Passage of the Day: Psalm 111: 10 … The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
My Journal for Today: Besides today’s passage from the Psalms, as well as those from Solomon [Prov. 1: 7 and 9: 10], which declare that one’s reverence of God is the beginning of all true wisdom, we see that the Psalmist [author unknown of PS. 111] also declares that those who follow God’s precepts develop a good understanding of life. There are a number of verses in God’s word which also declare this truth. Let me document a few of them here [all NIV]
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Job 28: 28 - And [God] said to man, 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'
Prov. 8: 13 - To fear the LORD is to hate evil; …
John 14: 15 – [Jesus] “If you love me, you will obey what I command.“
1st John 2: 3 – We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.
James 3: 13 - Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
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Maybe you’re getting the picture. Any time God’s word paints a picture repetitively by several authors, I know that I need to pay attention. If we, as Christians, truly believe the truth of 2nd Timothy 3: 16 – 17, which states clearly that God’s Word (The Bible) is the very mind of God, which He has provided for our instruction and our living, then these passages above are very clear that obedience to God’s word characterizes the life of one who loves the Lord and desires to know and follow His way [in other words one who has a “fear of the Lord”].
As John MacArthur puts it in His Strength for Today devotional for this date: “Saving faith is obedient faith. … Obeying the Lord’s commandments and shunning evil are dynamics that work in the soul of one who truly fears God.”
Therefore, it’s time to stop and reflect; and … well, I think you know what we must ask and then what we must do!
My Prayer Today: All I want to do, Lord, is to live in the center of Your will. Amen
Showing posts with label "fear of God". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "fear of God". Show all posts
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Saturday, November 05, 2011
November 5, 2011 … Living A Fulfilled Life
Passage of the Day: Ecclesiastes 12: 13 … Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
My Journal for Today: As Solomon exhorted in today’s passage, Christians can – and must – search for the mind of God (i.e., for Godly wisdom) by fearing God and keeping His commandments. Much of this wisdom book in the Old Testament is, I believe, Solomon’s later life reflections on all the human wisdom God allowed him to have. He discovered later in life, in penning the book of Ecclesiastes, that all his human wisdom led him to nothing but vanity. As Solomon reflected in Eccles. 1: 16 – 18, when it comes to dealing with life, all the human wisdom in the world will simply not “cut it.” He said that chasing human wisdom was like chasing after the wind; and I think that’s a very apt word picture. And toward the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon warns the child of God [in today’s verse] to “… fear God and keep His commandments” … as the “… whole duty of man.”
That is also what James, the brother of Jesus, whom we’ve been learning from in the last few days, was saying in James 3: 13 – 16 [see below], … warning believers, as did Solomon, that the pursuit of human wisdom is earthly and fleshly, and can be demonic, yielding nothing but disorder and evil practice.
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James 3: 13 – 16 … Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
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So, here we have two wise believers, shaped by years of life’s experience, warning us to avoid the folly of pursuing human wisdom and doing all we can, with reverence and obedience to God, to find and apply the mind of God to our lives.
Therefore, I hope you join me in the remainder of this month’s devotional pursuit, learning from God’s word what we must do to find God’s way from His word, … and that is to fear (i.e., reverence) God and to live life in obedience to His will. I believe, as we do this, we will do what Solomon and James desired of fellow believers … to discover and apply the very mind of God to our lives.
My Prayer Today: O Lord, how I’m driven to know Your mind and to make Your way, my way! Amen
My Journal for Today: As Solomon exhorted in today’s passage, Christians can – and must – search for the mind of God (i.e., for Godly wisdom) by fearing God and keeping His commandments. Much of this wisdom book in the Old Testament is, I believe, Solomon’s later life reflections on all the human wisdom God allowed him to have. He discovered later in life, in penning the book of Ecclesiastes, that all his human wisdom led him to nothing but vanity. As Solomon reflected in Eccles. 1: 16 – 18, when it comes to dealing with life, all the human wisdom in the world will simply not “cut it.” He said that chasing human wisdom was like chasing after the wind; and I think that’s a very apt word picture. And toward the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon warns the child of God [in today’s verse] to “… fear God and keep His commandments” … as the “… whole duty of man.”
