Speaker and author Leah Adams is the founder of The Point Ministries. Her passion is for others to understand the grace and second chances offered by Jesus to all who ask. She is a CLASS certified speaker and the author of From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy Bible study. Leah is a regular contributor at CBN.com and Internet Café Devotions. She and her husband, Greg, live in northern Georgia. Visit Leah's website.
The Hebrew word used here for fear suggests reverence and awe. A person seeking wisdom is willing to bow down to God simply because of the awe and respect they feel for Him. This phrase also suggests total dependence on God.
I am reminded of my relationship with my earthly father. My Daddy was a wonderful man whom I loved with all my heart and respected so much. He was the perfect example of a godly father. Highly respected in our community, he was a fair and wise man. Yet I knew my boundaries with him. I had a proper fear of him. Not the kind born of a bad experience (unless you would call the holy discipline of spanking ‘bad’), but rather awe and respect for him. I loved him with all my heart and desired to please him. This is the ‘fear’ of which the Bible speaks.
Our culture does not teach this kind of fear or respect, therefore, it is a concept many people do not fully understand. Respect means that I trust the other person and esteem them, or hold them in high regard. It also means that I am willing to be submissive to another person. Oh yes, the 'S' word--submit. To respect another causes one to desire to please that person and perhaps even emulate them.
As Proverbs 1:7
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
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tells us, a fool does not feel the need to respect God and therefore lacks the wisdom and knowledge that comes only from God. In fact, the fool chooses to go the opposite direction from wisdom.
I like this quote from Walter Lippman:
"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf."
The fool is like a deaf audience. He has no way to gain wisdom because he doesn’t understand or respect the way to wisdom, which is the Lord. The fool refuses to submit to God because he doesn't trust God.
When I fear the Lord and walk before Him in respect, He makes me so much wiser than I should be. Really, I am a blonde underneath the Miss Clairol on my head, so sometimes I am stunned by the wisdom that God gives me.
I don’t want to be a fool!
How about you?
Let’s learn to respect, trust and submit to God in order to get a dose of WISDOM.
“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”
As Christians, we belong to God. We have access to Him and His wisdom and knowledge. Ideally, we live within his protection and authority, and His Word and the Holy Spirit feed us and teach us. We rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Following His commands brings peace and contentment. We have it made living in the presence of the Almighty. But, like Chester, we are prone to roam and we get out of the presence of God. What do I mean? Let’s think about it.
As long as I spend time each day with God by studying His Word and praying, I am living within His presence. How easy it is, however, to decide that I don’t have time one day to spend that time with the Lord. The next day it becomes even easier to talk myself out of spending time with Him. Soon, I don’t have the Word of God foremost in my mind and I’m not feeling very close to God because of my lack of time spent with Him.
Before long, other areas of my life show evidence of my lack of time with Jesus. My speech may not be pleasing to God. My actions may not be pleasing to God. My thoughts certainly are not pleasing to God. In just a matter of days, I’m out roaming Satan’s neighborhood—the world. Oh, I may not be doing anything “bad”, but I’m sure not walking closely with the Lord. I’ve chosen to roam and God allows me to make that choice. Fortunately, He also allows me to make the choice to return to tender fellowship with Him.
At this point in my relationship with Christ, I recognize pretty quickly that I’ve roamed and head back home to the safety and peace of time spent each day in the Word and in prayer. I would like to think that I’ve got it together when it comes to living the Christian life, but those times of roaming show me that I can’t do it in my own strength. It scares the living daylights out of me to think how quickly I could fall into deep sin without the daily presence of Christ.
What about you? Do you occasionally slip out of the presence of God and roam the neighborhood of the world on your own? It is my prayer that when that happens to us, we would quickly run back into the safety and peace of His presence. We need to go back to where we’ve got it made!
The Hebrew word used for “shadow of death” is ‘salmawet’ and it means deep darkness. Most Christians would say it is easy to believe God holds us tightly when things are going well. But what about those times of deep darkness? It doesn’t feel quite as certain; does it? God tells us we do not have to fear evil in that valley because the One who made the valley, the One who allowed the shadow, the One who allowed the deep darkness is always with us.
I am reminded of Moses and how he had led those griping, complaining, moaning, mumbling Israelites out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land. He had been faithful to God, yet the Israelites seemed to constantly be testing God.
Eventually God’s patience wore out with the Israelites and He tells Moses to take the Israelites on to the Promised Land but His Presence would not go with them. In his despair, Moses pleads with God to not send them on without His Presence. God finally relents and agrees to go with them. Moses asks God to show him His glory, perhaps as a sign of good faith.
Exodus 33:19-23
The LORD replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,* before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live." The LORD continued, "Look, stand near me on this rock. As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen."
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NIV gives us the Lord’s reply to Moses:
And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Could it be in our darkest times, when we are going through that place of deep darkness, when we think God has completely abandoned us—could it be He simply has placed us, like Moses, in a cleft in the Rock and He has His hand over us while His glory is passing by?
