The Fear of the Lord

Verse of the Day: "The fear of The Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding" - (Job 28:28). 


"You learn something new every day, you know that?" Brad slapped his friend, Andrew, on the back as he sat beside him in the youth group room at their church.


Andrew tossed his head to brush his hair out of his eyes and look at his friend. "You sound like my dad."


"Have you ever heard adults talk about 'the fear of God'?"


"Yeah," Andrew answered. "So?"


"Well, for the first time in my life, I think I understand what they're talking about. . . . You remember how Mr. Phillips started our first driver's ed. class last Tuesday?"


"Yeah," Andrew said with a shrug. "He gave us some speech about how we should 'be afraid, be very afraid' when we get behind the wheel of a car."


"Right! He said we should respect driving, because, while driving a car could be really good for us-getting us to school, taking us to the amusement park, stuff like that—it could also take our life or our passengers' lives away like that—" he snapped his fingers—"if we're not responsible drivers."


"Yeah," Andrew said, as if waiting for the punch line of a joke. "He said we're not ready to drive a car until we're 'afraid, very afraid.' So?"


"Well, I was reading my Bible this morning, and I came across the verse that says, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' And for the first time, I understood what the fear of God is all about. It's not being scared of him, but it's realizing that he's God, he has the power of life and death, and he's the judge of good and evil."


Andrew smiled and nodded with understanding.


"So," Brad finished, "just like we're not ready to drive a car until we 'fear' it, we're not ready to know and serve God until we understand how awesome and powerful he is."


"And how happy we should be that he loves us," Andrew said.


TO DO: As a family, come up with your own definition of what it means to "fear the Lord." Then hang your definition in a place where everyone will be sure to see it.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

And now, 0 Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but. . . to observe the Lord's commands and decrees?. - Deuteronomy 10:12-13, NIV.

There's an Old story about four blind men who encountered an elephant.


One man placed his hands on the elephant's thick leg. "An elephant is like a tree," he announced, "thick and strong."


Another man gripped one of the elephant's ears in his hands. "No, my friend," he said. "An elephant is like a great palm leaf, thin and flexible."


A third man grabbed the animal by the tail. "You are both wrong," he said. "An elephant is like a rope, long and lean."


The fourth blind man leaned against the elephant's massive body. "You are all as stupid as you are blind," he said. "An elephant is none of those things. It is strong and hard, like a mighty wall."


Those four blind men are like you and me in our efforts to learn right from
wrong. You may have already discovered that no two people have the same ideas of right and wrong. No one can seem to agree on what's good and what's evil. Some people say, "It's wrong to do that," and others respond, "No, it's wrong to say that's wrong; it's really right."


That's because we're all like those blind men. Each of us can only see a small part of the picture. We can't see the future. We can't even see very well right now. We don't know all the effects our words and actions can have. It would be much easier for a blind man to describe an elephant than it would be for any one of us to see good and evil clearly. But that's OK.


Imagine if someone with perfect sight were to come along and discover those blind men arguing about what an elephant looks like. That person could tell them what an elephant really looks like. They might not believe him, but if they listened, his description would make sense out of their different experiences and perspectives.


That's what God's Word does for us. He tells us what things are right and what things are wrong. And he can do that, of course, because (unlike us) he sees everything clearly and knows everything completely. We may choose not to believe him, but if we will listen to him and obey what he says, we'll discover that we can trust God's view of right and wrong-because it's right!


REFLECT: Do you usually act as if you know more than God or as if God knows more than you do? How does a person act if he or she trusts God's view of right and wrong?

God's Eternal Promise

"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." - Daniel 12:4 (NKJV).


John Jordan explained how that if we made a graph to indicate the increase of man's knowledge from the beginning of time to 1845 it would measure 1 inch (25mm). From 1845 to 1945—just 100 years—it would measure three inches (76mm).  From 1945 to the present day it would be as tall as the Washington Monument, which is 555 feet (169m) high! According to one of my college professors, the world's knowledge was then doubling every five years. I believe that today it is doubling every two years. And with the computer age, knowledge is increasing at an ever-accelerating rate.


This, according to Daniel (a major prophet in the Bible) is one of the signs of the end times which will be climaxed by the return of Jesus Christ to earth to take all his true followers to be with him for all eternity.


