The Fear of the Lord, The Beginning of Wisdom

[Willa]

I fear losing fellowship with God should I sin.  He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  Pride is the one insideous sin that kills that fellowship..  So as long as I "know my place" and keep my head low in awe and the realization that He is my Creator of the universe, I have no terror of Him.  He is my Abba Daddy.  His Spirit lives in me as my Comforter and Advocate.  He is revealed as the gentle Lord Jesus Who welcomes those of us who become like little trusting children..  So I do understand where Other One is coming from.  I also was won by His love.  But I share God's hatred for sin and evil.  

One Scripture I didn't see was Psalms 111:10 AMP  The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom---.  A good understanding--have all those who do [the will of the Lord].  Their praise of Him endures forever.  This psalm give the connotation that understanding comes from practicing His will.

The first commandment  Matt. 22:37  is that we LOVE the LORD (Yahweh I AM ) your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  

This verse mentions nothing about being terrified of Him, which is what fear means to a lot of people.  The only people who need to be terrified are those who are knowingly defying God and going their own way.  Those who continue to practice sin need to know the terror of God.  Those who walk in the Spirit will not obey the lusts of the flesh and will have a loving reverence for Him.  

[Kan]

I have loved the Lord deeply as well as trembled for my life with a fear that is worse than the fear of death. The horror and trembling came with several specific experiences that caused me to realize, to a limited degree, the enormity of Who He is and His disapproval of sin. It is a terror which no one would want to experience, and yet will finally experience, if they don't accept the One who died under that wrath for them.

His love is also the infinite power of Life, by which everything is upheld. It is pure and everlasting, but a total terror and wrath to sin, without boundary.

I have asked the Lord for several experiences over the years, one of which was to be able to think of Him in an appropriate way every time I pray. Because I am a visual person, I cannot bear to think of an artistic idol of Him. I asked for a glimpse of Him, which I never got (because I am still alive,) but He gave me something else.

About a week later, I casually opened my Bible during working hours, and it fell open to Psalms which says something like "The Lord is merciful and gracious full of compassion etc" Just one verse. The Holy Spirit came upon me, and I fully believed and realized within my capacity this truth, for a short time, 1 second or a couple of minutes, I can't tell, the thought was so powerful that I involuntarily gasped in a lungful of air, and later my mind generated an image for what I was feeling, the Lord walking through a door towards me, bending down and looking at me with joy and compassion, His face was like looking directly at the sun, (not recommended.) And I then realized that if I had really seen the Lord's face, that breath would have been my last, I'd been dead quicker than I could think.

But that experience has obliterated the false images I had of Him - you know the pictures of God and Christ pasted all over Christendom.

Nothing terrifies me more than being separated from Him by presumption and false witnessing. I cannot say that I love the Lord, because He is far above all and Holy, and my life as a sinner is simply useless and corrupt. Some people would like to convince me that their god is a fairy floss dispenser, I cannot accept that. 

There is nothing wrong with the "fear of the Lord," with trembling before Him, because genuine respect and love can only come to the one bowed in His presence. 

We tremble when we are in love with a human being, because every moment is precious.

Fear has its place in worship, not a fear caused by ignorance and unbelief, but by knowledge and awe. 

The kind of fear that love drives out is an unhealthy fear, but the fear of the Lord is good.

 

[tsth]

Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the Lord of hosts.

2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderer's soap.

3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.

4 "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years.

5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien-- Because they do not fear Me," Says the Lord of hosts.

6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," Says the Lord of hosts.

 

 

(There is no fear of the Lord, by those in verse 5......, they are among those who call themselves "believers", yet they walk in pride, because they have no fear of the Lord and His judgment....they do not believe what He has been telling them all along.  And because of this, He tells them He will come near for judgment, because they do not heed His Commands from His Word.........and they begin to walk in disobedience/wickedness while saying it is "Okay with God".

 

Mal. 3:13 "Your words have been harsh against Me," Says the Lord, "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'

14 You have said, 'It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the Lord of hosts?

15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.' "

 

But there are still those who know Who God Is....and know and believe what He says with regard to those who practice those things...they are those who know and fear the outcome, because they believe HIM in His Word.

 

 

 

In HIs Love,

Suzanne

 

[KPaulG]

Great study, Suzanne.

 

God Bless you.

 

Your brother in Christ,

KPaulG.

[tsth]

Thank you Paul.......I consider it a blessing that it came back up after so many years.

 

In His Love,

Suzanne

[KPaulG]

Thank you Paul.......I consider it a blessing that it came back up after so many years.

 

In His Love,

Suzanne

Me too, Suzanne. 

 

God Bless you.

 

Your brother in Christ,

KPaulG.

[KPaulG]

I have loved the Lord deeply as well as trembled for my life with a fear that is worse than the fear of death. The horror and trembling came with several specific experiences that caused me to realize, to a limited degree, the enormity of Who He is and His disapproval of sin. It is a terror which no one would want to experience, and yet will finally experience, if they don't accept the One who died under that wrath for them.

His love is also the infinite power of Life, by which everything is upheld. It is pure and everlasting, but a total terror and wrath to sin, without boundary.

I have asked the Lord for several experiences over the years, one of which was to be able to think of Him in an appropriate way every time I pray. Because I am a visual person, I cannot bear to think of an artistic idol of Him. I asked for a glimpse of Him, which I never got (because I am still alive,) but He gave me something else.

About a week later, I casually opened my Bible during working hours, and it fell open to Psalms which says something like "The Lord is merciful and gracious full of compassion etc" Just one verse. The Holy Spirit came upon me, and I fully believed and realized within my capacity this truth, for a short time, 1 second or a couple of minutes, I can't tell, the thought was so powerful that I involuntarily gasped in a lungful of air, and later my mind generated an image for what I was feeling, the Lord walking through a door towards me, bending down and looking at me with joy and compassion, His face was like looking directly at the sun, (not recommended.) And I then realized that if I had really seen the Lord's face, that breath would have been my last, I'd been dead quicker than I could think.

But that experience has obliterated the false images I had of Him - you know the pictures of God and Christ pasted all over Christendom.

Nothing terrifies me more than being separated from Him by presumption and false witnessing. I cannot say that I love the Lord, because He is far above all and Holy, and my life as a sinner is simply useless and corrupt. Some people would like to convince me that their god is a fairy floss dispenser, I cannot accept that. 

There is nothing wrong with the "fear of the Lord," with trembling before Him, because genuine respect and love can only come to the one bowed in His presence. 

We tremble when we are in love with a human being, because every moment is precious.

Fear has its place in worship, not a fear caused by ignorance and unbelief, but by knowledge and awe. 

The kind of fear that love drives out is an unhealthy fear, but the fear of the Lord is good.

 

Great story, Kan.

 

God Bless you.

 

Your brother in Christ,

KPaulG.

[KPaulG]

There is a fear that means to respect, to revere His name.

The other kind of fear is faith in reverse.

 

God Bless you.

 

Your brother in Christ,

KPaulG.

Edited October 5, 2015 by KPaulG