Monthly Archives: May 2016

Relax – Respond – Rest (Part 2)

Christian Life, , , ,

RELAX – RESPOND – REST (PART 2)

Yesterday we discovered that holiness is a non-negotiable requirement if we are to see God.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see God (Heb. 12:14).

You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own (Lev. 20:26).

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy’ (1 Pet. 1:15).

The instruction is clear, but hidden in the instruction is a statement and a promise.

You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy (Lev. 19: 2 – King James Version).

We have also established that God does not demand of us what He does not do for us. “Self-help” holiness will never work because we are just as incapable of being holy as we are of saving ourselves from the penalty and power of sin. God stepped in to deal with our sin by sending His Son to be our substitute. Jesus took the rap so that we can be set free from all the consequences of our rebellion and disobedience, by both taking the punishment and changing our hearts to bring us back into His family and into fellowship with Him.

What guarantee do we have that God will fulfil His requirement for holiness in us so that we are fit for His presence and for fellowship with Him?

A statement and a promise. From God’s perspective, we are already holy. He sees us, not as we are now, imperfect and in the process of being made holy but in the completeness of who we shall be when He has done the work in us. The New Testament is full of reassurances that, from His point of view, He has already finished the work and we are fully acceptable to Him. Holiness is both a finished work and a work in progress.

But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool. For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Heb. 10:14).

Wow! With one stroke of the pen, the writer to the Hebrews sweeps away all the misconceptions and misunderstanding of “self-help-holiness”.

So, then, how are we made holy. Although God is doing the work, we cannot sit back and do nothing. Being made holy is a co-operative venture. The work of being made holy requires us to respond actively to what He is doing in us. This means that, first of all, we must understand what God is doing and how He is doing it.

  1. Get rid of the baggage.

Our minds are cluttered with false ideas and beliefs about God, ourselves and the world around us, accumulated from our childhood by the adversities and the rejections we have experienced. God’s solution is twofold: forgive those who have hurt you and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Forgiveness gets rid of the poison in our souls. The Word of God cuts deep (Heb. 4:12), exposes the baggage and gets rid of the clutter of lies and unbelief by replacing it with truth.

  1. Let the Word of God wash you.

God cleanses our hearts and makes us holy through His Word

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17).

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you (John 15:.3)

Paul encouraged husbands to be to their wives what Jesus is to the church – His bride.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27).

Our job is to fill our minds with the Word because it is the “water” with which the Holy Spirit washes us, renews us and guides us into all truth.

  1. Stay away from the mud.

It is useless to be washed by the Word, only to return, like a pig, to the mud.

God calls us to separate ourselves from the way the people in the world think and behave. Not only are we to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2), but we are also to stay away from people and behaviour that corrupt us.

What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

“Therefore, come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you”

“And I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty.

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves for everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Cor. 6:16-7:1).

  1. Submit to God’s discipline.

This is the part that hurts the most! Dr James Dobson calls is “tough love”.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?  …Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness (Heb. 12: 7-8; 10).

We are quick to blame the devil for our troubles. If we glibly give Satan the credit for our hardships as an “attack”, we will miss the meaning and value of the discipline. Every time we face troubles and problems, though God may not be the author, He uses these experiences to expose a weakness or flaw in our faith in God.

Instead of playing the victim, He wants us to trust His perfect love because He is the real Father. Even the questions: why? or why me? are evidence that we fear punishment because we do not understand that God punished Jesus once for all for our sin.

Discipline is necessary to bring us to the point where nothing will move us because we have absolute confidence in the perfect love of our Father. He has a purpose for everything.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestines to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8: 28-29).

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available.

 

 

 

Relax – Respond – Rest

Christian Life, , , ,

RELAX – RESPOND – REST

Many books have been written on the subject of holiness. Some are helpful; others, like the one I read recently, have angered and frustrated me because, instead of sticking to God’s Word, the authors have created their own version of holiness and what God requires of us to meet His standard.

I found that the book I read, although promising an exciting insight into the truth, is a yet another misleading, self-help volume that adds to the hard labour of an already over-burdened Christian reading public. Like the rabbis of old, a well-meaning but misinformed writer has garnished the simple truth of God’s Word with additions and prescriptions which have obscured what God intends to be a liberating and joyful experience.

In response, I decided to write my own book! Which I did! Which is on the threshold of release. Which is called The Heartbeat of Holiness.

I have made three simple observations and drawn two conclusions. It is impossible for me to rewrite the book for a blog but, over the next few days I plan to give you a summary – and perhaps whet your appetite to read the book.