Daniel said another sign of the end of this world age as we know it would be that of mankind rushing to and fro. Some Bible translations indicate that this means rushing to and fro for knowledge. Whether it means this or just men rushing to and fro [here and there] makes little difference as both are happening as never before in the history of mankind.


So, whether Jesus returns in our lifetime or not remains to be seen. The important thing to realize is that Jesus is coming again and that we need to be ready—for at a time when we least expect it, he will come again.


Jesus himself promised his disciples and followers that he would come again. Before he was crucified he said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place  for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14:1-3 (NASB).


After Jesus' resurrection, at the time of his return to heaven, the angels also promised "that this same Jesus" would come back again. As the Bible says, "They [Jesus' disciples and followers] were looking intently up into the sky as he [Jesus] was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same
way you have seen him go into heaven.'" - Acts 1:10-11 (NIV).


And this is the promise of hope that every true follower of Jesus has. Jesus is coming again and this evil world with all its sickness, sadness, sorrow and suffering will come to an end for all who put their faith and trust in Jesus for their eternal salvation. As God's Word says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." - Revelation 21:4 (NKJV).


What a day, glorious day, this will be!"

Mr. Eternity

"Therefore He [Jesus] is able also to save to the
uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for
all time and eternity) those who come to God
through Him." - Hebrews 7:25 (Amplified Bible).

Perhaps you have heard of Arthur Malcolm Stace, who became affectionately known as Mr. Eternity and lived in Australia. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who, before reaching middle age, was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner preacher.

Shortly after becoming a Christian, he heard a sermon  entitled "Echoes of  ternity." He was so captivated by the importance of the word "eternity" that he began
using his free time to spread the one-word message across Sydney. "Eternity went ringing through my brain. Even though I could scarcely write my own name, I felt
the divine urge to write this word."

Fifty times a day for over thirty years, Arthur Stace wrote Eternity on the sidewalks of Sydney, usually in the early morning, with white chalk and with faultless script. When he passed away, the Sydney morning newspaper carried a story of this unusual man who had chalked Eternity on the city streets over half a million times in that metropolis of significant population. The thought of eternity impresses upon us the seriousness with which we must regard our soul.

Multiplied thousands of Aussies saw this message on Sydney sidewalks. Plus on the eve of the new millennium celebrations more than a million people, gathered around the Sydney Harbor Bridge, saw it emblazoned in neon lights across the bridge. It was also beamed around the world to more than two billion TV viewers and shown again at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games later in the year.

Eternity. It is a powerful word with eternal consequences. In his own simple but profound way, Arthur Stace was posing the question, "Where will you spend eternity?"

Eternity! Where will you spend it?

The BIG Lie

Central to Satan's goals is the widespread acceptance of the supernatural, including the occult, on the part of North Americans, accompanied by a great revival of spiritism all over the world.

Over the last 30 or so years, the occult has moved into the mainstream of America - in television, movies, magazines, business, and various aspects of daily life. Movies, books, magazines and encyclopedias of the supernatural have abounded. Turn on your TV and hear from the ever-present "Psychic Friends" hotline, or see lead characters in TV shows meet their "spirit guide." Entire bookstores devoted to the occult have become common. Universities regularly offer courses on witchcraft and magic - usually the so-called "white" variety. Myriads of mystical Eastern religions, bizarre and often demonic, have invaded North America and found in most cases an amazing responsiveness.

Indeed, Halloween has taken root in America. Americans spend $21 million on Halloween candies yearly second only to Christmas in total sales. Halloween is the Number 1 season for selling humorous greeting cards. In North America, some 25 million cards are sold annually. (Peter Smith, "By the Numbers," The Toronto Star, 2002-OCT-27.) Halloween is the third-largest party occasion next to Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Increasingly the curriculum in many public schools is becoming a primer in occultism.

Impressions, a curriculum used in many school districts instructs teachers and students in how to cast spells. One teacher's manual reads, "Tell the children that a magician has cast a spell on some children. Have them work in pairs to write the magic spell the magician used. Have each pair write another spell to reverse the first spell. Have them chant their spells."

