Boy, this morning has been an adventure and a journey! It’s amazing what all the Lord can take us through in the early part of a fresh new day! ☀️
This morning started as a journey through my dream journal—the Lord brought my attention back to a couple of the dreams that I’ve had.
Many of the dreams I’ve had, I don’t fully understand, and I often don’t receive an interpretation immediately as I’d like to, but as the Lord takes me back to my dreams periodically, over time… it’s like I’ll gradually be able to see into them a little more and a little more…and the interpretation will often begin to come together like the pieces of a puzzle.
He does it like that for a reason too.
God uses dreams for so many things in our lives, there are so many different layers of purpose hidden within these dreams that He gives us.
For the ones that He gives interpretation to immediately, there is a purpose. And for the ones that He gives understanding and interpretation to over time—like a gradual unraveling of a mystery, or there are some that come together “all of a sudden”, but years later. Some are used as more of a confirmation after life plays out… there is also purpose. ?
One of my dreams had to do with a “tree of life” that I saw, which had me digging into it again a little more this morning with the Lord. It was quite a unique one because it’s one of the only dreams that I had to draw, to attempt to sketch out in this way for me to be able to paint the picture of how I saw it.
After looking at this dream a little more this morning, a little later I was praying about some things— things that seemed to be completely different than what I had been digging into within my dream….and a phrase came to my mind…
“Restore the fear of the Lord!”
And this phrase that I heard had an “urgency” to it… an urgency that seemed to apply to each of our individual lives, and to the whole world.
And I feel that there is such a depth to the “fear of the Lord” that many of us do not understand… it can be a confusing phrase when we look at it from an earthly perspective, comparing it to how we tend to understand the meaning of the word, “fear”…
Then the Lord led me to a couple of verses to go along with this phrase that I heard.
Look at what these verses say about the “fear of the Lord” and “life“…
“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 NKJV
And in the Message translation…
“Fear-of-God is life itself,
a full life, and serene—no nasty surprises.”—Proverbs 19:23 The Message
Here’s how it reads in The Passion Translation for a deeper understanding…
“When you live a life of abandoned love,
surrendered before the awe of God,
here’s what you’ll experience:
Abundant life. Continual protection.
And complete satisfaction!“—Proverbs 19:23 TPT
Here’s the second verse He led me to…
“By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.”—Proverbs 16:6 NASB
WOW!
The “fear of the Lord” protects us from evil and leads us into more LIFE!
(And what do we do when we are fully alive and we’re flourishing from being nourished in Him? We’ll produce fruit. ?)
But the “fear of the Lord” is not like God is looking at us saying, “YOU BETTER BE SCARED OF ME!! BECAUSE… I’M GOD!”
I mean, yes, because He is such an Almighty God, there is a “terror” of the Lord that is a real thing.
But His heart for us and for our relationship with Him is like… “I’m your Heavenly Father, and I know what is best for you—and far, far beyond just ‘you’… far, far, far beyond what you can see and understand. And I know what you need to be able to walk the “pathway of life” and to not be taken out by evil that would attempt to cause you harm in this journey. I love you, and you are safe and protected in living in awe and in living surrendered—and on this pathway of life with Me, you will find great JOY!”
Thank You for leading us in the way everlasting, Lord Jesus! I pray that You will restore the “fear of the Lord” where it needs to be restored in our lives, in our homes, in our churches, in our nations, and in our world. Let us not be reckless with our lives. May we take heed. Let us learn to take hold of Your promises as we submit to You and learn to walk in Your way that leads us into abundant life! ??
Thank You, Father for taking me on this beautiful adventure with You this morning. I am in awe of Your majesty and amazed at Your way!… and I so desperately need You for every single step that I take in this life. How You lead me into life. I praise You and I thank You. ??
-Heather ?