file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940127.TXT
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                      Thursday, January 27, 1994
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          READ:  1 John 4:11-21

                                  TWO KINDS OF FEAR

                         Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
                                    --Psalm 34:9

                            Perfect love casts out fear.
                                    --1 John 4:18

          I  felt  fear  when  I thought  of  going  home.  Because  of  my
          carelessness,  our lovely console TV had fallen out of the  trunk
          of my car and was badly marred.  No, I wasn't afraid that my wife
          would  yell  at  me or hit me.  What I feared  was  the  look  of
          disappointment I would see in her face.  Yet home was the place I
          wanted to be.

          My  fear was the kind of fear we should feel in relation to  God.
          This  is the mature fear advocated in Psalm 34:9 and  many  other
          Scripture  passages.  It  is the fear of disappointing  the  Lord
          because  we love Him so much, and because we so  much  appreciate
          His love for us.

          The  fear  of punishment is an immature fear.  This is  the  fear
          that is cast out by the "perfect love" mentioned in 1 John  4:18.
          This  kind  of  fear isn't entirely bad,  though.  It's  often  a
          factor in causing a person to believe in Christ, and it may  also
          keep a Christian from serious sin.  But as we grow in our  faith,
          we  will obey God because we love Him so much that we don't  want
          to disappoint Him.  Pleasing Him will be our supreme desire.

          Lord,  deliver  us  from  an  immature  fear  of  punishment   by
          developing  in  us a deep awareness of Your love and  a  profound
          desire to please You.

          Author:  Herbert Vander Lugt

                          O may our love grow more and more
                               As we get close to God
                           So that we fear displeasing Him
                             More than we fear His rod.
                                       --Sper

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          The highest motive for obeying God is the desire to please Him.

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Job 38-42

          
          

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