Gods411 : Do You Fear God?

Do You Fear God?

Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

Do You Fear God?

The verse above is one of my favorite's. Yes, I have a lot of them, but this one truly means alot to me because I have/am living it. It is very true! Today's devotional is a little different and I hope that you like it. :)

I have to tell you a story that happened to me today, and through this story you might be challenged or maybe it will confirm some things for you.

My parents are visiting us, they got into town on Saturday. We are having a wonderful time with them, and when they come visit with us, spending time with them is my priority. Sunday we went to church, the beach, fellowship, and ate dinner. When they left I knew that I had about 3 hours worth of work still to complete, plus doing this devotional.

My first thought was to not do the devotional, I know that all of you would understand, and I know that Jesus would understand? Right? I started to feel guilty, like maybe Jesus would punish me, or maybe He would be mad at me. Then I started to think that I do not want to do it just because I do not want Him mad at me with the fear of punishment. I was torn on what to do. While I was doing some of my busy work for our business I had two thoughts, and maybe these will speak to you or maybe you will find yourself fitting into one or the other.

We should not do things out of fear for Christ. GOD is not a GOD of fear, HE is a GOD of love. We should do things for Him because we LOVE him, serve Him, and have this sense of appreciation for the huge sacrifice that He made for us.

Being a Christian is not living a life of comfort. Yes, we do have times of comfort and peace, but if your life is all comfort, I would question, are you living the life GOD called you to live. GOD pushes us to grow here on earth and in our faith with HIM, and in my experiences, growing can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful.

GOD does not live our 9 to 5 work life schedule, HE lives in a realm that I am sure would amaze me. So, GOD I am sure will call you to do something that will not be the best time for you, but it is the best time for HIM. And I know that GOD will call you to do something for HIM, HE will meet you there. Like this devotional, I do love my sleep and comfort, BUT, I love Jesus more. I know that someday I will be in the presence of Jesus and I want to hold my head up high, and KNOW in my heart, that I stepped out of my comfort zone and did things that HE wanted me to do.

The other thought is that I have seen people use the principle above to hide from their problems. For example they have a problem with their marriage and instead of fixing it, they serve in the church while their marriage falls apart. This is not what GOD wants! Yes, HE wants you to serve, but getting a divorce is not in HIS plan. Your live's priorities should be Jesus, family, ministry.

If you are a parent, GOD has called you to be a parent. You have a huge responsibility to raise Godly children and it is no easy task! If you are married, GOD called you to be married. If you are single, you have a church family that involves other human lives, GOD called you to love your brother and sister.