About 16,000 school districts use the Pumsey the Dragon curriculum, by Jill Anderson. Many of the relaxation techniques used are identical to those used in hypnosis. Another curriculum called Duso the Dolphin employs relaxation techniques and sends hypnotized youngsters off on guided fantasies to a place called Aquatron.

Satanism has become a phenomena that crosses the city limit into the rural areas of our nation. It is reported there are some 6000 witches, and approximately 10 million people are involved in the occult. However, it is very difficult to establish how many actually participate. These individuals are involved in a wide variety of activities from simply casting spells to human sacrifice. The news wires carry story after story about young children being kidnapped, only to be found later as victims of some bizarre ritualistic crime.

Grim ReaperAs satantic involvement among our youth increases, we begin to see the primary goal of such activity. According to Scripture (2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9), Satan's goal is to deceive man by blinding him to the truth of the gospel and to receive worship for himself (Matt. 4:9; Isa. 14:12-14).

It has become clear that the primary goal is to alter an individual's values and turn him against himself, his beliefs, family, God and society.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Young satanists believe the strong will rule with Satan. Once an individual becomes involved, they often make a pact with Satan. They commit themselves to a future date when they will take their own lives by suicide. They believe if they submit themselves to Satan in death, they will come back in another life as a stronger being and rule with him forever. According to recent statistics, fourteen young people a day take their own lives.

DemonRecently, a California skateboard manufacturer used a package enclosure similar in appearance to a gospel tract to encourage purchasers to sell their souls to the devil. The brochure titled, "Let's Make a Deal" has a smiley-faced devil who explains to Flame Boy what happened in heaven after he was banished: "First off, they set up a bunch of dumb rules, and then they imposed a really strict dress code. I'l wager that people must be quite bored up there, but hey, that's what they get for being good." He contrasts this with, "Flame Boy, even a dimwit like you can see that hell is by far the best place to retire. Just look at all the fun to be had." Children are asked to sign and return a contract, by which they give possession of their souls to the devil for eternity.

John 8:44 - "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Something Beautiful

"'I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.' And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." -Revelation 22:16-17 (NKJV). 



In the country of Thailand is a statue of the Buddha that is ten feet tall and made of solid gold. Estimates of its worth range around $200 million. But for many centuries, no one knew this statue's worth. When the Burmese invaded Thailand many centuries ago, it is believed that the Thai villagers covered the Buddha statue with layers of mud so that the Burmese wouldn't steal it. It wasn't until 1957, when workers tried to move the statue to a new location that the mud began to fall away and reveal the true nature of the statue. For centuries, no one had known its true value.


True, this statue of Buddha, while of great monitory value, in and of itself is worse than worthless in spiritual value; for the only one who can ever forgive sins and grant eternal life and a home in heaven is Jesus Christ.


However, what happened to this statue is a vivid illustration of what God can do for you and me. He sees beyond our outer covering and can take a sin-scarred life—no matter what shape or condition it is in—and make something beautiful out of it if we will come to him through Jesus and surrender our life to his will and control. As Jesus said, "Whoever desires may come to me."

The Rapture & Jesus' Return to Earth

"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus] will come [again] at an hour when you do not expect him." - Matthew 24:44 (NIV).

When one of my nephews was only five, he heard me talking about Christmas being the time when we celebrate Jesus Christ's coming to earth. He wanted to know if Jesus would come back to earth again. I assured him that Jesus promised that he would come back again. - See John 14:3.


According to Bible scholars the return of, or second coming of, Jesus Christ is called the Rapture which comes from the Latin word "Rapare" which means to take away or to snatch out.


Following Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, he was "snatched away" and taken up to heaven. While Jesus' disciples were standing there looking up in amazement, two angels appeared to them and said: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." - Acts 1: 11 (NIV).


Jesus' first coming to earth 2000 years ago is an undeniable fact of history.  His second coming is just as certain. The critical issue is to be ready for Christ's return. According to God's Word here's what will take place at the rapture: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we [true followers of Jesus] who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NIV).


Jesus is coming again just as he went. It could be today. He said that he would come at an hour when we do not expect him. - See Matthew 24:44.

Danger of Setting Dates for Christ's Return

Jesus said, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] will come at an hour when you do not expect him." - Matthew 24:42-44 (NIV).


