Who or what do you fear? What a great question. During my life I have feared many, many things. Let's name a few; sleeping in my own bed as a child, failure, disappointing people, academic eligibility in college, my wife or children getting hurt or sick. Now these are just tipping the iceberg, but my point is that we all have things we fear in life, but do we fear the One we should? I'm currently in a bible study on the book of Isaiah, so this and many blogs may come from this study. The night we were going through chapter 8 I was having difficulty focusing due to being so tired, but when we got to verse 11 I was immediately awakened. Isaiah 8:11-14 commands us not to fear man, but to fear the Lord. As I read this I had an instant burden on my heart. I fear so many things, but do I really fear the Lord. To answer honestly, I don't think I always do.
So let's answer the question, What does it mean to fear the Lord? Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. If to fear the Lord is the beginning of knowledge it must mean that we know of His greatness, His love, His almighty power and we love, respect, and FEAR letting Him down. That is my take. Relate it to your parents. Most love and respect their patent's and thus they fear doing something against their wishes. There is no difference in theory, but our fear of the Lord should far surpass that of any earthly thing. This verse goes on to say that if you do not fear the Lord, then you are a fool.
As I thought about this, I realized how so many of us fear the things of this world and those fears drive us to sin. Not just sin of not fearing the Lord, but other sins. For example; why do most teenagers start to drink alcohol? I would say the majority do because of peer pressure and the FEAR of not being accepted by the "cool" people. Now if these teenagers feared the Lord and feared sinning against Him, they may make a better choice. I know many may be saying, wait a minute, drinking isn't a sin. We can get into that another time, but for this example, it is sin. For one, teenagers are under the legal age and thus not obeying authority. Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Secondly, they are drinking alcohol excessively with the goal of getting drunk. Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. This is just one example that I'm sure many of us can identify with. But think about it and try to relate this to many decisions we make or have made in life. Would we have made more Godly decisions if we would have thought, what would God think of this choice, instead of how it is going to affect us here on earth. The decision may not be the easiest, but would be the right one in the Lord's eyes.
My challenge for us all is to think about our choices and things we may fear at this very moment. Put those things in the hands of the Lord, trust in Him. Cast your fears upon Him. And fear the Lord. Exodus 14:31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Focus on Jesus: Part 2
We saw in Focus on Jesus: Part 1 how Jesus is omniscient or all knowing. It was amazing and extremely comforting to find out that know matter what our circumstances are or what dark paths we are wondering down, Jesus knows right where we are. And better yet, he is always there, waiting on us to turn to Him.
The second thing we wanted to focus on in this great passage, Matthew 14:22-33, is Peter's faith in Jesus. We will pick this up in verse 29, He (Jesus) said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. WOW!!! Does this not absolutely blow your mind. Peter, a mere man, walked on water. How? You might ask. He had faith in Jesus and knew that He would carry him.
It's so sad what our culture puts it's faith in. Our jobs, our favorite sports teams, our friends, family, and our pastors, yes I said it, our pastors. What do all of these things have in common? They are all man or of man. We as man are destined to fail. Romans 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,not even one." Now I'm not calling you a failure or worthless, but just pointing out the fact that we are human and destined to sin. If you put your faith in man you will be disappointed in due time. I'm not saying don't trust anyone, but only put your FAITH in Jesus Christ. So if we understand that as humans we are going to disappoint and be disappointed then when that time comes we aren't completely shocked. This is one of the main reasons for the "dechurched". You are probably asking, "What is the dechurched"? Well, these are the people who have left the church due to being disappointed by man at one time or another. They didn't focus on Jesus and when a "man" let then down they bolted. Isaiah 8:22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
As Peter walked on water, his complete focus was on Jesus. But as we all do, he turned his focus to his surroundings. Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." This is very practical for us today. Our lives are full of storms and waves, especially in today's world. We have an economic crisis, job loss, war, sickness, and much more. If we put our focus on these things, we will sink and that is a fact. Jesus didn't promise us life would be a bed of roses, he actually said the exact opposite. Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. A good friend of mine just wrote blog about the "prosperity gospel" and it's heresy, VoiceofTruthblog.com.
So our lesson here is very simple, but so hard for us to follow as humans. Focus on Jesus, not our earthly troubles. Because in the end, there will be no more. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!
The second thing we wanted to focus on in this great passage, Matthew 14:22-33, is Peter's faith in Jesus. We will pick this up in verse 29, He (Jesus) said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. WOW!!! Does this not absolutely blow your mind. Peter, a mere man, walked on water. How? You might ask. He had faith in Jesus and knew that He would carry him.
It's so sad what our culture puts it's faith in. Our jobs, our favorite sports teams, our friends, family, and our pastors, yes I said it, our pastors. What do all of these things have in common? They are all man or of man. We as man are destined to fail. Romans 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,not even one." Now I'm not calling you a failure or worthless, but just pointing out the fact that we are human and destined to sin. If you put your faith in man you will be disappointed in due time. I'm not saying don't trust anyone, but only put your FAITH in Jesus Christ. So if we understand that as humans we are going to disappoint and be disappointed then when that time comes we aren't completely shocked. This is one of the main reasons for the "dechurched". You are probably asking, "What is the dechurched"? Well, these are the people who have left the church due to being disappointed by man at one time or another. They didn't focus on Jesus and when a "man" let then down they bolted. Isaiah 8:22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
As Peter walked on water, his complete focus was on Jesus. But as we all do, he turned his focus to his surroundings. Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." This is very practical for us today. Our lives are full of storms and waves, especially in today's world. We have an economic crisis, job loss, war, sickness, and much more. If we put our focus on these things, we will sink and that is a fact. Jesus didn't promise us life would be a bed of roses, he actually said the exact opposite. Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. A good friend of mine just wrote blog about the "prosperity gospel" and it's heresy, VoiceofTruthblog.com.
So our lesson here is very simple, but so hard for us to follow as humans. Focus on Jesus, not our earthly troubles. Because in the end, there will be no more. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!
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