Teach me YOUR way, O LORD; I will walk in YOUR truth; Unite my heart to fear YOUR name.  Oh, it is not about me!  Duh!!  His way, His truth, His name.  I need a teacher; I need to follow the leader; and I need an undivided heart.

 

This verse should be the prayer of every one who claims to believe in the LORD.  We should desire to walk in His Word and ask that He makes it real to us and helps us live it, speak it, and believe it–every single word of it.  This will cause us to fear the LORD and appreciate all His names that reveal His character.  His ways are not our ways and His ways call each of us to walk out what does NOT come naturally.  

 

We cannot have it both ways.  It is either God’s Word and that makes it infallible or it is a nice gathering of men’s thoughts and is totally erroneous.  You just can’t sit on the fence on this one.

So, whatever circumstances I find myself in, my prayer should be:  Teach me YOUR way Lord so I can do the right thing regardless of how hard.  Did you see I said ME, MYSELF, and I?  Not Lord teach me Your ways so I can browbeat someone else.  Remember the board in my eye keeps me from even seeing the splinter in yours.  Jesus did not humiliate the woman caught in adultery or the woman with five husbands.  He did not chastise Matthew for being a tax collector, He did not even reprimand Judas for betraying him.  He did not reject Peter for denying Him.  He loved people where they were and modeled for them a better way.  We stand in awe and reverence  of Jesus when we just “worry about ourselves!”  Walking in His truth will take every ounce of strength and focus I have.

 

Proverbs 16:6 says, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by fear of the LORD, men depart from evil.”  The woman dragged to Jesus caught in adultery found mercy when He said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”  (John 8:7)   In saying this, Jesus acknowledged her “iniquity” but he also reminded those desiring to cast stones of their own less than perfect lives.   A life was spared.  A grateful heart found a Savior and she went away to sin no more.  In fact, she followed Jesus.  She found truth and mercy.  She “feared the LORD” (she stood in awe and reverence because she had received mercy) and her life changed–she “departed from evil.”  A heart changed, a life given a second chance, a personality set on fire to follow holiness, a worshipper ready to do anything asked.  

Luke 1:50 “And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.”  Mercy is loving-kindness, compassion, forgiveness–God’s very nature.  His mercy isn’t a principle or theory.  It is who He is and what He did on behalf of His people.  

Psalm 119:63, 74  “I am a companion of all those who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts.  Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your Word.”    As I have traveled to Romania, to parts of the United States, and even around this small Southern town, one thing that never ceases to thrill my heart is the bond that is stronger than Gorilla Glue among those who “fear the LORD.”  There is this instant kinship and understanding even when language is a barrier.  “Fear of the LORD” gives us a family, makes us reach out a helping hand, and helps us extend mercy and  grace.

Orphans of God by Avalon

 II Corinthians 7:1  “Therefore, hearing these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”    

 

Jesus gave His life for the slut, the harlot, the murderer, the thief, the one who has chosen an alternative lifestyle, the little white haired church lady, the preacher, the lawyer, the politician, the housewife, the truck driver, the garbage collector, the assembly line worker, the single mom on food stamps, the disabled, the drug addict, the farmer, the writer, the race car driver, the neighbors next door, the immigrant, the prisoner, the depressed, the schizophrenic, the widow(er), the orphan, the rebellious, the stubborn, the timid, the bold and brassy, the sailor, the beauty queen, the disfigured, the__(the person you struggle with)___.

 

Remember, until Jesus stepped in and forgave me (you) we were somewhere on this list either by action or attitude.   May we see others through the eyes of Jesus:  A person worth dying to save.  This is genuine fear of the Lord and all His name encompasses.

 

Treading in His grace,