thoughts by Rev. D. Forster Archives - Daily Thoughts about God

Published July 23, 2024

A Prayer to be as One

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:20-21 (NKJV)

This prayer is for us to be as one just as the Father and Son are one.

Think about that for a moment. Reflect upon the intimacy between the Father, Spirit, and Son. How amazing and perfect is the love that flows endlessly between them?

Now think about this—you and I have been invited in to this circle of perfect love. The Creator of the universe wants to be one with us, and the Bible even says that believers are “hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)

The thought of this floors me to my knees and takes the wind out of my sail. This is the grace and mercy that I want to flow from me, and it’s not something I can do on my own. This is the compassion and love that I want others to see in my life. I want them to see me and the Father as one, and to see Christ as the one who makes all that possible.

Lord, thank You for going out of Your way to welcome me into relationship with You and with the Father and the Spirit. May I seek intimacy with You daily and demonstrate Your perfect love to the Christians I have fellowship with.

Action Point: If you’ve found yourself being impatient or short with anyone lately, run back to Jesus and enjoy the oneness with the father that He has made possible for you. Let His love wash over you. Then go and love those people in your life who you find frustrating. Go out of your way to speak an encouraging word to them this week.

by Rev. Daniel Forster
used by permission

Powerful Poems

• I Love You, Jesus

• My Lord, My Companion

• I am Thanking You right NOW

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Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rev. D. Forster

A Child at His Feet

Published July 2, 2024

A Child at His Feet

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Everyone seeks comfort and mercy.

We often seek it out through our earthly fathers and mothers. However loving and comforting they are, we soon find that what they have to give is just not enough to fill the void that’s deep in our souls.

Our Father in heaven, the great I AM, Creator of the entire universe, wants to fill that void in our hearts and souls. He is the creator of comfort, and it is His mercy that will wipe away every affliction that comes against us. He calls us to come before Him as children; to be comforted, to be healed, to wipe away our tears, fill us with strength, and shower us in His mercy.

Not only does He fill our void, but He also wants to work through us in filling the voids in others’ lives. Our Father will do anything to draw us into His very near and intimate presence; all through Christ Jesus.

Let’s take some time to get hungry for how much our Father in heaven wants us to spend every moment of our lives with Him. Let’s allow Him to wipe away every affliction with His mercy, and fill every void with His comfort.

Father, Abba (Daddy), help us to put aside our adult pride, as we come before You as your sons and daughters, humbly seeking Your comfort and mercy. We are so thankful that we are able to come into Your loving arms, sit at Your feet, and be filled with Your comfort. Thank You Jesus that it is by You that we are able to have a deep and intimate relationship with our Father in Heaven. In Your mighty and loving name, Amen.

Spend a few moments each day in His Word, soaking up all His fatherly characteristics and finding out how much He truly loves and cares for you.

By Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

The Beautiful Thing about Commitment

“And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” Ephesians 4:11-13 (HCSB)

Living for Christ can seem hard, even impractical at times. We tend to focus on what we can do to earn our way to God, rather than accepting His free gift of salvation and allowing Him to work through us.

When Christ died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins so that we would be free from sin and death. The barrier that separated humanity from God was literally torn; we no longer stand separated from Him. In fact, He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us, guiding us to Him, showing us the heart of the Father.

The beautiful thing about committing to serving and obeying Jesus anytime, anywhere, at any cost, to do anything, is that He gives us what we need to live our lives for Him and for His glory. This includes being given gifts of a spiritual nature, such as prophecy or teaching, evangelism or pastoring. Consider what it would be like if each member of the body of Christ, His Church, actually recognized and used his or her gifts. Think of the depth of faith that would be realized, or how the church would be unified. Not to mention how God would be glorified!

This is how we are to live our lives practically for God: recognizing our gifts and how we can contribute to the body of Christ. Then we will be the light on a hill, the salt of the Earth.

Father, thank You for Your gift of salvation. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and let Your gifts come alive in me so that You may reach the lost and build up Your Church. For Your glory, honor and praise. Amen.

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

Where Do Your Works Come From?

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” Job 38:4-7 (NLT)

Have you ever had something truly traumatic happen in your life?