It is amazing how intensely some people get caught up in the setting of dates regarding Christ's return and the end of this age. Jesus said that only God, the Father, knew the exact time his return would be. And yet whenever predictions are made with a specific date for Christ's return, there are gullible people who believe it and give up all they have in preparation for that day.


Over the centuries there have been various theories as to when and how the world might end. If  you google "date setters" on the web, you will learn that over the past 2000 years there have been many who have claimed that the world would end or that Christ would return on a certain date. Obviously they were all wrong. 


Following are just two of the many.


German mathematician, Michael Stifel, based on his study of Revelation, calculated that God's Day of Judgment would be on October 19, 1533. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Stifel )


Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, calculated 1874 to be the year of Christ's return. It was then changed to 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914 with  later dates.


Unfortunately, because of these and modern-day fanatics, many people, including Christians, ignore or even shy away from the biblical teaching about Christ's coming again and the end of this age as we now know it.


However, Jesus himself promised that he would come again. - John 14:1. The angels of God assured the astounded followers of Jesus on the day of his ascension into heaven following his death, burial and resurrection saying, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." - Acts 1:11 (NIV). According to Jesus' words (when he was on earth) only God the Father knew the date and time of his return to earth. 
- Mathew 24:35-36.


The fact is that Jesus is coming again. We just don't know when. It may not be for a hundred, or a thousand years, or it may be today. The important thing is to be sure that you are ready, for when we least expect it, Jesus will come again. As Theodore Epp said, we need to "live as though Christ died yesterday, rose from the grave today, and is coming back tomorrow."

I am the Door

"So Jesus said to them again, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.'"  
- John 10:7 (NASB).


George Adam Smith, the 19th century biblical scholar, tells of traveling one day in the holy land and coming across a shepherd and his sheep. He fell into conversation with him and the man showed him the fold into which the sheep were led at night. It consisted of four walls, with a way in.


Smith asked him, "This is where they go at night?"


"Yes," said the shepherd, "and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe."


"But there is no door," said Smith.


"I am the door," said the shepherd.


He was not a Christian man and wasn't speaking in the language of the New Testament. He was speaking from an Arab shepherd's viewpoint.


Smith looked and him and asked, "What do you mean, 'you are the door'?"


"When the light has gone," said the shepherd, "and all the sheep are inside, I lie in that open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door."


And that's what Jesus is for all of his children, the sheep of his pasture.

Three "Faces" of Sin

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23 (NIV). 


If we don't know where we stand and what we stand for, as the saying goes, we can fall for anything. Thus, to be followers of Jesus, it is important that we have a reasonable grasp of the major fundamental doctrines (teachings) of the Bible—one of which is the understanding of sin. Yesterday we discussed the essence of sin. Today we want to discuss the aspects or nature of sin.


In the New Testament section of the Bible there are three different words to
describe these aspects of sin.


First, is the word that means "rebellion." It means rebelling against God and
his will and going our own sinful way regardless of the consequences—with or without knowing what the consequences might or could be.


Second, is "breaking the law of God." God's commandments are not to take away our freedom or enjoyment, but for the wellbeing and protection of ourselves and our entire society. We ignore them to our peril. To forbid them to be displayed publicly, as is happening in certain places in North America, is akin to opposing the display of the laws of the land. The commandments and laws of God are not abstract or irrelevant religious rules. They are for the protection, safety, and benefit of all. They, like the law of gravity, are universal laws. We cannot break the law of gravity. If we try to, we break ourselves. Neither can we break the moral laws of God. When we try to, we break ourselves. For safety sake we need to live within the bounds of and in harmony with all of God's laws.


Third, is not quite as easy to see but equally as sinful if not adhered to. It
is "to miss the mark." That is, the mark or standard of God's holiness. And we are all guilty of this sin. As today's Scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This applies not only to sins of commission, but also to sins of omission. As God's Word also says: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins". - James 4:17 (NIV).


Falling short of God's mark includes "sins of the spirit" such as envy,
jealousy, hatred, pride, greed and so on—all of which express themselves in negative and harmful ways to one's self as well as to others.


