“…here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”— Ecclesiastes 12:13

This is the whole duty of man. Fear God and keep His commandments. Is that a great verse or what?! After all his exasperated venting in Ecclesiastes, Solomon summed it up with the sane unbiased truth. Our duty as human beings is simply to fear the Lord. If we do this, we will experience God’s best all the days of our lives. We’ll have heaven on earth (Deuteronomy 11:21). This fear fuels our faith. I want to take you on a journey through the Word and show you some of the benefits offered to Christians for doing their duty of fearing the Lord. Some you will be familiar with, and some you may learn for the first time. Take hold of them all and renew your mind; reject the fear that attempts to hold you captive and cling to the fear that makes you free!

The fear of the Lord gives men wisdom and causes them to prosper. No lack is a result of possessing it. Godly fear provides protection for your children and lengthens your days. So why are so many people, Christians in particular, living with the debilitating tormenting fear caused by the evil one? I answered that question in part one of this series, Fear’s Worst Enemy,—they do not trust God. Furthermore, Christians lack the proper form of Godly reverence and awe (fear) required to successfully live the Christian life. Coupled with complete trust in God, the fear of the Lord will bring you to a perfect place.

This is what God has always wanted for His people. Study the Old Testament and note the instances where people actually confessed they were afraid of men because God was with them. The following chapters are references of individuals and/or nations fearing God’s people: Genesis 20, 26 and 50; Exodus 1; Joshua 2; 2 Chronicles 17. Micah wrote, “they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee (v. 17:7).”

It is our duty to fear the Lord. If I fear the Lord I automatically follow His commands. In my mind, the two can’t be separated. Disobedience is an indication that I do not fear God. Dread and anxiety in my life imply that I doubt the truth of God’s Word—I don’t trust Him or fear (stand in awe and revere) Him. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Fearing God means that I obey Him. When I obey Him, He is OBLIGATED (yes, you can obligate God) to perform all the good things He promised (Deuteronomy 28). It’s a chain reaction. Fear God. Obey His commands. Live in the Blessing. Fuel my faith.

Below I’ve listed 21 benefits of fearing the Lord. Each promise is accompanied by its verse. Meditate on these and confess them over your life. This fear will not only fuel your faith, but it will eradicate anxiety and dread from your life.

1. Length of Days (Deuteronomy 6:2)
2. Helps you lead and make godly decisions (2 Chronicles 19:7)
3. Brings honor from the Lord (Psalm 15:4)
4. Causes you to worship (Psalm 33:8)
5. You will lack nothing (Psalm 34:9)
6. Releases you from the fear of man (Psalm 56:4)
7. You will be Blessed by God (Psalm 115:13)
8. Is Clean (Psalm 19:9)
9. You will be blessed in your labor (Psalm 128:2)
10. Your spouse and children will be blessed (Psalm 128:3)
11. Is the Beginning of Wisdom (Psalm 111:10) *wisdom is the proper application of knowledge
12. Is the Beginning of Knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) *knowledge is the information you know
13. Causes hate for evil (Proverbs 8:13)
14. Brings confidence (Proverbs 14:26)
15. Is a fountain of life (Proverbs 14:27)
16. Delivers from evil (Proverbs 16:6)
17. Brings riches, honor and life (Proverbs 22:4)
18. It will be well with you (Ecc 8:12)
19. Is the key to your treasure (Isaiah 33:6)
20. The Lord hears and remembers you (Malachi 3:16)
21. Causes you to witness (2 Corinthians 5:11)

Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.—Psalm 33:8

What a list! Now go on in faith and do your duty! Fear God. Obey His commands. Live in the Blessing. Fuel your faith.

Be blessed friends, and have the perfect day everyday!

