Devo for 05/11/2025 service- Message by Pastor Austin Bergsma
The fourth week of the series “The Veil Torn” was brought to us by Pastor Austin. He reminded us that when we come into the presence of God, we are approaching a Holy God. We are to fear him, but not in a carnal way.
As Pastor Austin put it, the fear of the Lord is a wonderful gift, not meaning fear in a terror-driven sense, but fear emanating from a heart of humility and submission before a holy and powerful God. A God who hates sin but loves His people so much that He sent His son to die on the cross so we can have access to Him!
“The Fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.” Proverbs 19:23
During the message, Pastor Austin showed a slide that gave comparisons of responding out of a carnel, or a limited and worldly fear, versus responding with the Fear of the Lord. I took note of one comparison He noted:
Carnel Fear The Fear of the Lord
Motivated by punishment Motivated by a holy, loving God
The question that immediately came to my mind was, Do I even consider what motivates me in my actions? Do I realize it when I am motivated by a fear of being punished? Do I respond out of fear of the punishment that may come, either consequences here on earth or when I stand before the Lord and give an account for my life? If I do, the truth about this fear is that it will destroy me. I know that is harsh, but living in carnal fear limits us and keeps us from being who God created us to be. The bible gives us many examples of the struggles of carnal fear:
Moses’ fear and doubt about his ability to lead.
Ananias was fearful as God asked him to visit Saul.
Fear led Peter to deny Jesus.
Understanding the principle that Pastor Austin spoke about, our motivation in all of our actions should be this: When you are afraid, run to God with fear and reverence. We fear Him because He is God, and we revere Him because He loves us! Let’s review the rest of the story of our examples above and how each one overcame their carnal fear:
Moses fear and doubt about his ability to lead was overcome with trust of God!
Ananias was fearful as God asked him to visit Saul, but he chose to have faith in God and obeyed!
Fear led Peter to deny Jesus and feel like a failure, but he chose not to let his fear of failure hold him back. He repented and grew stronger in his faith.
Have you ever considered what motivates you to act? Especially in times of trials and challenges? Do you find yourself fearful? If so, it presents an excellent opportunity to spend time in the presence of the Father and trust the Lord, have Faith in the Lord and repent and choose to grow stronger! I know our most Holy God would just love to see His children run to Him in times of need! Try It!!
Don’t forget to invite God into your day!
Topic for Study -
Covetousness
Proverbs 21:26
James 4:2-3
Romans 13:9-10
May Memory Verses:
1 John 4:4
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world