Remember, God is opposed to all sin because it is damaging to those whom he loves—us. His rules and laws are for our personal good as well as for the good of all. When we sin, we need to confess it to God and ask for his forgiveness. And where we have sinned against another and hurt him/her, we need to ask for their forgiveness too wherever possible. And then, with God's help, we need to keep growing in maturity so that we will more and more overcome sinful actions and a sinful spirit.

The Problem Is "Never" the Problem

"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance". - (Proverbs
28:13 TLB). 


In teaching classes and counseling hurting people I often remind them
that the problem is never the problem and the pain we feel is not the
pain that is. This usually takes a while to sink in.


In most difficulties and conflicts what we see is the presenting problem which, more often than not, is the symptom of a deeper problem or "the fruit of a deeper root."


As someone else said, "When we have unresolved problems/issues, God is merciful in that he gives us symptoms." Relational conflicts, anxiety, insomnia, depression, addictions, spiritual dryness, physical ills, and any of a score of other symptoms can be caused or greatly aggravated by unresolved guilt over past unconfessed sins, a deeply buried resentment and a failure to forgive someone from a past hurt, unresolved grief from the loss of a love, or rebelling against the will of God, etc., etc. The roots of some of these issues can go all the way back to early childhood. All need to be confronted and resolved if we are to fully live and fully love, and maintain sound physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being.


Furthermore, many of our physical symptoms can be symbolic. Some ulcers, for example, are not caused by what we eat but by what is eating us. Tension headaches can be from jamming up anger in our head. Aching shoulders may be caused by feeling under a heavy load and so on. And if I have a pain in the neck ... I may be one, or have someone or some situation in my life that I feel is a pain in the
neck!


Tracing symptoms to their causes and resolving these opens the door for healing and recovery. If we don't connect to and resolve the original pain that is the root cause of our symptoms, we will suffer the ongoing pain of the symptoms. This is what I mean by saying, "the pain we feel is not the pain that is."


After David confessed his sin, he said, "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record. There was a time when I wouldn't admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. All day and all night your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, 'I will confess them to the Lord.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone."
-Psalm 32:1-5, (TLB).


David gives us an excellent example to follow.

Flying Through the Flack

"If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give
you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. He is the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth." - John 14:15-17 (TLB). 

Whenever we want to make progress or grow in our personal and spiritual life, or seek to serve God more enthusiastically, chances are we will face opposition and some flack.


On one occasion, I was facing an uncomfortable amount of flack because of a major change of direction I had made in my life, which  believed was right for me to do. But the flack I received came not from "the enemy without" but from opposition within. As the saying goes, "Christians are the only army that shoots its wounded."


When I was feeling the strain, I was also feeling afraid. Then I pictured in my mind's eye that I was a pilot flying through enemy territory with a lot of flack coming at me; but sitting beside me was my co-pilot, Jesus Christ! Immediately, I knew I would be safe and that he would guide me safely through the "storm". And he did.


It helps to remember that no matter what we are going through, Christ's presence and his Spirit are always with us. A part of the work of the Holy Spirit is that he is not only our Comforter but, as it says in the original language, he is one who is called alongside to help us in every situation in which we find ourselves.

God So Loved

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  - John 3:16 (NASB).

In a tribe of Indians, or so the story goes, someone was stealing chickens. The Chief declared that, if caught, the offender would receive 10 lashes.

When the stealing continued, he raised it to 20 lashes. Still the chickens methodically disappeared. In anger the Chief raised the sentence to 100 lashes.

The thief was finally caught, but the Chief faced a terrible dilemma. The thief was his OWN mother! When the day of penalty came, the whole tribe gathered.  Would the Chief's love override his justice? The crowd gasped when he ordered his mother to be tied to the whipping post.

The Chief removed his shirt, revealing his powerful stature, and took the whip in hand. But instead of raising it to strike the first blow, he handed it to a strong, young brave standing at his side. Slowly the Chief walked over to his mother and wrapped his massive arms around her in an engulfing embrace. Then he ordered the brave to give him the 100 lashes.

That's what JESUS did for you and me. In love he became our substitute and died in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins. He overcame our inability to save ourselves by paying the price for our sins. His death bridged the gulf between God and man and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God and to be restored to fellowship with him through faith in Christ and in his atoning death for us.