Fearing the Lord - Do you really?

If you take a look into the book of Proverbs, you see over and over this common theme of wisdom and that the root of wisdom is fearing the Lord. So I started thinking, what does it mean to fear the Lord, what is that supposed to look like and is it really that important. After thinking about it and discussing it with some close friends, I think I am beginning to understand what it means and a picture is being painted as to what it is supposed to look like.

Proverbs 1:7 states: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." What this verse is saying that without God or even the fear of God we really don't know anything. If the beginning, or the start, of knowledge is fearing the Lord then how do we explain people who don't know the Lord having a great deal of knowledge becoming physicists or mechanical engineers (something that requires a great deal of intellect). Because it is not referring to the intellectual book-based kind of knowledge - because in the time frame that Proverbs was written in, there were very few people who were educated; while in our society, everyone has the opportunity of education. I believe that the type of knowledge discussed in this verse is that of a moral "street smarts" kind of wisdom. While you can still have certain kinds of wisdom without the fear of the Lord, to fear the Lord gives you wisdom in all areas of your life based upon truth, on God, the cross, etc. In Proverbs 2, the writer talks about how if you seek wisdom, you will find the fear of the Lord and also find the knowledge of God.

What is fearing the Lord then? I see it like spiders and lions. Obviously as Christians, we do not need to fear the Lord's wrath upon us because of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for our sins making us blameless in His sight. The first type of fear that we think of is that kind of like a spider. I hate spiders, they're creepy, ugly and on occasion make me scream like a little girl. I have an irrational fear of spiders - but I'm willing to stomp on one as long as I have some shoes on. But there is a second kind of fear that we often overlook and it's not so much fear as it is reverence. I would step on a spider, but there is no way I would be able to step on a lion or do anything to make it angry. If you were put in the presence of a lion, you wouldn't slap it in fear; but rather you would have this deep respect of its power and authority. I believe that is what it means to fear the Lord. To have this deep respect for Him because He has unlimited power and unlimited authority, more than you or I could ever imagine. And of the time we forget that God has that, and more importantly deserves our fear, our love, our respect, our adoration. I think the perfect example of how we forget that is the hats and t-shirts that we circulating a while back that said "Jesus is my homeboy". No He's not. He is your savior, your king, not one of your dumb friends. He deserves a deep intimate adoration and respect from you, not a fist-bump. I love how John Piper puts in the introduction to his book 'Spectacular Sins': (referring to the hand of God) “The hand that flicks stars into being. The hand that gives life and takes it. The hand that rules over everything. Everything.” He is a God of awesome power and infinite authority. He speaks things and they happen (Genesis 1). Have you ever tried to be a Jedi? Even when you were little? We think something stupid like moving something across the room with 'the force' is the coolest thing ever. God created everything you see and everything you don't see. The cells in your body fighting off an infection you may not know you have, your stomach gathering all the nutrients from the dinner you just ate, your heart beating to keep you alive and everything working in this beautiful rhythm. And I have trouble putting together a model airplane, and that even comes with instructions.

What usually happens within Christianity today is that you have this sense of entitlement. Almost like you deserve to be forgiven because you go to church every Sunday, because you have an icthus on the back of your car, because you tell God that you're sorry even though you have no real intention of turning from your sin. What most people don't realize is that before you accept Jesus, you are His enemy! Even the guy who says "Yeah, I believe God exists - but I don't like organized religion" Enemy. There is no riding the fence. The Bible is clear on how you can't serve 2 masters, you just can't. The issue is whether or not your master is Jesus, because if He isn't then you are His enemy. Colossians 1:21-23 says this: "²¹And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." You were once HOSTILE and ALIENATED from God, you were doing EVIL DEEDS. You might say, "Well, I did good things too - and I still do good things". Except our good deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). And Hebrews 11:6 tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. Therefore, everything you do prior to salvation is sin, because it is done without faith in Jesus Christ. You have no right to approach the throne of God with arrogance. He has reached out His hand to you, despite that fact that you are ill-deserving of His grace. Too often have we made light of our relationship with God.

