The Fear of The Lord

THE FEAR OF THE LORD:

  There was a time, not that long ago in fact, when people had a natural feeling regarding God, His ministers and things related to God. There was a natural inbred fear where people knew there was a clear line between what was right, and what was wrong. People had a conscience and should they do anything wrong it bothered them; they became acutely aware that they had said or done something that, in the eyes of God, was wrong. It seems that this nation has lost that. The closer we get to the Rapture of the Church, and the Tribulation period that will follow, the more the world creates a “grey” area. It seems the line between right and wrong is becoming more and more foggy or unclear.

  In your Holy Bible we find a phrase that many have no real idea what it means. A phrase and a philosophy that many parents have not taught their children about and, it is something that needs to be addressed more in the pulpits of this nation, and around the world. The phrase for which I’m speaking is “The fear of the Lord.” Do you have any idea what those words really mean?

  What is the simple meaning of those words? I could bore you with a very long and in-depth study on this and quoted dozens of verses and many stories, but for the sake of time I won’t. The simple meaning of “the fear of the Lord” is this: having such a deep respect and love for God that one is afraid of saying or doing anything that might offend Him or bring a reproach to Him or His Kingdom. Now that’s about as simple as it can get.

  You and I are to have such a deep abiding love for God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, that we’re afraid of saying or doing anything that would offend Him, bring shame or a bad mark against Him in any way shape or form. We should have so much love and respect for our God that we walk each step of this life, speak each word we speak with the knowledge that we need to be careful not to bring Him any shame. We need to live each day as though He were our constant companion, walking every step we take with us: because in reality, He does.

  Not too many years ago we’d very rarely ever hear of a burglar targeting a church for his crime. A few years ago, and I’m talking fifty years at the most, even the majority of the criminal element in this country would not break into a church to steal anything because they were afraid that God would strike them dead if they did. In the year 2012, churches have become a target of burglars who want to break in and take sound equipment, musical instruments, computers, money and anything else of value they can find in a short amount of time.  They’ve lost that respect and fear for the things of God and, for God Himself.

  Just a few years ago, a pastor stood in the pulpit of his church delivering a power packed, Holy Ghost anointed message to his congregation. As he preached, a man walked into the church and began walking down the center of the church. When he reached a point, only a few feet from where the pastor was speaking, he pulled a gun, pointed it at the preacher and began to fire. He unloaded his weapon at point blank range in an attempt to silence this man of God. By the grace of God, not a single bullet touched this pastor and the man was subdued and arrested for this crime.

  As you’re watching many pastors and ministers teach these days, you’ll notice two or more men close by him facing the congregation as he ministers. These are not ushers or elders in the church: these are armed off duty law enforcement officers hired by the church to protect the ministers as they preach. Who would ever have thought that such drastic measures would ever be needed in the house of God? Who would’ve ever believed that anyone who have the guts to walk into a church with the intent of killing the minister, or anyone else for that matter? Who would’ve thought the day would ever come when church burglary and arson were so prevalent, that churches would feel the need to install alarm systems and hire security patrol services? When I was growing up, that thought never entered my mind.

  People have lost the fear of the Lord and seemingly don’t care about anything that has to do with God or the Church. It is becoming more and more the norm for there to be children in our society who have never been to a church service except for a funeral or wedding. Parents are not teaching their children about God, about the Bible or the importance of having a healthy respect for God and His ministers. We’ve all but lost an entire generation of young people because of abortion and because of them not being taught about God. This is so sad that it makes my heart ache inside of me. This is so horrible that it makes me want to weep for the millions of children and young adults who have no concept of who God is, or who Christ the Savior is either.

  As Born Again Christians, we’ve got to bring back the concept of the fear of the Lord into our churches, our work places and into our homes. We’ve got to be ever mindful that our lives are the only Bible that some people will ever read. We have got to develop such Godlike character that our private lives are a godly reflection of what people see when we’re in church or in public. We have got to live our lives in the fear of the Lord to the point, that we’re ever mindful of our actions, our words and how people will perceive them.

  Folks, you and I need to live like Christ is watching every single word we speak, every gesture we make, every action we take and every other aspect of our loves. We need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The world can see right through a smoke screen, they can tell if a person is really a God loving person or, if that person is just another hypocrite. They can tell, they can absolutely tell if you and I are the real deal, or just another phony.

I’m asking each of you to do what I’ve been doing for the past several days: I’d like for you to stop and take inventory on your life. Do you live each day with such love and respect for your Father that you’re watching how you conduct yourself all the time? Do you love God so much, that you don’t ever want to be guilty of saying or doing something that will bring a reproach or bad mark against the name of your God? Do you love God so much that you’re doing all you can to ensure that you’re actually walking the walk, rather than just being another talking head? We should all take a careful inventory of our lives and make certain that we actually are living in fear of the Lord.

