And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:s And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Jeremiah 32:39-40
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
In this passage God tells the nation of Israel that He will give them a specific kind of heart. He says there hearts will be unified, and that this unity will come when they fear God. He said He would put a fear for Him in their hearts.
What do you think it means to have a heart that fears God? That could sound like a negative thing, But obviously God loves us. So, what does it mean to have a heart that fears God, and why is that a good thing?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
To have a heart tht fears god.. I think it means tht u should fear god because there r things tht he can do tht maybe we underestimate all those things. Like when Peter was in a storm on the ocean and Jesus just happen to be there.. And Peter was fearful because he’s like who is tht? Who can walk on water? So… He asked if it was Jesus.. And said, r u jesus? Jesus said.. Yes come to me. And Peter walked on water. But he only stayed on water because he was focused on jesus! 🙂 I think tht what it means when u have a heart of fear… So let me know.. Cuz I don’t think tht I did good.
but great as always!! :))) love u guys :))
*Prayer Requests* — 1) my mom had a job interview yesterday.. So let’s pray tht she gets it.
2) my migraines.. I have had them for 5 days in a row now.. 😦 so I think my mom is taking me to the doctor sometime. 🙂
3) thanks for all ur prayers for everything guys!! 🙂 <333333
Good job guys I think we should be afraid of god because if you fear god it is the beginning to knowledge and he can
Do things that we can’t believe!! 🙂
Thanks Mafalda! 🙂
Cool Analogy Tristian!
sorry about your migraines Tristian. I will pray for you and your family especially your mom for her interview today.
Thanks Laura. I appreciate it! 🙂
Good Morning,
To an unsaved person there are some words in the bible that could be confusing when describing God. Besides fear, another word that comes to mind is—jealous. When we hear God is a jealous God this could be confusing too. This word actually tripped up Oprah! When she heard God described this way is upset her and was one of probably many reasons Oprah seemed to loose some of her faith. (I actually heard her say this on one of her talk shows.) A lot of people including preachers from around the country tried through communication on the internet and probably to her personally to explain what that word meant. There were a lot of concerned people for Oprah. The word jealous to us usually means envy, wanting something someone else has. When describing God it is talking about His desire for us to only worship Him and not other Gods or idols. This is not a negative thing because our worship belongs to only Him. God won’t tolerate us worshiping other Gods and He has the complete right to feel this way. The word fear in the dictionary means concern or anxiety. A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain. Some thing that causes feelings of dread. When referring to God fear means having reverence for God. Worshiping Him in awe. Respecting Him, obeying and submitting to Him. These are all positive things that we should want to do as a Child of God. When we fear God is pleases Him. It also keeps us in a “right” relationship with Him. We should worship Him is awe after all He gave His Son to save us from our sins so we could someday have eternity with Him. I am grateful for this and fear the Lord.
I saw that interview with Oprah. That was completely a misinterpretation of scripture. Pretty sad.
The first thing that came to mind when I heard we need to fear God is well he loves us right so he doesn’t want us to do thing that diss please him so we should fear him like before we do something bad we should have fear in are hearts like the same fear we have of are parents like we no if we do something where going to get in trouble that’s fear that it says to have in your heart.
Great point Blake. It’s a healthy fear- a respect, or a reverance. Good stuff…
I think fearing God means, not being afraid of Him but respecting Him. And knowing that He is God. Sometimes it’s easy to think that the world revolves around me, but it doesn’t at all! That’s not why God created to be on this earth. To fear Him means to know that HE IS GOD and it’s all about Him. So I think it’s a good thing because it’s what God wants. He wants us to fear Him, in a good way, and we should obey Him to have that right heart we’re looking for! I’m not really sure if I got that right, but I tried 🙂 See you guys tomorrow!
good Comment Alexis! 🙂
I think to fear God means to respect him and to not go against his wishes. God says I will put fear in there hearts that they shall not depart from me. I think that means that the fear will make them grow closer to God and want to be with him.
How are you feeling Ben?
good comment btw
I never really understood what it meant to fear God until I got older. I like to think of it like a relationship with our parents. Our parents love us, and we love them, but they have authority over us. We fear our parents because they ultimately have the power as a parent. God is the same, except His power is infinite. God is our father of the heaven and earth. He created us, and in that creation He expects not just a love for Him but also a fear for Him. It’s so easy to have a fear for our parents when they are in our face yelling, or ground us, but it’s harder to have a fear for the Lord when the consequences are sometimes not easy to be aware of. It says in Job 28 that fearing the Lord is wisdom, and departing from evil is understanding. It also says in Ecclesiastes 12 that fearing God and keeping His commandments is the duty of men. It’s our duty to fear God, not in a sense of that we’re too afraid of Him, but in a form of respect that we remember that God is about us, above all things, and that He is most important. It took me a long time to understand this concept, but it’s so important, and I’m so glad that not only can I love a God so great, but that I can also fear Him, because I know of all the things He can do! Great stuff!
God is above us, not about us *
What came to my mind is that God is above all of us and it is perfectly normal to fear God well to me it is….Um also what came to my mind is people older than us cause we fear them somtimes mostly our perants and teachers, But if we didnt fear god than we might do stupid stuff and think he cant do anything about it witch is really messed up.
Having a heart that fears God is a good thing because fearing God is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). He gives us knowledge about the world, about Him, and our lives. Fearing someone makes me respect them more.. Like I get scared to disappoint God because I know He’ll be upset with me, and I become upset with myself. Fearing Him makes me aware of the actions I need to stay away from & the actions He would want me to do. Definitley increases my love for God! Jeremiah 33:40 says that God gave us a fearing heart so that we don’t leave Him. It’s weird, sometimes when you fear someone you wanna leave them. But with God it’s a different kind of fear. It’s the fear of losing my passion for God when I start screwing up.. Or not having Him in my life like I should. Fearing Him makes Him very real in my life, I never want to lose God. 🙂
So im struggling a bit in school with stress & trying to focus on God during the day. This is the 1st day in 2012 where I did my devos with a bible on my lap, and really reading God’s word. I just wanna ask for prayer, to help me stay focused and passionate for what’s important in life & to not stress out so much. Thanks guys. 🙂
Lindsey, I understand that it can be difficult, and I’m really praying for you! I’m glad to see you continuing to grow!
Thank you so much Pastor Ben. 🙂 I really appreciate it!