The Fear and Awe of God by Lane Jordan Burday
And He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is His treasure. Isaiah 33:6
Have you ever heard a sermon that seared your heart and changed your life? I just did and now, whenever I pray or have a quiet time with the Lord, I feel I’m on a new level with my heavenly Father—a much stronger relationship that includes a friendship.
I have learned to have a holy fear for my Lord.
Did you know that God wants to have a friendship and a relationship with us? That’s why He sent His Son. But a friendship? Well, the secret is that we should never forget to Fear The Lord. This doesn’t mean we are afraid of Him. It means we are in awe of His greatness—His majesty. We are in fear of ever being away from Him. If He isn’t in our life, we believe we will die!
The fear of God is that we tremble at His presence, and we tremble at His Word. And we humble ourselves as we obey Him.
Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, feared God and obeyed Him. When God told him to take his son, his only son Isaac, and sacrifice him, God knew Abraham feared him when the knife was raised.
“Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:12)
I know obeying God is hard especially when it doesn’t make sense, and when we don’t see a benefit. But when we obey the Lord, because we know Him and have a wonderful fear and awe of Who He is, we will be blessed!
“How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments (Psalm 112:1).
And because Abraham feared and obeyed God, he became a friend of God because God allowed Abraham to converse with Him over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
And Jesus wants you to be His friend! In John 15:14 He tells His disciples:
“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, …instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
If His disciples didn’t fear Jesus or God, they wouldn’t have had this new friendship with Him. And that is your treasure! I pray for you to humble yourself before God and have a healthy fear of our wonderful God. You will be blessed.
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20).
Lane Jordan Burday serves as a POP Talk Radio Co-Host, is coordinating a Pearls of Promise 52-Week Devotional, and is our POP Prayer Co-Leader. Lane Jordan Burday is also an award-winning best-selling author of the 12 Steps to Becoming a More Organized Woman series of books. She is an international speaker, life coach, seminar leader, Bible teacher for 25 years, and an artist. She has served as the Associate Producer for the television program In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley.
Lane’s latest book, Evangeline, is a historical fiction based on the book of Esther. You can reach Lane at: www.LaneJordanMinistries.com or her blog at: www.PathwaysToOrganization.com , Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/164949369X Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58909052-evangeline