Fear of God

Devotion 8 – Warning of Perilous Times   2 Tim.3:1-5 – “ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come : For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,  4  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  5  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”   Paul, in his letters to Timothy, warns that in the last days we would be living in difficult or perilous times.   During that time, Paul himself was already living in very threatening and hazardous times and had gone through many extreme trials and sufferings for the gospel’s sake.   Here is a list that still falls short of all he had suffered. It comes from 2 Corinthians 11:23-33:   2 Cor.11:23-27  – “ Are they se...

Devotion 9 - Definition of the Fear of the Lord As mentioned in the previous devotion, we are living in spiritual perilous days! Due to our hardness of heart and fearing man more than God, we have softened the fear of the Lord into mere respect or reverence. However, if we were to examine the Scriptures carefully to see how “the fear of the Lord” is used and in what context it’s used, it always depicts this idea of complete and utter obedience to the Lord and living right within His kingdom. In fact, many times, the exhortation regarding the fear of the Lord makes reference to His final judgment.   Ecc.12:12-14  – “ And further, my son, be admonished by these…Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all .   For God will bring every work into judgment , including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Even in the final book of Revelation, an angel exhorted with a loud voice, “ Fear God ...

Devotion 10 – False Teachings on the “Fear of the Lord” Isa.29:13 – “ Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men …” This scripture clearly warns us that there is false teaching on the fear of the Lord. These are teachings on the fear of God based on man’s thinking, rather than derived from Scripture. Jude also exhorted the believers to fight for their faith earnestly, because “ godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God’s punishment (Jude 4 TLB) Due to some erroneous teaching on the concept of grace, many believers are overlooking the importance of living a life worthy of a holy and just God. A wrong understanding of the grace of God can lead to spiritual complacency. Scriptural grace enables and empow...

Devotion 11 – Sonship Fear vs Slavish Fear There are two types of fear revealed to us in the scriptures – a healthy “sonship” fear of God and a destructive, slavish fear. The sonship fear of God produces a holy reverence, pleasure, joy, awe and respect for His righteous judgment, and an understanding of the Lord’s heart of compassion and love mingled with His unwavering holiness. It ignites adoration and worship and keeps us away from evil. This type of fear is critical for a healthy spiritual life and we should all cultivate it. However, there is another type of fear which is harmful and unfavourable to both our physical and spiritual well-being. It is the slavish fear which is based on a flawed and inaccurate understanding of the Father heart of God. Slavish fear makes us cower in horror just like how a child lives in dread and terror of an abusive father. Slavish fear has an image of God as unforgiving and merciless, waiting and watching to catch us making mistake...

Devotion 12 - Lacking the fear of God Leads to Evil. What happens when the fear of God is missing? When Paul was describing the depravity of humanity and how it was degenerating, he said: Rom.3:10-18 – “ As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat  is  an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps   is   under their lips; Whose mouth  is  full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet  are  swift to shed blood; destruction and misery   are   in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. “ When there is no fear of God in the land, sin increases and there is no limit to evil.  All the moral decadence we see in the society today is because pe...

Devotion 13 - Why the Lack of Fear of God in the Body of Christ Some Christians might laugh and mock at the teaching on the fear of the Lord, for their only concept of God is a gracious and loving heavenly Father, and Jesus as their saviour and friend.   To them, God is love and mighty in power to help and deliver, while Jesus is their best friend who helps and guides them as they confide in him. While this is a healthy and awesome impression of God, but this is not the complete image of the Trinity. God is our good Father, saviour and friend, but He is also our mighty creator, master, lord and ultimately the righteous judge whom we will face in eternity. The apostle Peter talks about Christians having a “Father who judges each man’s work impartially” , and as a result, are “living our lives as strangers here in reverent fear” (1 Pet.1:17). The Bible also tells us plainly that we need to have a deep hunger to understand the fear of the Lord and truly find the knowledge of God...