Filled with Awe!

Read:

1 John 4:18 (ESV): “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
Psalm 33:8 (ESV): “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!”
Acts 2:43 (ESV): “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”

Act:

Let us be determined this week to:

Recognise the lies we believe – the lies that cripple us into fear over faith, and defeat instead of awe! Sometimes our minds and thoughts are taken captive by the enemy, and we become fearful. We should be diligent and wise – recognising his schemes. Let us run to God and the truth of His Word, so that we can find freedom, peace and joy in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. As it says in Galatians 5:1 (NIV), “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Be alert to the presence of unhealthy ‘fear’, as seen in 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV), “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.” ‘Fear’ in this sense, is an unpleasant, often strong emotion, caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. It is an anxious concern. The Lord knew that as human beings, we would encounter this uncomfortable feeling often in our lives. Someone once said that the Word of God cautions us against fear 366 times! “Fear not, don’t be afraid, be not dismayed.” That is once for every day of the year, including leap years! A great example is found in Psalm 34:4 (NIV), “I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Fear pressurises us to choose one of two responses: Firstly, we may revert to taking control of the situation and the people around us. We should consider whether this is God-control, self-control (Godly discipline) or selfish-control (seeking one’s own advancement in one’s own ability). When we exercise self-discipline (control), we can submit our fears, worries or anxieties to our trustworthy, faithful Father. We can stand firm in His love and power, and live as His ambassadors of selfless love on earth. Our second response to fear could be that we focus on the negatives and complain about circumstances. Actually, we have a choice. We can choose the fear of defeat, or we can choose to be aware of God’s blessings even in hard situations – and practice gratitude! Let’s choose life over death! Let’s choose victory over defeat. Let’s choose truth over lies. Let’s choose joy over despair. Let’s choose faith over fear and allow God to fill us afresh with His Spirit. We can fight the good fight of faith by choosing joy in all circumstances, finding rest in His Word, and standing firm on His promises for our lives.

Embrace healthy, Godly ‘fear’ in our relationship with our Lord. In Proverbs 1:7 (ESV), we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction!” This type of ‘fear’ involves giving God our respect, our undivided attention, our submission, and our awe at who He is and what He does. May we be filled with AWE for God… and undone by His GOODNESS, GREATNESS and GRACE! May we be people who exemplify Psalm 33:8 (ESV), “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!” Christ longs for us to be whole, and our key to wholeness is His precious blood and the transformational journey we take with Him every day! Christ paid a huge price for our free gift of Salvation. This gift reminds us to reflect on His GOODNESS, GREATNESS and GRACE. May we take time often (possibly this weekend) to pause, reflect and celebrate the blessing that His sacrifice on the cross has brought us! May we come before Him in awe, realising how wonderful He is to each of us.

Pray:

Father God, thank You that we can come before Your throne today and expose this lie and ask You to come and replace it with Your Word, Your truth, Your voice of truth in our hearts. I pray that we will be bold and that we will be set free today, because it is for freedom that You have called us. When we are in a place of freedom we can truly proclaim Your goodness because the enemy’s strategy is to steal from us. Thank You for this opportunity and this time to expose any lie and anything that the enemy is trying to imprison us with. I pray this in Jesus’ name.

Dear Lord Jesus, we just thank You for Your Word. We thank You that no matter what we go through, You are always good. Our reward is in heaven with You Lord Jesus, and anything that happens on this earth is only temporal. Father, we just pray that You help us to fix our eyes on You and to guard our lips and our mouths. Keep our hearts pure, that we may not grumble and argue. Instead, may we enter Your gates with thanksgiving and praise and keep ourselves holy as You are holy Father. Let us look to You Lord Jesus, as our one true example. We see the wickedness in this world, but we focus on Your goodness. We speak life into this world, Lord. We love You and we bless You in Jesus’ name.

Father, we repent today for any control that we have tried to exert over others. Holy Spirit, fill us with the fruit of the Spirit, so we may live under God’s love and power and not by our flesh. In Jesus’ mighty name.

Our Heavenly Father, today we come before You, and humble ourselves as Your children. We thank You for the beautiful sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. Father, thank You that You were willing to sacrifice Your Son, willing to see His blood flow so that we could be set free. Jesus Christ, we thank You that You were willing to make that sacrifice. Thank You that You became human and took on every emotion, every hurt, every pain, and everything that we have ever had to endure – plus so much more. You hung on the cross and Your blood flowed even though You had asked the Father that the cup would pass You by, if it was His will. You were able to respond to what happened with ‘I will push through,’ because you knew what was ahead of You. We thank You Lord for the blessing of the cup, the blood of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray this. Thank You Lord.

Father God, please open our spiritual eyes to seek You and see You in every situation. Be gracious to us by allowing us to find You in everything, so that we can live in complete AWE of You! Amen.

(This WRAP is with great appreciation towards Liomee, Willem, Kristen, Larvika and Carina)

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