The Fear of God

Psalm 19:9 says "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever..."

Like a kind father, God wants His children to have a clean fear of Him. That does not mean we should be afraid of Him. (Unless, of course, we know we are purposely doing something we know He does not want us to do!) But, like a child, we should know that He knows best. He knows what is best for us and He knows what the best choices are.

I heard a pastor say that fearing God is being afraid to get out of God's presence.

I believe that. I think, more and more, as you get to know Jesus, you will hate leaving that quiet place where you can spend time alone with God. And, sometimes it's difficult to find a balance between spending quality time with God and going out into the world to make connections with people.

Still, we know that God wants us to get out and about because He said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

That seems to mean that we are supposed to treat others the way we would treat God and that our relationship with God should carry over into our relationships with others...

But, what I wanted to point out here is that the fear of God is what is going to SAVE us during times of trials, persecutions, imprisonment and martyrdom.

Now, I know, we don't like to talk about martyrdom. But, I'm just saying, the fear of God is the KEY.

Fearing God means talking to God, talking to Jesus. Right? AND listening. So, fearing God is the key to a healthy relationship with Jesus/God/the Holy Spirit (and these three are One).