All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
fear of God, comfort of God
1 Peter 1:17 says, "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear"
and then in verse 18 this fear is linked to the fact that we haven't been bought with corruptible things like silver or gold, "but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (verse 19)
What does living in the fear of God look like in the life of a Christian? How does one simultaneously live with an ever present fear of God and at the same time come boldly to His throne of grace as a Father?
And has your fear of God increased as you have matured in the faith? Has your confidence in approaching Him as a Father also increased?
Thanks for reading,
Love,
Jenny
Views: 230
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jenny on
-
Is there a clue in Romans 11:22 "consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."
Is this where the fear comes in?
It sure looks precarious and very fearful! This sounds like we are maintained by our works- I know this is theologically incorrect, but can someone please help me to understand what this is talking about?
-
Permalink Reply by Tammy on
-
This is just a short-short explanation of my belief. I'll look up the Scriptures & post later but we are not saved by our works but our works is proof of our salvation. The fear of God is a reverence of His holiness & who He is. We should not walk around being scared to death of every little thing we do that it may not please Him. Jesus came so that we can have a life of fullness. Walking around in fear is far from being full. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe.
-
Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
-
Jenny,
I believe the basic answer to the question is not found by looking at ourselves, but rather starting with God and coming into contact with a living, holy and righteous God. The closer we get to Him the greater His holiness is revealed; the greater His holiness is revealed the more we realize that we don't deserve to be in His presence and yet our God calls us to Himself. We don't deserve to be there and yet we have been given access. These two truths lead us to have a healthy fear of a holy God and at the some time we experience His love that enables us to love Him back and perfect love drives out fear (meaning we fear Him, but His love for us and our love for Him overshadows that fear so that we walk in love for Him).
As we mature there are many things that occur, but two jump out at me ... we become more in awe of His presence and grow to love Him more leading us to an attitude of thanksgiving and praise!!!
I hope this helps a little.
Lord Bless,
LT
-
Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on
-
LT
Very well said!!! I am currently going through a battle with what Jenny described as wondering how we can come boldly to the throne of grace when we are nearly overwhelmed by our unworthiness. I have found great comfort and assurance through what a minister once spoke of concerning ' coming boldly' to the throne of grace.
I understand a very little bit about the tenses in the greek language so I must defer to other's knowledge in this area. This minister stated that ( just as Paul speaks of in Phil. 4:6,7 about coming to God with everything) that this is a command from God and not a suggestion. By that I assumed that he meant that these actions are the only way to relate to God effectively.
We must have all hinderances removed in order to serve or relate to God as He desires. And the best way to do that is to come to Him in obedience to His command (perhaps not the best word) to do so . We can come boldly only because He has told us to and not because we are in any way, shape or form worthy to.
What an incredible blessing and responsibilty God has provided for us. I guess this goes hand in hand with the scripture that says " it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure".
The 'desire ' to serve and the 'abi;ity to serve both originate from God therefore it only makes sense to come to Him to better understand and more effectively serve Him. Any less than coming boldly to Him would be ( in my opinion anyhow) disobedience and counter productive.
And yet still it is a struggle at times to boldly approach the throne of grace.
God bless you , my friend
-
Permalink Reply by Carla on
-
Hi Jenny,
What does living in the fear of God look like in the life of a Christian? I understand that this looks like respect for His authority. It also looks like obedience....but obedience is also closely linked to Love for Him because the obedience flows out of our love for HIm and wanting to please Him...all the while knowing He is a Holy God who hates sin. We are transformed to hating the sin also.
How does one simultaneously live with an ever present fear of God and at the same time come boldly to His throne of grace as a Father? we do this by abiding in Him. We come to know the characteristics of God. He is Holy. He is Love. He is Wisdom. He is Faithful. He is Truth. He is Grace. etc....
And has your fear of God increased as you have matured in the faith? yes I think so.. but it could possibly differ from person to person depending on how we come to know Him. Some people come to know Him rather immediately by a supernatural interaction, others know Him more and more slowly and with a steady growth process.. Of coarse we are all growing and maturing steadily (hopefully).Has your confidence in approaching Him as a Father also increased? My confidence has increased as I learn scripture and 'who I am In Christ'... My confidence also increases as I witness answered prayer for myself and others. We must really know we are loved completely and fully by Him in order to approach Him as Father. We grow in understanding and realization that our FAther wants us to come to HIm with all of our struggles and trials. As we abide in Him thru prayer and study time and life application obedience, we will get to know Him more.
Blessings, Carla
-
-
God allows them all Mischelle. I see struggles as trials as well. Either way we can learn from Him through it all. If you can't pay a power bill is just as stressing for one person as say someone not being able to buy their child a new bike. The outcome is how we deal with all of these things.
-
-
thanks so much for your replies!
the verse in Romans 11:22 that i quoted has me wondering how i can be truly confident in His love for me as a Father.
"consider the goodness and severity of God; on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."
this sounds like if i don't behave a certain way or are good enough, He will disown us. I'm having trouble with this verse because I want to have confidence in Him like a Father and if i knew my earthly Father might drop me off at the side of the road and abandon me it would be very difficult to approach Him with confidence. I hope this doesn't come across brash or anything, i'm really trying to understand.any help is much appreciated
-
Permalink Reply by a servant (Chris) on
-
The word is "fear" is respect to me. As we mature in The Lord, we Trust Him more. When we are disciplined by God, we know He Loves us and wants us to live in obedience to His Will and Ways. Our Trust that He will guide us into all Righteous and Holiness. We discover as we mature in Him, the desire to only bring Glory to Jesus is a natural desire. We are Thankful for all He has done for us, and realize we owe Him everything. Yet, what He is truly asking us is to Believe and Trust Him. To Believe the Love of the Lord, is the most real, Powerful, and Everlasting Truth there is. But, we are given the Knowledge that His Love is a Relationship that will never end. As we seek to believe more in the unseen than the seen, our understanding of God becomes more clear to us. And, to see Faith similar to jumping off a cliff, with complete confidence. For it is not based on what we see as truth, but what we Trust God's Love is for us.
-
Permalink Reply by Amanda on
-
I really liked this analogy, Char. But sometimes the culprit gets away!
-
-
They get away for the time being. A day of reckoning seems to always come. And yet some people can do really rotten things and have good things happen in their lives and really moral people can have bad things happen. We reap what we sow and yet the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
Welcome to
All About GOD
The Good News
Meet Face-to-Face & Collaborate
© 2024 Created by AllAboutGOD.com.
Powered by
