Tag Archives: fear of the Lord

God-Given Discernment

The Lamp of Conscience and the Love That Compels

Beloved, you who are called by His name, listen—

For the Lord searches not the surface, but the soul. He weighs the heart. He pierces between thought and intention. And He has placed within you a flame, small yet sacred—your God-given discernment. It is the lamp of conscience. It is the witness of the Spirit that testifies when truth walks by, and when lies disguise themselves as light.

Let your conscience not grow dull. Let your flame not flicker. Tend it, O child of God, and awaken to the fear of the Lord, for it is the beginning of wisdom and the secret path to His presence.

The Fear of the Lord Makes You See

We know the fear of the Lord—not as dread, but as delight. It is the trembling awe of standing before the Holy One, the I AM, the consuming fire. It is the heart bowed low in worship, lips trembling with obedience, soul stilled in reverence. And because we know His holiness, we cannot stay silent. We urge others to be reconciled to Him, because we ourselves have been pierced by His truth.

He sees us, beloved. We are plainly known to God (2 Corinthians 5:11, AMP). Nothing is hidden from His eyes. And now I ask you: do we live plainly before one another, before your conscience—your God-given discernment—that voice inside you that the Spirit has sanctified? Can you feel the pull of His Spirit within you even now, calling you closer?

Cast Off Appearances—Come Into the Light

Do not be like those who boast in outward things. They decorate themselves with religion, but their hearts are far. They speak of virtue, but know not the One who is holy. You, however, are not called to walk by sight. You are called to walk by the fire of discernment, fed by the oil of His Spirit.

The world will mock you. They called Paul mad. They will call you strange. But let your conscience be ruled not by their voices, but by the voice of the Shepherd. If we are out of our minds, let it be for God. If we are steady, it is for your strengthening (v.13).

Love Is the Fire That Consumes the Self

Hear this—the love of Christ controls and compels us (v.14). This love is not weak. It is not shallow. It is not selfish. It is consuming, jealous, holy, and eternal. It burns away all lesser loves. And it becomes the reason we no longer live for ourselves.

Yeshua died for all, and so we count ourselves already dead. We have no right to our own lives anymore. We belong to the One who rose again. Therefore, we live not for comfort, not for applause, not for success, but for Him who died and was raised for our sake (v.15).

O soul, are you still living for yourself? Lay it down. Die to it. Let His love compel you, let His flame consume the old. Let Him teach your conscience to beat with His burden and burn with His purpose.

Keep the Lamp Burning

There was a lampstand in the temple, made of pure gold, fed by oil, tended daily. That lamp never went out. It gave light to the priests in the holy place. That is your God-given discernment. It is your conscience lit by the Holy Spirit. If you neglect it, it will flicker. If you grieve Him, it will dim.

Tend it with prayer. Clean it with repentance. Feed it with the Word. Guard it with obedience. Let nothing unclean cross your heart without confession. The fear of the Lord will keep the fire burning. The love of Yeshua will make it blaze.

A Call to Walk Closer

You cannot walk near to the Lord with a numb conscience. You cannot follow Him with a heart half-alive. Come closer. Let the fire of discernment expose what’s false in you and what’s real in Him. Live for the Audience of One. Let His gaze be enough. Let His Spirit guide your every step.

This is not a time for shallow living. This is a time to burn. This is the hour to awaken your conscience and walk boldly in truth. God-given discernment is your gift, your guard, and your guide. Receive it, protect it, and live by it.

Prayer:

O Holy One,

Light the lamp within me. Let my conscience burn with Your truth. Awaken me from shallow living. Make me tremble again at Your Word. Teach me to live no longer for myself, but for Yeshua, who died and rose for me. Let the fire of the fear of the Lord burn in my bones. Let the love of Christ compel me forward. I surrender my heart to You—search me, know me, purify me. Let my life shine as a lamp in the holy place. In Yeshua’s name, Amen.

See Also

Return to Breathless Adoration

Beloved, I write to you not with lofty words, but with a trembling heart. There is no God like our God—El Shaddai—faithful to His covenant and overflowing in mercy toward those who walk before Him with undivided hearts (2 Chronicles 6:14, AMP). And yet, I ask you: Where has the reverence gone? Where is the stillness before His Majesty? Where is the breathless adoration due His holy name?

Have we not traded the fear of the Lord for comfort? The wonder of His presence for polished performance?

The prophet Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined!’” (Isaiah 6:4–5, AMP). This was not a man entertaining religious routine—this was a man undone by the glory of the living God.

And yet, in our generation, we whisper His name with casual hearts. We structure our services to control the clock, not to create space for the Spirit. A.W. Tozer wrote, “The whole Christian family stands desperately in need of a restoration of penitence, humility, and tears.” I ask you: Do you feel that ache? That groaning deep within that cries out for more than a sermon and a song? Do you yearn for that breathless adoration of His presence?

Breathless adoration is the soul’s response to the unveiled glory of God. It cannot be summoned by emotion or noise. It is born in the heart that sees Him rightly—holy, exalted, unchanging. The psalmist declared, “Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 33:8, AMP). This is the posture He desires: not mere participation but reverence.

Yeshua rebuked the religious spirit that honored God with lips but withheld the heart. “But in vain do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:9, AMP). When worship is reduced to routine, it loses its power. When songs are sung without surrender, they ring hollow. We must repent of going through the motions while ignoring the One we claim to adore.

Let your heart be pierced again.

“Rend your hearts [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant] (Joel 2:13, AMP). This is not a harsh word—it is a merciful call. A summons to deeper waters. A whisper from the throne room saying, “Come closer with breathless adoration.”

The early Church understood this. They prayed in one accord, they waited on the Spirit, and “when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31, AMP). That shaking came not from chaos but from unity, hunger, and fear of the Lord.

O Church, we need that holy shaking again.

Not noise—but nearness.

Not performance—but presence.

Not religion—but fire.

The psalmist cried, “One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord and to meditate in His temple” (Psalm 27:4, AMP). This is the language of breathless adoration. It does not ask, “What will I get?” but cries, “Let me gaze upon Him!”

Let us cast down our pride. Let us abandon the polished and return to the pure. Let the altar be rebuilt—not with perfect programs but yielded hearts. Fall to your knees. Let the Spirit strip away everything false and make room again for holy awe and breathless adoration.

The Lord still waits to be gracious to you. “Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly and longs] to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them]” (Isaiah 30:18, AMP).

Return to breathless adoration. Return to the Presence. Return to your first love.

Prayer

Abba, we have grown too comfortable. We have sung without trembling and prayed without awe. We have mistaken activity for anointing. Forgive us. Draw us back to the place of wonder. Pierce our hearts, Lord, and awaken us to the beauty of Your holiness with breathless adoration.

Yeshua, teach us to wait again. Let every gathering, every song, the nearness of Your Spirit mark every prayer. Let holy fear return to Your Church. Let reverence rise again like incense before Your throne.

Ruach HaKodesh, breathe upon dry bones. Shake what needs to be shaken. Strip away the superficial and make us people of fire—marked by breathless adoration.

We seek Your face, not Your hand. Dwell among us again. In Yeshua’s holy name, Amen.

See Also