sinner;
I fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed at him. This didn't
help
the king's disposition any. Though he was a believer, the king had
gotten a
glimpse of his guilt for the way he'd been living lately, and he
seriously
wanted help. In those days it was customary if the executioner sounded
a
trumpet before a man's door at any hour; it was a signal that he was to
be led
to his execution. The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to
sound
the fateful blast at his brother's door. The prince realized with
horror what
was happening. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized
by the
executioner, and dragged pale and trembling into the king's presence.
In an
agony of terror he fell on his knees before his brother and begged to
know how
he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the
sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall not I, having
grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of
Christ?" (Credit: Walk
Through Rewards).
It is better to “Fear God”
than to “Fear
Men”; It is better to “Obey God” than to “Obey Men.”! Do you fear God?
Do you
hate evil? If you fear, you are fearless!
Prayer: Father…Help me to fear you,
help me to walk in your ways, help me to delight in your commands, and
walk in
your ways. In Jesus Name…Amen!
May you have a Blessed
Sunday!
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