Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is reverence and awe for who He is and His ways. I have had much teaching in the Lord and have served the Lord faithfully for many years, but in the last couple of years there was a deep desire within me to know Him more than I did, which caused me to do less in the ministry I was involved in.

He began to reveal more to me as a Father God who wanted a relationship with His children. But later it seemed more about being prepared as the bride for the bridegroom Jesus. Then the Coronavirus lockdown came giving me extra time to reflect on my life with the Lord.

The word of God I received at the beginning of Corona was Psalm 46:10 “Be still and Know I am God’ I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! I was encouraged not to be anxious because He was Sovereign over it all, even if I did not understand what was going on.

But, as time went on I have often felt anxious. Then, recently, this word came into my heart. Revelation 3: 20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me.”
Love was knocking again at the door of my heart and waiting for a response from His bride. To know Him in a deeper way than before. Christ is jealous for His bride. He does not want to share her with other people. He wants to be our first love.

I found myself asking questions of myself which connected me more to my own heart. If I really knew in my heart that God’s Love was much bigger than anything that I would ever be confronted with, that He really cared and would never leave me or forsake me in all my situations, that He was trustworthy and faithful:

What difference would it make in the way I would live my life?

Would I be more at peace when life goes differently than I thought?

Would I be more loving and accepting of myself and others because of the awareness of our value to God for who we are? A child of God that matters belonging to a royal household.

What if we are being challenged not by sin or the enemy but by God’s goodness?

Can we let Him touch our hearts and receive what we are missing?

I have discovered nothing surprises God. He knows my lack. Maybe if we can acknowledge it and ask the Holy Spirit to help us connect to what He has already put inside us, He will meet that need.

I have noticed when fear tries to rise when troubles hit our lives, it just shows up that we need a deeper awareness of God’s love and provision for us. A deeper trust of his love and care to neutralize the fear that wants to take the place of peace and love.
1 John 4: 18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Our hearts have many compartments which need the awareness of the Empowering Presence of God within.

Romans 5:5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
We can draw on that which is already within us with the help of the Holy Spirit. The character of Christ lives within us. The Holy Spirit helps us with the fruits of the spirit to counteract the ways of the world we have all grown up in. Fear of the Lord is really the awe of knowing who He is and wants to be for us. Lord, Adonai.

Prayer: Father God Forgive us if we have given in to fear and not turned to you to receive Your perfect love. Let all the fruits of love be active in our lives which are a useful weapon against our enemy. Strengthen us to respond with a Godly Spirit opposite to the world around us. Reveal Yourself more to us of who You want to be for us at this time. Help us to connect to You and strengthen us with yourself to be who You made us to be at this time. For Jesus‘ name sake. Amen.