Reverential Fear (Daily Devotional)

Shalom and welcome to a fresh series of Living Supernaturally. We are so glad that you could come in and join with us and learn and read and understand God’s word together. For this week ahead, we are going to be looking at the fear of the Lord. This is a biblical phrase that probably has troubled many people, the command of God to fear the Lord and through this week, we are going to be looking at what does the fear of the Lord mean and what does the Bible say and why does the Bible tell us to fear the Lord.

So, for our reading, let’s look at scripture, from Hebrews chapter 12, verses 28-29, ‘Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.’ Many ask the question, as to what does this fear refer to? Does it mean to be scared of God or does this mean that we are in fear of judgment, when we come to His presence? There is so much that we can learn from this. A kind of fear that is mentioned in the Bible is having a deep respect, having a reverence and awe for the power and authority of God. So, when we fear God, it is a reverential fear, it is a feeling of being at awe, but when we fear anything else, it can be a crippling, it can be a demobilizing fear. So, does God want us to be scared of Him? When the Bible talks about fear, it talks about referring it to an attitude of a holy fear, that is what we look at today, what does it mean to fear the Lord? It is really an awe for the majesty and greatness and the holiness of God. It is the fear that we have of displeasing Him, we do not want to displease Him, it is that kind of a continual awareness that we are in the presence of God, the presence of a holy, just and an Almighty God. It is that fear that brings the wonder of God into our hearts for who He is, it is that fear that causes us to love Him. This reverential fear is a good kind of fear. David talks about this in Psalms chapter 19 and verse 9, he talks about this fear as clean and pure. So, this fear is a reverential fear of God. It is having that deep respect for who God is, which includes His judgements, which includes His ways, His purposes, His power, His glory, and His characteristics. So, as a believer, we are not to be scared of Him, and indeed we have no reason to be scared of God because we have this promise, and His promise says that nothing will separate us from the love of God or that He will never leave us nor forsake us. So, fearing God with a reverence has a great impact on the way that we live our lives. This fear of God brings us to a place of worshipping Him, of wanting to love Him, of wanting to please Him, to be under His discipline, to follow His paths. It is that kind of fear that God is calling us to have, the fear that is filled with respect and love and awe for His majesty and glory.

Let’s pray together, Heavenly Father, we thank you, that your word asks of us to love you with reverence and with awe. May we have that respect for you, may we come and approach you with that confidence knowing that you invite us, and may we always know that you are aware of us, that we also need to be continually aware of who you are in our lives and live in accordance to that, may we live in the fear of the Lord, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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