Tag Archives: Love of God

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Dear Friend, here are my notes from a message I delivered regarding the fear of the Lord.  I pray this message will cause your heart to cleave to the life and love we have in God.

Lead Scripture:

Philippians 2:12-18

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. [1]

Questions to Consider:

1. What is your salvation? What do we have to work out?
2. What does it mean to “fear” and to “tremble” before the Lord?
3. What is the relationship between the fear of the Lord and the Joy of the Lord?

I. What is our “salvation”?

1.  Saved from the consequences of sin [All have sinned Romans 2:23-26]:

  • Death [Romans 6:23]
  • Wrath of God/Judgment [Romans 1:18-32]
  • Broken relationship with God

2.  Saved to . . .

  • To worship God [Ex. 7:16 “Let my people go so that they may worship me . . .”]
  • To reveal to all God’s creation the love and grace of God [Romans 1 “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed; Hebrews – even the angels marvel what is being revealed about God through us]
  • To bring God Glory [Eph. 1:11-14]

3.  Salvation is a gift, not something that has been earned. Eph. 2:1-9

  • No magic words.
  • No club of like minded good people.
  • No merit badges or special honors
  • See Phil 3:1-9 – Paul denounces righteousness by works.

4.  Well then, if salvation is a gift, what is their to “work out?”

  • We must work “to know” the one who gave us the free gift of salvation.
  • We must work at sharing in his life – which includes sharing in his suffering and sharing in his joy
  • Paul is pleading with us to live the life of a person who has been saved!!

II.  What does it mean to “fear” the Lord and to “tremble” before him?

First, we must not candy coat this phrase – Fear means Fear.
a.  Greek = φόβος “phobos” [Pronunciation fo’-bos]; From a primary phebomai (to be put in fear); Outline of Biblical Usage = fear, dread, terror (that which strikes terror)

b.  Vines says:

  • Fear, Fearful, Fearfulness: first had the meaning of “flight,” that which is caused by being scared; then, “that which may cause flight.”
  • “fear, dread, terror,” always with this significance in the four Gospels; also e.g., in Act 2:43; 19:17; 1Cr 2:3; 1Ti 5:20 (lit., “may have fear”); Hbr 2:15; 1Jo 4:18; Rev 11:11; 18:10, 15;
  • that which causes “fear,” Rom 13:3; 1Pe 3:14, RV, “(their) fear,” AV “(their) terror,” an adaptation of the Sept. of Isa 8:12, “fear not their fear;” hence some take it to mean, as there, “what they fear,” but in view of Mat 10:28, e.g., it seems best to understand it as that which is caused by the intimidation of adversaries.
  • Terror: “fear,” is rendered “terror” in Rom 13:3; in 2Cr 5:11; 1Pe 3:14, AV (RV, “fear”).

c. Hebrew = פַּחַד “pachad” [Pronunciation = pakh’·ad]; Outline of Biblical Usage = terror, dread, object of dread

Second, despite this “fear” and “terror” God commands that we draw near to him and that we do not “shrink back.” Hebrews 10:37-38.

a. Remember you are saved from His wrath!

b. Go back to the key scripture and you will see Paul reminds us of this point when he says, “it is God who lives and works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.“ Phil. 2:13

c. Saints – God lives in you! And He is working in you!!

Third, the presence of God in us necessarily inspires a firm and abiding fear.

Q: Why?

A: God is holy and we are not.

Let’s consider some examples of those who have been in the presence of God.[2]

  • The People of Israel at Mt. Sinai. Ex. 19, 20, 32-34.
  • Job. Job 38-42
  • King David – Psalms.
  • The Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 6.
  • The Apostles: a. Apostle Peter. Restored; b. Apostle Paul. Knocked off his horse. c. Apostle John. Revelation [Rev. 1]

In considering the foregoing examples, I want you to recognize that the fear of God:

1. Exposes sin, depravity and rebellion.

2. Creates despair – I can’t do this on my own – I need a savior!

3. Compels Surrender to God

4. Inspires Comfort/Consolation from knowing that, despite our sin, God loves us and has provided a way for us to enter into a relationship with Him, that is to say, he has made a way for his presence to abide with and in us.

5. Causes Transformation – new life, new heart, new mind.

6. Results in Glory to God – worship, ministry, action

7. **** Causes a desperate desire not to let anything break our relationship with God.

BEWARE: DO NOT SHRINK BACK, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED AND DO NOT SETTLE FOR SUBSTITUTIONS. Phil. 2:14-16

Summary: The fear of the Lord is a terror of being separated from God, that is, to be cut off from our relationship with Him. Hence, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling is to live our lives according to God’s good will and pleasure. We must work “to know” the one who gave us the free gift of salvation. We must work at sharing in his life – which includes sharing in his suffering and sharing in his joy. We must live the life of a person who has been given the great gift of salvation.

