I have no idea where to post this so i just did it in here hope thats alright
I have currently been reading a book called Intimate Friendship with God by Joy Dawson. It has been a seriously good eye opener for me and it has been teaching me the steps I must take to become close to God my almighty creator. I would like to share with you guys some steps in which u must take.
What is fear of God?
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Meaning having Gods attitude towards sin at all times; having no sin in your life for God is Holy and he wants us to be holy.
Leviticus 19:2 You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.
Stand in awe of his name. He tells us to stand in awe of a being who is so completely, comprehensively, supremely and totally sufficient; who has always been, is now and always will be so perfect that there is no way to describe him other than I AM
I AM: meaning he is everything that is perfect, excellent, complete and flawless.
He is my light and my salvation
He is my strength
He is my Rock, and refuge
He is my fortress and deliverer
He is my shield and my buckler
He is my great high Priest and Intercessor
He is my king and my God
He is my lover
He is mine and I am His.
Psalm 33:8-9 Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him. For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood forth.
We should stop and consider him with awe and wonder, the limitless power and supreme authority of one who, by His spoken words alone, has brought the universe into being.
In all first produce in us the same attitude towards sin that God has, which is to hate it. Second to give us a deep respect for and understanding of the holiness of God the power of God, and the total sufficiency of God to meet mans need.
The fear of God is directly connected with obedience. When Abraham was about to slay his son, Isaac, in obedience to the voice of the Lord, the angle said to him, now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. (Genesis 22:12).
Jonah had to learn through a series of horrifying experiences that the consequences of disobedience are always far harder then the act of obedience, no matter how hard.
We always have Gods grace given us to enable us to obey. We come under his judgment when we disobey.
After Jonahs repentance in the middle of the fishs stomach, God delivered him; and then Jonah manifested the genuine fear of the Lords through obedience in going to Nineveh with Gods message.
The deeper the understanding that we have of this justice, knowledge, wisdom, faithfulness and love, the easier it will be for us to obey him.
Delayed obedience is disobedience.
Partial obedience is disobedience.
Doing what God has asked with murmuring is disobedience.
The two greatest incentives you and I could have to obey God are the knowledge of what He is really like and the fear of the Lord. The two go hand in hand.
There will be that first moment when we will see Jesus face to face. We will see Him in all His dazzling beauty, the wonder of it all as we look into the eyes of Him who is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. We are going to have one of two reactions: either one of shock if we have not bee gazing at him down here through his word with a passionate, intense desire to know him, and in faith, believing He would reveal Himself to us. And we are going to say, oh, you are like that?! because we do not really know Him. Or we will react by saying, Oh I knew you were like that! So I am not really too surprised; because you have already revealed much of your beauty and glory to me. I knew you were as you are, but you are so much more.
Do we know him? We will, if we take time to diligently seek him. he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, KJV)
Do we read the bible to get messages out of the Bible to give to people, or do we read the Bible with passionate desire to know the Author of the Book?
Many times, God tests us by telling us to do things without us having the faintest idea why were to do them. We dont need to understand why. We need to understand who He is, who is speaking. He, God, in this infinite knowledge and wisdom, knows why thats good enough reason for us, with our finite knowledge and wisdom, to obey.
Proverbs 3:5, Do not rely on your own insight.
Proverbs 28:36 He who trusts in his own mind is a fool.
Psalm 32:8, I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
1 Corinthians 15:58, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
God wants to see whose approval we are really living for His or others.
The fears of the Lord is the only way to be released from the fear of man.
The fear of man is being more impressed with mans reaction to our actions then with Gods reaction. When we have the fear of God upon us we are impressed only with Gods reaction we are freed from the concern of what people think.
We dont get there overnight but we do get there! One way is by constantly sending short prayers to God, like Ive heard what they think, what do You think?
And then acting to his revealed opinion regardless of the consequences. The more God conscious we are, the less self conscious we are.
It can cost us many things to fear God and not men- being misunderstood, the loss of friendship, closed doors in ministry, rejection of many kinds, persecution and even life itself. It cost Zechariah and Stephen their lives to what God told them to say. They feared God not the people.
It is possible to have enough of the fear of God upon us to give the word of the Lord to the people with real authority and then succumb to the fear of man after having given it. Jotham is an example of this in Judges 9:7-21
Whenever there is pressure from mens opinions, weigh each decision in the light of the judgment seat of Christ, when each one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). Then its not hard to obey God in a difficult situation. It cost us so much more when we fear men and not God. It cost us the privilege and joy of intimacy of friendship with God. What a price!
The book goes on and gives more examples of how to have an intimate friendship with God and how to lead a good Christian life. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with God.
