Psalm 111: 10 He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!
I use to believe the Fear of the Lord had to do with “living my life in fear” of what God would do in the event I chose to do something wrong even when I knew it was wrong. My concept of the fear of the Lord also included seeing God as this angry person who was far removed from the loving person others were making him out to be. It was a fear that really caused me to remain in darkness rather than seeing the light that included all the good things such as peace and Joy, that only He (God) could offer. It was a crippling fear that I’m sure did not please God because it would not have allowed the relationship that God desired for me to have with him. It did the exact opposite- I could not see myself being loved by God. THIS IS WORLDLY FEAR!
So it’s easy to see why God had to send a new way to prevent us from being methodical and robotic about how we lived (vis-a-vis the ten commandments). God had to provide us with a purer form of his way through his son Jesus, making our concept of right-living extinct. Our way of right-living which was based on self-effort was not the ideal way. He wanted to show us how to live with love and respect for each other and ultimately experience a close relationship with him that he longed to have with us. Giving us hope and seeing ourselves in a better place than our current experience.
So as I accepted Christ and was renewed in my mind and through his words I realize –
- Fear of the Lord is having the greatest respect for God that our limited human minds will allow and having total reverence for Him (God).
- Fear of the Lord deals with our acknowledgement of God and his first place in our life.
- Fear of the Lord is understanding what God sacrificed for us and why he did it.
- Fear of the Lord is no longer having the desire to sin (because we are separated from Sin by Grace) and it is our understanding of the consequence of Sin.
- Fear of the Lord is us recognizing that our way could never be his way. THIS IS GODLY FEAR OF THE LORD.
Fear of the Lord is allowing God into our hearts and mind. Living in constant awe of his goodness and Love for us. Knowing that he is the Alpha and the Omega. It is yielding to Him and causing Him to fill us with wisdom and knowledge that will help us to live our best life. It is allowing him total control in our lives and recognize that He is all that we need to survive here on earth until we get to heaven. We cannot obtain the wisdom necessary to survive and have eternal life without having a Healthy , Godly, Fear of the Lord!!!
Psalm 111:10 (TLB) How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.