Holy Boldness

authenticity and obedience. “ With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8) The fear of the Lord simplifies a person’s life immeasurably because God does not play mind games with His people. His purpose is not to confuse but to clarify. When a person tries to please men, life gets complicated and unsure. When a person lives to please God, life gets simpler. 2. Confidence- the longer a person walks in the fear of the Lord practically with secret devotion the more confident they will grow in their ability to hear God and follow through with their obedience. Confidence is one of the secrets to leadership. People will follow confidence because they feel secure with a leader who is secure about His own journey with the Lord. 3. Intimacy- a shared secret is always a point of intimacy between friends. If a person wants to be intimate with God, then he or she must do things that only God knows about. 4. Joy- One of the greatest benefits of the fear of the Lord is the joy one feels when they submit their works to God for evaluation. When God is pleased with my service to Him, He lets me know and then He encourages me. When He is not pleased, He lets me know and as I adjust to His correction, then He still encourages me. There was a time in my life when I lived for the approval of man. As a young pastor of a denominational church every Sunday I would stand at the back of the church as people filed out and shake hands and listen to how people enjoyed the sermon that day. That was a terrible trap for me but it was one of those traditions that I had bred into me from my childhood. For many church leaders, Mondays are hard days as they evaluate their performance based on the previous day’s events. But then one day I began to learn how to experience the Lord’s pleasure. I

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