Fear God And Be Blessed

FEAR HIS NAME:

Malachi 4:2 “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall”(NIV)

When you fear His name, following are the blessings that we would enjoy, I have split the message under four headings:

A) HEALING

B) YOU SHALL GO OUT WITH JOY

C) LEAP LIKE CALVES

I watched a woman break 100 coconuts in front a temple. I have heard about it in the past but when I witnessed the terrible scene, it was heart breaking. There are others who put a fence around their work spot with good luck idols. It is sad that their wishful thinking would never come to pass. I have also been reading many things that are happening around the world because of the global economic recession. In South Korea alone about 3 lakhs of soothsayers and astrologers have started fresh business and are flourishing because people under depression turn to such people for advice and counseling. Latest article in Indian Express titled “jogging down your past for clues” is very interesting. There is a belief that incidents of previous birth affects the present life. Dr. G.V. Lakshmi who charges a whopping amount of Rs.4,500/- for a half-hour session, helps people to trace their memory to remember about their past life and then gives them counseling. These are certainly disturbing! As I was praying one early morning, God spoke to me through the above scripture. It was the absolute crystal clear voice of the Lord, who said,” those who fear my Name shall be blessed.” Multifold blessings of healing, freedom, leaping, growth and prosperity are given to those who reverence His Name. Amen!

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. “ Friend, where are you running? Consultants, Website, friends, relatives or the bar??? None can help you! Blessings cannot be bought with mantras, we need to turn to the Lord Jesus who is the “Source of our blessings”. We have ignored Him enough! Churches would not be empty, our children would not be flooding the pubs and malls on Sundays, we would not be muttering slogans like, “In ……. we trust”, if we have placed our trust in God ! Got that?

Today I am talking about ‘holy fear’ for the Lord. Anybody listening? It’s a challenge to you and me as we read, “But for ‘you’ who revere my name!” Forget the world, but this is an irrevocable promise by God for those who fear His Name. He says you shall be blessed! Fantastic! These are not electoral promises which would be forgotten after the ballot, never, these are the promises of an unchanging God! Fear of God sheds all other fears in our life! You would never bother about sickness, uncertainty, recession or debts. When the British Reality TV Star Jade Goody died of cervical cancer, on the day she was diagnosed in August 2008 of the disease, Cancer Research UK witnessed ten times the usual number of hits to its website. It has become known as the 'Jade Effect.’ Such is the fear of the world!

I like what Peter says here, he says, “throughout the time that you spend on this earth live with fear for God.” Do we? It is not with fear that He is going to physically hurt us if we miss the mark but we obey Him instead with godly fear. Fear out of love for Him!

In one of the corporate sectors where I worked, once in a month they would go out for a luncheon-get-together. On one particular day, a young married woman told us that she has to get her father’s permission to come out with us. Since she was a married woman, we wondered why she has to seek her father’s approval. We asked her if he would get angry if she goes out for lunch. She said, “not at all, since he makes sudden visits to the office to see me, I don’t want to hurt him but I want to inform and seek his permission before I step out of the office.” I don’t want to hurt my dad! I have noticed her dad come to meet her in the office with her favorite food specially prepared for her and a beautiful rose too. Great love indeed!

That is what it means to walk in godly fear. Friend, our relationship with God should be like this! It means you have such a fellowship with your Heavenly Father that your concern is not what is HE going to do for me, but what am I doing for Him! Got that? I remember a time when my sister had come to Chennai to stay a few days with me. On a Saturday she invited us to go out with her to one of the beech resort. That particular day I had a meeting in the evening where I had to preach the Word. I tried excusing myself but she insisted that I join them and we could return early. But I felt the nudge in my heart to stay back, pray and be in His presence and prepare for the meeting. I stayed back alone at home while the entire family left for beech. I had to obey God! In the evening while I preached the Word, people who heard the message were able to witness the wonderful anointing of the Lord and the presence of God. That’s the reward we receive! My sister enjoyed the presence of the Lord with tears in her eyes. Isn’t this joy worth more than anything that the world can offer?