Point number 1 – Relax!

Have you noticed that God always does for us what He demands of us? Now isn’t that amazing?

Throughout the Bible, we see the same principle at work. He demands that we deal with our sin which requires death as payment for our debt. We can’t; because each sinner must pay his own debt, which is eternal death, so He sent His Son, Jesus to live among us as one of us, sinless and without any debt of His own. He died in our place so that God’s wrath against sin could be satisfied and the sinner be reconciled to the Father.

The same principle applies when we come to the subject of holiness. God is holy; He demands that we be holy. Without holiness we cannot “see” Him. What is holiness? God is totally separated from sin and separated to Himself. He cannot have anything to do with sin. He is always consistent with His own nature. We know that God is just, righteous, merciful and good because all His actions reveal who He is.

Since He created us in His image to have fellowship with Him and to be one with Him, it follows that we are also to have nothing to do with sin and to be separated to Him. Like our toothbrush which we share with no one else, God created us to belong exclusively to Him. We are His because He made us and because He bought us back from slavery to sin and Satan.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Trying to be holy by ourselves is as futile as trying to save ourselves from our sin. Why would God demand of us what He knows we cannot achieve? No amount of self-effort, including self-awareness and self-scrutiny, endless confession of sin, repeated prayers to become holy, breaking so-called “generational curses” and…and…and…can achieve what God demands. We might as well give up before we start.

If we can’t make ourselves holy, no matter how hard we try, what is the answer? How will we ever achieve God’s standard to make it in the end? Will we fail to see God because we fell short in spite of being saved from sin by God’s grace? How will we know if we have satisfied God’s demand?

I have good news for you. Relax! God does not only demand that we be holy – He promised to make us holy. This immediately takes the pressure off us. Of course, it is impossible for us to be holy through our own effort but He has a simple plan to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Watch this space. Tomorrow we shall explore His plan and discover that holiness as God requires, is completely within our reach because He does the work from beginning to end.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available.

Carefree, But Not Careless

Christian Life, , , ,

CAREFREE, BUT NOT CARELESS

Carefree is the attitude of a child. Why is it possible for a child to be carefree in the world we live in? Is it not because children leave all their cares to daddy while they simply enjoy life?

Is it possible that God’s children can live carefree lives in spite of the turmoil around us?

Jesus told His disciples a parable to illustrate the different ways in which people respond to His Word. His story was simply an observation. People are all different, and they react differently in every situation. He recognised four different ways in which people treat the Word they hear, like the seed a farmer sows in his field.

The first group is completely indifferent to what God has to say. His Word has no effect on them. It’s like the proverbial “water off a duck’s back.”  Jesus called it “hard ground”. The Word falls on the ground, bounces, rolls away, and lies there until hungry birds snap it up. Why is this ground – or these hearts – so hard and unresponsive that the seed cannot penetrate and take root? Ground becomes hard when, like a people walking on a  footpath it is constantly trodden on.

How many people around you, even you yourself have been trodden on through the course of your life by careless people? Perhaps from early childhood, you have been neglected, rejected or even maligned by your parents and those closest to you until you have become so hard that you are indifferent both to people and to God. Your number one priority is to survive and survive you will even at the expense of others. God’s Word means nothing to you. Your defences are so strong that you allow nothing to penetrate.

Some people are like ground that has a thin layer of topsoil, but underneath and close to the surface, is a layer of impenetrable rock. Seed germinates readily enough, given the right circumstances, but the hard rock prevents the roots from anchoring the plant and finding moisture and nutrients. As soon as the hot sun beats down, the plant withers and dies in its hostile environment.

I lived for eight years in an area of my country where limestone lay just under the surface of the topsoil. Gravediggers had a hard time because they had to hack through the limestone to prepare for a burial. Few trees grew in that area because the roots had a hard time penetrating the rock. Fruit trees grew for a few years and then perished because they lost the battle against the stone.

Why are some people like stony ground? I think they have learned to be opportunists. There are many people around us whose primary goal is to take care of number one. They latch onto anything that is to their advantage. Unfortunately, much of today’s so-called “gospel” preaching presents Jesus as the panacea for all ills. “Come to Jesus. He will forgive your sin and solve all your problems.” They grab the opportunity for a quick fix, but when life deals them a curve ball and Jesus does not do what they expect, they walk away and try something else.

The world is full of people like the third kind of soil.

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful (Mark 4:18-19).

I think that the third kind of soil is the pernicious problem in most people’s hearts, even ours who believe that we are true children of God. Let’s examine the truth of what Jesus was saying.

