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January 9 - February 14, 2025
“John, this prison was not God’s judgment on my life; it was His mercy. If I continued walking the path that I was on, I would have ended up in hell forever.”
Wow
“I loved Jesus, but I didn’t fear God.”
The love of God draws us to Him; the fear of God keeps us from the evil that seeks to destroy us.
Passage: All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13)
The moment we develop a tolerance for sin, rather than a hate for it, is the moment we begin our departure from Him.
Profession: I will love people, for God loves people. I will hate the sin that unmakes the people I love.
My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you. —PSALM 17:5
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. (Psalm 19:9 NKJV)
Profession: In holy fear I will abide in the house of the Lord, in His presence, forever.
If you don’t delight in the fact that your Father is holy, holy, holy, then you are spiritually dead. You may be in a church. You may go to a Christian school. But if there is no delight in your soul for the holiness of God, you don’t know God. You don’t love God. You’re out of touch with God. You’re asleep to his character. —R. C. SPROUL
[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:14–16 AMPC)
“Whoever rejects this teaching is not rejecting a human being, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:8 GNT).
Profession: I am working out my salvation with holy fear and trembling.
we don’t chase after a position we already hold, but rather the behavior “worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:10 NKJV).
Your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? (James 4:3–4)
“Purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” (James 4:8).
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. (Psalm 25:14 NKJV)
Passage: Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend. (Proverbs 22:11)
Profession: I am chasing after holiness with the full intent to apprehend it. My goal is to be holy as God is holy.
But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. —ISAIAH 26:7
He longs for you more than you long for Him.
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
You are not the same as those who do not believe. So do not join yourselves to them. Good and bad do not belong together. Light and darkness cannot share together. (2 Corinthians 6:14 NCV)
Passage: Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1
Profession: I am motivated by holy fear to pursue holiness and will accomplish it by the power of God’s grace.
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. —PSALM 119:35
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?” (Isaiah 66:1).
“I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)
If you tremble at His Word, you will obey no matter the circumstances because there is no greater precedence.
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. (Psalm 112:1 NKJV)
This person, at the core of his or her being, is unmovable from the following foundational truths: God is the One who knows what’s right for me. God is pure love, and I am the focus of His love. God will never tell me to do anything that is detrimental. Whatever He says will always end up best. Therefore, no matter what He says, I gladly choose to obey.
He then said, “It is an affront to My character, it’s rebellion to My will, and overall, it’s a gross lack of holy fear.”
They also don’t base their obedience to God’s Word on how other believers behave; they simply obey.
Passage: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. (Isaiah 1:19 NKJV)
Profession: I fear God and therefore He is working in me both to will and to do His good pleasure.
It is better to tremble at the word of the Lord, and to bow before the infinite majesty of divine love, than to shout oneself hoarse. —C. H. SPURGEON
This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God. (Matthew 5:23–24 MSG)
When we are slow or neglect to obey God for any person or purpose, we honor that person or purpose above honoring God.
“I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.” (1 Samuel 2:30)
when what is not sin takes precedence over the Word of the Lord, it becomes sin.
The bottom line is this: when we tremble at His Word, we obey God immediately.
Profession: Once I know the will of God, I will immediately obey it.
We’re not called to live by human reason. All that matters is obedience to God’s Word and His leading in our lives. When we are in His will, we are in the safest place in the world. —BROTHER YUN
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5–6)
There are times God will tell us to do something that just doesn’t make sense in our minds. But His wisdom is always confirmed by the results.
“Wisdom is shown to be right by its results” (Matthew 11:19).
It is man’s duty to love and to fear God, even without hope of reward or fear of punishment. —MAIMONIDES
In shunning God’s wisdom, we actually hurt ourselves. His commands, counsel, and wisdom ultimately bring the greatest blessings, both in this life and the one to come.
Passage: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” (Matthew 16:25)
Profession: I choose, moment by moment, to give my life for the desires and wisdom of my Lord Jesus.
