Fear Vs. Afraid

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction". Proverbs 1:7

The quality of Godly fear carries with it a transforming effect. Those who fear the Lord also trust the Lord and expect to hear from heaven. Those who are afraid of God avoid Him and choose to remain the master of their domain without regard for God. Adam was hiding in the garden because he was afraid. If he truly feared the Lord he would have not eaten of the forbidden fruit. At the heart of sin is mans desire to rule himself instead of God.

Those who fear the Lord live dynamic or very stable Christian lives. They have a positive spiritual impact on those around them. I'm not referring to someone who coaches little league or works at a soup kitchen. I'm suggesting someone who knows how to pray through to heaven, intercede for others and they live their lives with an expectation that God is at work in their personal life and those they interact with on a daily basis. When is the last time you attended church and went with a sense of expectancy that God was going to meet with the congregation that day? Jesus said, "you have not because you ask not". This idea certainly goes to expectancy of God meeting with His children. "Where two or more are gathered together in my name I will be in the midst". Sadly the congregation of the Lord does not want to acknowledge this presence of the Lord because the Holy Spirit searches the depths of men's souls and who on earth likes having the secrets of their heart probed?

Christians today are content with being afraid of God and thus they attempt to hide from Him in the foliage of their religiosity and good appearance. Their spiritual lives are reduced to some inspirational substitute that leaves their souls trite with shallow drivel. Come out from the bushes with Adam and abandon yourself before the sovereign searching Spirit of God.

Christians desperately need a stirring of the soul. Change cannot happen without some discomfort. The new birth can be a painful thing but joy comes in the morning. We must die with Christ in order to know new life in Christ. The body of Christ does not have revival because it does not seek it. Jesus told the Laodiceans, "I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire". Christ is coming back for a spotless church and it will be purified by fire. Are you ready for the fire?

Prepare yourselves. Pour out your heart to Him and seek His will alone, not your own. He is coming to sift the tares from the wheat and separate the goats from the sheep. Are you in the right camp or the popular camp?