Fear of the Lord

[romans224]

It seems like we live in a time now where the fear of the Lord has been slowly withdrawn from the church, at least from what I see. Could it be because of times past preachers preach hell fire and brimstone, and made our God a God to be feared? However is going to the other extreme of a loving God would not send someone to hell to far?
There seems to be a balancing problem in today's churches. We need to go back to the fear, but also keep the grace and mercy and love our God at the same time. We need to realize that our God should be reverenced and our lives should show this. we can see in proverbs that the Fear of the Lord bring the following:
1. The "fear of the Lord" is the beginning of knowledge - Pr 1:7
2. The "fear of the Lord" will cause one to hate evil - Pr 8:13
3. The "fear of the Lord" will prolong life - Pr 10:27
4. The "fear of the Lord" provides strong confidence and is a
fountain of life - Pr 14:26-27
5. The "fear of the Lord" prompts one to depart from evil - Pr
16:6
6. The "fear of the Lord" leads to a satisfying life, and spares
one from much evil - Pr 19:23
7. The "fear of the Lord" is the way to riches, honor, and life!
- Pr 22:4
These are just some ways fruit can be seen in the life of someone who fears the Lord.

[BlessedinHim]

good reminder.

[evjr]

Amen!

[dramama]

I'm fortunate to have a healthy fear of the Lord, I know both side of Him from studying scripture....it seems many people are deluded into thinking He is only boundless love (which He is) but He is righteous, He gets angry...I try never to forget that.

Romans 9:15
For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

[graceforme]

In Psalms we find that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..."

In this verse, the word "fear" could also be interchanged with "respect."
I remember when I was a kid, and did some rebellious. Back in the "olden days" we were spanked when we were rebellious. Never beaten, never abused, but spanked. This gave us a healthy fear of rebellion. We had respect for our parents because of that healthy fear. They truly loved us and wanted the best for us.

Isn't God the same way? He loves us and wants the very best for us. dramama said it so well. But it is a choice that we make. If God was "wishy-washy" and gave in to us and compromised with us, we wouldn't have the same respect and love for Him that we have.

Good post, dramama

[graceforme]

romans 224,

Good post. Yes, many churches today are into only telling the folks what they want to hear, and the truth of the Gospel doesn't really seem to enter into it. I remember hearing a story about a pastor who was going to preach at a neighboring church while their pastor was on vacation. The pastor asked the visiting pastor what he might preach about. He answered that he was going to preach about hell. "Oh, no!" the pastor replied. "The people here don't want to hear about hell. It scares them."

What a sad thought that a preacher shouldn't preach about hell. So many churches are avoiding the truth of the Gospel - I don't know why. To me, the assurance of my salvation and the fact that I don't have to fear hell is a wonderful message. People need to know about hell - and how to keep from going there.