The fear of God brings me many blessings

From: April 7 – 13, 2009

Pastor: Edith Cruz

Study: # 586 Topic: “The fear of God brings me many blessings” Joshua 3:3, 4

The fear of God brings many blessings. The town of Israel was on their way to conquer their promised land. In this land Jehovah would be their provider. They were to march to this land with a lot of fear. God wanted them to understand what it meant to have fear towards the holy things. When one comes closer to what is sacred, all kinds of measures should be taken, otherwise it would be to challenge God. It is very dangerous to not show reverence to what is holy and divine. And as it can be seen through times, it is very easy to lose reverence. We speak of what we do not know. We have to be very careful what we speak about. Let us have a better understanding of God’s business when we’re ready to approach and touch what is holy and divine. For that reason, we have to consider what we are going to say, think or do. The Ark of the Pact represented God on earth. It was the priest’s obligation to carry the ark with carefulness, because what was holy had to be moved in sanctity. The theologian Mathew Henry said: "In this way they had to express their reverence, so that the familiarity wouldn't make them degenerate in contempt". If we don't have a clear knowledge we can end up underestimating what is sacred. We have to be very careful, the one who is watching us is the Holy God and the greater problems come when we act improperly. When there is fear in us, we know when and how we come closer to what is holy and in that way we don't underestimate it. It is necessary to maintain a respectful distance, this way we won't get into anything we don't understand. There are many mysteries related to what is sacred and we will understand them when we are in Heaven. Deuteronomy 10:12 God requests from us to fear Him, to love Him, to walk in His path, to serve Him with all our heart and all our soul. We have prosperity when we fulfill the commandments. This way there won't be ruins in our lives but prosperity. Nehemiah 5:15 Nehemiah did not do what the other kings did because of his fear towards Jehovah. Fear towards Jehovah is what reprehends us and keeps us from doing evil. The more we grow in fear, the better it will be for all. A servant of God does not overwhelm or abuse others. With the town of God one has to be careful. Because of his fear towards God, Nehemiah caused Jerusalem to be a secure city for the siblings. Then the people began to feel safe to live in their city. Those who fear Jehovah cause their family to live safe; therefore, they don’t do anything to displease God. It is our duty to love and to serve Jehovah. We should not feel excessively confident by showing any fear towards Jehovah. Let us remove everything that takes the place of God. Let us serve with integrity, with truth. Sometimes there is an idol of libertinage in the altar of the Holy God. Some do not have the truth because they lack integrity. One should live and serve God in fear. Let us not receive anything from anyone that can harm us or anyone else. Let us not have what we cannot have in good law because this is where the lack of integrity begins. Those who are integral will always be integral. Let us not raise an altar in our heart for other things; everything that comes between us and God should be removed. God requests of our lives whatever interrupts.

Job 1:8 If there was an idol in Job God would not have been able to speak of him. God knew clearly and precisely how much Job feared Him because Job was righteous and shunned evil. It was proper of Job to always be with God. To fear God is to always be with God. In our problems God is with us and also in our good days. Jehovah cannot consent sin, not even a drop of sin in His presence. Job fulfilled the law, for that reason Jehovah prospered him in every way. But nothing that he possessed ever filled the place of God. The fear of God delivers us from everything that wants to destroy us and conserves our lives. There was a confrontation with the devil, but Job was cared for because of his fear towards God. Matthew 10:28 It is our fear towards God that does not allow our body to be destroyed. Jesus himself warned us to fear the one who could destroy our soul and our body in Hell, the God who has every right to do so. The great problem is what happened to Jonah, the disobedience. Jonah wanted to do as he pleased, but those who fear Jehovah cannot walk this way. Those who feel too confident have no fear and profane what is holy. When God sends us we should feel confident because He is ahead of us with all His power. Therefore, we should love God and have the fear in us. May the fear of God grow in our lives. The sea was infuriated with Jonah, not with those who traveled with him. Let us be careful when saying which God we fear. I Peter 1:17 If we invoke the Father's name and we say that we serve Him, let us walk in fear at all times, not only in the church but also outside the church. Sanctity and a mind with complete reverence and fear responds to God. God judges His children in an impartial way; He doesn't have any type of prejudice. If we could only realize the extension of His knowledge and the precision of His trial, we would live in a sacred fear of not displeasing Him. Each day the fruit of the fear to God and carefulness can be seen. Sometimes, we forget that God knows everything and that He is impartial. Let us know who this God is. The devil could not deceive God with respect to Job. God knows us all and we cannot deceive Him. As long as we live in fear towards God Satan will not be able to touch us. Those who fear God know that God has much to give us. This path of pilgrimage in life is in fear to God. This path does not mix with the world. The world is strange for us because we are from above and we are exiled from Heaven for the time being. The fear to God drives us to turn to Heaven. Let us be careful because ambition captures our heart and we are only pilgrims in this earth. This is not our permanent dwelling. Then, why attach ourselves so much to it? We shouldn’t imitate the behavior of the dwellers either. The fear to Jehovah is what makes us act with sincerity. We should always remember that our destiny is celestial because we are citizens of Heaven. Acts 9:31 The power is in the fear to Jehovah. God gives us what corresponds to each of us. Those siblings, with the peace they had, continued to grow more. Let us be careful, we continue to grow because of the power of the Holy Spirit, because we fear Jehovah. Nowadays some presume what is not possessed. Those siblings became great in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the fear to God. The more we fear God, the smaller everything becomes for us on this earth. Let us grow in the Spirit and in the fear to God. Amen.