Sunday's Sermon

I am going to be posting weekly what our Sunday's sermon was about in hopes to share His Word and how I'll be applying it to my life, so you can, too.

I also thought it may help to give you all a little something to read on Sunday without any participation, as Sundays are the day of rest, and the time to spend time with our families!

Today we learned about fearing the Lord. Something I never really and truly understood until it was explained like this: You cannot respect the Lord until you fear Him.

Like it says in the Bible, the ones who actually were before God fell to their knees in honor and awe. This cannot be accomplished without fearing Him. (Otherwise, you would just be like hey God, what's up, lol) We learned that some people are initially saved by the fear of being sent to Hell alone. And that's okay. I personally came to know Him because I love Him and I am grateful for all the marvelous things He has done. This is the same way I feel about my parents. Some children do what they are told because they have to or because they are scared of the consequences. I honestly was not that kind of child. (Seriously!) I legitimately loved my parents and didn't want to do anything to disappoint them. I respected them. But, had I not feared their disappointment or value their opinion and love, I would not have respected them so. Sounds simple enough, but very profound when thinking of how I live my life for Him.

Which brings me to the next point:

"The fear of the Lord will affect our deliverance and our worship."

This one hit me like a ton of bricks and something I am really struggling with lately. In church, I do not feel comfortable singing His praises, but my poor daughter must be getting really tired of me singing to all my praise and worship cds in the car, and in our home 24/7! See the problem? Where is my fear (and respect, honor, and awe) in showing Him my whole heart when I sing publicly? Am I too worried about what people are thinking? Am I worried that someone might hear my terrible singing voice? Yes, yes. But that doesn't interfere with being "myself" at home. Why? Because, I am not fearing Him the way I should or these things would not matter to me, no matter where I am.

Which is no coincidence that the next point is this: "We will have a strong confidence in our life by our fear of the Lord." (This would be my AHA! moment, lol) All of my insecurities and worries should not be interfering with praising and worshipping Him! If I fully fear and love Him, again, these things should not matter. I will try to remind myself of this when I have money worries or things just don't "go my way" That strong confidence I have in fearing and respecting Him will remind me that HE IS HERE. He is always here with me and it will all be okay. I really need to put this into application, because it couldn't be more true. I also need to apply this confidence when it comes to spreading His word and being a "vocal" disciple for Him. I struggle with this and I know it is part of my Christian responsibility. (Hopefully "blogging" this is a good start!)

Next, "the fear of God is a great restraint for Evil". Evil of course, meaning anything against God. This to me, in a nutshell, means that while we have man's law, we also have God's law, and the latter should be feared because of eternity. It also reminds me of the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other. 'Nuff said.

"The fear of God will produce purity." If I know God and I know what He expects from me, and I fear Him, I will live a life that is pleasing to Him. (Kinda goes along with being a good son or daughter to your parents if you fear and respect them!)

"The fear of God will affect your whole life." The last and my favorite. So very true. Fearing Him will affect my thoughts, actions, the words that come out of my mouth, how I live, what kind of wife, mother, daughter I am, the list goes on. Fearing His disappointment in me, fearing His judgment, and loving, honoring and respecting Him, and being totally in awe of Him will AFFECT my whole life.

Further and similar reading:

Romans 3:18-31

Ecclesiastes 5: 1-7

Ephesians 5:21

Psalm 34:7

I have to acknowledge my wonderful pastor, who does not read my blog, but through him some of these wonderful points were made.