Blessed Redeemer, The only Wise One, thank You Lord for another great day before us. You are The One Who sets my feet on the Rock and ensures my going. We praise You forever more. Forever! O Lord! You shall reign!
Beloved, we did a little exposition of the person of God yesterday and how good it is to know that we have a loving Father who cares for His own.
There is two sides to a coin, Our same God, Who is so good, so terrific also have another side of Him that is terrifying and bet me you will not like to experience it (1 Pet 3:12; 2 Pet 2:9; Rev 7:3).
So be careful how you live and daily ask for the grace to live right before God (Eph 5:17). Let us consider the message below:
Knowing, then, the fear of the Lord, we persuade people. We are completely open before God, and I hope we are completely open to your consciences as well.—2 Corinthians 5:11
The fear of God is the greatest deterrent for sin (Exod. 20:20; Prov. 16:6). Those who perceive God as a benevolent and gentle grandfather will treat their sin superficially. They will worship halfheartedly. They will live life on their own terms rather than God’s. But a reverent fear of holy God will dramatically affect the way a person lives. Even though Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he feared God and knew that one day he would stand in judgment to give an account for everything he had done (2 Cor. 5:10).
Our world does not applaud fearfulness. We teach our children to love God, but not to fear Him. We want to present a loving and nonthreatening image of God to nonbelievers in the hope that Christianity will be more appealing to them. One of the great condemnations of our day may be that we have lost the fear of God. We promote Him as a “best friend” who saves us and “lives in our hearts,” but we do not fear Him. It is true that we are God’s adopted children and that we are fellow heirs, even friends, with Jesus (Rom. 8:16–17; John 15:14–15), but we are not His equals. He has forgiven us, but we are still His creatures. He is God, and we are not!
If you find that you have become complacent with God’s commands and have become comfortable in your sin, you are completely isolated from God’s holiness. Take time to meditate upon the awesome holiness of God and allow the Holy Spirit to instill into your life a proper reverence for almighty God (Isa. 40:12–26). A deep sense of awe is essential to knowing God.
Beloved you cannot fear God absolutely without a broken heart. It is impossible to please Him and forever live in present without you forfeiting your rights and privileges and be “a fool for Christ” What are you saying, Evangelist? Someone wants to know? Come with us to the second part of our Friday series for this month “Brokenness” and you will glad you did:
Brokenness (part 2)
Brokenness is the product of a person who has come face to face with:
- The holiness of God:
“I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted… above Him were seraphs… calling… ‘Holy, holy is the Lord… ‘”(Isaiah 6:1, 2)
- His own depravity:
“Woe to me!… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips… and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.“(Isaiah 6:5)
| PROUD, UNBROKEN PEOPLE
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BROKEN PEOPLE |
| Are driven for self-advancement
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Desire to promote others
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| Are driven to be recognized or appreciated | Possess a sense of unworthiness; are thrilled to be used at all; are eager for others to get the credit
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| Are wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked
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Rejoice when others are lifted up |
| Think of what they can do for God | Know that they have nothing to offer God
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| Feel confident in how much they know | Are humbled by how much they have to learn
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| Are self-conscious | Are not concerned with self at all
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| Keep people at arms length | Risk getting close to others/are willing to take the risk of loving intimately
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| Are quick to blame others | Accept personal responsibility – can see where they were wrong
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| Are defensive when criticized | Receive criticism with a humble, open heart
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| Are concerned with being “respectable” | Are concerned with being real
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| Are concerned about what others think
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Care only about what God thinks
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Beloved, having through all the list, where can you place yourself in the scoring board of 100%. As I was going it, I sure told myself you have a lot of work to do, like Paul I know that I have reach perfection and am working hard to hard to hit the mark, is it how it is with you?
Let us therefore humble ourselves and ask for the grace to walk circumspectly before God. Amen.
Great weekend dearly beloved. Till see again next week by God’s grace.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
