Author: astherainandsnow

“A man had two sons. And the younger said, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need…

“But when he came to himself… And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet… Let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:11-14,17,20-24

“And the king took off his signet ring,.. and gave it to Mordecai.” Esther 8:2

“Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments.” Zechariah 3:3-5

There is much our sovereign Lord leaves to us: daily personal choices, allocation of time and resources, and vocational direction. He is a gentleman, not intrusive or a bully. But He is at the same time intimately acquainted with all our thoughts and ways, and providentially watches over His own to inspire and redeem. Like the father in this parable, His desire is for our good, even as we make bad choices. He embraces the repentant with grace and love, bestowing His robe and signet on all who humbly come, sealing our identity as righteous and His. (Psalm 139:1-5; Isaiah 61:10; Ephesians 1:13-14)

What a welcome! To have pride dissolved into contrition, to have laborer’s rags removed and be clothed like royalty, to have squalor and need replaced by guaranteed provision and authority, is an exchange made possible by God alone. When dead comes alive, and lost is found, a new identity is marked and set in motion. But how apparent is it in the way we live? (2 Corinthians 5:17)

What vestiges of the far country still stain our mental preoccupation, speech, habits, entertainment? Where am I wasting the treasures of time, ability, and resources my Father has entrusted to me? Are there misdirected affections leading me away from fellowship? What needs confessing and transformation? What will it take for me to bear gladly, and obviously, the mantle of Christ’s name and the marks of His love? What about the way I live causes others to recognize His Spirit, welcome salvation, and celebrate?

Father, created in Your image, and prodigal, may I bear the image of the Man of heaven as one now saved. Mark my identity as unmistakably Yours, light in a dark world offering Your life and glory. (Genesis 1:27; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Philippians 2:15-16)

“A word fitly spoken
    is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Proverbs 25:11

“Because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
    and the fatherless who had none to help him.
The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
    and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy,
    and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know...
My roots spread out to the waters,
    with the dew all night on my branches,
my glory fresh with me,
    and my bow ever new in my hand.’

“Men listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.
After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word dropped upon them.
They waited for me as for the rain,
    and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and the light of my face they did not cast down.
I chose their way and sat as chief,
    and I lived like a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.” Job 29:12-16,19-25

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy… The one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation… The one who prophesies builds up the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:1,3,4b

The description of Job’s unselfish life, his active upbuilding and encouragement and consolation that blessed many and made the widow’s heart sing, is a lovely portrait, like luscious fruit in the most valuable of settings. His days had pulsed with compassion and lovingkindness, His countenance alit with the righteousness and splendor of God’s glorious character. His words fell like spring rain, refreshing friends and strangers with confidence and cheer. There were none who had not been helped, or lifted, by the ministry of Job’s life.

It is obvious that Job had not lived for himself. His whole orientation was to look for and tend to others’ needs. He attracted with magnetic concern those who knew special pain and misfortune. His heart was open wide, his arms also, to minister in the Lord’s bountiful measure in every way he could, thinking only of them. He drew in the Lord’s supply, knowing it was He who cared best for His church, and would provide everything needed to contribute to its strength and growth.

How does this account of such a selfless servant inspire changes in my attitudes, my efforts, my motivations? What particular Christ-like qualities describe how I would like to think and behave and serve? What evidence does my life display that I actively pursue love, spending myself to exhibit and practice unselfish love to those around me? Are my actions and words fitly spoken, conveying joy and help, encouragement and comfort? (Philippians 2:1-7)

Lord God, may my life speak fitly for Your church and for Your glory. May the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, and the actions all of my days be pleasing in Your sight, and spiritually, eternally beneficial to Your people. (Psalm 19:14)

“Thus says the Lord,.. ‘For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. This time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt… Now get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.’ Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

“Then… the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. [He] rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail… The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast… [and] every plant, and broke every tree… Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail… But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he… hardened his heart.” Exodus 9:13,16-21,23-26,34

It’s been said the devil doesn’t try to convince us there’s no God, or that life has no meaning, but that we have all the time in the world. Pharaoh in his pride had yielded to this nefarious scheme, hardening his heart against any sense of urgency toward the word of God. And he would reap the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7)

It’s interesting to note that some of his servants had grown to fear the Lord, this strange God of Israel. They’d hurried to shelter both people and livestock from the promised seventh plague of hail. Six had been enough to convince them of God’s authority, might, and determination to judge. But not the stubborn Pharaoh.

