2010 – Day 22. Jan. 22 – Reverence with Awe

Study from Exodus 1 – 6; Passage for Reflection: Exodus 3: 5 … NIV “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

My Journal for Today: Can you just imagine what it must have been like for Moses, there observing that bush burning and coming that close to the Creator of the entire universe? And if you’re a student of the Bible, you’ve probably read that greeting from God, ”Do not come any closer,” several times. But did you ever ponder what it must’ve been like for a very curious man, one who was raised like a king but had become a shepherd, to come – all of a sudden – into the presence of the God to Whom he had prayed for many years of his life. And what a bizarre presence it was … a burning bush which was not consumed by the fire.

Here was Moses; and he was in the very presence of the God Whom he had worshipped for the last 40 years of his life; and his God was speaking to him. The scenario certainly begs the question, ”Do we come into the presence of God in reverence and awe when we spend time with Him? We are coming to the God Who is the great I AM!! But do we really experience His presence and revere His power? ” Most of the time, I think not. Right now, in my quiet place, I do sense I’m with God; but I’m afraid I don’t have the awe that I feel I should have.

And I stand as convicted here as anyone might who has let familiarity breed [well, maybe not “contempt”] … maybe something more along the lines of commonality. It’s like one coming into the possession of a painting by Rembrandt and putting it on the wall in our home. It may be worth millions; but if we don’t watch out, having it there on the wall, after a while, it will almost disappear in our lives due to familiarity. When we first hang the painting, there is a great “WOW!” factor; but after a while, it becomes a “Ho hum” presence in our lives.

And I’m afraid that is what God has become to many believers; and I don’t point any fingers of blame at others without knowing that I have three other fingers pointing right back at myself. So, I sit here this moringin, convicted by my devotional shepherd today. F. LaGard Smith has pealed away my confession that I treat my Lord with too much commonality. Oh, … I do recoil when I hear someone pray to “Papa God” or make some casual reference like, “Oh my God!” in everyday conversation. I do have an emotional knee jerk reaction when I hear someone say, “the Man upstairs;” and I recoil even more when I hear someone use the Lord’s name in vain by cussing the name of our Savior. So, maybe I’m not totally wrapped up in the familiarity syndrome of treating God too much like a friend and not enough like the Great I AM.

But I’m thankful today that Dr. Smith has helped me realize that when I get on my knees each morning right after I awaken, I have stepped onto HOLY GROUND, the ground won by my Savior when He died on that cross; and I’m praying to the very God Who delivered His people out of Egypt. Actually, I’m very much like Moses, who felt very insignificant when he was with God; and he was right to feel that way, being in God’s presence as the bush burned before him. He was right to feel very small before an infinitely big God. And we need to feel – and express – to God our awe of His presence and His power in our lives.

As He could have with Moses, God could squash us like a bug; but He doesn’t. Like He did with Moses, our Lord has a plan and a purpose for our lives; and like Moses, it behooves us to find out what that purpose is and to follow it unto completion. I pray that is the goal of anyone reading here with me today. It certainly is mine!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’m emotionally shoeless here in this place … on Holy Ground here this morning … spending time with You, the awesome and great I AM, … the God who created me and everything which gives me life, … the God Who saved me from my own sinfulness, … and the God Who has decided to use my insignificance for Your glory. I come to You today, desiring that all see YOU for Whom You are … our God! Amen

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