Moving Backwards Instead of Forward - Do What God Has Called You To DO!

Over the past couple of weeks I have felt a leading to read the book of Jeremiah. I am ashamed to say that I knew that upon reading it the Spirit would reveal to me a Word of reproach that our Lord wanted to speak to me and through me, so I prolonged reading it. I guess the truth is that there is still this fleshly side of me that longs to be accepted and not persecuted for speaking God’s Word. But I love Him too much not to allow His Spirit to speak through me. I love Him with all my heart and I long to please Him and be His faith filled handmaiden; therefore I must be obedient to His leading. He constantly reminds me that if I am going to try to win the approval of people, then I will not find approval with Him. If pleasing people ever becomes my goal, then I could NOT be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:10)

I only got to chapter 6 when I had to start writing this. My spirit is so grieved within me. All our heavenly Father has ever wanted was for us was to truly surrender our pride and power. He has wanted us to trust Him and change our hearts before Him. He wants us to be humbly sorry for our sins. To go before Him with broken and contrite hearts, with weeping and mourning because of the sins that we have committed, instead of acting nonchalant and ignoring the Holy Spirit’s tugging at our hearts to do what is right. He wants us to have a reverential fear of Him. A holy respect and honor for our God that will keep us on the narrow road that leads to life. He wants our obedience.

All we have to do is acknowledge our guilt, admit that we have rebelled against the Lord and wanted our own way, and confess that we refused to listen to His voice. Can’t we see that His kindness and patience has always been meant to lead us to repentance? But so many take His kindness for granted and continue in their rebellion and sin forgetting that our God sees everything. There is no where that we can hide from His Spirit. We can hide from others. We can lie to them and to ourselves, but we cannot lie to our omnipresent God.

There is a lack of reverential awe for God in the church today. This lack of fearing the Lord has caused many believers to ignore the direction the Lord is giving them for their lives. Many Christians are refusing to receive the Lord’s correction and then are wondering why their families are falling apart, their businesses are in trouble, their finances are mess, and they have no peace. They are doing work for God and making sacrifices in Jesus name, but they have forgotten what the Lord told His people when He led them out of Egypt. Listen to what the Spirit of the Lord says through Jeremiah about this,

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’ “But My people would not listen to Me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward..” Jeremiah 7:21-24

How many of us today feel like we have moved backwards instead of forward. If so then we need to allow the Holy Spirit to show us where we have gone wrong. Where we have rebelled and refused to listen to the Lord and instead followed our own desires. We need to get back to doing what we know is right. We need to get back to truly loving God. Loving Him means obeying Him. That is how we truly know that we are in Him. Jesus said, “If you love Me, obey My commandments.” (John 14:15)

1 John 2:3-6 says, “And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live as Jesus did.”

It is time for us to start living in the truth. No matter what our Lord is calling us to do, whether it’s something we need to change, to leave behind, to surrender to Him, to step out in faith and go, the time has come to step out in obedience and faith. Remember that He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He never asks us to do something that He has not equipped us to do. Sometimes we will not feel equipped for what or where He is calling us, but we have to believe that He will honor our obedience and give us everything we need to do His will.

Don’t be fooled when we know what we ought to be doing and instead we choose to ignore God’s direction, then we are in sin and rebellion against God. (James 4:17) We can be sure that because He loves us so much that we will receive His divine discipline and punishment if we don’t repent and do His will. Oh but too many believers are following teachings of those who water down the Word and glorify a God that they have made up that is so merciful and forgiving that He does not judge, correct, punish or rebuke us. But this is not the God of the bible. This is not our Heavenly Father. You see our Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child. He disciplines us so that He can produce a harvest of right living in us. (Hebrews 12:5-12)

No more excuses it’s time to do what He has called you to do! If not, your rebellion will deprive you of wonderful blessings. Your sin will rob you of many good things that the Lord has planned for you. (Jeremiah 5:23-25)

“Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

Brothers and sisters it is time for us to go before the Lord and humble ourselves in His presence asking Him to forgive us for being rebellious and giving in to fear, doubt, anger, bitterness, unbelief, compliancy, or whatever other hindrances’ we have allowed to keep us from obeying His direction. He will not reject a broken and contrite heart. If you want to see change in your life then it’s time to humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor. Make a choice today stop moving backwards and start moving forward. (James 4:7-10)

Because Of Who You Are

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” Psalm 95:6

For the past couple of days the song ‘Because of who you are’ keeps coming up in my heart and I just have to start singing it. Many of you know this song and for those that don’t, there’s a video at the end of this posting of Martha Munizzi singing it.