Shout it from the roof tops – Tell all your friends and family:

“The LORD is my God! He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving all my iniquity and transgression! The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. God is for us! God is for us! No one can stand against us? He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all! God has justified me! Christ Jesus died for me, but much more, he has been raised from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God and he is interceding for us. His holy spirit lives in me!!! He lives in me!!! I am a new creation!!!! Nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ – no tribulation, no distress, no persecution, no famine, no nakedness, or danger, or sword? No!!!!! In all these things, I am more than a conquerors through the great God who him who loved me. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

III. What is the relationship between the fear of the Lord and the joy of the Lord?

1.  Fear of the Lord results in joy.

2.  Fear of the Lord inspires us to live out our purpose and call to glorify him as we love one another.

3.  We take on the mind of Christ [Phil. 2:1-11] We love one another. [1John 3:16-22; 4:7-11]

4.  Consider how those who love God pray? Always for others? Always with love –taking on the sins of others as if those sins were their own, and seeking forgiveness and reconciliation for all.

IV. WHAT ABOUT YOU AND I

The bible says, “[It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
– Hebrews 10:31

NEVERTHELESS, THERE IS NO OTHER IN WHOSE HANDS I WOULD RATHER BE!

Don’t Let Your Love Grow Cold

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Dear Reader, are you:

  • disillusioned about some aspect of your life,
  • struggling with unanswered questions of the heart and head,
  • heart broken,
  • struggling with hypocrisy of one form or another,
  • feeling judgmental,
  • angry with God,
  • suffering from the fruits of false beliefs,
  • going through the motions in life with a veneer exterior, but feeling a void in you soul because your life lacks substance.

If any of the foregoing describes you and what you are feeling, I just want you to know I am praying for you. As I pray, I want to encourage you to stand firm in your faith and do not let your love, the love that God has placed deep within you, to grow cold.

The bible says that, “And [in that day] many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert one another and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. And the love of [b]the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity, but he who endures, overcomes and stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matt. 24:10-13.

Life is full of many challenges and controversies. Indeed, in a day and age where it seems one evil or another abounds through out the world, it is easy to allow our hearts to be filled with fear. This fear manifests itself in different ways in different people, but it always leads a person to the same lonely place.

Many who allow fear a foothold into their heart and mind become isolated or distracted or busy with activity hoping that the fear will go away. Others seek to fill the void fear creates with some material thing or some unhealthy relationship.

Everyone who embraces fear in one form or another seeks to hide the fact that they are afraid, while simultaneously doing whatever it takes to find a place of safety and security. Hence, fear causes people to become “offended” by those who love them and those they are given to love and they become filled with distrust for one another.

Thereafter, a person who was once filled with faith, hope and love, is transformed into an unstable soul, hating everything that has eternal worth and cleaving to what ever temporal happiness that will numb the unrelenting pain. To be certain, there are many who claim to have insight, authority and special enlightenment and preach a convenient gospel of cheap grace and happy living, but these false prophets are setting the fearful up to become so cold to love – love for God and love for one another – that they become paralyzed and ineffectual.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18.

Fear is the opposite of love. Just like light and darkness, love and fear cannot occupy the same space. However, be encouraged, just like light always overcomes darkness, love always overcomes fear.

As I pray, I get the sense that someone who is reading this post needs to know that they are not alone. Today, that someone is me. And so from my prayer closet, I submit the following encouragement and exhortation:

  • To the disillusioned: if your vision for life is blurred and you have lost your way, cleave to the love of God and he will speak peace to the tempest and the storm that brews with in you.

 

  • To those tormented by questions: let love be your teacher and fill your heart and mind with wisdom.

 

  • To the heart broken: let love flood into your heart to heal you, to restore you and to fill you with joy.

 

  • To the hypocrites: let love be the plumb line by which you measure your actions. Do what you know to be right and turn away from what you know to be wrong.

 

  • To those who have been injured by the hypocrite: let love remind you of your own failings and weakness so you can bestow grace upon grace to that double-minded person; forgive just as you have been forgiven. Unconditionally.

 

  • To the judgmental: let love convert your critical thoughts into a prayer and intercession. May love give you strength to bear the burden of the sin you are judging as if it where you own. Don’t stop praying until you are both delivered.

 

  • To those who are angry with God: let love remind you that you are precious to Him. Let love help you take every indictment you have against Him to the Cross. Indeed, measure everyone of frustrations about what God has done (or not done) against every wound, scare, and drop of blood shed for you. Rest. Quietly. He knows.

 

  • To those suffering from the fruits of false beliefs: let love purify your soul and set you free from guilt and shame. You are accepted just as you are. There is nothing you have done or can do that can cause God to love you more than he does now. Let love cut through the cloud of doubt and give you clarity.

 

  • To those who feel like they are faking it and who are longing for all that is real: let love become your identity. Find your significance in the perfect love of God and in sharing that love with those he brings into your life.

If you need any additional prayer and encouragement, please don’t hesitate to call or write.

(If you are struggling with what the meaning of “love” is, please read my post “Love = A Poured Out Life”)

Mercy Tree

As Easter approaches, I find myself reflecting on the Cross and the death and new life that come from it.  I can’t quite put into words the overwhelming feeling it is to be confronted by the love of God found in Christ Jesus.  As I pray, the Spirit within me groans and all I can do is worship.  Recently, I learned this song by Lacy Sturm:

On a hill called Calvary
Stands an endless mercy tree
Every broke and weary soul
Find your rest and be made whole

Stripes of blood that stain its frame
Shed to wash away our shame
From the scars pure love released
Salvation brought the mercy tree

In the sky, between two thieves
Hung the blameless Prince of Peace
Bruised and battered, scarred and scorned
Sacred Hands pierced by our thorns

It is finished was his cry
The perfect Lamb was crucified
The sacrifice, our victory.
Our Savior chose the mercy tree

Hope went dark that violent day
The whole earth ‘quaked at love’s display
Three days silence in the ground
This body born for Heaven’s crown

On that bright and glorious day
Heaven opened up the grave
He’s alive and risen indeed
Praise him for the mercy tree

Death has died. Love has won!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ has overcome.
He has risen from the dead.

Death has died. Love has won!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ has overcome.
He has risen from the dead.

One day soon we’ll see His face
And every tear, He’ll wipe a way
No more pain or suffering
Oh, praise him for the mercy tree

Death has died. Love has won!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ has overcome.
He has risen from the dead.

Death has died. Love has won!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ has overcome.
He has risen from the dead.

On a hill called Calvary
Stands an endless mercy tree

Listen for yourself and sing along in worship and praise for all that God has done:

 

God’s Favorite Place on Earth

Frank Viola’s new book, God’s Favorite Place on Earth, has just released. If you get the book between May 1st to May 7th, you will also receive 25 FREE books from over 15 different authors.

Click GodsFavoritePlace.com to ordering information and easy instructions on how to get your 25 free books.

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Recommendations

“In Frank Viola’s hands, the story of Lazarus—like Lazarus himself—once again comes to life. In a world where hope is battered and life can so easily beat down the human spirit, we are reminded once more of the possibility of becoming a host of Life.”

John Ortberg, pastor and author of Who Is This Man?

“God’s Favorite Place on Earth realigned my heart toward Jesus and His mysterious, confounding, surprising, beautiful ways. It’s not often I learn something new when reading a book, but Frank Viola’s sharp storytelling and insightful interpretation made me hunger for more of the real Jesus.”

Mary DeMuth, author of Everything: What You Give

“God’s Favorite Place on Earth is the kind of book I’ve discovered I need to periodically find and read. Frank Viola’s pen and voice are consistently both penetrating and trustworthy. Beyond his invitingly beautiful writing skill—which makes reading a joy and a sight-seeing tour that brings God’s Word into 3-D when he relates narrative passages, I’m grateful for the depth of his themes.”

Pastor Jack Hayford, Chancellor of The King’s University, Los Angeles

“This is a masterfully engaging book that distills the vision of the Christian life into one focused quest: To be God’s favorite place on earth today. I recommend this little volume to all Christians and Christian leaders.”

Mark Batterson, New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker

“Combining masterful storytelling, historical knowledge, biblical insight and practical wisdom, Frank artfully uses the Gospels’ depiction of Lazarus and the small town of Bethany to lay out a beautiful and compelling vision of a God who longs to make every human heart and every church ‘His favorite place.’ This is a beautifully written, timely, prophetic work all would benefit from reading!”

Greg Boyd, pastor and author of Benefit of the Doubt

“A lot of people write books, Frank writes stories and in this one we once again see why he’s such a master. Honored to call him a friend, excited to call him an author I love to read.”

Jon Acuff, bestselling author of Start, Quitter, and Stuff Christians Like 

“Frank Viola surpasses himself in his best book yet—a work of serene, soaring magnificence. Part novel, part biography, part theology, part Bible study, Frank’s imaginative touch and command of prose haiku leaves the reader resolved more than ever to be a Bethany—God’s favorite place on earth.”

Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University, sermons.com

“Reading God’s Favorite Place on Earth by Frank Viola, my soul began to burn from Chapter One. To delve into Lazarus’ heart and thoughts … I received a beautiful glimpse into the life of Christ on earth. Lazarus’ stories make a perfect foundation for God’s truth, God’s intimacy. I can’t wait to share this book!”

Tricia Goyer, USA Today best-selling author of 35 books

“In spite of my Ph.D. in Theology, I had never considered the importance of Bethany in the life of Jesus.”

Phil Cooke, media consultant and author of Unique

“The best thing I can say about Frank Viola is this: When I read his books—and I read them all—I don’t think much about Frank Viola. I think about Jesus. And I learn to love Him more. This book is no different. Read it, and you’ll find yourself thinking, if you’re like me, ‘I knew Jesus was great, but… Wow!’ And that, at least from me, is as good as it gets.”

Brant Hansen, Radio personality and blogger 

See all 47 Recommendations at GodsFavoritePlace.com 

Check out the book sampler and share it with others: http://frankviola.org/GodsFavoritePlace.pdf

Check out the short video trailer and share with friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG_9TeE-BO8