Psalms 23:5
You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.
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ESV gives us even more reason to remember God has not forgotten about us. It says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
Did you get that? Picture a wonderfully prepared table with all the finest food, the most beautiful china, the most exquisite crystal. Imagine you are the guest of honor and Jesus is your host. Jesus leads you to your seat; you place the delicate linen napkin in your lap and gaze at the tablescape.
Jesus looks at you and eagerly asks, “Do you like it? I prepared it just for you! Taste it all.”
Your anticipation is almost too much to bear. You begin to try the food and find it to be the most delicious food you have ever tasted. The entire meal and setting are luxurious and the unbelievable thing is that Jesus did all that just for you.
Oh, but wait, who is that slouched over in the corner? It’s your enemy, Satan, and he doesn’t look at all happy, especially since he seems to be tied to his seat. Jesus, the One who died for you and who will never lose or abandon you, has spoiled you rotten right in front of your enemy and forced Satan to sit there and watch.
When you and I are in those places of deepest darkness we can be assured God has His hand over us and makes certain the enemy of our souls knows we are His beloved. Rejoice! If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior you truly are His beloved!
“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me, since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
Abram had allowed God to be Adonai to him in so many circumstances. He had followed God out of his homeland of Ur and into a new and strange land. He had relied on God to care of him and his family. Yet, in this passage, Abram seems to despair of ever having the one thing that would bring him satisfaction—an heir. Could it be that Sarai’s constant fretting over not bearing children had something to do with Abram’s forgetfulness about God’s authority and power? If you are a lady reading today’s Devotion, please be very aware of how much influence you have over the thoughts of your husband and family. Sarai did not allow God to be Adonai over the issue of her childlessness and she influenced Abram in negative ways that impacted their lineage for generations.
Abram believed that he needed a son in order to be complete and fulfilled despite the Lord telling Abram that He, God, was his very great reward. Although he did not put voice to the words, Abram said, in effect, “Yes, but there is something else I want and need. Something that is more important to me than you.” Abram was calling God ‘Adonai’ with his lips, yet he had not truly allowed God to be the Lord and Master of his life in the area of an heir.
How often do we say with our lips that God is our Adonai; the Boss, the King, the Ruler of our lives, yet with our actions we convey something very different? I did this for many years as I struggled with anorexia. Although I had been a follower of Jesus Christ since the age of 15, I had not allowed Jesus total control of my life. I, like Abraham, was allowing something other than God to be my boss and the ruler of my life. For some, the boss of their life may be their job, money, status, children, food, alcohol, drugs, friends, or a host of other things. Even good things like performing community service or our service for the Lord in church can take the place of God in our lives. When we bend our knee to anyone or anything other than God, we are practicing idolatry.
So, again, I ask you ... who or what is the boss of you?
How many of you can recall a time when someone gave you good advice that you did not heed and you ended up making a terrible mistake because of it? Oh yes, my hand is waving wilding in the air! Hmmm, let me count the times ...
1. Save sex for marriage.
2. Only marry the person God chooses for you.
3. Stay close to Jesus.
4. Don’t gossip or lie or____________.
5. Do not take on too much debt.
6. Eat right and exercise regularly.
I could go on and on, but I hope you get the message.
Most of us think we don’t need the advice of others when it comes to our own lives. Truth be told, Satan is eager to destroy us through the choices we make. The writer of Proverbs confirms this in Proverbs 13:14
The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.
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(NIV) when he tells us:
“the teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.”
God places wise people in our lives to encourage us to make good choices, but we must first choose to listen to their advice. Reflect once more on Proverbs 12:15
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
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. The fool thinks he is doing right; he considers his own way right. Does that sound familiar?
Let’s consider that God wants us to first seek His advice about each and every situation that we encounter. It has taken me a lot of years and many bad choices to learn to go to God first with my problems and concerns. Yes, He gives us wise human counselors, but ultimately wisdom comes from Him and it is to Him that we should go first.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “this is a small problem…God doesn’t have time for it,” or “I can handle this one by myself,” or “God is more concerned about the big issues of the world.” Those, my friends, are lies straight out of the pit of hell. God is intimately concerned with every area of your life and He longs to give you the wisdom that you desire. If you are a parent, you know that you desire your child to come to you with whatever concerns them ... small problem or large. You want to be intimately involved in the life of your child. God is no different. He desires for us to ask Him for wisdom in all situations.
This wisdom lesson is one that sounds easy, but often difficult to put into practice. Why? Because we think we know the right answers; and we may, but we still need to listen to the advice God sends us from others. If we are God’s child headed down the wrong path with a specific decision, God will send us at least one warning. He does not want us to make poor decisions. We must put our pride aside long enough to consider the advice of God and of others in our lives.
Don’t be a fool!
Get Wisdom!