We get comfortable. And content. For whatever reason, we love to be content. Don't challenge me in anything, don't point out my flaws, don't tell me how to live my life. I'm going to study the Bible whenever I feel like it, and when I find something I don't like in it – I will either disregard it or make up some ridiculous excuse on how that passage is supposed to be interpreted, translated, or contextualized.--- I honestly don't know how there can be true followers of Christ out there who have attitudes like this, but yet the churches seem to be filled with them. Teaching you that homosexuality is okay, or that you deserve health and wealth. Ridiculous, cultural garbage. Let me just say that if a fellow believer comes to you about something that you have done, even if it sounds ridiculous, take it to heart and really judge yourself and pray that if you have unrepentive sin in your life that God would make that evident to you. Too often do we get comfortable, and we end up with this great picture of ourselves and all the great things we do. We are not great, in fact we are no where near greatness. Our hope is found in Christ alone because He endured hours upon hours of unimaginable pain. Beaten. Spat upon. Nail Pierced. For you. He deserves your respect, your love, your adoration, your everything because He paid for your freedom.

One last thing I want to address, is why fearing the Lord is the basis for wisdom. I believe one of the biggest reasons is that, if you do not fear the Lord you will make compromises. David got comfortable, and he ended up killing a man because he got that man's wife pregnant. Granted, as humans we will always compromise our integrity because we are sinful. But if you are not walking day by day fearing the Lord, you are going to lean on what you understand and not what the Bible says. You will see that temptation and have nothing to protect yourself from it. One more aspect to fear the Lord I feel is vital is trust. You need to trust, respect, adore, and love your God. Proverbs 2: 9-12 says: “Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,” It is a deep appreciation, love, adoration, reverence, love, and respect for the Lord that leads to wisdom and wisdom leads to discretion and to understanding. Providing a wall of protection for you, though that does not mean that difficult times will not come, in fact they will come and they will get harder. The only way to experience true freedom is to fear the Lord, because He will guide you, He will protect you, and He will love you. Don't treat God like your magic genie, treat Him like your master.

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this to ask themselves if you are really walking daily in fear of the Lord.

I love you

Roger

Quoted Bible Texts came from Biblegateway.com - ESV

Quote from 'Spectacular Sins' by John Piper - All credit is to Dr. John Piper

Homosexuality - What people don't understand.

Friends,

Before you read this I'd like for you to take a few moments and either pray or come into this topic with on open mind (depending on your spiritual background). I am going to be taking a Biblical and physiological approach to this topic in attempt to explain this current issue within our society today.

I want to first start out with the physiological. There is no doubt in my mind that homosexuality is completely natural human nature, but that is just it; it is human nature. There is no cure to homosexuality and it is not a choice (in most cases). Now with that said, it is also human nature to lie; such as when we were little kids, if we did something wrong and our parents confronted us about it our first instinct is to lie. Why? Because we are born sinful. Conservative Christians make the argument that homosexuality is a choice and that they are just being rebellious and in extreme cases God hates them because of their homosexuality. This is the epitome of bullcrap, obviously if you think that God hates a person then you have some repenting to do - the gospel is about a true and perfect love that Christ has for everyone. Even while on the cross, Jesus asks God to forgive those who were killing Him! It wasn't like 10 years later Jesus went to the Father and said "Hey, I think you should forgive those men now" it was WHILE THEY WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF KILLING HIM that He asked the Father to forgive them. So to think that God hates a person is absolutely ridiculous. Now for my readers who will say "Oh but God does hate, look at the story of Noah" - There are numerous times in the Bible where someone betrays or runs away from God and He shows them mercy and offers them a chance to repent, Jonah being my favorite but that's off topic. Homosexuality is a sin struggle, just like the rest of them - but for some reason we have condemned anyone who confesses it but rejoice when someone confesses anything else.

I am not trying to support the current 'gay' movement but rather attempting to shed some light on the situation. It is evident in the Bible, that homosexuality is wrong (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Leviticus 18:22). But, why is it that we seem to put so much emphasis on this one particular sin? It even seems as though that its becoming a trend that if you are against homosexuality then you are a bigot and a snobby, self-righteous Christian.

My heart breaks for both sides because it seems that as Christians we are not showing Christ's love to those who desperately need it, just like we need it. We are no better than them, the Bible teaches that there is no one who does good (Romans 3:10). We are all wicked, but we all struggle with different things. Lying, cheating, stealing, pride, selfishness, hatred, lust.....they're all the same: spitting in the face of our Savior. And we can sit here for the next twenty years debating context, translation, etc. but that's not the point. Love is the point, and I'm not asking you to accept people's sin, I'm not asking you to agree with them in their mistakes; but I am asking you to love as Christ loves them. Jesus tells us that hatred is the same as murder, so if you claim to be a follower of Christ and have hated someone for disregarding the Biblical view on this issue, then you have some repenting to do. There are good Godly people out there who struggle with this sin, and to say that God hates them is foolish and downright against what we are about as Christians.

If you wish to talk to me about any of this, calmly and rationally of course. Please don't hesitate.

I love you

Roger Winters