That is also what James, the brother of Jesus, whom we’ve been learning from in the last few days, was saying in James 3: 13 – 16 [see below], … warning believers, as did Solomon, that the pursuit of human wisdom is earthly and fleshly, and can be demonic, yielding nothing but disorder and evil practice.
------------------
James 3: 13 – 16 … Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
-----------------
So, here we have two wise believers, shaped by years of life’s experience, warning us to avoid the folly of pursuing human wisdom and doing all we can, with reverence and obedience to God, to find and apply the mind of God to our lives.
Therefore, I hope you join me in the remainder of this month’s devotional pursuit, learning from God’s word what we must do to find God’s way from His word, … and that is to fear (i.e., reverence) God and to live life in obedience to His will. I believe, as we do this, we will do what Solomon and James desired of fellow believers … to discover and apply the very mind of God to our lives.
My Prayer Today: O Lord, how I’m driven to know Your mind and to make Your way, my way! Amen
Monday, May 17, 2010
2010 – May 17 – Wising Up, … the Hard Way
Study from God’s Word… Prov. 22: 17 – 21; Prov. 1: 1 – 7; Prov. 25: 1; Prov. 9: 10 – 12; Prov. 10: 27; Prov. 14: 2, 26-27; Prov. 15: 33; Prov. 29: 23; Prov. 28: 14; Prov. 3: 5 – 8; Prov. 14: 12 [16: 25]; Prov. 16: 3, 20; Prov. 18: 2, 4, 10; Prov. 19: 3; Prov. 20: 24; Prov. 21: 22; Prov. 26: 12; Prov. 28: 26; Prov. 29: 25; Prov. 15: 3; Prov. 16: 1, 4, 9, 33; Prov. 19: 21; Prov. 21: 30-31; Prov. 22: 12; Prov. 27: 1; Prov 13: 14; Prov. 15: 24; Prov. 16: 22: Prov. 17: 13; Prov. 24: 7, 13-14; Prov. 26: 4 – 11; Prov. 27: 22; Prov. 29: 9; Prov. 10: 13, 23; Prov. 13: 15; Prov. 14: 6, 8, 15, 33; Prov. 15: 21; Prov. 16: 16; Prov. 17: 24; Prov. 20: 5, 12; Prov. 10: 14; Prov. 13: 16; Prov. 14: 18; Prov. 15: 14; Prov. 18: 15; Prov. 19: 2; Prov. 20: 15; Prov. 21: 11; Prov. 23: 12; Prov. 24: 14 … Passage for Reflection: Proverbs 1: 7… NIV 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
My Journal for Today: The proverbs, which I read this morning and documented by number above, were pre-organized by Dr. Smith for the disciple’s study into various topics related to wisdom, … topics such as … The Purpose of the Proverbs, Fear of the Lord, Trust in God, Divine Providence, Wisdom Versus Folly, Dealing with Fools, Discernment and Understanding, and Knowledge. It would have taken me a long, long time to organize these proverbs into study topics like this; so I’m deeply indebted to the work F. LaGard Smith has done in his Daily Bible in Chronological Order so that seekers such as I can read through God’s Proverbs in topical order like this. It makes it so much easier to glean truth and personal application through such a study; and today’s highlight verse zeroes in on one truth which cannot – and must not – be ignored by disciples of Christ; and that is the connection between fear (i.e., “fear of the Lord”) and discipline.
Ugh! “Discipline!!!” That concept just seems to resonate with negative emotions, doesn’t it? We think of being afraid of our parents when we were naughty because of the “discipline” which might (and often did) result. Or we think of all that dedication and “discipline” an Olympic athlete, like a Michael Phelps, had to have to become a Gold Medal winner, … let alone one who wins eight of those suckers.
Yes, “discipline” seems such a hard thing to take; and the concept of “fear,” also found in today’s highlight passage, is another concept which resonates with negative. Yet, like “discipline,” the idea of fear can have enormously positive implications. It is fear of harm which keeps us from doing impulsive and foolish things, isn’t it (or shouldn’t it be)? And it is “fear” and “discipline” which, when applied to one’s life, leads one to excellence, as it did for Phelps swimming for all those gold medals.