Luv em
I have currently been reading a book called Intimate Friendship with God by Joy Dawson. It has been a seriously good eye opener for me and it has been teaching me the steps I must take to become close to God my almighty creator. I would like to share with you guys some steps in which u must take.
- Fear of God
What is fear of God?
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Meaning having Gods attitude towards sin at all times; having no sin in your life for God is Holy and he wants us to be holy.
Leviticus 19:2 You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.
Stand in awe of his name. He tells us to stand in awe of a being who is so completely, comprehensively, supremely and totally sufficient; who has always been, is now and always will be so perfect that there is no way to describe him other than I AM
I AM: meaning he is everything that is perfect, excellent, complete and flawless.
He is my light and my salvation
He is my strength
He is my Rock, and refuge
He is my fortress and deliverer
He is my shield and my buckler
He is my great high Priest and Intercessor
He is my king and my God
He is my lover
He is mine and I am His.
Psalm 33:8-9 Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him. For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood forth.
We should stop and consider him with awe and wonder, the limitless power and supreme authority of one who, by His spoken words alone, has brought the universe into being.
In all first produce in us the same attitude towards sin that God has, which is to hate it. Second to give us a deep respect for and understanding of the holiness of God the power of God, and the total sufficiency of God to meet mans need.
- Obedience Because of Who God Is.
The fear of God is directly connected with obedience. When Abraham was about to slay his son, Isaac, in obedience to the voice of the Lord, the angle said to him, now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. (Genesis 22:12).
Jonah had to learn through a series of horrifying experiences that the consequences of disobedience are always far harder then the act of obedience, no matter how hard.
We always have Gods grace given us to enable us to obey. We come under his judgment when we disobey.
After Jonahs repentance in the middle of the fishs stomach, God delivered him; and then Jonah manifested the genuine fear of the Lords through obedience in going to Nineveh with Gods message.
The deeper the understanding that we have of this justice, knowledge, wisdom, faithfulness and love, the easier it will be for us to obey him.
Delayed obedience is disobedience.
Partial obedience is disobedience.
Doing what God has asked with murmuring is disobedience.
The two greatest incentives you and I could have to obey God are the knowledge of what He is really like and the fear of the Lord. The two go hand in hand.
There will be that first moment when we will see Jesus face to face. We will see Him in all His dazzling beauty, the wonder of it all as we look into the eyes of Him who is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. We are going to have one of two reactions: either one of shock if we have not bee gazing at him down here through his word with a passionate, intense desire to know him, and in faith, believing He would reveal Himself to us. And we are going to say, oh, you are like that?! because we do not really know Him. Or we will react by saying, Oh I knew you were like that! So I am not really too surprised; because you have already revealed much of your beauty and glory to me. I knew you were as you are, but you are so much more.
Do we know him? We will, if we take time to diligently seek him. he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, KJV)
Do we read the bible to get messages out of the Bible to give to people, or do we read the Bible with passionate desire to know the Author of the Book?
Many times, God tests us by telling us to do things without us having the faintest idea why were to do them. We dont need to understand why. We need to understand who He is, who is speaking. He, God, in this infinite knowledge and wisdom, knows why thats good enough reason for us, with our finite knowledge and wisdom, to obey.
Proverbs 3:5, Do not rely on your own insight.
Proverbs 28:36 He who trusts in his own mind is a fool.
Psalm 32:8, I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
1 Corinthians 15:58, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
God wants to see whose approval we are really living for His or others.
- Release from the Fear of Man
The fears of the Lord is the only way to be released from the fear of man.
The fear of man is being more impressed with mans reaction to our actions then with Gods reaction. When we have the fear of God upon us we are impressed only with Gods reaction we are freed from the concern of what people think.
We dont get there overnight but we do get there! One way is by constantly sending short prayers to God, like Ive heard what they think, what do You think?
And then acting to his revealed opinion regardless of the consequences. The more God conscious we are, the less self conscious we are.
It can cost us many things to fear God and not men- being misunderstood, the loss of friendship, closed doors in ministry, rejection of many kinds, persecution and even life itself. It cost Zechariah and Stephen their lives to what God told them to say. They feared God not the people.
It is possible to have enough of the fear of God upon us to give the word of the Lord to the people with real authority and then succumb to the fear of man after having given it. Jotham is an example of this in Judges 9:7-21
Whenever there is pressure from mens opinions, weigh each decision in the light of the judgment seat of Christ, when each one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). Then its not hard to obey God in a difficult situation. It cost us so much more when we fear men and not God. It cost us the privilege and joy of intimacy of friendship with God. What a price!
The book goes on and gives more examples of how to have an intimate friendship with God and how to lead a good Christian life. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with God.
Luv em