Has something rocked the foundation of what you thought you understood as your life or way of life? It happened to a man named Job in the bible, and it happened to me as well.

In the spring of 2009 my mom passed away after a battle with cancer. In a single moment, years of regret, shame, and just plain confusion swept over me. I became very angry with God, very depressed, and very lost. Everything that I had built in my life started to come unraveled. One day I heard a preacher refer to reading the book of Job during a time of struggle in your life.

As I read through Job, I found myself taking Job’s side in his arguments and questions regarding God’s decisions. I felt like a fan on the side line cheering on a character in a story. That is, until I reached Chapter 38, when the full force of conviction swept over me.

Where was I when the foundation of the earth was laid? Oh. I was not there, but God was. God goes on like this for two whole chapters in Job.

“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.” Job 38:12-14(NLT)

I was convicted. Who was I to challenge God? Did He not create every single thing around me, including me? We have a choice in every moment of our lives. It is a choice to challenge God and turn from Him, or a choice to follow Him, the one who created everything. I may still to this day not understand why my mom had to die from cancer, yet I no longer seek a reason to understand.

Instead I have chosen to put my trust and faith in the creator of all things, my God. I have peace and rest in my soul today because I know God knows what He is doing. In Him I find a cornerstone to rest my life upon. I can choose to be angry, and go back to feeling lost and helpless; or, I can choose to find joy and peace in my Savior, my God.

God in Heaven, when I have questions, when I am angry and in pain, remind me that You are the one who set the Earth on its foundation. Remind me that somehow, miraculously, you also know my name. You are above me and yet you chose to come down to Earth to meet me. Reveal your love to me. Amen

Question: Are you struggling with pain and confusion in your life? Consider the book of Job and his response to God.

by Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

Prayer at the Worst of Times

“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 (NKJV)

Imagine you wake up in the morning, and it’s a beautiful day. You praise God as you head out into the world, but the day turns out to be nothing like you expected. People are turning on you, anger and pain surrounds you; even loved ones seem to be against you. The noise of the world becomes almost too loud to bear; your past comes to bear down against you.

Or worse yet, what if by the end of the day you found yourself unjustly put in jail: sitting on a cold slab of concrete, with the smell of urine and body odor filling the cell and the person next to you shaking violently as they withdraw from drugs. Would there still be a place in your heart for prayer? Would you want to sing praises? Paul and Silas knew this circumstance; in fact, theirs was even worse. They were beaten within inches of their lives. Yet their hearts were not broken. Their hearts were filled with Him, our Lord, our God; out of their mouths came the joy of His Spirit, in song and in prayer.

How could gazing at Jesus in prayer and praise transform your worst days?

God, thank You that You never change. You are always faithful. If today turns out to be wonderful, I can praise You. If it turns out to be difficult, I can rise above the circumstance through prayer and praise. Help me turn to You at the worst and best of times. Amen.

If you’re having a rough day today, just open your mouth and tell God one thing you love about him. Then try it again and again and again, until His joy fills you and you see Him as bigger than your circumstances.

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

PRAYERS FOR THE WEARY

A Prayer for Healing

A Prayer for When You are Weak or Ill

A Prayer for When you Feel Like you have Failed

A Prayer for When you are Fearful

A Prayer for Strength during troubling times

A Prayer for Conflict Resolution

A Prayer for Those Carrying Heavy Burdens

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Thoughts by Men thoughts by Rev. D. Forster

Revival

Published April 2, 2024

Revival

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

“Revival” is a word we know. It is something we pray for. Is it something we live for?

Do we really want a revival? Many of you will be quick to announce…Yes! But I will ask again. Do we really want a revival? A revival means we are living our lives for God and for God alone because we have surrendered our lives and have humbly and meekly come before Him. Are you willing to give up everything in your life to say yes to every move God asks you to make? Are you willing to live a revival, or are we just willing to pray for one?

I don’t mean to come across as being harsh; however, these are serious times we live in. There can be no mistake that to pray for a revival is to ask God to continue to change you, to touch your heart with His Spirit, to transform you. It means you want to grow closer to Him in every aspect of your life. It means you are willing to surrender completely to Him, and put all things in your life second to Him, and only Him.

In my household, we are truly praying for a revival and are willing to live it in our lives. I say this not to boast, yet to acknowledge that we know firsthand how hard this is to live out a revival in us every day. We are attacked daily, we are distracted daily, yet one thing has to remain. PRAYER. If we slip out of the habit of prayer we slip out of our revival and back into the same old, same old.

Only God can bring a revival. However, for God to bring a revival, we must seek a revival. This can only be done with prayer.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

Brothers, and Sisters, I pray for you and with you today that nothing in this world will keep you from spending some time with God today. Tell Him your hurts. Tell Him your pain. Tell Him about your confusion, your doubts, your worries, your concerns, and cry out to Him. Leave all of this at His feet. Turn from these things and look upon His face today.

Don’t just say you want to live your life for Him, believe you CAN live your life for Him. Walk in faith, upon His grace, and let your faith lead the way.

Father, Forgive us for our unbelief Lord that you will, and still do, work miracles in our lives every moment of every day. Lord let us be honest with you, and ourselves, in that we tend to live double minded lives. Lord we only want to live for you. We want to surrender all to you. Amen

Question: Are you ready for personal revival in your life?

by Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

Our Good and Righteous Father

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5, ESV)

God is our Father, He is our creator, and creator of all things. When we accept Jesus as truth, and believe fully in Him, we are adopted by God as His true children. We all become sons and daughters of God and are given the promise to spend eternity with Him.

We often focus only on the promise of eternity with God and sometimes neglect the fact that God is our Father. What does any good and righteous father do? He disciplines and teaches and sometimes even dishes out a dose of tough love. Yes, our God dishes out tough love, because He truly loves you. We see this here in verse two. Jesus says that God still prunes the branches that produce fruit. To prune is to remove the dead parts of the branch and even sometimes the live parts if it will help the branch produce more fruit.

So, how does this apply to you and me? Not all bad things that happen to you are really bad in the long run (this doesn’t mean it won’t hurt). God allows bad things to happen as a part of pruning you. We step out of our trials and tribulations closer to God, and with Him back as number one in our lives. This leads us to verse four. The branch can not produce fruit by itself. If God is not number one in your life, you are doing things on your own accord (by yourself) and are most likely due for a pruning.

For some of us, this is a hard concept to understand. Please allow me to share something from my life that may shed some light. At one point in my life, my job and providing and income had become more important than God. It wasn’t affecting my life any more than any of my neighbors around me, so I felt that I was doing the right thing. I saw no harm in my actions, in fact, I thought it was a good thing all around. Please notice the key word here…I.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God removed that job from my life. At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that could happen. I lost many “things” I had stored up. My prayers for a return to the environment I had been in were not answered, at least not in the way I expected them to be. In the moment of it all, it was devastating.

Yet, now many years later, God has done an amazing work on me. I learned during that time, that God needed to be number one in my life. I learned to lean on Him to help me get out of the mess that I had created. I trusted in Him, even if I did not understand what He was doing in my life. All of this has created many blessings in my life. I would not change it for anything. I am truly a better man today because of how God pruned me in my past, and still does today.

Folks, you can take this for what it is worth. In the heat of the trial, it is hard to understand that good can come from it. That God will bring praise and glory to Himself from it. I am living proof that it does bring praise and glory to Him, and I pray that whatever any of you are facing today in your lives, that you turn to God for help. Hold on to Jesus and the cross like it is life or death, because it is.

Father, we thank you today for the pruning You do in our lives. We praise you Lord, for loving us so much, that You only seek to better our lives. Lord we thank you for never forsaking us, for always being there for us when we need you, when we cry out to You. Lord I pray that if any of my brothers and sisters today are going through a pruning period of their life, that You fill them today overflowing with Your grace, mercy, and love. That they tie their life rope to Your anchor and that they hold on for dear life. Father we praise you when we win, and we praise you when we lose. Watch over us today and protect us from the snares of this world, in the name of Jesus, Amen

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

An Image of Truth

“…[You] have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:10-11 (HCSB)

The world looks at image in terms of popularity, appearance, and status quo. We as humans try so hard to fit in, be accepted, and look like we have it all together. But these images are just an illusion. The true image we represent is in the image of God Himself.

Half my life was spent as a people pleaser. I was always striving to gain the world’s acceptance and recognition. Not only was it exhausting, it was extremely unsatisfying as well. This world can’t give you a peace about who you are. Only God can. He says you were created in His image. In Christ you are born again, and you are renewed in His image. Only when we recognize this will we have peace about who we are.

Do you know what this means?

It means that your looks have nothing to do with your image. It means that the amount of money you make, or your status quo has nothing to do with who you really are. You are His child. You are His beloved, and your name is written upon His heart as He created you.

“I don’t need my name in lights
I’m famous in my Father’s eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name
I’m not living for applause
I’m already so adored.”
— Francesca Battistelli

In Christ we are one with Him. There is nothing that defines us other than His light, His love, and the fruit of His Spirit.

Father, help us to stop seeking our image of who we are from this world around us, and to start believing what our image is in You. You breathed life into us, handpicked us, and molded us to be exactly who You wanted us to be. Let us rest in knowing who we are in You: loved, treasured, adored, and redeemed. Amen.

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

His Authority

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:28-29 (NKJV)

Humans will corrupt the Word of God, it is in our nature. It was common place then by the scribes and religious leaders, as it is common place today, to take the Word of God and use it so it is advantageous to our wants; our way of life. When Jesus spoke, this was not the case. He spoke with authority as the Word of God. There was no agenda at all hidden behind His Words. Jesus spoke with a clear agenda, with the authority of God, to remove the facade of religion; to bring us into a relationship with Him.

Jesus in Chapter 7 of Matthew is clearly calling us to do more than just acknowledge His Words; He is calling us to follow Him. To follow others and the ways of the world will only lead to a way of life that is the “wide or broad way“, as opposed to the “narrow” way. There is no room in a relationship with Jesus for judging others, using prayer as a way to show authority on others, or to do to others that you would not want done to you.

This is His authority on which He speaks from. This is the Word of God from God Himself. No scribe or leader would speak this way, for it is not the way of humanity; it is the way of God.

Matthew 7:21 (HCSB)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but ?only? the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

by Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

The Fruit of Love

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23, NLT

Heartache and pain is part of life.

It can either bring us closer to the One who can transform the difficulties of life into fruit, or it can make us bitter, angry, and full of resentment. For a large portion of my life, I chose the latter. I had no peace in my heart, or patience, faithfulness and self-control, for that matter. I let the hurts of the world define who I was and what my heart would produce.

God changed all of that. I am a child of God. We are all sons and daughters of God because of what Jesus has done for us. He came as one of us, in the flesh, to die for our sins, shedding His own perfect blood as the sacrifice for all time. He has given us the right to be His children and heirs of His Kingdom. It is in His unfailing and unending Grace (undeserved, forever faithful love) that we find our true existence: forgiven, redeemed, and beloved.

Your identity now resides in His love—His perfect, unconditional, and forever faithful love. It is only through Christ Jesus that your hurts from this world can be transformed into fruit of His Spirit. It is through Him alone that you can know you’re loved and that you are able to love others.

Are you finding your identity in your relationship with God or in the things of this world?

Heavenly Father, we come before You today with a humble and repentant heart, seeking You and only You. Fill us with Your love so we may overflow with the fruit of Your Spirit. Let it transform our hearts and spill over on to all we interact with in. Amen.

Thought: Identify anything that is preventing you from truly receiving God’s love deeply and passing it on. Ask Him to remove any fear, bitterness, and pain you’ve been carrying and to instead give you His Spirit of truth so your life will become more fruitful.

By Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

From the Eyes of God

Have you heard the saying “perception is reality”? I used to believe that but praise God, He has taught me otherwise. All throughout the Bible we are taught that God does not see the same way that we do.

In 1 Samuel, the king Saul has lost the favor and spirit of the Lord our God because of his disobedience and his lack of repentance in his heart. God instructs Samuel the prophet to go to Bethlehem and seek a son of Jesse there. Samuel does not know his name. He has all of Jesse’s sons brought before him as the Lord directs him in which God will anoint as King of Israel. Today’s passage picks up the story when Samuel is looking on the sons of Jesse.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel,
‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:6-7 (ESV)

Notice even a man who knew God so well he was called to be a prophet for Him, did not see as the Lord saw. Samuel saw the first son, Eliab, and saw he was strong, tall, and fit to be anointed as king.

God on the other hand saw the hearts of all the sons of Jesse, and it was the smallest one that God choose to be the king if Israel.

We often judge ourselves, or judge others by our own sight. We assign value by size and stature, education and experience, by job or financial status. We also tend to judge by past sins. It is in our human nature to classify and make order of things. Take a good look at David and you will see, that the only thing that made him a great leader, warrior, and king was his heart for God.

Even in David’s darkest hour of sin, his heart was full of repentance. David found his way back to God and found forgiveness from God.

As you step out into the world today ask yourself, “Do I see things from my point of view?” Do you judge by the standards you have been taught or do you turn to God, and seek understanding from Him? Do you see with your eyes, or with God’s eyes?

Everyone loves to believe what they see. Few fans consider the heart of their hero. Not so with God. Celebrities are made when people idolize outward appearance. God is not impressed because He sees through the facade and knows the heart of man
– From: Kirk Cameron “Intimate Moments with God” Volume two

by Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

Learning To Fail and Succeed in God

What fears are holding you back from boldly stepping into the abundant life God has for you?

God gives us the choice of how we wish to see the obstacles and mistakes that fill our lives. Like the other choices He allows us to make, we can either listen to the world and let failure consume us, or we can listen to Him and learn to succeed through Him.

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ (Matthew 14:28-31 ESV)

Like Peter, when we try to succeed in something, we often start out strong. As believers we know we should seek Jesus, so with our eyes on Him, we step out in faith looking to succeed in what He has called us to do. Then, just like Peter, we usually run into an obstacle or two and become distracted. We are manipulated, lied to, or hurt; something in the world causes us to take our eyes off of our Lord and Savior.

If this has happened to you, you are not alone. Peter experienced distraction too and his life turned out remarkably. We know from Scripture that Jesus will always be there to grab hold of us and rescue us. We also know that there comes a bit of conviction from our Lord when we fail and take our eyes off of Him. What we sometimes forget is that His conviction is for our own good. It is a gesture of love, designed to bring us to repentance, which brings us closer to Him.

Each time we fail, we can grow closer to God as He teaches us how to succeed in Him and through Him. We have a choice: accept our failures and throw in the towel, or repent and turn our eyes back onto Jesus, learning to succeed in the will of our Father.

Many believers are afraid to even step out of the boat; fear of distraction or failure holds them back. Saints, failure is part of our growth process, and by God’s grace, it even brings healing.

Do not let the world put fear in you that keeps you from stepping out in faith and walking in the will of God. Let us cast away these fears and continue to walk in faith, knowing that His nail-scarred hand is right there to grab us when we fail.

Let us believe confidently that His grace and mercy is showering down on us to bring us closer to Him. Let us step out off the boat each and every day, letting our light shine in the dark places of this world. May our faithful steps glorify Him and His mighty name, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Lord, please give me the faith to trust You fully and obey You without reservation. Help me to see every failure as a chance to run to you so I can experience the life of Jesus living through me more and more each day. I choose to step out of the boat today. Amen

What fears are holding you back from boldly stepping into the abundant life God has for you? How could you overcome those fears through Christ?

by Daniel Forster
used by Permission

Never Absent

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38 (NLT)

Life is messy and unpredictable.

When I first surrendered my life to Christ back in the summer of 2009, I was under the impression that life would become neat and predictable. God, however, never promises us a life free from bumps and bruises. What He does promise is that He will always be with us and that nothing will ever separate us from His Love.

Yet, like Peter, we so easily allow ourselves to become distracted by the waves and the wind. Focusing on the messiness of life, we entertain fears and lies instead of turning our eyes towards His promises. Nevertheless, God never leaves us in our distracted and lost state.

A.W. Tozer said it best,

“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.”

Like a ray of light piercing the dark depths of the ocean; God reminds us with His word that nothing can separate us from His Love. He pours out His grace and mercy upon our lives, takes away our fears, silences our worries, and heals our pain with this simple reminder:

“I am with you. I love you. Follow me.”

Heavenly Father, thank You for not leaving us abandoned like orphans. Lead us Lord. Hold our hands and our hearts close to You as we travel this journey with You, in Jesus name, amen.

By Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

What is Fear of the Lord…?

I read the daily scripture this morning and I came across this:

Psalm 103:13 (ESV) “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him.“

Immediately my eyes and thoughts were drawn to the words “those who fear Him”. My mind raced around this concept as I thought about how I don’t so much fear my God as I revere Him. Our relationship is one of intimate love, one of a Father and a son. Can there be true fear in such an intimate relationship?

So I opened up the textbooks and began to study, and this is what I found. According to the Strong’s Concordance and Dictionary the Hebrew word for fear…does not just mean fear. In fact it is more commonly used to mean reverence. We see the Hebrew word is pronounced yaw-ray’ used in many scriptures of the Old Testament. In a perfect example of where yaw-ray’ does not mean actual fear, yet reverence; we see a scripture quoted by Jesus from the Old Testament. In quoting this scripture, Jesus does not use the same words as we have translated it to mean; in fact, He brings a whole different light to it. This scripture is:

Deuteronomy 6:13 (ESV) “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

And we see Jesus quoting it in: Luke 4:8 (ESV)

“And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”

We should worship, and reverently love our Lord our God, for only Him should we serve. If we fear our Lord our God, how can we reverently love on Him? How can we surrender completely to be in Christ and let Him abide in us if we have some form of fear? Yes I know, there is such a thing as healthy fear…and its called reverence, respect, love…not fear. When we talk about or put in our minds the word fear, we open a door or a footstool for the enemy. We then allow him to twist Fathers Words around; something he is very good at doing, and has been doing since the beginning of time.

There are other places in the Old Testament where this translation error stands true as well. The King James translators chose to translate the Hebrew Word mowra as fear, although it also means reverence, object of reverence, or an awe inspiring spectacle or deed. Another Hebrew word guwr, which can mean fear, but which also, means to stir up, sojourn, dwell with, remain, and dwell in or to stand in awe.

Father, let us worship you in our lives today, not fear you…

let us come to you my God, my Savior, and seek a deep and intimate loving relationship with you; not one of where I am afraid and see you as one who cannot be reached or one who is unobtainable. Father, let us remember your word, and plant it deep in our hearts…

Revelation 3:20 (ESV) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

1 John 4:18-19 (ESV) “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.”

Ephesians 3:17-19 (ESV) “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.“

by Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

From Brokenness to Holiness

“You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. ‘Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.’” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NLT)

As a brand new believer, I remember walking into a public health station in downtown Baltimore to acquire health insurance for my son. The place was horrible. The smell of vomit, feces, and urine was thick in the air. It was like I had walked into a war zone.

My first reaction was to feel defeated and worthless; however, God breathed His Spirit into me and I began to remember who I belonged to. His light was alive in me and I could enter these front lines of the world to show His goodness, to be His light amongst the dark places.

Who we are in God is more important than who we are to anyone else in this world. We are His chosen people, and we are His very own. The enemy wants us, as God’s children, to walk through this world feeling defeated. The enemy wants us to forget who we are in Christ, what He has done for us, and how much of a treasure we truly are to Him.

So wherever God leads you today, be His light in the darkness. Remember who you are in Him and how He sees you, not how the world sees you.

Father, we come before You as broken children. Make us holy in You, Lord. Fill us with Your light in that we may be Your light to a very dark world that surrounds us. Fill us with Your mercy. Let us remember Lord who we are in You. Let us remember Lord, by Your Holy Spirit, to whom we belong to. We ask this in the mighty name of Christ Jesus, Amen.

Thought: Are there areas in your life where the devil is shouting defeat in your ear? Take these concerns to God and let Him remind you who you are in Him. Trust Him to transform your mind from how you see yourself into how He truly sees you.

By Rev. Daniel Forster
Used by Permission

A Prayer to be as One