THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM--THE FEAR OF THE LORD

THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM
IS
THE FEAR OF THE LORD

“Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.
Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
REVELATION 14:7NIV

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil…”
PROVERBS 16:6

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.”
PSALM 34:7

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9). “The fear of the Lord” includes knowing, having respect for, and obeying the Word of God. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, arrogance, and a perverse tongue. The fear of the Lord is not a fear that danger or evil is near; but the fear of the Lord is a “healthy” respect, awe, and reverence for the person of God Almighty who has power to judge your actions. The fear of the Lord is to stand in awe of and have a deep respect for God’s holiness and His standards. He is the Judge of sin and the Justifier of righteousness. He has the power to destroy both soul and body (Luke 12:4-5).

He has given you the choice of where you spend eternity…heaven or hell. Recognizing whom God is and fearing Him can motivate a person to walk in His ways, and not give in to worldly standards. “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family” (Hebrews 11:7 NIV). When God showed Noah the approaching judgment coming upon the ungodly world, Noah ‘feared the Lord’ and was motivated to save his family by obeying Him. The writer of Hebrews says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Judgment of sin will come upon an unbelieving world, but the righteous, those believing and fearing God, will be saved. Holy fear is the motivation that causes humans to adhere to God’s standards and reject worldly standards. And Proverbs 3:7-8 declares, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be strength to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” When a person experiences a dreadful fear of offending God’s infinitely holy character, it will cause him to depart from evil. With a deep consideration of respect, mixed with wonder, awe, and love, is how a person is to “fear the Lord” and desire to please Him. The fear of the Lord develops a conscious desire in a person to avoid anything that would displease the Lord. In the fear of the Lord, obedience is the priority. The fear of the Lord, which motivates obedience to God, is the beginning of wisdom which pays the dividends of knowledge (Proverbs 1); life (Proverbs 19:8); longevity (Proverbs 9:10-12); morality (Proverbs 2:10-22); security (Proverbs 3:21-26); and wealth (Proverbs 24:3-4). Proverbs 8:17-21 tells the person who loves the Lord that He will cause substance to fill his treasuries.

God desires to be …..”

...Excerpts from Chapter 15

MESSAGE FROM THE FATHER:

“Hearken unto me, O children: for blessed are they that keep My ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoso finds Me finds life, and shall obtain favor of the LORD. But he that sins against Me wrongs his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”

PROVERBS 8:32-36

TEN COMMANDMENTS—EXODUS 20:3-17

Salvation from sin was accomplished and finished at Jesus’ death and resurrection. He gave His body to be broken that men might have an opportunity to choose the Bread of Life. Eating of that Bread brings salvation for whosoever will. He gave His blood to endorse the New Covenant that gives man an everlasting life of love and goodliness, being in perfect covenant with God (Matthew 26:26-28).

“The satisfaction of the full justice of God was meet and the proof of this was in His resurrection from the dead. The rites and ceremonies of the law and the predictions of the prophets all looked forward and bore witness of the great redemption in Christ that would justify men apart from both the law and the prophets (Colossians 2:14-17; Romans 3:21-26). God was well pleased with the sinless sacrifice of His Son, which met all of the requirements for a just sacrifice that could pay the penalty for man’s treason and sin. After the penalty of sin was paid, God raised Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah! Up from the grave He arose because He had defeated all of God’s foes. The full justice of God was meet perfectly.”

… “The blotting out of the Old Covenant and the making and sealing of the New Covenant was finished by Jesus’ death and resurrection. A new covenant was instituted with the shed blood of the Lamb and sealed with the witness of the Holy Spirit when He raised Jesus from the dead. Now, through Jesus, in Whom all the Godhead bodily dwells, the believer is complete “in Him,” who is the head of all principality and power: in whom the believer has been circumcised in his heart, not by the cutting of the flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ in putting off the body of sins of the flesh. Christ fulfilled all the law to become a true mediator between God and man. He filled all the laws full of Himself. He instituted a better covenant with better promises for the believer. There is not anything that needs that cannot be found in the completed, perfect work of Christ at the cross. His resurrection is the promise and guarantee that He can fulfill the New Covenant. Now we are freed from the law of sin and death through the work of Christ on the cross. No one can “work” his way into heaven by obeying laws and rituals because all must come through the “Door” of Christ Jesus. This did not do away with the law and precepts of God. Christ came to fulfill the laws, not destroy them…for the Ten Commandments are restated in the New Testament. God says, ‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments’ (1st John 5:2-3). The Holy Spirit was sent to endue the believer with power to be able to keep His commandments (Acts 1:8), however, the believer must choose to do so. The first four commandments deal with how people are to respect and fear God; and the other six are instructions on how people are to deal fairly with their fellowman.”

