Daily Devotional - 8/2/10 (9/2/09)

Prayer Focus - Letter B


(See yesterday's note for more background on this)

Pray for:
Five things that I am grateful for that starts with the letter
Five people whose first or last name starts with the letter
One place - city, state, or country- that begins with the letter
One character trait I would like to see my family and I grow in


Dear Lord, please let me hear your ever present voice and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalm 2


"The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them." (vs 2)

God is not afraid of people or nations or events. He is in control even if we can't see how or why. He has a plan even behind letting bad things happen. That sure is good to know because I can get so worried about current events, politics, and life in general. Often it just seems it is one crisis and tragedy after another almost to the breaking point but it is not. God is not afraid of all of this. He knows. He sees.


"Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." (vs. 11)

I just need to serve God. I just need to fear Him rather than what is going on in the world. If He is the ultimate authority, then He is the one to worry about and strive to please. We tend to not like to think about fearing God and would rather focus on the loving nature of God.  Even translating 'fear' as respect is not totally accurate.  We do fear in our lives and often this is good.  There is a place for fear because it can keep us out of danger and lead to wise planning. 

I am not afraid to say "Fear God" anymore.  I do not care what society says.  We should fear God because He does have the ultimate authority.  He has the power to create and destroy our souls.  No one else on this earth can do what God can.  People can only destroy our bodies.  They can not destroy our souls.  Only God has control over the destiny of our souls.  Someone with this authority deserves my respect, awe, and yes, even fear.

Thank God, however, that He is a good God.  We should fear, but not in the way we fear evil or evil people.  We are to fear Him as we would a loving father who is willing to instruct and discipline us as we need, yet always loves us.  Very few of us were blessed with fathers like this, but I can imagine what it would be like and come close to the feeling I believe I should have towards God.  This is the same feeling I had towards a teacher that I really liked and respected.  There was fear there, as well as respect, and this kept me from getting in trouble.  I knew that if I did do something wrong, I would be disciplined, but it would not be unwarranted and it would not be unreasonable.


As the psalm ends, it brings to the blessings of God again. Although it speaks about the anger of God and the destruction of evil, it ends with...

"Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." (vs. 12b).


It is as if God knows that the talk of fear and destruction can be hard for many of us to understand so He comforts us by saying - 'Hey just take refuge in me. That will please me and I will bless you. Come here and let me protect you. Work with me, do what I ask of you because it is for your own good.'  God is the perfect father, the one who will protect us, discipline us, and in the end lead us to victory, success, and true life. He knows the way to get us there so that is why He is so serious about us doing it His way and about righteousness and obedience.



Prayer for the Day
 
Dear Lord,
 
We are so grateful that You are in control of the world.  It is too much for us.  We are overwhelmed when we are honest with ourselves, because we know that we can do nothing really on our own power.  Help us to put the affairs of the world in Your hands.  Help us to fear You alone.  You are great and You are loving.  We praise You for all that You are.  Help us to take refuge in You and live a life pleasing to You.
 
In Jesus Name,
Amen
 
 
QFT
 
1.  How is my attitude about world affairs?  Do I let them overwhelm me and discourage me?  Do I offer them up in prayer?  How can I change my perspective and trust in God's ability to deal with world matters? 
 
2.  How do I feel about the concept of fearing God? Does this bother me? Why? What do I think of when I think of fearing something. Is it always negative? When has fear been helpful to me? How can I transfer this to God?
 
3.  Who am I more afraid of - God or people? How do I know? How do I see myself fearing people? How would my life be different if I was more afraid of God?



4.  Is there a person I have 'feared' in a good way?  What was that person like?  How is God better than this person?  How did I act around this person?  How can I transfer this to God?  If I have never feared anyone in a good way, why?
 
5.  Am I taking refuge in God?  To what degree?  How can I start doing this or do it more?  How will I be blessed?