Three attitudes in our hearts leave no room for the seed to grow.

“The worries of this life” cause our minds to be split between “here” and “there”. We are here in person, but our thoughts are consumed with something that is there. We are caught up in two never-ending circles – “If only” – regrets about the past or “what if” – fears about the future. We read or hear the Word, but we are somewhere else, wrestling with problems, worries, issues for which we have no answer. The Word falls down among the thorns of worry but is soon choked and dies because our cares about the past or the future have more influence than the Word and we are no longer here.

“The deceitfulness of wealth” causes our minds to be split between “now” and “then”. Our bodies are in the “now” but our minds are dwelling on ”then” – when we have made more money, when we are free of debt, when we have enough to buy everything we want. Two questions remain unanswered: how much is “enough”, and when is “then”?  The promises that the possession of money make are an illusion. When did wealth ever solve the problems we face or satisfy the emptiness of our hearts?

What about “the desire for other things”? Split again! We have “this” but we want “that”. The Bible calls this covetousness – an insult to God since He showers His blessings on us daily. Covetousness robs us of enjoying what we have by focusing our attention on what others have.

There is a subtle form of covetousness in the body of Christ – competition over spiritual gifts. In some parts of the church, the emphasis is on “gifts” to the extent that this one covets that one’s gift because that one gets more publicity, attention, accolades etc., instead of using his or her own gift for the benefit of others. The emphasis is on what I can gain rather than on what I can give.

God yearns for one thing from His children – trust. He considers our faith in Him more precious than gold and puts it to the test in many different ways to strip off our doubts, fears and unbelief. Paul Young, author of the bestseller, “The Shack”, said in an interview with Nicky Gumbel, that one or his two remaining prayers is “Papa, I don’t want to be an old man one day, looking back on my life and wondering, ‘What would it have been like to the take the risk of actually trusting, to take the risk of relationship and community?’”

Staking everything on the Father and the reliability of what He said sets us free from carrying the cares that prevent us from really living now. That’s what life is all about – living carefree in the care of God. He wants us to be carefree – but not careless. Careless living is degrading and demeaning because we drop our standards and step outside of grace. However, carefree means that we have traded imaginations about things that don’t exist for the reality of our Father’s faithfulness to His promises.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7).

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available.

Walking On The Word

Christian Life, , , ,

WALKING ON THE WORD

Storms are part of our lives, aren’t they?

Storms come unannounced and uninvited. We sometimes bring them on ourselves. Take Jonah, for instance. God sent a storm to catch His wayward prophet’s attention because Jonah refused to obey Him. When God chased him down with a storm, he thought his time was up but God was not interested in punishing him or doing him in for disobedience. He wanted to direct him back to the path so that Jonah would do what He instructed. A few miracles and Jonah got the message!

The Apostle Paul found himself in a storm which was not of his making. He was en route to Rome by ship. Winter was approaching and sailing at that time of the year was a gamble. In spite of Paul’s warning, the ship’s captain took a chance when calm weather promised a safe passage, setting sail from Fair Havens on the island of Crete for Rome.

Not long after they left the harbour, a violent storm hit and battered and buffeted their vessel for fourteen days. After lightening the ship and doing everything they could to stay afloat, they gave up hope. There were 276 people on board, soldiers, sailors and Paul and his companions. All except one person feared for their lives.

God has told Paul that he was going to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. Paul never doubted Him but, in this crisis he needed direction. What was Paul doing while the others were panicking? He was praying. For what was he praying? Most of us would pray for a miracle in a time of crisis. Oh God, stop the storm! Oh God, send an angel! Oh God, I need a miracle!

Paull did not need a miracle. He needed a word and God gave him a word.

“Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” (Acts 27:23-26)

Strange as it may seem, Paul the preacher, Paul the apostle, Paul the rabbi became Paul the ship’s captain. After his foolish decision, the captain disappeared off the scene. He must have been somewhere on the ship but he certainly did not seem to be in charge. Armed with God’s promise, Paul gave instructions to everyone on board to stand together because no one would be lost. The ship would go down but all on board would make it safely to land. Some of the sailors tried to make a break for it on the lifeboat but Paul cautioned them to stay on the ship, or they would be lost.

To fortify themselves for the peril ahead, Paul instructed them to eat, which they had not done since the storm hit. After a hearty meal, they ditched the rest of the food and waited for morning. Just as God had said, the ship broke up in the fierce swells but everyone reached the land in safety.

What do we make of this story? Why would God not perform a miracle for His servant? Paul had been faithful and obedient through many years of trials and hardships, beatings and imprisonment, hunger and cold. Surely God could have tempered the storm just this once.