How about us? We have daily display of the Lord’s power and glory. We see breathtaking beauty, and the ravages of sin on physical and mental health and natural decay. We observe Almighty God’s daily mercies and faithfulness, as well as fractured relationships due to hyper-sensitivity and arrogance. Do we fear Him enough to shelter our livestock, to heed His warnings and align with His word? (Lamentations 3:22-23; Psalm 19:1-3)

This may not be the most popular choice or stance, but it is the right one. God’s purposes will come to pass. God will certainly be exalted and His name will be proclaimed. On which side will we be- those who stand with Him, sheltered by Jesus’s name and blood, or those caught in the hail and fire? (Isaiah 14:24)

Do I love and revere God enough to heed His warnings and follow His instructions? Do I esteem Him more than I do myself, and cherish His words to me? If so, what evidence do my actions give to His supremacy in my heart?

Lord, may I take You and Your word seriously every day, fearing it appropriately and honoring You as You deserve. Please cause my active faith to draw others to Your shelter, that they also might know Your protection and peace.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

This treasure of a passage sandwiches what love is not between what love is, and we would do well to bite that sandwich daily and crush the middle. Active practice of the positive qualities of divine, Spirit-fueled love will do away with all it’s not, but it takes commitment and self-surrender to do so.

When we start with patient, we take a breath and exhale self. We inhale the divine, and our focus adjusts with Christ’s perfect vision. We see others as He does, fellow image-bearers who are sinners like us in need of a Savior. Our hearts beat with compassion and expand with forbearance as we recall God’s long-suffering toward us. A swelled heart is a kind heart, and acts of kindness are contagious as they catch fire within, consuming our energy. (Ephesians 4:2-3)

Such others-centered living has no room for envying, because it is caught up in outward giving, not sidelong glances, in bestowing benevolence, not hoarding comparisons. It also allows no boasting, because genuine kindness flows from Christ’s wellspring of blessings within, not self-effort. The richer the flow of patient, generous kindness, the cleaner the conduit from any hint of arrogance or rudeness. Love flushes that poison away. (Ephesians 1:3)

A loving life yields to the Lord’s sway over emotion and desire, having learned never to insist on self-derived motivation. It delights in pleasing and preferring others for their benefit and upbuilding, and does not chafe at their choices or hold against them successes, or failures. It wants only the best for them, and rejoices at the truth of God’s redemption and grace. (Romans 12:9-19)

Love is large, measureless in its reach and limitless in its power. It is strong enough to bear all pain, and grief, and offense, and to undergird others with burdens too weighty to bear alone. It believes in the best, and that God is able to bring about that best, no matter what. It hopes in redemption’s promise, and God’s possibles, and eternal glory. It endures all things with grace and profound, abiding joy, because its well is deep and its spring ever-flowing. It is everlasting, from first to last effusive and all-encompassing, because it is embodied by our eternal Savior. (Jeremiah 32:27; John 4:14; 7:37-39; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 3:20; 1 John 4:8)

How does our love measure up to the Lord’s description? Are we increasingly growing in each aspect of love’s graces, and shrinking in those ugly opposite tendencies? How committed are we to daily practice of selfless, Christlike love to others, depending wholly on the Spirit of the One who has loved us perfectly? What will it take to be eight for eight in every ‘love is’?

Lord God, empty me of self, and fill me with Your pure, unrestrained love to overflow. May my life be a clear exhibit of Your love’s definition, to the praise of Your glory.

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
    and my hope has he pulled up like a tree…

 “He has put my brothers far from me,
    and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
My relatives have failed me,
    my close friends have forgotten me…
My breath is strange to my wife,
    and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
Even young children despise me;
    when I rise they talk against me.
All my intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
    for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me?
    Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

“Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
    and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me!” Job 19:10,13-14,17-27

Broken on every side, and hopeless, Job experienced unimaginable suffering like few through history. In his forlorn misery, he had a testimony, and his words were written, and they still speak! His excruciating pain and darkness are not his alone, and what he knew to be true is universally available by faith to be known by all.

