SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/15/2013
10:06 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Life is a Stewardship: Fear God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eccl.
12:9-12
Message of the
verses: It seems that part or all of
the sermon that the Apostle Paul preached to the people in Athens has come up
in my study of the Word of God lately, and it has come up again this morning
too. When you read of the results of
what happened after the sermon was spoken you think that because not too many
people were saved that it was not as profitable as other sermons that are in
the NT, but it is important for what he said was recorded in the Word of God
and has affected many people since it was spoken by Paul. In verses 24-28 we find from this sermon that
we don’t own our own lives and the reason for this is because life is a gift
from God and so we are stewards of the life that God has given to us. “24
"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord
of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He
needed anything, since He
Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the
face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries
of their habitation, 27 that they
would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is
not far from each one of us; 28 for in
Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ’For
we also are His children.’”
One day all people who have ever been born on planet
earth will have to give an account to the Lord for what they have done with
their lives. Believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ will give an account at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and unbelievers will
give an account at the Great White Throne Judgment. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Some people are only
spending their lives; others are wasting their lives; a few are investing their
lives. Corrie ten Boom said ‘The measure
of a life, after all, is not its duration but its donation.’ If our lives are to count, we must fulfill
three obligations.”
Fear God (vs. 13):
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His
commandments, because this applies to every person.” Let us take a look at where the book of
Proverbs begins from 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I
have been listening to one chapter of Proverbs each day for most of the year,
today I listened to Proverbs 15 because it is June 15th. As I listen each day I have wondered how many
times Solomon wrote “The fear of the Lord,” and then goes on to add something
to it. Let’s take a look at all of the
times that Solomon uses this phrase in the book of Proverbs:
Pr 1:7 ¶
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom
and instruction.
Pr 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.
Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Pr 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
That one may avoid the snares of death.
Pr 15:33 ¶ The fear of the LORD is the instruction for
wisdom, And before honor comes humility.”
What exactly is the fear of the Lord? “The ‘fear of the Lord’ is that attitude of
reverence and awe that His people show to Him because they love Him and respect
His power and His greatness. The person
who fears the Lord will pay attention to His Word and obey it. He will not tempt the Lord by deliberately disobeying
or by ‘playing with sin.’ An unholy fear
makes people run away from God, but a holy fear brings them to their knees in
living submission to God.” (Be
Satisfied)
We have touched on what Oswald Chambers said about the
fear of the Lord earlier, but worth quoting again. “The remarkable thing about fearing God is
that, when you fear God, yor fear nothing else; whereas, if you do not fear
God, you fear everything else.”
“1
¶ Praise the LORD! How blessed is the
man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments. 2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; The
generation of the upright will be blessed. 3
Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures
forever. 4 Light arises in the darkness
for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who is gracious and
lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.
“6
¶ For he will never be shaken; The
righteous will be remembered forever. 7
He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the
LORD. 8 His heart is upheld, he will not
fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries. 9 He has given freely to the poor, His
righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor. 10 The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will
gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 112:1-10)
“"It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as
holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:13)
Keep His commandments (vs. 13): “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is:
fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
I have mentioned that for some time know I have been
reading different books on the attributes of God, and by doing this I have a
greater understanding of who God is.
Remember Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, and we must acquire knowledge from the Word of God, and one of the
things we will see as we study the Word of God is who He is.
Prepare for final judgment (vs. 14): “14 For God will bring every act to judgment,
everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
We have come a long way from looking at things that are
under the sun as Solomon spoke of in most of the book of Ecclesiastes, but now
we see what is so very important when we look at things from the Lord of which
Solomon is addressing now. He is
speaking about God’s judgments, to which I alluded to earlier in this SD.
In speaking on the judgment of the Lord Charles H.
Spurgeon writes “The eternity of punishment is a though which crushes the
heart. The Lord God is slow to anger,
but when he is once aroused to it, as he will be against those who finally
reject his Son, he will put forth all his omnipotence to crush his enemies.” “Re
15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven,
great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last,
because in them the wrath
of God is finished.”
Warren Wiersbe completes his commentary on the book of
Ecclesiastes with these words: “Is life
worth living? Yes, if you are truly alive
through faith in Jesus Christ. Then
you can be satisfied, no matter what God may permit to come to your life.
‘He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the
Son of God does not have life.’ (1John 5:12 NIV)
“You can receive life in Christ and be satisfied.”
We began looking at the book of Ecclesiastes on the tenth
of April this year and now we are finished with our study with today’s SD. Learning to be satisfied is something that is
very important for each and every believer and with the help of Solomon and of
course, Dr. Warren Wiersbe we have learned things in order for us to be
satisfied.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Learning to fear
the Lord in the way that the Bible teaches us to do is something that will need
a lifetime to learn, but well worth the time to learn it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to guide my path this day.
Memory verse for the
week: Psalm 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in
trouble.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Disciples” (Luke 8:25).”
Today’s Bible
Question: “In what country was Joseph
governor?
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
6/15/2013 11:19 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment