Jump Start # 1104

Revelation 14:7 “and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the Heaven and the Earth and sea and springs of water.”

  It is interesting how many times in Revelation sounds are identified as LOUD. Here, there is a loud voice. It’s a voice you can’t miss. It grabs our attention. It makes us stop what we are doing. A loud voice made a declaration about God. Three things are said:

1. Fear God. Often, the word fear means reverence or respect. Other times it means what it says, fear. The word here is a form of the word “phobia.” We know phobias. There is a long list of all kinds of phobias. For instance, amaxophobia is the fear of riding in a car. I think many people have ecclesiphobia. That is the fear of church. Homilophobia is the fear of sermons. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of your mouth. My favorite in the list of all these phobias is phobophobia—the fear of fear. There ought to be a “fear” of God because of who He is and His position. Lacking any fear, can make us too casual and even flippant toward Him. We can find ourselves arguing with God and even thinking that He is one of us. He’s not. Job learned. He learned that he was out of line for questioning God. God never owes us an explanation. When people in tears scream, “Why God?” they need to remember and recognize who they are talking to. God doesn’t work for us. He is not on our staff. He isn’t the genie that comes at our ever beckoning. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth and was doing just fine long before we came along. The fear of God carries over to the fear of disobeying His word and changing what He established.

2. Give Him Glory. Honor Him. This is done with attitude. This is done through words. This is done by righteous living. This is done through obedience. The attention goes to God. The New Testament reminds us to glorify God and in all we do to give Him glory. We are on His side, not He is on our side. There is a difference. Watch how you use the name of God. It’s not intended to be blurted out when you don’t know what else to say. It’s not a word to shout when angry, upset, or excited. His name is holy, as He is. Glorify Him by honoring His name.

3. Worship Him. Worship is not limited to the church building. We worship, at least we ought to, every day. Prayer, singing praises, being thankful are acts of worship. We do this throughout the day, every day. Worship God because He is deserving. Worship God because our souls need to do that. Worship God because we are from Him and are going to Him. Have you prayed today? Have you “thanked” God today? Even in the darkest storms, there are ways to be thankful. Have you invited God into your life today? He’s waiting.

Three commands coming from a loud voice. Fear God. Give God glory. Worship God. I sometimes wish that voice was a bit louder. Sometimes I forget. I get busy, too busy, and I forget these three things. Sometimes I get thinking about myself too much and can think I got the unfair side of the stick. I can look at others and think why is it that they have things nicer than I do? Too much of me gets in the way of Godly thinking. That loud voice helps. It reminds. Fear God. Don’t argue with Him. Give Him glory. Don’t dishonor Him. Worship Him. Get your mind off of self and on to Him.

Give these three things some attention today. It may make the day turn around better than you thought. It may make the day go faster. It may help you through some tough spots.

Fear Him…Glorify Him…Worship Him. Not hard stuff. Just a matter of doin…

Roger