fear of the lord

In this podcast, Pastor Justin preaches into how we must be fearless in order to be Consistent Conquerors in our generation.

In this podcast, Pastor Justin preaches a word during our Desperate Night into the fear of the Lord. 

Host Heather Creekmore continues her conversation with Jonna, a biblical counselor, women's ministry leader, and pastor's wife who struggled with body image issues. Jonna shares the specific insights and breakthroughs she experienced in her journey of overcoming body image struggles through coaching with Heather. This is part two of the conversation.

Today's conversation delves into how Jonna learned to shift her perspective about beauty and the true source of beauty according to scripture. She reflects on the realization that her blessings in life are not related to her physical appearance, but rather her relationships and the joy of being with her family. Jonna shares her emotional journey of learning to see herself and others through a different lens, focusing on joy and the character of the Lord rather than physical appearance.

Jonna also discusses various exercises and reflections she underwent during the coaching program, such as acknowledging her struggle with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and the impact of her childhood experiences. She emphasizes the significance of adopting a new perspective on her identity and righteousness in Christ, realizing that her worth does not come from striving for physical betterment or perfection.

The episode concludes with Jonna expressing her appreciation for Heather's coaching and the positive impact it has had on her life. Heather encourages listeners to consider participating in the coaching program or the 40-day Body Image Workbook Lent Reading Challenge to embark on their own journey toward freedom from body image struggles.

This episode provides a candid and transformative dialogue about embracing one's true identity and finding freedom from the pressures of physical appearance through a faith-based, biblical approach to body image issues.

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Are you READY to take the 40-Day Body Image Reading Challenge? This year for Lent (February 14-March 30) Heather invites you to read her brand new, 40-Day Body Image Workbook along with her. Weekly Zoom meeting check-ins will help keep us all reading and accountable. Plus, find community with other women who are also working to improve their body image in a God-honoring way. Find out more about this new challenge here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/40-day-challenge

Haven't bought the 40-Day Body Image Workbook yet? Grab your copy here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/books-for-christian-women-body-image

Looking for more one-on-one support? Learn more about coaching and the Body Image Freedom Framework here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/christian-body-image-course-coaching 

Interested in being a part of the next LIVE podcast? Make sure you're on the Compared to Who? email list at: www.improvebodyimage.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today Heather Creekmore interviews her coaching client, pastor's wife, biblical counselor and women's ministry leader, Jonna, to share her story of body image struggles and what she experienced as she went through Heather's group coaching program: the Body Image Freedom Framework. Jonna vulnerably recounts the impact of hurtful comments on her body image and identity (including a drive-by "lose weight" comment). She talks about her internal battles as a Christian and biblical counselor facing body image struggles and how she believed she should already know or have all the answers to be free.

Jonna helps listeners gain insight into the misconceptions surrounding seeking help for body image issues. She also unpacks her own journey and the temptation we all have to focus on physical appearance as a distraction from addressing deeper emotional wounds. Jonna's story highlights the importance of reorienting our focus towards pursuing the imperishable beauty of the heart and a quiet spirit and finding real beauty in fearing the Lord.

Jonna's story will encourage and inspire you. There is hope if you have body image struggles. And, there's no one too "informed" or "mature" to be beyond getting the help they need from a trusted advisor to identify the places you are stuck so that you can find true freedom in Christ. 

Next week we'll hear the rest of Jonna's story and she'll share how God worked in specific parts of her life through coaching!

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Are you READY to take the 40-Day Body Image Reading Challenge? This year for Lent (February 14-March 30) Heather invites you to read her brand new, 40-Day Body Image Workbook along with her. Weekly Zoom meeting check-ins will help keep us all reading and accountable. Plus, find community with other women who are also working to improve their body image in a God-honoring way. Find out more about this new challenge here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/40-day-challenge

Haven't bought the 40-Day Body Image Workbook yet? Grab your copy here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/books-for-christian-women-body-image

Looking for more one-on-one support? Learn more about coaching and the Body Image Freedom Framework here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/christian-body-image-course-coaching 

Interested in being a part of the next LIVE podcast? Make sure you're on the Compared to Who? email list at: www.improvebodyimage.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Discover the transformative power of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) in this episode of "Your Catholic Corner".

Will this ancient wisdom challenge you to use your gifts in new ways?

We delve into Proverbs 31, examining the timeless virtues of strength and dignity.

How might these scriptural qualities embolden our own faith?

Let's awaken to Paul's call for vigilance in 1 Thessalonians 5 and translate this into meaningful action in our lives.

Can we find focus in a world brimming with distractions?

Join Julie South as she explores explore the profound message in Matthew 25's parable.

Imagine—the worth of a single talent, immense in Jesus's day (probably beyond measure today), calling us to recognise the immense value of our own abilities.

