What's happened to the fear of God?
I have been reading some thoughts of Jamie Lash in his book "?This was your Life." Following are some of his thoughts that have given me a broader perspective of what the fear of God is and what it should be.
Any sin, whether of thought, word, or deed, attacks God's character. It dishonors Him because it indicates that we do not believe His way is best. We question His wisdom or His kindness or both. When we sin, we are saying to God. "?I don't trust you. I trust me. I want what's best for me; I'm not so sure about you. I'm going with my own plan." Thus we exalt ourselves and demean God at the same time”a nasty combination.
We must acknowledge Him as a good God whose plans are better than our own. "?The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." Psalm 147:11
R.C. Sproul writes:
That the world has little respect for God is vividly seen by the way the world regards His name. His name is tramped through the dirt of this world. It functions as a curse word, a platform for the obscene. No honor. No reverence. No awe before Him.
In the Lord's prayer we often confuse the words "?Hallowed be thy name: with part of the address as if the words were "?hallowed is your name." In that case the words would merely be an ascription of praise to God. But that is not how Jesus said it. He uttered it as a petition, as the first petition. We should be praying that God's name be hallowed, that God be regarded as holy.
There is a kind of sequence within the prayer. God's kingdom will never come where His name is not hallowed. His will in not done on earth as it is in heaven if His name is desecrated here¦.Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered.
Everything good starts with respect for God. Satan constantly calls God's character into question, knowing that all sin begins with the suspicion that God is not good. The devil's strategy has not changed since he approached Eve in the Garden. Once he established this suspicion in her mind, disobedience soon followed. Disobedience follows disrespect.
The lies that Satan formulates to demean God's character are designed to turn our hearts away from God. Obviously, if our view of God is tainted with thoughts of His being uncaring, unconcerned, unjust, cruel, tyrannical or boring, we will not get very excited about following Him. People who do not want to follow God are people who do not know what God is like. The cure is the truth.
When we see God as He is, we can no more help trusting Him than we can help breathing. "?When you see Him as He is," writes Joy Dawson, "?it becomes a preposterous thought not to obey Him!" We are in a battle and our minds are the battlefield. We must be diligent to reject thoughts that slander God's character.
It looks like our problem is that we do not have a healthy image of who God is, but isn't that what our culture is busy undermining?
I have been reading some thoughts of Jamie Lash in his book "?This was your Life." Following are some of his thoughts that have given me a broader perspective of what the fear of God is and what it should be.
Any sin, whether of thought, word, or deed, attacks God's character. It dishonors Him because it indicates that we do not believe His way is best. We question His wisdom or His kindness or both. When we sin, we are saying to God. "?I don't trust you. I trust me. I want what's best for me; I'm not so sure about you. I'm going with my own plan." Thus we exalt ourselves and demean God at the same time”a nasty combination.
We must acknowledge Him as a good God whose plans are better than our own. "?The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." Psalm 147:11
R.C. Sproul writes:
That the world has little respect for God is vividly seen by the way the world regards His name. His name is tramped through the dirt of this world. It functions as a curse word, a platform for the obscene. No honor. No reverence. No awe before Him.
In the Lord's prayer we often confuse the words "?Hallowed be thy name: with part of the address as if the words were "?hallowed is your name." In that case the words would merely be an ascription of praise to God. But that is not how Jesus said it. He uttered it as a petition, as the first petition. We should be praying that God's name be hallowed, that God be regarded as holy.
There is a kind of sequence within the prayer. God's kingdom will never come where His name is not hallowed. His will in not done on earth as it is in heaven if His name is desecrated here¦.Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered.
Everything good starts with respect for God. Satan constantly calls God's character into question, knowing that all sin begins with the suspicion that God is not good. The devil's strategy has not changed since he approached Eve in the Garden. Once he established this suspicion in her mind, disobedience soon followed. Disobedience follows disrespect.
The lies that Satan formulates to demean God's character are designed to turn our hearts away from God. Obviously, if our view of God is tainted with thoughts of His being uncaring, unconcerned, unjust, cruel, tyrannical or boring, we will not get very excited about following Him. People who do not want to follow God are people who do not know what God is like. The cure is the truth.
When we see God as He is, we can no more help trusting Him than we can help breathing. "?When you see Him as He is," writes Joy Dawson, "?it becomes a preposterous thought not to obey Him!" We are in a battle and our minds are the battlefield. We must be diligent to reject thoughts that slander God's character.
It looks like our problem is that we do not have a healthy image of who God is, but isn't that what our culture is busy undermining?
posted by Jim Burton at 7:49 AM
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