So, the question becomes, “How do I apply the FEAR OF THE LORD to my life in a way that I will apply the DISCIPLINE I need to obey Him, serve Him, and glorify Him?” And that’s a matter of faith and belief, isn’t it? If we believe God’s word, which implies the discipline of knowing God’s truth from His word, we will do what God says; and that requires the discipline to read, learn, and apply the precepts found in the Bible to our lives. My challenge has always been CHOOSING to believe that the outcomes are worth the effort it takes to reverence my God – through His truth – enough to dig it out, interpret it for my life, and then to apply it to what I choose to do. And in that process I will become a worthy and effective DISCIPLE (the core of “discipline”) for Christ … OR NOT!!!
I can only pray that I believe and choose to live as a Proverbs 1: 7 disciple of Christ, making Him the Lord all I think, say, and do.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You know my heart; and I do fear You because I know how much You have loved me by dying for me. And oh, how my reverence leads me to know You more today than yesterday … and even more tomorrow than today. Amen
My Journal for Today: The proverbs, which I read this morning and documented by number above, were pre-organized by Dr. Smith for the disciple’s study into various topics related to wisdom, … topics such as … The Purpose of the Proverbs, Fear of the Lord, Trust in God, Divine Providence, Wisdom Versus Folly, Dealing with Fools, Discernment and Understanding, and Knowledge. It would have taken me a long, long time to organize these proverbs into study topics like this; so I’m deeply indebted to the work F. LaGard Smith has done in his Daily Bible in Chronological Order so that seekers such as I can read through God’s Proverbs in topical order like this. It makes it so much easier to glean truth and personal application through such a study; and today’s highlight verse zeroes in on one truth which cannot – and must not – be ignored by disciples of Christ; and that is the connection between fear (i.e., “fear of the Lord”) and discipline.
Ugh! “Discipline!!!” That concept just seems to resonate with negative emotions, doesn’t it? We think of being afraid of our parents when we were naughty because of the “discipline” which might (and often did) result. Or we think of all that dedication and “discipline” an Olympic athlete, like a Michael Phelps, had to have to become a Gold Medal winner, … let alone one who wins eight of those suckers.
Yes, “discipline” seems such a hard thing to take; and the concept of “fear,” also found in today’s highlight passage, is another concept which resonates with negative. Yet, like “discipline,” the idea of fear can have enormously positive implications. It is fear of harm which keeps us from doing impulsive and foolish things, isn’t it (or shouldn’t it be)? And it is “fear” and “discipline” which, when applied to one’s life, leads one to excellence, as it did for Phelps swimming for all those gold medals.
So, the question becomes, “How do I apply the FEAR OF THE LORD to my life in a way that I will apply the DISCIPLINE I need to obey Him, serve Him, and glorify Him?” And that’s a matter of faith and belief, isn’t it? If we believe God’s word, which implies the discipline of knowing God’s truth from His word, we will do what God says; and that requires the discipline to read, learn, and apply the precepts found in the Bible to our lives. My challenge has always been CHOOSING to believe that the outcomes are worth the effort it takes to reverence my God – through His truth – enough to dig it out, interpret it for my life, and then to apply it to what I choose to do. And in that process I will become a worthy and effective DISCIPLE (the core of “discipline”) for Christ … OR NOT!!!
I can only pray that I believe and choose to live as a Proverbs 1: 7 disciple of Christ, making Him the Lord all I think, say, and do.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You know my heart; and I do fear You because I know how much You have loved me by dying for me. And oh, how my reverence leads me to know You more today than yesterday … and even more tomorrow than today. Amen
Monday, March 30, 2009
2009 – Day 88.Mar. 30 – A Healthy Fear
2009 – Day 88.Mar. 30 – A Healthy Fear
Passage of the Day: Exodus 19: 16 - 25 …Link to Exodus 19 …
My Journal for Today: Swindoll closes his devotional this day by quoting from Psalm 119: 103 – 105; and I want to begin my journal entry with this reverent reference to God’s word …103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, … Sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; … Therefore I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Whoever the Psalmist was for this wonderful Hebrew poem really had a genuine reverence and fear of God and a love affair with His word. And that should be the attitude we Christians should have. In fact our attitude should be a reflection of what the people of God must’ve felt when Moses was called up to Mount Sinai to be with God as the Lord inhabited that place. Swindoll asks us to imagine what it must have been like as the cloud of God’s presence descended upon the top of the mountain and the ground around the encampment of the people rumbled.
