Devotional Day 22

Scripture

Numbers 12:1-8

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. 4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. 7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Devotional

One of the most exciting implications of increasing in the fear of the Lord is friendship with him. Friendship with God isn’t something that we are entitled to just because we are christians. Friendship with God is something to be pursued. God desires that we might be close with him, that we might enjoy his manifest presence, speak with him and that he would even share his secrets with us. For example, look at God’s defense of his friendship with Moses.

We can see that Moses had a great fear of the Lord, for he was called humble, which we have learned from proverbs 22:4 is the fear of the Lord. We also learn that he was faithful and obedient to the Lord. Contrast this with Miriam and Aaron did not have the fear of the Lord in this moment, as they were not afraid to speak against Moses, engaging in the sin of gossip. God actually defended his friend Moses, telling Aaron and Miriam that he speaks to them in visions and dreams, but because Moses is his servant he can speak with him directly.

When we fear the Lord he will treat us as his friends because we are treating him properly.

Additionally, in the New Testament, when Jesus was speaking to his disciples he said this:

John 15:14-15

You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Did you notice the if there? Not all are automatically friends with God, but rather those who are obedient to Christ.

God even promises to share his secrets with those who fear him!

Psalm 25:14

"The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them."

God doesn’t confide in everyone, only in those who fear him. Have you ever read the bible and looked at the lives of people like Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, the Apostles or even read the stories of Christians in church history, or heard of christians alive today who have encounters with God that are almost unbelievable, and who seem to have a real, tangible, conversational friendship with God, and wondered if that kind of relationship with God was still available? Well, if you want to have this type of friendship with God, then it begins with the fear of the Lord. Fearing God is about so much more than simply not sinning, and yet that’s where so many Christians peak. When you read stories in the bible where, for example, the Apostle Paul had such mind blowing encounters with God that he was forbidden to even speak about them, do you wonder if that kind of relationship with God was still possible? It is. God shares his secrets with those who fear him, he makes his covenant known to them.

Here’s where I want you to dial in, increasing in the fear of the Lord is a wonderful thing. It will not only produce a hatred for sin in you, and protect you from other fears driving your life, most importantly it will enable you to grow much closer to the Lord than you ever dreamed possible. Anecdotally, our experience with God proves this to be true doesn’t it. When I was caught in pornography addiction and also lacked a fear of the Lord, I tolerated sin. Although my relationship with God was close, it was not anywhere near where it could be. I didn’t even know it at the time, because I really did love the Lord. However, as I have grown in my fear of the Lord I can honestly say that friendship with God has been one of the most beautiful and unexpected gifts. I didn’t know that God would still allow people so close, that he would manifest his presence in such tangible ways, speak with so much clarity and frequency or even share his secrets, but he does, and so much more. When you begin to fear God and deeply get to know him it’s as if your eyes are opened to infinite joy and wonder, it’s indescribable… He’s indescribable.

Prayer

Spend some time in prayer today expressing your desire for deeper friendship with God, asking for an outpouring of the Fear of the Lord to come upon your life through the Spirit. Also spend some time in repentance, that you’ve sought friendship with the world, with sin, with things other than him.