Pillar #1 in the year of clear vision: The fear of the Lord
The older I get, the more I realize that things once clearly centered in my field of sight have become a little fuzzy. I’ve been praying, as many of you have been, about this new year and decade ahead, seeking God as to what my focus should be as I enter 2020. Then it dawned on me that sharper, clearer vision is something that I not only desire but also desperately need.
How convenient—in light of my deepest need—that the upcoming year is 2020! I have been crying out for clearer vision; and now the very name of the year will inspire me daily—I have indeed entered the year of clear vision.
On Christmas Day I read through some Psalms and found six scriptural pillars which will prepare and empower me to walk with clear vision in 2020. You’re welcome to claim these for yourself as well. Today’s post concerns the first Pillar.
Pillar #1: The fear of the Lord
Who understands the power of Your
anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? Psalm
90:11
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy. Psalm 147:11
“But that stuff about God’s fury and the fear due Him—it’s so…negative!” you may be thinking. Actually, it’s quite the contrary! Grab a concordance and run the references on the fear of the Lord, and you will find an amazing catalog of treasures that follow the sincere fear and reverence for God: knowledge, wisdom, favor, and length of days, to name a few.
But what is the fear of the Lord? It’s certainly not paranoia; neither is it anxious terror or dread. It is simply the open recognition that God is the Author and Creator of all things; He is the One who determined that YOU would win the egg/sperm lottery; He’s the One who has always been a silent presence in your life; and He is the One to whom you are ultimately accountable. If you seek to live your life according to this understanding, then there’s a good chance you have the fear of the Lord.
How do I intend to ramp up the fear of God in my own life? I plan to daily remind myself that Jesus is Lord and I am not. I will be asking Him every day to help me make decisions based on His Word, His purpose, His leading, and His kindness; and I will ask Him to intervene—to tweak my conscience—when I start to move into selfishness, thoughtlessness, cowardly fear of people’s opinions, or when I wander upon any of the other hundreds of landmines that may be laying in wait to shatter my vision, my effectiveness…or even my life.
The fear of the Lord is not a bad thing at all. I find it comforting to read that He takes pleasure in those who fear Him—He doesn’t shoot at our feet to make us dance like the cartoon character Yosemite Sam did to Bugs Bunny. Instead, the fear of the Lord is linked forever in Psalm 147:11 with an expectant hope in His mercy.
So, Pillar #1 for 2020, the year of clear vision, is to walk in the fear of the Lord. Pillar #2 is coming soon.
Dorothy
© 2019, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreComparing
For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. 2 Corinthians 10:12
When comparing is the wrong choice
Have you ever found yourself thinking that someone else has it so much better than you? If you have—as I have at various times—you probably also noticed that your thoughts were not infused with the spirit of love and grace! Instead, if you were honest with yourself at all, you would have recognized jealousy, bitterness, and possibly even some hatred rising up within you. And as the apostle Paul wrote, that attitude of bitter comparison shows a dire lack of understanding on your part.
On the other hand, have you ever found yourself thinking that you were better than someone else? If so—as I have, also, at various times—you may have noticed that your mindset was not like Christ’s—with humility of mind regarding another as more important than yourself (Philippians 2:3b, paraphrased). In fact, if you were at all self-aware, you would have recognized pride, arrogance, and possibly even some hatred lodged like a rock within your soul. Once again, as Paul wrote, that attitude of a smugly superior comparison reveals a blatant lack of understanding on your part.
What do you do when you realize you’ve compared yourself to others, whether from jealousy or superiority? Acknowledge those thoughts and attitudes to God, own them before Him, make no excuses for yourself, and repent. Apply 1 John 1:9 to yourself and trust God to help you to walk comparison-free.
When comparing is the right choice
…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… Philippians 3:8a
You know not to compare yourself to others, whether for better or for worse. But here, Paul is directing all of us to compare two deeply important aspects of our own personal lives, one to the other—knowing Christ Jesus as Lord vs. Everything Else.
As I look around my home—my safe, secure, comfortable home—I recognize that in comparison to what others own, it lands on both sides of the spectrum. It’s better than some, not as nice as others. And I’m OK with that because my value in life is not in what I own.