“My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

When all is dark and suffocating and feels like death, our Redeemer lives. He is ours, personal and intimately loving. He is our Redeemer, soothing grief with hope, making all things new, and restoring what the wasting locusts have eaten. And He lives, presently, actively, dynamically, powerfully in and with and all around us. And we will see Him face to face! (Joel 2:25-26; John 14:16-17; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21:5)

Is it health that fails? Or finances, or dreams? Our Redeemer never fails! Have loved ones betrayed, or friends forsaken? Our Redeemer never leaves or forsakes! Has hope diminished, joy waned, vitality been depleted, vision clouded? Our Redeemer lives and presently intercedes for us! (Deuteronomy 31:6; Romans 8:26-35; Hebrews 13:5)

Take heart! Know that when days are dark, Jesus our light of life shines. He is our strength for today and our sure hope for tomorrow. (John 8:12; 1 Corinthians 13:12)

“I Know That My Redeemer Lives
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever-living Head.

He lives triumphant from the grave,
He lives eternally to save,
He lives my mansion to prepare;
He lives to lead me safely there.

He lives! All glory to his name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:
‘I Know That My Redeemer Lives'” ~Samuel Medley (1775)

Gracious Redeemer, teach me to live with unwavering hope in Your bountiful life and redemptive purposes. May Your gift of faith to me shine and awaken desire in others to see You for themselves.

“The Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey… Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt…’

“Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go…”’ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, ‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, “Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.” Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words…’

“The taskmasters were urgent, saying, ‘Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.’ And the foremen of the people of Israel… were beaten and were asked, ‘Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?’

“Moses turned to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.’” Exodus 3:7-8,10; 5:1,6-9,13-14,22-6:1

What God promises, He will do, yet so often we chafe in the gap between utterance and fulfillment, the gap that requires patient faith. We like to string the jewel of promise on our pretty necklace of circumstance and schedule, and wear it with ease and pomp. But God designs the fulfillment of His already- accomplished-in-the-heavenlies plans so that His glory is all that sparkles. An immediate release would have obscured God’s magnificence in Israel’s exodus. (Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 46:10)

When we accuse the Lord of not keeping His word, we reveal our impatience and smugness. What we really mean is, ‘You’re not performing the way I want, when I want, and my way is best.’ When we rest in His word and watch His unfolding, we can marvel at His divine hand powerfully moving in the impossible and difficult to comfort, help, teach, and build holy expectation along the way. Our God uses darkness, trouble, and pain to show off the brilliance of His deliverance, His power rather than our desert. He loves us too much to give and allow lesser things.

Am I trapped in a hardship, griping about circumstances, impatient for God to act? Will I ask God for fresh faith to trust, clear eyes to look beyond, and an attitude adjustment from complaint to anticipation?

Lord, cause me to trust implicitly all You have promised and already completed, and watch eagerly for its glorious unfolding.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God… Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another… So we have come to know… the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him… We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:7-11,16,19

A wealthy business titan tells the story of a concentration camp survivor who said upon meeting someone, her determination of whether she could trust them was, “Would they hide me?” His point was that success in life is measured not by our possessions or fame, but by the number of people who would hide us, who truly love us. For that to take place we need to be lovable, and this should be our motivation over any other endeavor. Yet, in God’s eyes, while we might feel valued by being loved, repairing our behavior to earn love is no guarantee for security or success.

First of all, because of Eden, we are at the root unlovable. Our worth is in the fact that God made us in His image and Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. There’s no earning here, only innate value appointed by God’s grace, and no proving, only precious redemption through Jesus’s blood. Believing by faith is setting aside self-effort and promotion, and depending wholly on Jesus. (Genesis 1:27; 3:1-6; Isaiah 43:1-4; Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

Secondly, no matter how hard we try, focus on ourselves will not change our orientation or behavior. The mysterious exchange of the Christian life is that we must decrease and Christ increase for sanctification to occur. Christ in us is our hope of glory, and it is He indwelling who personifies love and loveliness. Winsomeness is marked by a Christ-ward mindset and others- centered living, not self-absorption, even if we pretend it’s for self-improvement. (John 3:30; Colossians 1:27)

The blessed truth is that in Christ we are hidden, never to be shaken or forsaken, and His unconditional love secures us in the abundant “success” of eternal life in His presence forever. Held in that boundless love, we find fulfillment loving Him and others through Him in limitless measure. Our life aim is not to be loved, but to love, serve, and spend ourselves and all we have for Jesus’s sake. (Matthew 20:28; John 10:28-29)

So are we loved? Yes! Vastly! Who would hide us? Jesus our perfect Savior already has, and in that we find our greatest worth. We are His treasure for eternity.