But unfortunately we believers in God don’t have that kind of fear of God shining a light on our path. Remember, these people, who no doubt bowed in fear and reverence as God came upon the Mountain Moses ascended, were the same people who would, in a short time, build a golden calf to worship. No, the reality of our lives, even as believers, is that we let selfish choices creep into our conscious lives; and I agree with Swindoll that in those moments of sinfulness, we “… momentarily block out any fear of God.” Swindoll goes on to write, “A healthy fear of God will hold us in awe and do much to deter us from sin. … When we actively engage in sin, we consciously put aside what we know to be the truth about God. We deliberately suppress the knowledge of Him in our hearts and minds.”
That’s why the Psalmist of Psalm 119, proposed God’s prescription for avoiding sin, when he wrote a prayer to God, (in verses 9 - 11), ... How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my who heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart … that I might not sin against You.” And that is why mentor used to teach me that to know God (really know Him through His word) is to love God; and when we love God, we will reverence and obey our God as we serve Him. I do pray that I will come to grow in my knowledge of my God, primarily through His word; because I want to hold on to the awe of His very Name so that I can have the humility which is needed to receive and use His enabling grace.
Again to quote Swindoll: "When you come to that understanding, and God’s light breaks into your life like the pure whitewater of a rushing river, you learn to thoroughly hate and dread those actions that will plunge you into darkness.” And to close this circle, I refer any readers here again (above) to meditate on Psalm 119: 103 – 105.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, may I never lose my awe of Your truth and the reality of your Holy Name. Amen
Passage of the Day: Exodus 19: 16 - 25 …Link to Exodus 19 …
My Journal for Today: Swindoll closes his devotional this day by quoting from Psalm 119: 103 – 105; and I want to begin my journal entry with this reverent reference to God’s word …103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, … Sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; … Therefore I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Whoever the Psalmist was for this wonderful Hebrew poem really had a genuine reverence and fear of God and a love affair with His word. And that should be the attitude we Christians should have. In fact our attitude should be a reflection of what the people of God must’ve felt when Moses was called up to Mount Sinai to be with God as the Lord inhabited that place. Swindoll asks us to imagine what it must have been like as the cloud of God’s presence descended upon the top of the mountain and the ground around the encampment of the people rumbled.
But unfortunately we believers in God don’t have that kind of fear of God shining a light on our path. Remember, these people, who no doubt bowed in fear and reverence as God came upon the Mountain Moses ascended, were the same people who would, in a short time, build a golden calf to worship. No, the reality of our lives, even as believers, is that we let selfish choices creep into our conscious lives; and I agree with Swindoll that in those moments of sinfulness, we “… momentarily block out any fear of God.” Swindoll goes on to write, “A healthy fear of God will hold us in awe and do much to deter us from sin. … When we actively engage in sin, we consciously put aside what we know to be the truth about God. We deliberately suppress the knowledge of Him in our hearts and minds.”
That’s why the Psalmist of Psalm 119, proposed God’s prescription for avoiding sin, when he wrote a prayer to God, (in verses 9 - 11), ... How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my who heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart … that I might not sin against You.” And that is why mentor used to teach me that to know God (really know Him through His word) is to love God; and when we love God, we will reverence and obey our God as we serve Him. I do pray that I will come to grow in my knowledge of my God, primarily through His word; because I want to hold on to the awe of His very Name so that I can have the humility which is needed to receive and use His enabling grace.
Again to quote Swindoll: "When you come to that understanding, and God’s light breaks into your life like the pure whitewater of a rushing river, you learn to thoroughly hate and dread those actions that will plunge you into darkness.” And to close this circle, I refer any readers here again (above) to meditate on Psalm 119: 103 – 105.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, may I never lose my awe of Your truth and the reality of your Holy Name. Amen
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