Are You Setting Fires?

If you know me well, you know that I like to keep a relative schedule of events....nothing too strict, but a good guideline.  You will also know that I typically have so many fires in the iron that I am scattered brained and often running from one thing to the other...then back again because I have missed or forgotten something (Praise the Lord never a child though!)

Well, tomorrow morning for this wonderful July 4th holiday weekend, the kids and I are going to visit my sister-in-law in Alabama.  We have all been very excited about this trip, and for some reason the devil has not wanted it to happen!  There have been bumps all along the 'getting ready' time!  I have gotten rather used to his tactics, though, and simply dismiss them for his purpose and use them as a reason to praise my Lord!

Today was going to be a day full of getting ready, a trip to Wal-Mart, packing, taking care of storage building and church treasury issues, and of course, cleaning the house up so that it is somewhat tidy when we return, and then a little time by the pool so the boys could get some energy out (the girls are away at their Great-Aunt Patricia's)....yeah, right!

We made it to Wal-Mart...the kids ate food...and I have gotten most of the stuff packed...that's it!!!!  The truck immediately ran hot as we were leaving Wal-Mart this afternoon, thank the Lord my brother-in-law and father-in-law were still at work, so they tended to it for us, but by the time we got home, it was already 5pm!!!  (Did I mention we got off to a late start!)

As I just crawled into bed, I prayed to Him, thanking Him for keeping us safe, for Stephen not getting burned when he twisted the cap and the coolant spewed out like a geyser, for showing me the areas I lost my cool and promptly got to me so I could correct it, the precious time He is giving my girls to spend with a very special lady...then I began reading in my book again (in case you forgot or are new: Ablaze with His Glory by Del Fehsenfeld, Jr.).

Chapter six began with whose church are we building?  Are we promoting ourselves or Christ?  When we speak for Him are we dull and boring because we haven't been faithful to live out our daily walk with Him as our truest best friend, or are we vibrantly alive with seeing Him throughout our day and telling people about it, in turn witnessing their vibrancy's with Him?!  I had been starting to get a bit discouraged, wondering if I were blogging for the right reasons, but as soon as I read that, He spoke to me and affirmed what I am doing, like I said in my last post, Put Your Cards on the Table, I don't care if people like me, I strive to put what God lays on my heart on here.  It is ALL about Him, the only part I have is living it out and reporting about it!  What good is an incident that glorifies my Lord, if it isn't told?!  Anyway, after I read that, it got me so excited, I knew He wanted me to get back up out of bed and come share how incredibly excited I have been lately to see a special friend, Becca on her journey with Christ recently.

God has really renewed His Spirit within her, and she is busting all out of her comfort zone to show her love to Him when He calls her to do so!  I have been so amazed, and incredibly humbled to be able to be a part of it and to be close enough to see Him working in and through her!  She recently started a blog and talks about a lot of this (http://rbrhall-amazingrace.blogspot.com).

Be encouraged, when you are on fire for the Lord, you have absolutely NO IDEA who you are impacting for Him.  Do not hide it, do not be ashamed of Him!  Let your little light shine, when we get a good blow, fire catches and spreads!!!!  Don't quench it!! 

So, Are YOU on Fire?

The Fear of the Lord

If you read through the book of Proverbs, you will see this phrase numerous times, "the fear of the Lord..." But who knows what it means? Better yet, who is willing to delve deeper into the Word to find out what it means?
By doing a simple search on www.blueletterbible.com in the English Standard Version (ESV) within the book of Proverbs, 14 results came up: 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:26, 27; 15:16, 33; 16:6; 19:23; 22:4; & 23:17.
With the verses lined out in this way a common theme jumped out at me, the book of Proverbs tells us what 'the fear of the Lord' is! Isn't that just like our God!? To give us such a perplexing phrase, but then tell us exactly what it means! According to the verses stated above, 'the fear of the Lord' is: a choice, the beginning of knowledge, the hatred of evil, the beginning of wisdom, prolongs life, gives you strong confidence, a fountain of life, instruction of wisdom, and the ability to turn away from evil.
If you are a parent, many of these attributes may sound familiar. If our children have a healthy fear of us as their parents, that 'fear' offers them wisdom, protection, greater knowledge, and stronger confidence. This fear comes from the experiential knowledge that there are consequences for our actions or lack of action. If my child disobeys me while we are in a parking lot and takes off running there are two possible consequences: they will be hit by a vehicle or they will get disciplined from me in a memorable form to aid in preventing the same behavior at a later time. However, if they have learned from previous experiences and have a healthy 'fear' of me, they will obey holding my hand while in the parking lot having the knowledge that I will keep them protected to the best of my ability.
Take the time today to look over some of these verses in Proverbs about having a healthy 'fear of the Lord' and evaluate your life: are you making the choice to obey and 'fear' Him, are you growing in the knowledge and wisdom of Him, do you have the ability to turn away from evil through Him, do you have the strong confidence that He is for you and not against you? It is my prayer that we all gain a deeper heart knowledge of our Savior and not just head knowledge as He holds our hand while we walk through this parking lot of life.