How will this perspective inspire you to cultivate and share your talents?

Hear the moving tale from St. Pius X Parish in Katikati (inspired by parishioners of Te Aroha Parish), New Zealand, where the simple act of remembrance creates a tapestry of community and faith.

What traditions do you hold dear that might similarly inspire others?

As we navigate these biblical lessons, consider how we might apply their wisdom to our contemporary lives.

Your presence enriches our Catholic Corner.

Let's all respond to God's call: share your talents, create new traditions, and touch lives.

Remember, your talents are a gift to the world. How will you use them to make a difference? Join us, subscribe to our podcast, and continue the conversation at yourcatholiccorner.com.

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In this podcast, Pastor Justin unpacks how imperative it is for God's people to fear the Lord in order to get and maintain a heart on fire!

“Fear of the Lord” What does that even mean?

Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with fear; exult with trembling, accept correction lest he become angry and you perish along the way when his anger suddenly blazes up. Blessed are all who take refuge in him!”

When I was at adoration yesterday I asked the Lord which verse He wanted me to talk about today and then opened the Bible.  I don’t do this often but this was what I felt led to do yesterday.  I opened up to the first page of the Book of Psalms and the ending of the Book just before Psalms which happens to be Job.  I read both pages that I opened to and I was unsure what I was supposed to talk about.  However, when I read the verse above it seemed to stick out to me.  Has that ever happened to you before?  Have you ever been looking for an answer when reading the Bible and a verse just jumps our at you?  This is the verse that jumped out at me last night.

I am always hesitant to talk about the verses that mention fearing the Lord as I struggle with them.  I don’t think the Lord is someone to be feared.  I think when we hear verses like this we go back to thinking we are supposed to think of the Lord as a mean old man sitting in heaven on His thrown looking down at us and judging all we do.  This is not how I picture God and this is not how I think He wants us to picture Him.  When he gives us words of prophecy at our prayer group meetings, this is not the God that He is showing us.  He is showing us a loving God, a gentle God, one who cares more about us than we could possibly imagine.  

If this is the case, why are there so many verses that teach us to “fear the Lord.”  The reason is that “Fear of the Lord” doesn’t mean what we think it means.  It does not mean that we are afraid of the Lord or that we are scared of the Lord.  “Fear of the Lord” means that we are in awe of the Lord.  Fear of the Lord means that we never forget His awesomeness, His greatness.  The Lord is amazing and we should always keep that in our minds. When I just looked up online what fear of the Lord means in the Bible I found an article that really unpacks what that phrase means and I think that may be what the Lord is wanting me to share with you today.  For God’s people, fearing the Lord is a response of reverent awe, obedience, and trust in the Lord. The article I found is called What is “The Fear of the Lord”? and was written by Mitch Bedzyk. Click Here for the article.  I only used a small portion of the article and yet there were so many scripture references about what "fear of the Lord" means.  I highly encourage you to read the article. In the article Mitch talks about what this phrase means in the Old and New Testament.  

Here is what he says at the beginning.  One of the best places to look for a concise unpacking of this concept is found in the book of Deuteronomy: “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees” (Deut. 10:12-13). What a great verse to help us understand what “fear of the Lord” means.  It does not say we should be afraid of him or hide from him, quite the contrary actually.  It says we should love Him, walk in His ways and serve Him with our of our hearts and souls.  It also says we should observe the Lord’s decrees.This is an important one.  I think sometimes we think that because God is so merciful and so loving that we can kinda do what we want.  We come to believe that everybody is going to heaven as long as we are a good person.  We forget that although God is merciful He is also just and that believes very strongly in free will.  He will not force us to love Him or to follow His rules.  This means that we can make our own decisions and yet when we do we also have to live with these decisions.  

I think that might be what He is talking about in the second half of the verse above.  The part that says, “accept correction lest he become angry and you perish along the way when his anger suddenly blazes up.”  God has given us rules to live by and He expects us to live by those rules.  If you want to know the two most important ones according to Jesus, they are found in Matthew 22:36-40, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  So, although there are many laws, they all depend on these two.  

Are we truly loving the Lord our God and are we loving our neighbors?  These are the things we should be doing.  The verse above says to accept correction.  This can be a hard thing to do.  We may feel like we know what we are doing.  We may feel like we are walking in the light and doing a good job.  Then someone we know, love and respect mentions something we might be doing that we didn’t really even notice we were doing.  If they love us and respect us then they are just trying to help us on our faith journey and we can take what they have said and discern it.  Ask the Holy Spirit to put it on your heart to change if that message was from the Lord.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to change and to show you what you need to change.  

If you received criticism from someone you don’t know, love or respect, you might want to just throw that criticism away.  The enemy definitely speaks to us through others sometimes and when that happens it might just be to make you feel bad.  The enemy is a liar and what he says is not the truth.  However, I feel I should tell you to take what they say to the Lord to make sure it is not the truth.  Sometimes our loved ones are trying to help us and yet they say it in a way that is hurtful.  Sometimes that could be the enemy using them to get to us and sometimes it could be that they just don’t know how to say it correctly.  If you get criticism or advice from someone take it to the Lord and ask Him if it is something He wants you to act on or not.  

Usually, from what I have learned, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of something you don’t feel bad about it.  You don’t feel shame about it.  You might get this sense that you need to change something you are doing but it comes as more of a realization that what you are doing doesn’t align with your love of the Lord.  It does not come wrapped up in shame and guilt.  It is more a feeling that you want to change, not because you have to  or because someone told you to, but more because you love God and you want to do all you can to please Him and honor Him.

This verse ends with “Blessed are all who take refuge in him!” I think this is a great way to end this verse.  It is a great reminder that although we are called to fear the Lord, we can and should also take refuge in Him.  He is our everything.  He is our protector, He is our savior, He is our Father, He is our everything.  When we are in trouble, He is where we should turn.  He is the one that will save us if we take refuge in Him.  We don’t have to do that though. He gives us the choice and if we wish to try and save ourselves, He will let us.  If we want to go at it alone, He will let us.  This verse is telling us that if we take refuge in Him instead then we will be blessed.  I don’t know about you, but I can use all the blessing I can get.  I chose to take refuge in the Lord, our God and our Savior.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and want to fear you in all the right ways.  Teach us not to be afraid of you but to walk in all your ways, to love you, to serve the you with all our heart and with all our soul, and to observe your commands and decrees. Lord, open our eyes and help us to see you as you truly are and not in the distorted ways we have come to see you.  Help us to not be afraid of you and yet to never lose that awe and that reverence for you. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I know some of you noticed there was not a Witness Wednesday yesterday.  Someone even reached out to make sure all was ok.  I really appreciate that, it was sweet.  We did have something come up in our family late Tues night and I was at the hospital all day on Wednesday with one of my sons.  He is ok now, thanks be to God however, we could always use your prayers for our boys as they are teens and being a teenager in this day and age is really difficult.  There was not an episode posted yesterday because I was not home to pose it.  I have since posted the Witness Wednesday so it is there to listen to. I look forward to meeting you hear again tomorrow.  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

The June 16th episode on gluttony caught many listeners by surprise, so today Heather revisits this topic to go even deeper into what the Bible says about gluttony. Heather delves into the topic of gluttony again and provides listeners with tools to think critically about what it means according to Scripture, not bloggers or internet pundits.

Today Heather discusses how the Church has historically used manmade created lists of virtues and vices but how it's crucial to interpret them in light of God's word. She also questions how our interpretations of scripture have been influenced by diet culture and encourages listeners to have conversations with their spiritual leaders about this topic, with their Bibles open.

Here are some of the resources referenced in today's show:

Listen to part one on Gluttony here: https://omny.fm/shows/compared-to-who/what-is-gluttony-really-what-the-bible-really-says

John Cassian's 8 Vices: https://www.wenorthodox.com/forum/on-spiritual-life/on-the-eight-vices-st-john-cassian-c-ad-360-c-435

Some interesting thoughts on Evagrius Ponticus and John Cassian from a Catholic priest: https://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/02/mysticism-evagrius-ponticus-and-john.html

Deuteronomy 21:18

Proverbs 23

Proverbs 24:13

1 Timothy 3

Colossians 2

Today's episode is sponsored by Classical Conversations. Learn more at: www.classicalconversations.com/comparedtowho

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Proverbs 30 is attributed to Agur son of Jakeh and contains a collection of wise sayings and profound insights. This chapter emphasizes the pursuit of wisdom and the fear of the Lord. Agur acknowledges his own limited understanding and recognizes the infinite wisdom of God. He humbly asks God to keep falsehood and lies far from him, and to provide him with neither poverty nor riches. Agur recognizes the dangers of extreme wealth, which may lead to self-sufficiency and forgetfulness of God, as well as extreme poverty, which may tempt one to steal and bring dishonor to God's name. The chapter concludes with an exhortation to trust in God's Word, which is pure and serves as a shield for those who take refuge in it.

Proverbs 31 presents the famous passage known as the "Virtuous Woman" or "Proverbs 31 Woman." It is an ode to an exemplary woman who embodies wisdom, diligence, and godly character. This chapter provides practical wisdom on various aspects of life, including family, work, and community. The virtuous woman is praised for her industriousness, resourcefulness, and her ability to provide for her household. She is depicted as a woman of noble character who fears the Lord and speaks with wisdom. The chapter concludes by stating that she is to be honored and praised for her many virtues.

These two chapters in Proverbs, Proverbs 30 and 31, provide valuable lessons on wisdom, godly living, humility, trust in God, responsible living, and the virtues of a noble character. They remind us to seek wisdom, fear the Lord, and live our lives with integrity and purpose, honoring God in all that we do.

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Thanks so much for listening to the show. We'll See you tomorrow.
-Ryan and Jenny

Theology in Action is a series where we discuss the things we deal in our daily lives to learn how to think and behave in a biblical way.

In this episode of Theology in Action, Pastor Tony and and Levi talk about the fear of the Lord. Why is it important, and why did Solomon say it's the beginning of wisdom?

For more resources like this, visit us at:  Verse By Verse Fellowship.

For the study resources and manuscript go to VBVF.ORG

Deuteronomy 8-10 contains important speeches given by Moses to the Israelites. In chapter 8, Moses reminds the people to remember the Lord and his commandments as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. He emphasizes that God provided for them during their wilderness journey and warns them not to forget him once they experience prosperity.

In chapter 9, Moses stresses that the Israelites have not been chosen because of their righteousness but because of God's grace. He also recounts how he interceded for the people after they worshiped the golden calf and underscores the importance of obedience to God's commands.

Finally, in chapter 10, Moses instructs the Israelites to make new tablets of stone to replace the ones he broke in anger. He reminds them of the importance of loving and obeying God and of caring for the vulnerable, including the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. These speeches serve to reinforce the Israelites' covenant with God and to remind them of their responsibilities as his chosen people.

The inconsistencies between Exodus 37 and Deuteronomy 10 regarding who built the ark can be attributed to several factors.

Firstly, it's worth noting that the Bible was written by multiple authors over a long period of time, and there may have been different traditions and sources that were used in the composition of these texts.

Additionally, it's possible that there were errors or omissions in the transmission or translation of the texts over time. For example, some scholars suggest that the text in Deuteronomy may have originally read "the Lord made for himself" rather than "I made," and that this was a later copyist error.

Another possibility is that different authors had different perspectives on who should be credited with the construction of the ark. In Exodus, the emphasis is on the work of Bezalel and Oholiab, who were specifically chosen and gifted by God for the task. In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving a more general overview of the Israelites' journey and may be using a more inclusive perspective that highlights the contribution of the community as a whole.

Ultimately, while there may be some inconsistencies in the text, these do not necessarily undermine the central message of the Bible or the importance of the ark as a symbol of God's presence among his people.

#God #dailybible #bibleinayear #dailybiblepodcast #jesus #christianity #faith #bible #love #christian #prayer #holyspirit #gospel #godisgood #worship #hope #bibleverse #scripture #blessed  #salvation #truth #christ #godsplanyourpart #church #Deuteronomy10 #ArkBuilders #BibleInconsistencies #BibleContradictions #BibleInterpretation #BiblicalScholarship #ReligiousDebate #FaithAndReason #SymbolicMeaning #Deuteronom

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Thanks so much for listening to the show. We'll See you tomorrow.
-Ryan and Jenny

Deuteronomy 5-7 contains Moses' retelling of the Ten Commandments and further instructions for the Israelites on how to live in obedience to God. The focus is on the idea that obeying God's commandments is ultimately good for his people.

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses reminds the Israelites of the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments, which include instructions on how to worship God, treat others with respect, and lead a moral life. He emphasizes that obedience to God's commandments will lead to blessings and prosperity, while disobedience will result in punishment.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses stresses the importance of teaching the commandments to future generations and integrating them into every aspect of daily life. He explains that following God's laws will result in a long and prosperous life in the Promised Land.

In Deuteronomy 7, Moses warns the Israelites against intermarrying with the Canaanites and other neighboring peoples who worship false gods. He explains that God has chosen them to be his people and that obedience to his commandments will result in protection and victory over their enemies.

Overall, the message of Deuteronomy 5-7 is that obeying God's commandments is the key to a happy and successful life. By following his laws, the Israelites will receive blessings and protection, while disobedience will result in punishment and hardship.

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Thanks so much for listening to the show. We'll See you tomorrow.
-Ryan and Jenny

In one of our highest rated podcasts, Tom Flaherty shares how intimacy with God is the hidden treasure of the Christian walk. Knowing the Love of Father God brings us to a place of deep relationship.   Intimacy with God releases joy, freedom and delight!  It is the greatest need of the church as it keeps Christians safe from sin and appathy.    The most critical thing is our confidence before the Throne of God.   That is what the enemy fears.  God wants to raise up shameless Christians that come to Him in faith through prayer.  The Fear of the Lord, Choosing His Presence and Refusing to be Offended brings us intimacy with Jesus!