Father, may my security in Your love compel me to value and love others as You do.

“He entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’ And after looking around at them all he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

“He came down with them and stood.., with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,  who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you..'” Luke 6:6-13,17-20

Jesus lived His public ministry in constant pressure. He couldn’t even feed His friends or exhibit compassion and heal without being criticized. The Pharisees were relentless in accusation and schemes, the needy crowds relentless in their pursuit of magical relief. In these strain-filled days, long hours that required wisdom, clear thinking, and physical energy, He spent all night in prayer. When the press around Him was greatest, His need for grace and mental acuity was greatest, and as Son of Man, He sought His supreme Source. (Luke 6:1-5)

Up on the mountain, Jesus was unfettered and quiet. Up on the mountain, He drew close to heaven to gain holy perspective. Up on the mountain, He understood the long view, and was reminded why He had come and what was His mission. It’s easy to get distracted, and dissuaded from your purpose, in the noisy crowd of the valley. (John 6:38; 10:10)

Coming down off that mountain, out of that time to refocus and refresh, Jesus was filled with power to discern, effectively call, minister, teach, and bless.

What activities and demands fill my days? Do they rule me? Do I let them inextricably consume my thoughts and emotions? Do they deplete me of vitality? Do they distort my far vision and focus? What could the Lord do in my nights— my time of alone, reflection, away from worldly glare, season of communion with Him— that would adjust and correct my daily perspective? Will I take advantage?

Father, keep me in balance with my coming and going, my mountain soak and valley tension, my quiet and noise, my filling and pouring out. Help me guard and value my nights with You during the frenziest of days.

“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:1-11

Order makes a difference to our Lord, and so do effort and motivation. One of the qualities so ripe for refinement in these fisherman was their patient perseverance, learned over long hours of offering bait. But Jesus would teach them, and show with visual aid, that self-effort and temporal reward would not yield what was eternal. Pressing in to hear His word, then putting out per His instruction, as stewards responding to the Master’s call, would result in a far greater catch. It would make them marvel at His bounty, and be ashamed at their own pride. It would reorient their life-purpose, as they put honed skills to use in a new, redeemed way to make a lasting impact. It would keep them astonished, willing, surrendered, and dependent as they plodded on following Him.

Are there areas in our lives where we toil busily, but fruitlessly? Do we feel spent, with nothing to show for our efforts? Where might Jesus steer us in a new direction or venue through His word– a deeper faith, a new conviction, a fresh place or pace of ministry?

Do I clamor to hear from Jesus, pushing aside every distraction to hear His voice? And when I hear, do I hesitate, make excuses, or quickly obey? How has my obedience been blessed in such a way that my confidence in Him has grown, and propelled me to deeper trust and fuller surrender? Where and how is God’s marvelous hand humbling me? What is the Lord calling me to let loose so I can follow Him unfettered?

Lord, call me away from wayward efforts toward new fruitfulness. Grant me boldness to put out in new waters, and keep on for Your purposes and glory.

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens… But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

“Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live… So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.” Exodus 1:8-17,20

“By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” Proverbs 16:6

“They said before the king, ‘Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition [in prayer] three times a day.’” Daniel 6:13

“Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.'” Acts 5:29

Knowing who God is and how He works, begets bold, reverent fear of Him. And bold fear of God begets brave faith in the face of any kind of challenge, threat, or opposition. When we know that we know God as King, both benevolent and sovereign, we gladly, humbly, and without fear of man serve Him and His instructions. When He has our full allegiance, no other tempts.

Why are we so weak in the world, so soft to hurt and offenses, touchy and self-coddling? Certainly, we have constant pressure from media, our culture, and academia, to elevate and pamper ourselves, and let feelings dictate reaction and decision. But the Bible says, fear God first. Reverence His throne that is above any other, His power that is superior to all, His ways and thoughts that rule far beyond our temporal ones. The midwives feared God more than man because He was worthy of it. (Isaiah 55:8-9; Philippians 2:9)

How do we develop this bold fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom? (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10) How do we transform warped thinking and allegiances and affections into godly priorities? If we would love and embrace wisdom and instruction, and practice it, we gain knowledge of the Holy One. The devil will entice us toward self, but our Lord says He must be first. (Luke 4:5-8)

What, and whom, do I fear? Have I enthroned any foreign entity where my Lord rightfully belongs?

Father, may I fear and worship You rightly, and live out each day in brave faith.