Luke 12:4-5King James Version
4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
So, Jesus says we should fear God.
Now, brother, you say, that doesn't mean fear. That really means respect.
The word for fear in verse 5 in the Greek means, "to put to flight by terrifying (to scare away)
to put to flight, to flee
to fear, be afraid
to be struck with fear, to be seized with alarm
of those startled by strange sights or occurrences
of those struck with amazement
to fear, be afraid of one
to fear (i.e. hesitate) to do something (for fear of harm)
to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience Does this sound like simply respecting God? It basically means we are to cower in fear before his awesome might and power. We are to understand that HE makes the rules and HE is the judge of all of us. It is HE that will send us to heaven or hell for eternity. And that fear should cause us to willingly defer our will to his and be willing to obey HIS will for our lives as found in his word. Our country was founded on the Bible. Our Constitution was based upon the Bible. Our laws were based upon the word of God. But, we have turned from this and we are reaping what we've sewn. If our nation is to stand, it is because we, as a people, repent and turn back to God. This will only happen when we realize that we are not the arbiters of our own fate, We are not the ultimate authority for our own lives. There is someone that we will all have to answer to one day- he is our creator and savior (if we allow him to save us). If not, then he is our creator and judge. He will decide our fates based upon our obedience, or our disobedience. If we will kneel in complete repentance and submission to him, then we will be able to stand in the face of the evil that is overcoming our land and push it back. If we do not repent, then our country will cease to be and worse: we ourselves will go to hell. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. True wisdom doesn't come from college degrees and education. True wisdom comes from the Lord God almighty and his word. Truly, the only hope that we, as individuals and we, as a country, have is Jesus. But, for this to happen, we all need to repent and obey him and his word- before it's too late. And for that to happen, we need a fresh dose of the fear of the Lord! Lord, please do whatever you need to do to wake us all up, restore our fear of you, and help us to repent. Before it's too late.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XemQwDQ7mY&ab_channel=JohnnyPowell
Amen!
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