TEN COMMANDMENTS—EXODUS 20:3-17
RESTATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. Where the Old Testaments in Exodus 20 says, “To have no other gods before Me” (v3), the New Testament in 1st John 5:21 says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols,” an idol being anything you put before God.

2. “You shall have no graven images” (v 4-6) is restated in Romans 1:23, men should not change “the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” Man, to his shame, has made himself images and dead gods out of metal and wood to look like men, birds, cattle, dogs, crocodiles, frogs, and other such things, worshipping the creation of God more than the Creator. God, alone is to be worshipped.

3. “Take not God’s name in vain” (v 7). Today God’s name is still to be feared and respected. “Don’t take His name in vain” is again declared in Matthew 23:31-32.

4. “Keep the Sabbath holy” (v 8-11) can be compared to Hebrews 10:25, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.” We are still to keep God’s Sabbath holy, but in the New Covenant Jesus is our Sabbath rest. He is our all in all. Believers are to respect the wisdom of the Lord and rest in Him daily.

5. “Honor your father and mother” (v 12) is a godly respect due each parent as seen in Ephesians 6:1-3.

6. “Do not kill” (v 13) is a respect for God’s wisdom in creating each person. Mathew 5:21-22 shows the believer than even his attitudes need to be respectful of God. Also 1st Peter 4:15 says, ‘let no man suffer as a murder.’

7. “Do not commit adultery” (v 14). All sins destroy, but fornication (1st Corinthians 6:18) brings confusion and deception into a person’s mind and into his relationships with others, as well as with God.

8. “Do not steal” (v15) for any reason. Sowing discord only reaps discord (Ephesians 4:28). Stealing is a lack of faith that God will provide.

9. “Do not bear false witness” (v 16) is a regulation to keep moral standards and truth as your godly conduct with each other (Ephesians 4:25).

10. “Do not covet” (v 17). Don’t let greed take hold of your soul; it will only lead to ruin (Ephesians 5:3).

...Excerpt from Chapter 15.

P R A Y E R

Fervent prayer:


Believers are commanded to “pray without ceasing” (1st Thess. 5:17). There are different kinds of prayer, such as intercessory prayer, the prayer of agreement, the prayer of faith, the prayer of praise and worship, but the most successful prayer is prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit that is given for “a needed moment.” Christians who know “how to pray,” “how to intercede,” and “how to prevail in prayer” have an “ischuros” attitude. The “ischuros” attitude lays hold of God and is determined not to let Him go until the blessing comes (Genesis 32:26). People of prayer have faith that is stable, not wavering with every wind of doctrine or with their own feelings and circumstances. They are people that are confident that God always hears and answers, that His ear is always open to the cry of His children, and that what is asked of Him is equal to His willingness to answer. Strong in the Lord and the power of His might, these people subdue kingdoms, produce righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness are made strong, wax valiant in fight, and turn to flight the armies of the enemy (Hebrews 11:33-34). Everything is possible to men and women today “who know how to pray the Word” and “how to stand on that Word.” Elijah and Elisha were men who knew their God, and they knew how to pray. James writes of Elijah, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:16-18). Where are the men and women who know their God intimately and know how to pray and intercede to see righteousness prevail in this earth? Where are the ones who pray dauntless prayers that master and defy earthly conditions, which change defeat into victory and triumph in every area of life? Where are the “Billy Sundays” and “D. L. Moodys” that will face the nation with the Truth of God’s Word about sin and righteousness? About justice and judgment of sin? Everything is possible with God, and people who know how to pray receive those impossible miracles. God says, “Just ask of Me.”


….Excerpt from Chapter 19