The lyrics are very simple but when I enter into God’s presence by faith, completely surrendered with an attitude of reverence and adoration singing the lyrics in spirit and in truth, I will feel the Holy Spirit’s presence in a mighty way.

This song reminds me that we need to worship God daily just because He is God and worthy of our praise. We must learn to be people of praise and worship, giving glory to God because He is our Provider, our Strength, our Comfort, our source of Peace, our Healer, the Lover of our Soul, the One who never leaves or forsakes us. He is everything to us, but most of all He is our Salvation. He has done many wonderful things in and around us. The things he planned for us no one can recount to Him, were we to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Therefore, we should rejoice in all that we have accomplished through Christ Jesus because the Lord our God has blessed us. (Psalm 40:5, Deut. 12:7)

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping Him with holy fear and awe.” Hebrews 12:28

Lift up holy hands, bow down before Him, get on your face and humble yourself in the presence of The Most High God paying homage to Him. Recognize who He is and have a reverential fear for your Creator. Don’t hold back words of adoration and worship. He is worthy of all of our praise. We need to worship God so that our minds are kept on Him and all that He has done, rejecting any pride that would try to creep in and make us think that we have reason to boast in anything other than Christ Jesus. Let us pay tribute to the Lord at all times and constantly speak His praises and boast only in Him. (Psalm 34:1-2)

“Honor the Lord, for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Psalm 29:2

Because of the blood of Jesus we are cleansed and given the privilege of entering into God’s presence to seek His face and to give Him our sacrifice of praise. Go to a private place, put on some good worship music, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you prepare your mind and heart to enter into God’s presence, and then open your mouth and begin to worship Him because of who He is. Praise Him for all that He has done and is doing in your life. Confess your love and trust for Him. Worship Him in spirit and in truth. You will be filled with the fullness of joy and peace that comes from being in His presence and meditating on Him. (Psalm 16:11)

I leave you with the song, ‘Because of Who You Are’ by Martha Munizzi. I pray that it will help bring you into His presence as you sing the words.

“It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,” Psalm 92:1-2

Fearing the Lord

In January my daughters and I began to read a chapter of Proverbs a day for our morning devotionals. Throughout the month we noticed that ‘Fear the Lord’ or ‘Fear of the Lord’ is mentioned many times. My daughter and I were interested to know how many times it is mentioned and why it is mentioned so often in the book of Proverbs. We agreed that the Lord wants us to really grasp the meaning and the importance of fearing Him. So I decided to look further into this topic.

I found that ‘Fear the Lord’ or ‘Fear of the Lord’ is mentioned 16 times in the book of Proverbs. The meaning of fear in these verses is to have reverence or to be afraid of, stand in awe, or fear. So then to fear the Lord is to have reverence for God. To have a reverential fear of God is to have an attitude of deep respect for Him and His laws which should result in righteous living.

Solomon in his God given wisdom knew there were blessings for those that feared the Lord and extreme consequences for those that did not reverence God. Solomon wanted his son, his people, and I believe the whole world to truly comprehend the importance of having a reverential fear of the Lord. Thus the reason he stressed it so much in the book of Proverbs.

So what do the Proverbs say about fearing the Lord?

1) Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom

If we want to be truly wise then the very first thing we must do is reverence God. That is the beginning and the foundation of true knowledge. Our respect for God and His Word draws us closer to Him. It gives us a desire to want to search out His Word and learn more about His will, His righteousness, and His laws. Growing up in the knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment, obedience to His Word, and a longing to please Him. (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33)

2) How to truly understanding what it means to fear the Lord

If we really want to know what it means to fear the Lord then we have to desire the Word of God and the wisdom that it imparts with all of our heart. We have to cry out to God for insight and understanding of His Word. Our determination should be to fervently seek out wisdom like it was a hidden treasure. Then in our search for Wisdom we will begin to understand what it truly means to fear the Lord, and we will gain knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:5)

3) Don’t envy sinners because choosing not to fear the Lord results in calamity and disaster

When people refuse to respect God and ignore His laws they will most certainly face trouble and judgment. The Lord has given us free will to do what ever we want. We can to have our own way and refuse to obey God. That is our choice; however we do not get to choose the consequences that we will face for disrespecting God. The Word of God is clear that those who refuse to reverence the Lord and reject wisdom will face disaster and calamity. So don’t envy sinners. Their sin has not gone unnoticed. If they do not repent they will inevitably be in a state of deep distress or misery caused by major misfortune or loss because they refuse to fear the Lord. There will be a disastrous event marked by great loss and lasting distress and suffering. (Proverbs 23:17, Proverbs 1:24-33, Proverbs 24: 21)

4) Fearing the Lord lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short

When we live our lives fearing the Lord and obeying the Word of God we are more likely to live a longer life. We will not be out there in the world acting crazy and foolish like the wicked do. That is why their lives are shortened prematurely. They do not fear danger and they do not care about their life or the lives of others. They are killed in gang shootings, drug over doses, drunkenness, diseases contracted by their careless living and in so many other ways they are dying and killing each other. There lives are cut short because they refuse to humble themselves to God’s Word. (Proverbs 10:27)

5) We are not to be impressed by our wisdom but instead we should fear the Lord, then we can have healing for our bodies

We can never think that we are wise enough. Instead we have to respect God’s wisdom and direction in our lives at all times and stay away from all evil and sin. When we trust our Lord with our lives and allow Him to lead us instead of following our own paths we will have good emotional and mental health. We will feel strong in our minds and hearts because we are trusting Him and obeying His Word. Our bodies will find healing from fear, sorrow, envy, resentment, hatred, guilt, and other emotional stresses that cause over 60% of illness in our bodies. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

6) Fearing the Lord results in obedience to the Word of God, righteous living.

When we fear the Lord we will desire to please God and obey His Word. We will hate all forms of evil. We will not minimize sin like the rest of the world does. We will hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverse speech just as much as we do murder or robbery. Our desire will be to ride ourselves of any unrighteousness in our lives. Because of our love and respect for God and our desire to be faithful to Him and His Word we will stay away from evil and avoid sin. (Proverbs 8:13, 16:6)

7) Fear of the Lord leads to a secure life in trusting God and not worrying about trouble or death.

When we honor and revere God we trust Him and realize that our lives are secure in His hands. We have a sense of security knowing that He protects us from evil and harm. However, even if we do have to face trouble we know that our souls belong to Him and we are secure in Christ Jesus so we do not fear death. To die is to be with Christ Jesus. (Proverbs 19:23, 14:27)

8) Because we Fear the Lord He will be a refuge for our children

We don’t have to worry about our children. They are His. Our love and respect for our God gives our children a special place of refuge in Him. He will watch over them and protect them from the snares of death. He will not allow the enemy to pluck them from His hands. He will draw them to Himself. He knows that this is our hearts desire and He will fulfill this desire because we fear and trust Him. (Proverbs 14:26)

9) It is better not to be rich and fear the Lord than to be rich and be miserable

Our faith in the Lord makes rich and teaches to be content in all situations whether we have plenty or little. Either way we know that our Lord works everything out for our good. Therefore we do not have to worry about tomorrow or what we shall eat and drink, because we know that our God provides for all of our needs. He never forsakes us which allows us to live carefree. The rich unbeliever often times has inner turmoil and stress that comes with his lifestyle. He does not have peace in his soul because He realizes that his wealth and accomplishments does not bring true lasting joy. His ambitions are never satisfied. (Proverbs 15:16)

10) True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life

When we humble ourselves to the Lord and reverence Him we are blessed with many spiritual riches, divine honor, and with everlasting life. Often times the Lord will also chose to bless those that fear Him with the privilege of managing wealth and riches here in this world. Many believers have the benefit of living a long earthly life fulfilling the great commission the Lord gave us. They will be honored in this world and in the next. (Proverbs 22:4)