Fearing God from A to Z

B is for Believe 

I need to buy groceries and run a few errands today.That requires a couple of things. Driving my car to the store and spending money once I get there. First I have to believe the car has gas in the tank and will start when I turn the key. I also need to believe we have enough money in the bank to pay today's inflated prices for a basket of groceries. If I thought both the tank and the bank were empty, would I even leave the house?  

The simplest actions grow out of what we consider true. Likewise, the simplest Scriptures throw us when they challenge our longstanding beliefs. For instance: 
      
      "Without faith, it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God               must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently 
      seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

The fear of the Lord is an action verb, not merely a state of being. Our good fear of God can be seen as we act on what we truly believe about God, His creation, and ourselves. Some of us come to God like the homeless, pushing a rusted shopping cart full of the garbage we've collected. Not treasures but symbols of the life we've accepted as our reality. Tragically, most of those beliefs are crafted by the enemy who is determined to destroy us.  

Ten or 20 years down the road, we're still hanging on to at least half of the baggage in our cart. God wants to set us free from all of it, even the rusty cart!

He gives us detailed instructions on how that happens. But the process requires some assembly from us. In His wisdom, God knows our interaction strengthens our relationship with Him. The gifts in which we participate, we appreciate.    

One of our most challenging assignments from God is taking every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5,6). He tells us to insist each thought change to agree with Jesus. Wow! Some statistics say we think close to 50,000 thoughts each day. On those mornings when our mind wakes us before daybreak, the numbers are even higher. 

If we think in negative patterns long enough, stubborn mindsets form and become the beliefs we live by. Too often the words we accept as truth, the one we really believe, directly oppose God's Word. So what do we really believe? 

If like me, you've been spring house cleaning this month, we need to sweep the dust and debris from our minds as well. That's how we make room for more of God's truth so it can truly change the way we think and the way we live. 

Fearing God from A to Z

Using the alphabet, let's take a closer look at what it means to Fear the Lord.      

A stands for ACTION. 

We pray for God's guidance, provision, and healing. As believers we know His input is imperative to our survival. When you live on earth, it's a good idea to keep in touch with heaven. Also we feel more spiritual when we ask God in 
faith to intervene in our impossible circumstances. But Scripture reveals a component we often overlook. 

The Lord wants our faith to be seen as well as heard. James calls us to show 
our faith by works, to believe Him with our hands and feet (James 2:14-20). When we read the Bible and pray, the Lord often speaks insight, understanding,
and encouragement to our spirits. He is a faithful Father, yet do we respond 
like the following example?  

The kings of Israel and Judah lead their army out to fight against Moab. But in the wilderness they faced two enemies: the uncertainty of battle and no water for them or their livestock. Needing guidance and a drink, they found Elisha the prophet and asked him what to do. He talked it over with God and gave them their spiritual orders:  

"Make this valley full of ditches" (2 Kings 3:16). 

To show their faith and fear of God, the kings and warriors were told to pull out shovels and start digging. That may not sound like a strategic war maneuver. 

It may not sound like the quickest way to quench your thirst. Still, Elisha, the prophet had a pretty good track record so they acted on his words.

That describes the fear of the Lord: To base our actions on God's Word. To fear Him includes doing what He tells us, to pick up our shovels and start digging.

The other day we brought home 10 little trees to plant. For the next hour, Ray and I were digging holes. Now I can look out my kitchen window and see five foot cedar trees growing along our property line. The blessings we pray for, like trees in our yards, often require some assembly. Our interactive action proves we believe in God's answer to our prayers. 

Early the next morning, God supernaturally filled all those ditches with water. Israel's army and livestock had plenty to drink. When the Moabites looked down on the valley, the Lord caused the sunshine reflecting on the water to look like blood. They thought Israel's army had self-destructed and swooped in to scavenge any thing of value. Surprise! Israel won the victory that day. 

God delights in sending us layers of miracles. So when He tells us something to do, I pray we can be quick to act on His Word. Who knows how many blessings will grow from it.    

  

             

Who Do You Fear?

Bob Dylan wrote a song in the late 70's that says, we all gotta serve somebody.

And though many think they're free to serve themselves, be their own lower-case god, life doesn't work that way. Okay, you say, but what does that have to do with fear?  

No matter how brave a person is, we all fear somebody too. We may fear people or the devil but we're all afraid to some degree. Some of us fear others so much, we can barely speak in public. Maybe you know the feeling: heart races, can't breath, thoughts jumble, face turns red, and you long for a side door to escape.

I grew up afraid to speak in front of people. That made for a few embarrassing moments in school. The memory of a particular 8th grade science report still stirs up uneasy feelings. In college, speech class was mandatory to earn a degree. Luckily, I found a class offered by an instructor who gave students a C just for showing up, even without giving a speech. I settled for the C. 

All kinds of fear exist in our world: fear of heights, water, darkness, closed 

in places, wide open spaces, certain eight-legged insects. But a few years ago, 

I discovered a fascinating fear that can help loosen the grip of all the others - the fear of God. I've often quoted Oswald Chambers who said, 

 "The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear 

   nothing else, whereas when you do not fear God, you fear everything else."  

I can't say from experience that the fear of God eliminates a fear of spiders, 

but it will definitely help cure our irrational reactions to other people. Still, this principle can be ambiguous. How exactly do we express our fear toward Him?

Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing short, and more frequent posts to help replace our questions with a better understanding of what it means to fear God. Using an A to Z format, we'll look at some fearful verbs that show how being afraid of the right One can be a good thing.