How much more important it is for us, as it was for Paul, to live by God’s Word than to live by miracles! Miracles are temporary and benefit us only in this life. God’s Word is eternal and changes us from the inside. God has a different agenda from ours. Most of the time, we want our lives to be as comfortable and trouble-free as possible. God’s plan is to recreate us in the image of His Son. This takes time and hard work – the Holy Spirit’s work in us to get our attention and co-operation.

God does not always protect us from hardships. He sometimes orchestrates them and sometimes allows them because His plan is for us to share in His holiness.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons… Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us from our good, that we may share in His holiness (Heb. 12: 7-8,10).

God fine-tunes every storm we face for a particular reason. There are flaws in our character and in our faith that need to be brought to the surface so that we can come to Him for forgiveness and cleansing. How else are we to become replicas of Jesus, our elder brother?

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:28-29).

Where is God taking us as we weather the storms of life? His purpose is take us beyond our suspicions, our fears and anxieties, our doubts and insecurities into an unshakeable faith in His perfect love.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18).

The next time you are facing a storm, ask God for a word, not for a miracle. Faith does not come by miracles. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available.

The Key To Hidden Treasure

Christian Life, , , , ,

THE KEY TO HIDDEN TREASURE

Children love stories about hidden treasure.

How exciting to discover the legend of a pirate ship that was wrecked just off the coast where they live and to find an ancient map that holds the clues to the secret place where the treasure chest lies buried! They diligently follow the instructions, dodge the villains who are also after the treasure, and endure capture and imprisonment until they are miraculously rescued. They eventually defeat the would-be thieves and dig up an ancient chest which is filled to the brim with gold nuggets.

A story like this holds children spellbound to the very last page!

God has His treasure chest, hidden in an ancient document written thousands of years ago. He has disclosed, in the pages of this manuscript – the Bible, details of His treasure and the way to find it. What is this ancient document, what is the treasure and how do we find it?

The Lord is exalted for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure (Isa. 33:5-6).

Many areas of the world are in a ferment of unrest; crime, violence, protests, discontent, racial tension and war, not to mention family disintegration; divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, rebellion, and even family murders are tearing society apart. Our world is in desperate need of divine intervention.

However, most of the world is not even looking for a treasure like the one God offers. Gold is what they are after – gold to satisfy all the needs and wants of this life, even though gold is as transient and perishable as any other earthly treasure. People use every means possible, even to plundering others to achieve their goal of gaining more wealth, but where does it get them? More alienation, more aggression, more disruption in society and more personal disintegration – all in the name of “progress”.

In spite of the pursuit of money, deep in our hearts we know that the possession of wealth does not bring happiness; ownership is transient (it can disappear in a heartbeat) and money cannot buy what our hearts crave. We cannot throw money at our problems in the hopes that money will solve everything.

God’s treasure is indestructible – salvation, wisdom and knowledge. What does He mean by salvation? We have narrowed our understanding down to having our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven when we die. Is that really the reason for Jesus’ appearance on the earth? Did He come to save us from hell? Perhaps, but He came to earth for a far greater purpose than that.

Adam’s declaration of independence put the entire universe on a path of destruction. Jesus came to reveal, to reconcile and to restore. He came to reveal the true nature of the Father – not the demanding disciplinarian His people made Him out to be but the Father who loves His erring and wayward children enough to sacrifice His Son for them.

He came to reconcile the Father’s estranged children to Him and to restore everything that Adam’s rebellion ruined, including our fellowship with the Father, to God’s original intention. He came to give us life, His life in its fullness. He came to restore God’s just and righteous rule on the earth so that His human family can again enjoy His love, joy and peace in harmony with Him and with one another.

God’s treasure chest holds three great treasures – salvation (wholeness of body, soul and spirit), wisdom (living in harmony with God’s ways) and knowledge (personal experience of the love and fellowship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – what Jesus called “eternal life” – John 17:3).

How do we gain access to this treasure?

We don’t need a map to find the way or tools to dig it out of the earth. God has given us the simple answer – The fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.  What is the fear of the Lord?

“Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him.


Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.

Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html – retrieved May 2106

When we fear the Lord in such a way that it affects the way we live, we will have free access to the treasures of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. This is the treasure that can never be destroyed and anyone can freely find it if we fear the Lord. Society does not change through revolution but through transformation – one life at a time being transformed by the power of God as we trust in and submit to His authority and rule in our lives.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

Watch this space!

My latest book, The Heartbeat of Holiness, will also soon be available.