What Does it Mean to Have the Fear of God?

For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer's fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.

Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is

How to Prosper by Putting God First

If you have difficulty living the Christian life, it’s because your priorities are wrong. If your priorities are right, your life will

be right.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

If your first priority is God, the rest of your life will fall into place. There is incredible power in having the proper priorities. As a matter of fact, you could sum up the problem of most people’s lives with this one sentence: They fail to put first things first.

Have you substituted busyness for seeking God, and in doing so allowed something other than God to be your first priority? How can a Christian make God his or her number one priority? How do I go about seeking the kingdom of God first?

I Believe the following five powerful perspectives offer ideas on how we can make the Lord our first priority.

Fellowship Before Worship

In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus said, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there

thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

If you know you are willingly wrong with your brother, you had better make things right before coming to the Lord. No one can truly worship who does not

first get right with his brother. Notice that Jesus warns against anyone having something against you, not you having something against a brother. To attempt to worship if I know I’ve

wronged another person is sheer vanity. You cannot be right with God if you are wrong with your brother.

Is there something you need to make right? Do you have debts that you haven’t paid, duty that you’ve neglected, harsh words for which you need to

repent, or gossip that needs to be put right? Then it will keep you from worshipping God.

The Spiritual before the Material

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness...” The key to seeking God’s kingdom is to focus on His righteousness. Jesus said if you do

that, all these other things will be added unto you. Focus on the spiritual, not the material.

That’s hard to do in our culture. Most people put things first and God second.

But the key to

How to Praise God

Choose to have the joy of the Lord and learn to praise God better. Realize that your joy, your confidence, and your hope come from the Lord! Here are topical examples of possible, actual praises.

 

1

Begin by thinking of praying such as:

"How much You, Oh God, have done for me from day to day up until this very moment. Lord, You have all power to influence my life." -- and how about sublimating negative emotions you feel, i.e.:

"I feel You working through me; I will let my praise take form as worthwhile, peaceful actions and 'turn my anger (or rage) to higher purposes'." (Rage may seem counter-Christian, yet there is a reason for harsh emotion that you need to work on and settle proactively.)

• Guide your anger: "I praise you during my rage against" [an evil] "for a constructive, loving purpose and expression. I will not let it become vengeful or hateful". 

·         2

·         Think of Jesus' life:

"I exalt You for taking the form of a man to die on the cross in atonement for my sins and for rising again that I might share in Your life".

3

Let awareness soak in and enable you:

"I praise You for day to day life, and realizing that You gave Yourself brings gratitude for Your love that permeates my life." Try saying:

"I will not be afraid to admit my limited understandings of facts and truth". Consider: