Today I told a story about how this all came about. In this 2 part devotion we are going to be looking at the 10 verses of what the Bible says it means to fear the Lord Todays verses: Psalm 34:9 Psalm 110:10 Psalm 112:1 Psalm 128:1 Psalm 147:11 Have your views and understanding of what it means to "fear the Lord" changed over time?

James 1:2-3 says "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of MANY KINDS..." 1) Shift your perspective from "God, why is this happening to me?" to "God, I know you got this. What do you want me to learn from this?" Believing and having faith that God is fighting your battles and it isn't dependent on your strength or your abilities will change the way you are looking at it. 2) "of many kinds"... this means WHATEVER you are going through. Big or small. God is working it out for your good. Something physical? Spiritual? Emotional? Mental? In your health? In your family? At your job? 3) "Will produce perseverance"... when you walk through that trial, LEANING on God... walking with Him... that walk will improve your character. I will change the way you look at things going forward. It will change the way you react to future events... bc they are coming. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. It is something that can't be obtained through actions on your own. Perseverance produces character and character produces HOPE.. another fruit of the spirit. Continue practicing this and you will see you character blossom with all of the fruits of the spirit! "And they will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:16

Proverbs 16: 1-4,25 So many things in society seem right. The words that came from the person you were dating sounded so right. But the longer you stayed in those things you realized your faith and relationship with God became less important to you. Sin doesn't have to be blatant, obvious, malicious, or filled with raw emotion. It can be quiet. It can be disguised as something that feels and looks good. It can look like the road that God has for you... including things like marriage, family... but one thing is missing.... God. I look back on my own life and see where I went wrong so many times in life. My performance at work, the relationships i was in, the way I interacted with my family.... People will call it immaturity... and part of that may be it... but the biggest part for me was trusting my own ways, thoughts and desires. When I surrendered my works to Him, things started to change in my life. I became disciplined in church. I handled my money better and stayed in the same house for 6 years. I found my husband... (lets be honest, he found me, at church) I started my business that had been on my heart for 10+ years. I live securely in my mind and in my heart.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 will really open your eyes to where you have made your own moves outside of Gods will or plan. We have these plans for us that are beautiful and some are even desires that were placed by God himself…. But it’s not yet time for them.