  Thank you for reading this blog and please, take time today to make sure that you and God are on good terms. Take the time to make sure that you’re living a life that reflects your love, respect and fear of the Lord. Pray more, study your Bible more and do your absolute best to show forth the love of Christ in your private and public life. Also keep in mind that ole saying: “Your life is the only Bible some people will ever read: what does yours say?”

God bless you and keep you.

Pastor Dave

Wake Up, He's Coming

Ephesians 5:14 (NKJV)  
 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."

We're living in the age of deception and political correctness; an age where people are drawn more to entertainment, smooth words and religion than they are the truth of what God's Word has to say. Many in the church world are asleep, they slumber while the world around them is going to hell and, sadly, they don't seem to care. The church is fighting amongst itself over points of doctrine and theology that have no barring on whether someone goes to Heaven or not, while souls are dying daily who have never heard the Gospel message.


 Our job, according to Holy Scripture, says nothing about arguing doctrinal points, it says nothing about cutting the cities into little sections for this church or that church: the Bible is very clear on what our job is and, it isn't what most church's are engaged in.

 As Born Again Believers, our two most important jobs are to love everyone, and to preach the Gospel to the entire world. Our job is to live a life that is so blessed, so loving that the world sees us and is made jealous. We are to get the world to conform to the Bible and not the other way around. Our duty to our God and King is to be awake, vigilant, and ever about the Father's business: the business of winning souls to Christ. But rather than find this happening we see church after church painting a target on other churches rather than doing what we're supposed to be doing.


  It's time for God's Church to stop all this fighting among ourselves and to fight our real enemy; the enemy that is killing our sons and daughters at an alarming rate. Our job is to awaken from this slumbering sleep and get busy winning souls, witnessing and living a life that is pleasing before our King. We have got to stop playing these religious games and get serious with our personal relationships with God and do the best we can to be good children.


  We all know the story of the 10 Virgins in Matthew. When the call came out that the Lord was coming, five of the virgins arose, trimmed their lamps and refilled them so they could follow the Lord into the marriage. There were five others who didn't prepare for the Lord's return and they, we they had to go out at the midnight hour to search for someone who could sell them oil. By the time they went out and came back in, the Lord had come and the door to the marriage was closed. When they tried to get in, they were informed that the Lord didn't know them.


  Jesus is coming soon and it is up to us to spread this news with conviction and urgency. It is out job to be prayed up to the point that God's anointing falls us when we're speaking about this and trying to lead people to a personal relationship with Christ. We can't lead people anywhere if we're stumbling around half asleep or weak from lack of spiritual food. We cannot and will not be able to do what we have to do unless we first wake up and get moving. WAKE UP PEOPLE.


  It's time to put aside the theological and doctrinal differences that Satan uses to divide us; time to stop pointing religious fingers at others and just love one another. It's time to stop playing church and start having church. We are running out of time and we are nowhere near where we need to be. We have got to get up now, trim our lamps and rally around the Cross of Christ and around the things we all agree on. We need to rally around the truth that there is no way to Heaven but through faith in Christ Jesus. We need to rally around the fact that God loved this world so much He gave His only Son to pay the debt He didn't owe for a people who could never pay that debt. We need to rally around our Savior and wake up.


  Religion isn't something capable of saving anyone. Religion is man's attempt to find God and He isn't found in some stiff, formal, powerless church service filled with ceremony and ritual. He isn't found in messages that put people to sleep or in a service that is devoid of the Holy Spirit anointing. We need to set aside the doctrines of men, the ritualistic crap that isn't biblical any way and get back to the basics of preaching the truth in love, but preach the truth. We've got to stop caring if we're politically or socially correct and worry only about being biblically correct. We have to stop worrying about what man thinks and care only about what God thinks.


  In Matthew 10, Christ told us not to be concerned with man, who could only kill the body; we're to be concerned with God who can kill both the soul and the body. We have got to wake up and get right with God so we can go out and help others get right. We've got to show His love to a lost and dying world while we have time. We need to be building our faith, building our boldness and building our commitment to helping as many as we can find Christ. One soul a day should be our goal. If we all did everything possible to win one soul a day, every single day, we could win the world in a months time. If we made the effort, we could do it, but it's pretty hard when you're sitting under a shade tree napping.





  Here's the bottom line: WAKE UP, JESUS IS COMING SOON! Wake up and do all you can to be as effective as you can in winning the lost to Jesus. PRAY for those who are daily on the front lines witnessing, praying for people, teaching and loving this lost world. WAKE UP and do something for God.


Amen