The Fear of The Lord

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

-Proverbs 9:10NKJV

The fear of the Lord. What is that? What does that mean? How do we do that appropriately? Are we to fear God? Isn’t that thought contradictory? Is not God love? The Bible describes the goodness, faithfulness, and mercy of God, which does not sound like someone to fear. The Bible even shares that perfect love casts out all fear. Fear, after all, is a tool of the devil, a byproduct of sin. It’s understood that the sinner ought to have a genuine fear of God, who can destroy more than your life by casting you in the fire of hell, again the byproduct of a life of sin. But what of the believer, the one who places their ultimate faith in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ? Should this person fear God?

Christians should not fear God, for Jesus identified God as our Father. Jesus even helps us to understand that only God is good and that we can have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This is not the fear of an abusive Father, but it is an awesome reverence and respect. God is not your “bro,” your “homeboy,” your “girlfriend,” etc. God is our Father and, as such, deserves our utmost respect and worship. We are to love and serve God. In simple forms, the fear of the Lord equals obedience. When you obey God, you fear God. When you want to sin and even feel tempted to sin, but you obey God in the face of that sin, that is fearing God. When you obey but you don’t feel like it, that is fearing God. Jesus demonstrated fear of the Lord by denying sin and obeying God.

Real Spirit-Led Leadership is obedience to God. Spirit-led leadership stands up for God for what is right, even in the face of adversity and times of discomfort for us. Leadership is standing for truth, integrity, excellence, and showing the way. Leaders must have a genuine fear of the Lord. Which is, as promised in the scripture above, the beginning of Wisdom. God will grant wisdom when we respect and honor Him. God gives favor to those who demonstrate Honor to Him. As leaders, we need wisdom to make the right choices to have a vision and to move forward. That discernment, that wisdom is found in valuing and obeying God. The primary way to do this is to learn to trust in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and to learn to be led by the unction of the Holy Spirit.

Are you ready to Lead by fearing God today?

You Are Well Able

Able despite the storm

Luke 8:22–25- One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

This story is beloved by many Christians as it illustrates Jesus’s power over nature and His ability to bring peace to any situation. We all need the presence, power, and peace of Jesus in our lives. With a singular bold act of faith, Jesus transforms the situation, confronting fear and silencing the storm. He can do the same in your life. The Word of Faith is the lever that moves mountains and calms the seas.

But there is another powerful lesson here. Jesus’s ability to fall asleep and remain at peace during the storm reveals His confidence in His disciples. He believed they were capable of handling the situation. This is further emphasized when He rebukes them for their lack of faith, challenging them to act on what they had already seen and learned. They had been empowered, having witnessed countless miracles, and they were equipped to face the storm. The disciples had what it took to overcome fear and rise to the challenge, just as we do when we trust in Him.

Spirit-led leadership is about empowering others to take action and make a difference. It’s about equipping and inspiring others to transform the world around them. True leadership points the way and provides the guidance necessary for others to step into positions of influence with confidence.

This process begins with delegation but ultimately leads to your pupil or disciple being fully capable of stepping into your role. Effective leaders ensure that those they mentor feel confident and prepared to handle the responsibilities before them, enabling them to thrive and succeed.

Uplifting Others: From Butterfly Leadership

Jesus loved the poor. He freely gave out an abundance of food in more than one scripture in the Bible. He loved the sick and lame by healing them. He associated with those who were outcasts. He loved the working class by making many of his disciples. He elevated the status of women and children in the Bible. He honored the sinful woman who anointed his feet with oil. Her story is forever in the Word of God in all four Gospels. He said that for anyone who harms these little ones, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung about your neck and thrown into the sea.

He valued the rich by coming to banquets and answering their questions. He valued and honored authority, “give unto Caesars what is Caesars and unto God what is God’s.” Jesus took the time to value all who came to Him by faith. Jesus’s focus was to build the Kingdom of God and not His own ambition. When the devil offered Him the kingdoms of the world ( ambition ), Jesus refused and rebuked him. Everything Jesus did was focused on raising the Kingdom of God.

I have a question for you. What is the result of your ambition? To be a team leader? To be CEO? To be president? To be on the board? But to get there, how do you treat the entry-level people? Are they stepping stones for your journey up? Do you ignore the janitor? Do you see them as a person or tool for getting a job done? How do you treat the intern? Are they your servant as you dominate them, an obstacle to overcome to the top?

OR

Are you creating positivity and adding value to your co-workers? How do you treat that person who tries your patience? How do you treat your enemy or the person you perceive as your enemy? Are you creating value in your family? Are you creating value in your friends?

Excerpt from Butterfly Leadership. Now available on https://www.imprintinternational.com/books-for-sale

All proceeds go back into Imprint International ministry.

Staying Healthy in 2025: Health Over Healing

Woman drinking tea

We’re amid some brutal cold and recent snowfall. With the winter comes an increase in sickness. I just watched a report recently of the first person to die in the US from the Bird Flu. We’re still dealing with a downgraded COVID-19, and many people have called off work due to sickness, which started near Christmas time and is progressing through the new year. Pestilence and disease have always been around and will continue into the final days of the Earth, as was predicted by Jesus. What can the believer do about it? Live in fear? No. Trust God.

Many of my readers know of God’s power and will to heal. If you don’t know of that, here is a refresher.

1. Is it God’s Will to heal? Yes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and if it was His will to heal in the Scripture, then it is still His will to heal today. You can write whole sermons on just this topic alone, but I want to move on. Here are some healing scriptures to stand on:

2. “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”-‭‭I Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

3. “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,”-Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

4. “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.”

   ‭Psalms‬ ‭107‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

5. “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”-‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I asked the Lord recently what were some Scriptures to stand on for health. How to remain healthy in these turbulent times? The answer He gave me was to meditate on and confess scripture that reinforces your spiritual position in Christ Jesus. Here are some examples:

1. “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”-Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

I don’t know how it works, but we are seated or resting in Heavenly places just as Christ is. Jesus is raised to new life, and He is seated in a place of victory at the place of honor and power at God’s right hand. Now our resurrection is tied to His. Our Spiritual reality is tied to His. It then would be expected that the benefits are tied to Him as well. There is no sickness in Heaven or Christ, so we also have the right to believe we receive Jesus’s state of health. Which is perfect!

2. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”-Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

Our spirit man has been reborn, renewed, and made clean. Christ lives in and through us. We are a new creation with a new spirit through Christ's resurrection. We live by His faith. Again we have privileges as newborn children of God and expectations to live and operate out of the power of His life in us and through His faith. It is not Sean that lives but Christ who lives in me. I can expect to live from His victory and walk in health.

3. Much of Psalm 91 shares on deliverance and protection from pestilence: “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.”-Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭3‬, ‭5‬, ‭7‬, ‭10‬, ‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

As we progress into January and face the cold and whatever challenges the new year can bring, you don’t have to face them in your own strength but through the resurrected Christ living in and through you.