Shontta

Before you dismiss this article by observing the title, allow me an introductory paragraph to persuade you to continue reading. Is blood thicker than water? What exactly in the world does that mean anyway?! I know that I’ve been cleansed by The Blood of Jesus of my sins and through Christ I have been given access to the well of living water that leads to abundant and eternal life. It is an absolute fact that no relative of mine has done for me what Christ did. I realize the sensitivity of this topic; however, I promise you that if you will give me your attention for the remainder of this article, I will show you several places in God’s word where individuals were either blessed or cursed because of associations with relatives. My friends this walk is an individual decision, and your associations—blood relatives or friends, can seriously affect the outcome of your results.

Abraham Commanded to Leave Relatives

Abraham is called the father of our faith. And what was the first decision he had to make? What was the initial test of his faith or belief in God as the true and living God? Read it for yourself.

“Now [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].

—Genesis 12:1-2 AMP

It says for your own advantage. What I am trying to get you to do here is to think. Think about God who is intentional about everything He does. If Abram had been hung up on the whole blood is thicker than water philosophy, he would not be the father of our faith. Abram’s relatives were pagan polytheistic people. They believed in multiple gods—that was the life he was accustomed to. Would you do what he did? Leave your family and everything you’ve ever known to follow a God you’ve never known? Let’s fast forward and see what Jesus said about such a situation.

Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

—John 10:28-31NIV

So we see here that it is neither unbiblical nor uncommon for those of us who choose to walk with Christ to literally be forced to choose between our relatives and God. But, God is so wonderful. He’s never trying to take something from us; He’s always trying to get The Blessing to us! If you focus on the latter half of both passages, you find the promise attached to the act of obedience—Blessing. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying all family relationships are toxic or ones we need to limit our exposure to. It’s the ones that pose a threat to our full participation in our walk with Christ. God is a jealous God—He wants all of you. Then He blesses you and gives you all of Himself (see Luke 12:32).

You see God chose Abram because He knew him. God knew that Abram would command his children after him and teach them to serve the Lord (Genesis 18:19). This is ultimately what the Lord wants. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He wants the generations. And most of us know from experience that in most cases, we have to start where Abraham started—it’s not easy! Especially when you come from one of two extremes—either no church at all or you grew up in church.

On the one hand, turning from a pagan or heathen background to Christ brings instant ridicule and, in some cases, the person is ostracized. Or, a case such as mine own. I grew up around the things of God, but there wasn’t a true example of Deuteronomy 28:1-14 set before me. No one was fully obeying, so the results were tainted. As I came into more knowledge and choose to walk in it, however, the negative treatment by unenlightened relatives was similar to a person who’d come from a non-Christian background. It’s quite painful. It is a blessing blocker.

Have you been struggling with some decisions concerning this issue? If not, perhaps you know someone who is. I want to conclude with some references to assure you that you that you are in good company. If you make the right decisions, you will walk straight into The Blessing of the Lord. And the wonderful part about it is that your relatives can make the same choice you did! You want them to. Just don’t let their hesitation stifle you. I don’t have space to expand on every reference, but as I stated at the start of this series, I want you to dig into the Word for yourself. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you about your individual situation and stop these blessing blockers in their tracks!

Biblical Relative Examples

Abraham chose to take Lot with him and this caused him grief on more than one occasion (Genesis 13, 14). I know Jacob sowed some bad seed, but his own uncle attempted to stamp out God’s blessing that was obviously on him (Genesis 29-31). Ruth ended up in the bloodline of Christ because she left her family (Ruth). Eli failed to properly handle his two sons who were abusing the priesthood and died in sorrow (1 Samuel 2, 4). Jonathan chose to side with his father, whom the spirit of God had departed from, instead of his spiritual brother David—he paid with his life (1 Samuel 18-23; 2 Samuel 1). Esther obeyed her uncle and not only became a queen, but saved her people (Esther). Also the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and so on were all considered brothers of Israel, yet they were chosen by God to prophesy the truth even though most of it was against their own brothers. These are all Old Testament examples, but Paul taught a great deal on handling these types of relationships as well.

As always Christ is our ultimate example. His relatives thought he had gone out of His mind and went to collect Him (Mark 3:21). I love how Jesus responded in Matthew 12:48-50. “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? And who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” He answered just like an insane person would. Who is my mother and bothers?! Then He came with absolute sane revelation! I’m His brother because I do the will of the Father even at the risk of looking like I’ve lost my mind and I’m being alienated by relatives.

