The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Psalm 34:7-10 NIV

In case you haven’t noticed, I love to recall the awesome promises God gives us through His Holy Word. This scripture passage promises us that if we fear the Lord, His angel encamps around us, He delivers us, we are blessed, and we lack nothing. If we take refuge in Him, we are blessed. How awesome is that? If we allow Him to protect us, we are blessed. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

I have learned in the last year that God will provide refuge if you just ask. He provides shelter and protects us from the storms that often rage around us.

I have also noticed something else. The devil loves to attack God’s children and often uses people close to them to do just that. God is a good God and he will not stand for His children to be mistreated. I’ve often heard it said that “God don’t like ugly” and let me tell you my friend, this is so true.

I have watched people attack God’s children and I have seen God’s wrath on them. It is not pretty!

God is good to his children. He loves us so much that he sent his son to die a humiliating, agonizing death to save us from our sin. He offers this to all of us, but he doesn’t force it on us. He is there for us, if we call out to Him.

This scripture passage talks about fearing the Lord. Now you may say why do we have to fear Him if he is such a loving heavenly father? I look at it this way. My earthly father has gone to heaven to be with our heavenly father. I loved my dad with all my heart. He was good to me and my sisters and I thank God for giving my dad to me and allowing me to spend the years I had with him. My dad was good, he was loving and kind, he was easygoing, but there were things he did not tolerate. He did not tolerate staying out past curfew, he did not tolerate any type of substance abuse, he was strict about meeting and knowing who we were dating. He made it clear with us what was accepted and what was not. But when Daddy got mad, watch out! His wrath was not something you wanted to experience. I feared my Daddy and respected his wishes. There were only a few times in my life that I brought his wrath on me and boy was I sorry I had done that! Fear of punishment kept me in line. I also had a fear of disappointing my dad. Our heavenly father is like that. His word makes it clear to us what he finds acceptable and what he will not tolerate. As a matter of fact, that was a topic of a recent blog entitled the Dos and Do nots. I am not proud to say that there have been times in my life that I have also brought God’s wrath on me. So I also learned to have a reverential for my heavenly father. I fear not being close to Him. I fear Him turning away from me. Our sin separates us from God and just as I never wanted to be separated from my Daddy, I certainly don’t want to be separated from my heavenly father.

So remember that we serve a jealous God. He wants us to put no one or no thing before Him. Remember that we serve a wrathful God. He does not tolerate wicked, evil behavior. His word clearly tells us that things like pride, being unwilling to forgive, bitterness, rage, anger, and malice cause Him grief.

Now if you keep in mind that fearing the Lord keeps His angels encamped around you, assures that you will be delivered, assures that you will lack nothing, then why would you not fear Him. Why would you not seek Him and love Him with your whole heart, soul, and mind?

I don’t know about you, but I made my mind up a long time ago to seek the Lord, trust in Him, and fear Him. I have never been sorry for that decision. I have witnessed firsthand the refuge that He has provided for me and my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have experienced deliverance and seen others experience the same. And sadly, I have seen His wrath poured out on those whose wicked schemes come against His children.

In closing today, I encourage you to love God with all you have, remember to fear Him and take refuge Him. He will deliver you and you will lack no good thing!

Don’t take my word for it, “taste and see that the Lord is good” and have a great day!