The last half of the this chapter, “Hindrances to Multiplication,” portrays fear from a scriptural perspective. Being a popular word today both in our culture and the Church, I believe it is especially misunderstood in the church and therefore perhaps pertinent to finishing the chapter. John Bevere released a book in 2006 titled “The Fear of The Lord” with its enormously long sub-title (18 words perhaps because “fear” by itself is not a buzz word that invites potential buyers to browse its pages) wherein the sub-title states four distinct advantages provided the believer who possesses a scriptural functional definitive clarity of the word fear. These advantages are as follows:
Positions your heart to receive answers,
Promises divine protection,
Provides clarity and direction,
Produces riches, honor and life.
I refer to this book frequently for the basic key scriptural texts and its applications on fear that even I can easily understand.
The following is largely verbatim.
Holy Fear
A biblical phrase describes our discussion thus far: the fear of the Lord. Due to all the fear that abounds, especially in this day and hour, we shy away from this statement. However, there are two fears and they are totally opposite of each other. One is the “spirit of fear,” and the other is the “fear of the Lord.” Scripture distinguishes between the two. Moses said to God’s people just after they drew back from God’s presence:
“Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:20-21 NKJV)
At first glance, it seems Moses contradicts himself. Let me paraphrase his statement to make it clear: “Do not fear because God has come to see if His fear is in you.” His declaration is not a contradiction, rather a differentiating between being “scared of God” and “the fear of the Lord” – there is a difference. The person who is scared of God has something to hide. Recall how Adam hid from the presence of the Lord after he sinned against Him. (see Genesis 3:8) On the other hand, the person who fears God has nothing to hide. He or she is actually afraid to be away from the presence of God.
So up front, allow me to make a firm point: The fear of the Lord is not to be scared of God. How can we have an intimate relationship with Someone we are afraid of? As already stated, true holy fear is to be terrified to be away from God. You don’t want to be anywhere other than in his presence, care, and love. You’re immovable, no matter the circumstances or how bleak things appear; you know there’s no place better than being close to Him. This is evident by your obedience to Him.
To fear God is to venerate, revere, honor, and respect Him more than anyone or anything else. It is to hold Him in the highest esteem, to embrace His heart’s desires as more precious and valuable than our own. We love what He loves and we hate what He hates. What is important to Him becomes important to us; what is not so important to Him is not so important to us.
We operate appropriately in the fear of the Lord when we obey Him instantly; even if it doesn’t make sense, there’s no apparent benefit, and perhaps even appears harmful to our well-being. We know His character, and thus are convinced. Even though something may appear detrimental, it will never be so when obeying God.
Lastly, walking in the fear of the Lord manifests by obeying Him to completion. Abraham did exactly this when God told him to let go of what was most important to him – what he’d waited twenty-five years for – to surrender the one he loved more than any other person or any possession – his son Isaac. He left early in the morning and made a three day journey in order to do what God asked of him. God hadn’t given him a “why,” and it appeared that this sacrifice would ruin all Abraham had lived for. It appeared detrimental. But he implicitly trusted the character of God (the very antithesis of how the lazy steward acted).
Once Abraham had the knife raised to execute Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped him and declared, “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). This kind of love, trust, and faith is the heart of one who truly fears God.
We are told, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs1:7 NKJV). What knowledge? We find the answer shortly afterward, but let’s also examine what leads up to the answer afterward – putting His Word above all, which is no different than what Abraham did:
My son, if you receive My words, and treasure My commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:1-5 NKJV)
The answer is quite clear; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of the knowledge of God. Today we would phrase it slightly differently. We might say, “You will understand the fear of the Lord, and begin to know God intimately.” Now we understand the root error of the lazy steward. He lacked holy fear, which was evident by his lack of action and his final response. Just as Israel at times saw God as a tyrant, this steward saw his master no differently. He was blind to his leaders character as evidenced by his statement to his master in Matthew 25:24, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate…”
Holy fear is the starting place of knowing God. The psalmist confirms this by declaring :”The Lord is a friend to those who fear Him” (Psalm 25:14). Friends are those we know on an intimate level. Jesus makes a startling statement, “You show that you are My intimate friends when you obey all that I command you” (John 15:14TPT).
Many of us often say we “love” Jesus in the same way we say we love a famous movie star, athlete, or any publicly known figure. Nearly a year ago when Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were killed in a tragic helicopter accident, the entire nation mourned and many wept. People placed an abundance of balloons, cards, and flowers near the Staples Center where he’d played basketball. I also mourned the tragedy and thought quite a bit about it.
But most of us who mourned didn’t know Kobe like his wife, family, and close friends did. If he’d seen us on the street, he would have had no idea who we were. I’d never spent time with him, yet I grieved his passing as if I did have a relationship with him. Just as Kobe would not have known me when he was alive, there will be a multitude of men and women claiming to know Jesus because they attended church, spoke of Him on social media, listened to music about Him, did things in his name, and even professed His Lordship. But Jesus’s reply will be, “I never knew you.” And this is why:
Not everyone who calls out to me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. On judgement day many will say to me, “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.” But I will reply, “I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” (Matthew 7:21-23)
We don’t ever want this said to us by the Master. If you examine this Scripture passage closely, these people were confident in their relationship with Jesus, even emotional about it. Kobe would have said to me, “Who are you? Where are you from? What’s your name?” In this way, Jesus will say to many claiming to know Him, “I don’t know you or where you come from” (Luke 13:25)
Spend (Invest) Time With Him
The fear of the Lord is the starting place of knowing Him intimately, but why camp at the starting place? Go deeper in your relationship, because He’s calling you to come closer. We are told, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (James 4:8) Amazingly, we ultimately determine the level of our relationship with Him.
It surprises me how so many people who are professing believers are not much different than the woman I met at the pool in Hawaii. They get their “knowledge of God” from social media, worship music, blogs, conversations with friends, and their pastor speaking about Him once a week, provided they attend. But seldom do they spend personal time with Him.
The latest statistics show that people between the ages of 15-25 spend 53.7 hours a week in front of screens – smartphones , tablets, computers, and television. A recent survey of 1000 British parents found that the average parent spends less than five hours per week communicating face-to-face with their children. In contrast, I wonder, how much time is spent in the Word of God by either parents or the older children?
I’ve been reading my Bible now for over forty years, and it is still one of my favorite things to do. Before reading, I always ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to me in a fresh way. I’ve spent years getting up early and spend time pacing around my basement, or outside in a remote place, or in my hotel room – just reading, praying and listening. I don’t want to be one of those who preached the gospel all over the world by relying solely on my gift and never getting to know the Gift-giver.
God sought us out, loved, and died for us long before we knew Him. He initiated this magnificent relationship. He is for you. He longs to know you intimately. However, and this is hard for many of us to grasp, He loves you so deeply that He refuses to force you into a relationship with Him.
Merlin writing now. Continuing in that vein, we are always free agents either to accept or reject God’s offer of adoption into His family. We as believers, especially during these dysfunctional emotional historical moments, need to offer the same courtesy of free choice to friends and family as God does us. Leaders do not force others to follow them. Rather, they “invite” them to “join them” on their journey to Glory. Historically leaders become great leaders, not because of their power of persuasion, BUT because of their ability to spiritually model, invite, and empower others!
So today, choose life as He offers you to live life to the “fullest” right now assured that your choice will also secure your access to “eternal life” with Him in Glory.
Vibrant Continued Blessings to you as we go forth visibly transformed and empowered by our obedience to Him having identified all of our excuses and leaving them at the foot of the Cross >>>> merlin