8-23-19 We are in the middle of The Booklet Called: The Blessings Of Receiving God's Love. with the subtitle: Friendship Of The Lord Is For Those Who Fear Him:
The fear of God has not been emphasized very much because fear has a negative connotation in the English language. English is not as expressive as the Greek or Hebrew languages and sometimes inhibits our understanding of the scriptures. The Amplified Bible makes up for this as it expands the meaning of fear to be "awesome reverence of the Lord."
Be that as it may, it is difficult to overstate the importance of the fear of God. Without that reverential awe, worship is not what it ought to be. With it, even our everyday prayer life becomes more worshipful-it transforms our prayer life to the extent that we experience a deepening of the personal relationship that we have with the Lord.
How did David come to fear the Lord? He prayed for it. You can read his prayer in
Psalm 86:11, "Teach me Your way O Lord that I may walk and live in Your truth; direct and unite my heart to fear and honor Your name". (Fear and honor is humility with reverential awe). If you want to be a friend of God, you an pray a prayer like that with your whole heart and it will happen -maybe not in a minute, but over time it will happen because God loves you and I think, He wants to be your friend.
Because the fear or reverential awe of the Lord leads to friendship, it becomes a channel of many blessings.
In
Psalm 25:14, it says "The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him". This verse says that we can all be a friend of God if we fear Him. Most Christians love and respect David because he was a "friend of God" -just read the Psalms he wrote and you will see why. It is because in humility, he had the fear of God.
As we look upon our Lord with reverential awe; you and I, with a full measure of His forgiveness, can have the fantastic privilege of being a friend of the God of the universe -the very one who created us. Here are just a few verses out of the Bible that promise blessings to those who fear God.
Physical Blessings:
Satisfaction and Safety
Proverbs 19:23, Provision for all needs
Psalm 34:9, Riches, Honor and Life
Proverbs 22:4, Abundant Goodness
Psalm 31:19, Taught of the Lord
Psalm 25:12
Love always, Walter
