fear.

we had a collab between men's cell and girl's group today, and we ended up watching a Francis Chan sermon on the fear of the Lord.

It really spoke to me, and here are a few things that i just took from it that i wanted to share with y'all.

When you read "fear me" or "fear God" in the bible, what do you think of? many times, we think of it as out of awe, and out of respect, but from the series, i realized that it was much more than that. When it says that in the scriptures, they feared God. as in they were terrified. scared.

So let me ask you, do you FEAR God?

I know that I myself, have the same problem, i always thought that "fear" meant to be in awe, but i never truly feared God. In Proverbs 9:10, it says that fearing God is the beginning of wisdom. I think its very likely that this is the reason why i felt like my spiritual growth has plateaued. I havent been fearing God for who he is.

Without fearing God, you dont realize how big he is, you dont realize how powerful he is. In the OT, so many times, when people are in the presence of God, they fall to their knees, its supposed to be that overwhelming. If you encountered God for just five seconds, how would you respond? You're in the presence of the creator of the universe. He could kill you right there right then. Scary eh?

But, there is a twist. After hearing all this "Fear God", Isaiah 44:8 comes to say "fear not". All of sudden God is telling us not to fear him after fearing him? I think that when we do learn to fear God for who he is, we realize how mighty and powerful he is. But when we realize that, it should be all the more comforting. We should be content knowing that someone so great, someone so big, is watching out for us. Thats the greatest security we can ever have. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Many times in the bible, we are referred to as His children, sons and daughters of Christ. If you think about it, when we have kids, we will guard them with all our heart, strength and soul right? Its the same here. God is protecting us, and there's practically nothing else to fear when we have such an amazing protector and guardian by our side.

My question now is, how to fear? i dont feel it, and im waiting for that big smack in the face to help me realize how powerful God REALLY is.

verse of the day: Psalm 115:11

11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD-- he is their help and shield.