Meditation Moment: Is there an area of your life where you need to listen to God’s advice or the advice He sends through wise counselors? What is holding you back from considering the advice of others? Is it your pride? Could it be that you don’t want others to think you don’t have it all together? Are you bound and determined to do it your way? Is your way pleasing to God?
Moses said to Joshua, "Select some men for us, and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God's staff in my hand." Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. When Moses' hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put [it] under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword. The Lord then said to Moses, "Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven." And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner." He said, "Indeed, [my] hand is [lifted up] toward the Lord's throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation."
In this passage Moses held God’s staff in his hand and as long as his hands and God’s staff were raised, Joshua and the Israelites won the war with the Amalekites. What I want us to pay particular attention to is that this battle was all about God. Joshua, Moses, Aaron, Hur, and the Israelite armies were simply vessels God used, but the battle itself was orchestrated by God. Moses knew this and wanted to make certain the Israelites knew it and remembered it. Nothing that he or they did in the physical realm brought about victory. God’s presence and power took them into the battle and assured the victory when the battle was done.
What battles are you fighting today?
Is the battle you are in one that the Lord has chosen for you? Strange question, isn’t it? Scripture is very clear in this particular passage that the Lord, in fact, chooses certain battles for us to fight. Does He lead the way as Jehovah Nissi in your current battles?
Perhaps the battle you are in is a battle that you have chosen, one that is outside the will of God? Are you fighting in your own strength? Are you struggling to be victorious in the battle? If Jehovah Nissi is leading the way in your struggle, then you are assured success, but if you are fighting your battle in your own strength, your defeat is imminent.
Where in your life do need God to show Himself strong as Jehovah Nissi – the Lord my Banner – and go before you so that you may know victory?
"Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the LORD issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, 'If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.'”
The Israelites are thirsty and in need of water for themselves and their animals. When they come to Marah they find only bitter water to drink. In what became second nature to them, they began complaining to Moses about the scarcity of drinkable water. Moses called to the Lord and asked for help. God intervened, working through Moses and a piece of wood to provide sweet, refreshing water for the people.
It is at this point that the Lord seems to change the subject. Suddenly He begins talking to the Israelites about the diseases and plagues that He brought upon the Egyptians because of their affliction of the Hebrews. God is very clear with the Hebrew people concerning the actions that they must take to prevent the same kind of diseases and plagues from visiting them. If they will be obedient to Him, He will heal them of disease and be their Jehovah Rapha.
I believe the bitter water at Marah was symbolic of what was taking place in the hearts of the Hebrews. They had suffered terribly in Egypt and had been more than happy to leave the bondage that Pharaoh had inflicted upon them. However, when freedom was not as easy or pretty as they had hoped; when they had to rely on God completely for everything and circumstances were not what they desired, their hearts began to be filled with the diseases of bitterness and resentfulness. God knew their need for healing from bitterness and He longed to bring that healing to them. Unfortunately, in the very next chapter of Exodus, we find the Israelites longing to forsake ultimate freedom and return to Egypt. What in the world were they thinking?
Let’s apply this lesson to our hearts today. I invite you to join me as we allow Jehovah Rapha to examine our hearts. Are you and I more like the Israelites than we care to admit? When God doesn’t work in our lives in the way that we think He should, do we grow bitter? Do we begin to plan ways that we can make things happen through our own efforts? When God’s timing is different than we had hoped, do we harbor resentment against Him? How often do we look at people in our lives who do not seem to have the same struggles that we have and pose the question, “What did I do to make God mad at me? I am as good as they are.”
He is Jehovah Rapha — the Lord who heals you — and He longs to heal us of resentfulness, bitterness, and pride if we will but trust Him and walk before Him in obedience. Let’s allow Him to examine our hearts and heal us of the diseases that sin inflicts upon us.
“And when he had taken it [(the scroll)emphasis mine], the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.”
There it is. The incense, burned continuously by Aaron in the Old Testament tabernacle, pointed forward to the prayers that we offer up to God. Our prayers, like the incense, should be salted, pure, and holy. They are the sweet smoke of sacrifice and are a pleasing aroma to God.
Our prayers should always be offered with a sense of reverence and awe before God. They should be pure and should come from a heart that longs to please God and follow His commands. Often our prayers will be a sacrifice, especially when they are prayed according to the will of God rather than our own will.
Oswald Chambers’ words concerning prayer are especially poignant. He said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work." Jesus knew this and showed us His absolute dependence upon prayer many times during His days on the earth. Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
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(NIV) tells us that “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” Luke’s account of Christ’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane imparts to us the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus. In this passage we find Christ not only going to His knees in prayer prior to being betrayed and crucified, but also telling Peter, James, and John to pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Jesus knew the importance of prayer in the life of a child of God.
Our prayers serve to bring our will into conformity with the will of the Father. When our prayers glorify Christ Jesus and seek the will of the Father, they are fragrant incense to the Lord.