So speak the truth in love and be respectful to your elders. But DO NOT allow relatives to block the Blessing of God in your life. The Holy Spirit will give you the answer to each situation. Study these examples and stand on the promises of God’s Word concerning salvation for the lost. He wants them to be saved, but they have to receive salvation—you can’t save them only God can. I can testify to the truth of Mark 10:29 in my own life. I have been blessed with everything I lacked in my natural family in the family of God. With His help I have been able to create a blessed home and family so that my seed can see accurate results of fully obeying the commands of God. When a relative comes to God we rejoice, but we’ve chosen not to allow the ones who operate in disobedience to block the Blessing in our lives.

Financial flexibility gives you options and ability. Will you be vacationing this year? Are your children in private school? When was your last dinner out (not by way of the drive thru!)? Or worse, is the electricity on? Surrounding us is constant pressure to panic. Don’t be pressured and don’t panic. God is not fearful or nervous. He’s not in the throneroom pacing the floor and biting his nails (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Proverbs 10:22 says that the Blessing of the Lord makes us rich and adds no sorrow to it. When we allow God into our finances He will give us all things in due season. This is why we must obey His word on financial discipline. We must be flexible in order to become financially flexible. First and foremost if you don’t tithe, start today! That’s what the Covenant Blessing is all about.

If you’ve never saved in your life, you have to include savings in your budget. Proverbs 13:11 tells us that gathering money little by little makes it grow. You will grow and become financially flexible when you obey and apply God’s word to your assets. You must have something in the barn for Him to bless and you must put your hand to it (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). No matter what the economy is doing, you will be able to go on vacation, put your children in private school, go out to dinner and keep the lights on!

Remember, Isaac sowed in an year of famine and reaped one hundred fold (Genesis 26:12). And his grandson Joseph saved during the seven years of plenty in order to have grain in famine (Genesis 41:48-49). In fact, the savings grew so large that they stopped keeping record of it! Forgive me for the exclamations, but I get so excited recounting these blessings of obedience and provision. I encourage you to study the lives of these two patriarchs and emulate their actions. They both heard God and were flexible enough to fully obey His commands. In so doing, the Blessing was fully manifested in their lives.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8

— Shontta

The current social and economic atmospheres are a breeding ground for a myriad of negative thoughts, emotions and actions. With so many people facing dire financial, vocational and family woes, you may find yourself “wishing” you were someone else, with someone else — living life in another person’s shoes. Simply wishing and daydreaming won’t change circumstances. But, being flexible can change everything.

And coupled with the Blessing of the Lord, flexibility can change your life. In Genesis 12:2-3 God not only told Abram that He would be blessed, but that he would be a blessing. And in Deuteronomy 28:1-14, God said that every thing they put their hands to would be blessed. What type of flexibility did this require? In both of these references God also commanded his followers to be flexible in their actions. The human being had to make changes. Abram had to leave his kinsmen. The children of Israel had to fully obey the commands He was giving them. Herein is where flexibility brings the Blessing. I’ve witnessed people hinder the Blessing in their lives because of a lack of flexibility in certain areas. I’d like to share some insight on these. Vocational, financial, mental, emotional and spiritual flexibility can enhance your daily life and perpetuate the Blessing no matter the environment.

Imagine a person full of life, movement and vitality who is suddenly stifled by arthritis or paralyzed in an accident. These circumstances would be quite dejecting to this individual who is now unable to move at will. The same concept is applicable to the aforementioned areas of flexibility. God said in Malachi 3:6, “I AM the Lord, I change not.” This verse identifies the fact that if we are going to walk with God we must be flexible — we must be willing to change. And God is so all-powerful that He causes us to become more flexible the more we conform to His will and ways. We become more like Him. This type of malleability cements us in the fact that acting on the unchanging Word of God brings us into unlimited ability and freedom.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8
— Shontta