However, Paul wraps it all up—possessions, wealth, beauty, talent, prowess, position, reputation, and even spiritual “ranking”—in the same package he calls All Things. He then compares that total package of his whole life to ONE thing—knowing Christ. Guess which wins?
In fact, Paul states this: “Everything else is loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ.” Knowing Jesus—in ever-increasing intimacy—causes everything else in your life to take its rightful—and subordinate—place. Knowing Christ doesn’t denigrate everything else, but it certainly allows you to put it all in perspective. Knowing Christ is far more valuable than Any Other Aspect of your life, whether your possessions, wealth, beauty, talent, prowess, position, reputation, or spiritual “ranking”.
I pray we all grow in our full appreciation of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.
Dorothy
© 2019, Dorothy Frick
Read MoreJesus’ advice to sheep in the midst of wolves
Wow! This just came up on my Facebook page as a “memory”. I wrote it three years ago, but it hit the bullseye for what I’m going through right now. Here it is:
I can’t sleep yet. I had three Scriptures weighing on my heart as I laid in bed weeping and praying.
Jesus said, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt. 24:12) He saw it coming across the millennia. He told us this not to scare us but to prepare us.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Prov. 4:23
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matt. 10:16
You and I are NOT accountable for the conditions of anyone else’s heart. We are each accountable for our OWN heart, attitudes, actions, and behaviors.
Therefore, what I am telling myself I will share with you: Don’t let your love grow cold, guard your heart, be shrewd [alert] AND be innocent.
May God’s blessings, protection, discernment, and direction be on all of us as we navigate this crazy world.
–Dorothy
Read MoreWhy I pray for America
I wrote the following about four or five years ago. It is a passion I intend to pursue the rest of my days:
As I look at my nation, I must pray. It’s in my DNA; it is built into the very fabric of my relationship with God. When I see obstacles in my nation, I am challenged by my rich heritage to stand my ground and trust God.
I feel I owe it to the Founders who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guard, nurture, protect, and defend the fledgling nation.
I owe it to past generations of men and women of God—Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, William J. Seymour, Billy Sunday, Maria Woodworth Etter, and all the rest, both known and unknown—who took advantage of their American liberty to pour out their lives for the cause of Christ.
I owe it to my dad, who although he never claimed to know God intimately, was willing as a young man to risk his life in service to a country which guaranteed that his daughter, yet to be born, would bear the sacred right to lead her own life, speak openly, and worship God without any fear that acting on her convictions could lead to loss of her freedom…
I must pray. I must pray the Word of God over my nation. I must seek her deliverance when evil threatens her. I must stand my ground even if it takes the rest of my life. I can do no less, so help me God.
Read MoreA prayer of consecration
Father, You said in Your Word that if I would delight myself in You, You would give me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).
Lord, You’ve been very good to me, but You’ve been no genie! My wish has NOT been Your command. I understand WHY now better than I did before; I also appreciate Your great wisdom in it, as well. Now I am asking You to sort through and filter my wants and desires so that the chaff—the wrongly-motivated, wrongly-based desires—blows away by the wind of Your Spirit.
Also, please filter through my expectations. Those presuppositions that I’ve placed on others which have not been conceived by Your Spirit, I release to You to abort and eradicate. I ask that a right spirit, a right heart, and a willing soul be renewed within me and that all my expectations will arise from Your Word and intimate fellowship with You—not from what I THINK people ought to do.
Thank You, God, for cleansing, removing, rebuilding, and reordering my desires and expectations so they more fully align with Your purpose. And I believe, according to Psalm 139:23-24, that the “hurtful way—the way of pain” will no longer have a voice within the recesses of my soul.
Thank You, God!
Read MoreConcerning mob mentality: What would Jesus do?
