What does the "Fear of the Lord" really mean?

Proverbs 8:13 says we fear the Lord by hating evil. Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." How do we gain knowledge? By being open to truth. By seeking God as for choice silver. By putting our face like flint and making a conscientious decision to be diligent! Scriptures say, we must believe that He is and is a rewarder of those who DILIGENTLY seek him! (Hebrews 11:6). We need to seek God Hot! "I would rather you are cold than lukewarm" (Revelations 3:15-16). What are the benefits of fearing the Lord? Open your Bible and read Psalm 25:12-14.

Did you know that disease is a curse?

Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 indicate that anything that is NOT a blessing is a curse. Listed under curses are all manners of diseases. Listed under blessings, there are no diseases. So by deductive reasoning, we can say that a disease is a curse.

But what about Jesus?

He died for our sins and removed the curse. Yes that is true, but we have to appropriate to ourselves what He has done for us. Many of us don’t even know what appropriation is or even how to do it. We go around in unbelief and fear wondering why we aren’t being healed. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement was on him for peace, and by his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Once we appropriate what Jesus has done, we will be able to walk in this promise. We help people find this promise by helping them locate where they are as a believer, acknowledging truth about themselves, and help them on their way to achieving this promise. The road between Salvation and Heaven is the "road of mercy and grace". We need God’s hand and love to help us achieve this mark.

We achieve this mark by experience and walking through some things. By passing through good times and passing through bad times. I personally see life as an obstacle course. Isaiah 43:1-3 says a comforting word to you, "But now, says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, Fear Not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

Did you know that a dis-ease couldn’t come without a cause?

(Proverbs 26:2) "As a bird by wondering and a swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come".

I believe there is a mind and body connection. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7). If we think we are going to get a disease, then most likely you may get one. The Bible says in the book of Job: "The thing I feared the most has come upon me."

In medical terms, this is called Psychosomatic medicine – Connection of mind and body! This was a term I heard on the radio the other day verifying that the mind and body are connected and proven by the medical community. It is a "new" term but has always been in the pages of the Bible.

For example, can you tell when people are depressed? They have a look of hopelessness; they have a sad countenance and so on. It’s because of the things going on in their mind. A "thing" cannot make you depressed. It’s how our mind processes that "thing" in our mind to a positive outlook or a negative! You must agree, it effects that person’s health. They become lethargic, sickly, immune system functions improperly which opening doors to all kinds of illnesses. They even effect those around them causing others grief and sorrow. So we can agree that what we think can effect our health.

The main objective we all desire to see in our lives are the Promises of God. But the truth is, may of us know so many promises, yet we aren't seeing them manifesting in our own lives. Why? Because there could be something blocking them -which we go into later in this teaching. Or it's that we lack discernment. Discernment is knowing the difference between good and evil. We need to know the truth to discount the evil (lies). And those who have been reading the Bible, may not have been reading it in its entirety. Let’s take a look at the following scripture for example:

John 15: 7 "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you." Most of my life I was asking for things believing it shall be done for me, yet all along didn’t really abide in His words. So I was trying to attain part B of the Scripture before I met the condition of Part A. (Scriptures that indicate promise have a Part A and Part B. The first part of the scripture is the condition, and the second part is the promise.) Discernment is KNOWING both parts. This is the whole truth.

By now you are asking yourself. What has all this have to do with restoration and healing?

I for one read the Bible day and night when I first received Jesus Christ as my Savior and continued for the next 18 years in church, ministry, and leadership. Yet I wasn't as free as I should have been, nor living the life I wanted to live. Why? Because of the blocks I didn't know was there. (We will discover blocks later in this teaching.) These blocks prevented me from allowing the Word to work in my life. Jeremiah 5:25 "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you." Hosea 4:5 "My people perish for lack of knowledge." We may know a lot of promises in the Word, but what is blocking them from manifesting in our lives?

The following scriptures help build the foundation for healing. We cannot build upon air. We need a solid foundation which can only be found in scripture. Once we have a firm foundation, we can begin appropriating the promises to our lives. We try putting the cart before the horse!

As I showed you, there are conditions to the Word of God. Healing is in the Word of God and is for today. If it wasn’t for today, a commission would not have been given to every believer to "set the captives free". (Isaiah 61) We CAN be healed, but we need to see scriptures in their totality. Psalms 103:1-3 says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, BLESS his Holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (truth); who forgives all thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases." Are we blessing God with our lives? Are we praising Him daily? There is a part A and a part B. Can you identify them?

Answer: Part A is to BLESS THE LORD and not to FORGET his benefits (which are truth). Part B is: "who will forgive all thine iniquities, and heal all thy diseases." But let me shed some light with regard to disease. Forgiveness of sins and healing diseases work together! This is just one scripture that indicates forgiveness of sin and health are connected!

MINISTRY FOUNDATION SCRIPTURES

II Corinthians 5:18-20 says, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God."

Ephesians all of Chapter 4 – Our commission!