When I was mediating Acts 9:31, I did read “Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers” Actual passage is
'Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. 'Acts 9:31
This prompted me to meditate more on asking a question to myself,
how can one live in Fear of God and how can they be blessed more ?
As the word says ,the church increased in numbers was a direct result of blessing
There are three things to understand from Acts 9:31
1. Fear of God
2. Encouraged by Holy Spirit
3. Increased in Numbers
Fear of God
What is fear ? as per Webster Dictionary “it’s an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger”
In spiritual world there are two types of Fear
Fear from Satan
This comes when we are unspiritual it comes when we live with no connection with God or partial connection (part worldly / part with God) with God.
When we encounter daily situations of life
The fear from Satan produces more anxiety of the situation
Fear makes us panic and make us do actions of our own, without any help from God
When we commit a sin (knowingly or unknowingly), the fear condemns us of the Sin, it condemns us in a way as if there is no solution to the Sin. In Extreme cases leading to suicide.
The Fear makes us hopeless and removes the self-confidence in us and brings negative energy that drain us from the work we do to make our situation bad to worse
Fear of God
Fear of God, comes when we accept Christ as our Saviour and when we walk with Jesus daily
The Fear of God comes when we are spiritual. it comes to us as there is fear of Judgement from God on every action we do like how Luke explains
'But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. ' Luke 12:5
The Fear of God does not make us scared of him, it’s a fear in reverence and respect that comes from us towards God, it also makes us give the comfort that he is our Father and we are his children.
The Fear of God makes us watch for the actions we do, that protects from the Sins of the world
Many times we may commit a sin without knowing that it’s a Sin, many times its done unintentional. The moment you know that what you did is wrong, the act to repent to God and ask for forgiveness to the Sin comes immediately. This comes only out of the Fear of God. Repentance comes only if you have Fear of God
The Fear of God makes us being dependent on him, if we walk away from his presence there is a sense of fear of walking alone on ourself.
In every day trials / temptations you go thru in life leading to anxious moments, with Fear of God, there is peace in the anxious situation that God is in Control of the situation, you will not fear the situation, the spirit in us will say “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
'What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 'Romans 8:31
Fear of God produces the wisdom from God to enable things that’s right from the eyes of God
'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 'Proverbs 9:10
Fear of God produces righteous deeds in our everyday life, we do what is right to God in our work / personal life / private life irrespective of what people think about us, many times these actions may not be the right thing from world view.
'Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly, but those who despise him are devious in their ways. Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. ' Proverbs 14:2,26-27
Encouraged by Holy Spirit
The early church members were led by / encouraged by Holy Spirit Acts 9:31 “Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit”
The amazing thing of Jesus is he gives the same holy spirit to us without differentiating us. God does not show favouritism for rich or poor or white or black or Asian or any other race, he looks only at the heart “God does not show favouritism “
'Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ' Acts 10:34-35
Think of the holy spirit to be like a GPS which guides us on everything we do, he guides on what work we should do, what choices we need to make if we marry / work / studies / plan for future etc. Every action of us will be guided according to his will.
Increased in Numbers
The early church due to the fear of God and guided by the holy spirit, increased in number Acts 9:31 it increased in numbers.
Here Luke talked about the church increasing in numbers day to day, this does not only apply to church alone, but it also applies to our individual life. The promise from God is he will take care our needs “your Father knows that you need them”
'Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 'Luke 12:22-23,29-30
Once we have fear of God, we start acting to the will of God, he will bless us and make us prosper with all the works of our hands, as he wants his children to have everything
'he will bless those who fear the Lord — small and great alike. May you be blessed by the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth. ‘ Psalms 115:13,15
The blessing is not only to increase in numbers of what we do, he adds more years of life to us - Proverbs explains this
'The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. ' Proverbs 10:27
Now that you have understood what Fear of God is, if you live a life that’s 50/50 turn fully to God and lead a life in his fear, where you may be guided by the Holy Spirit and be richly blessed by God on all the work you do.
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