…the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say. Luke 11, last two verses
Take note of three phrases in the final two verses of Luke 11:
- began to be very hostile
- plotting against him
- to catch Him in something He might say
Under these circumstances…[of targeted hostility and ill-intent] He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Luke 12:1
Under the circumstances of blatant resentment and plots of violence against Him, what did Jesus do? Did He acquiesce with the demands of the mob—did He think perhaps He’d been too harsh, and in His loving way, wonder if they had a point? NO. He boldly exposed the root of this brazen hostility: Bona fide, Grade A hypocrisy.
The Lord uncovered a principle here: Targeting an individual with hostility propelled by an intent to destroy his reputation or life reveals more about the character of the “targeter” than it does the one being targeted—they are a bald-faced hypocrite.
The Oxford Dictionary defines hypocrisy this way: “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.” It’s the old speck in the eye caution—if you seek to remove (or expose!) a speck in someone else’s eye, get the log out of your own, first. (See Matthew 7:3-5.)
Do you passionately seek to expose someone else as flawed or evil, worthless or unfit? Then first take a checkup from the neck up yourself! When you engage in undermining the reputation of someone—no matter how righteous you feel about it or how much satisfaction you derive from it—you are placing yourself in a precarious position before God.
The leaven of hypocrisy
Jesus likened hypocrisy to leaven.
Many of us consume a little leaven—or yeast—every day in baked goods. That bit of yeast added to recipes gives the whole loaf, cake, or batch of cookies a fluffy, chewable quality. Most dictionaries define leaven—in addition to its use as a fermenting, rising agent in bread—as a pervasive, permeating influence of change for the better.
Yet when Jesus stated, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees”, He was highlighting the subtle, negative influence of hypocrisy—the outward display of a moral high ground which masks raw ambition and hatred toward anyone who dares to stand between them and their secretly held lust for power. Jesus knew that mingling and mixing with such power-driven hypocrites would infect the culture with unthinking, blind corruption…and the whole lump of connected humanity would “blow up” with hypocrisy, hostility, and attempts to destroy anyone who remained “unfermented” by the prevailing trend.
What would Jesus do? Quite simply, expose hypocrisy. He didn’t seek to destroy hypocrites; He didn’t shout over them or call for their humiliation or demise; He simply revealed Truth concerning them.
Cover ups
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. Luke 12:2-3
Jesus recognized that these religious/political leaders wanted nothing other than to destroy Him, His message, and His influence on the world. Despite all of that, He maintained His peace; a higher principle was at play and He knew it:
All cover ups would be revealed. Hidden things would be made known. Conversations in dark, private meetings would become public knowledge. Whispered secret agendas would soon be broadcast on the airwaves far and wide.
What would Jesus do? What should you do?
First, beware the leaven of hypocrites. Is something trending that grabs the minds, emotions, and passions of the many, transforming cultural thought into a lump of rage, hostility, and indignation? Beware of it. At its root is hypocrisy—the mask of moral superiority covering someone’s unseen lust for power, manipulating those with good intentions to destroy a manufactured enemy…and in Jesus’ day, that manufactured enemy was Him.
Secondly—and this is my passion—use the mind God gave you. Question mass movements and popular trends, especially the ones that seek to destroy others. Ask yourself, “Where did this start? Who ultimately benefits? What is the end game?” God never demanded that you check your brain at the door of the church, school, university, or evening news. Invite Him to reveal the agendas behind societal thrusts; compare trending ideologies to the Word of God. If it doesn’t feel right, you have the right to question it and ask God about it.
And third, pray. You may not discern who or what is behind everything going on in prevailing movements, but God certainly does. Therefore, if it feels weird to you, take Jesus’ lead: Pray for cover ups to be exposed; ask that hidden intents will be made known; request God to cause private meetings in which participants plot someone’s ruin to be uncovered and become public knowledge; and pray that all whispered agendas will be exposed and broadcast on every available media.
Again, you have the right to question. You have the right to take an unpopular stance. You have the right to use critical thinking concerning every movement and ideology that comes along. And you have the right to go God’s way even if everyone else throws in with the “lovely” façade and hidden agendas of hypocrisy.
Beware the leaven of hypocrisy!
Dorothy
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 Timothy 3:1
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all… 2 Timothy 3:9a
© 2018, Dorothy Frick
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