Pass the Time of our Sojourning in Fear & Be Humbled under the Mighty Hand of God

As we see God’s government with His judgment both in the world situation and in our Christian life and church life, we should pass the time of our sojourning in fear, being willing to be humbled under the mighty hand of God and fearing God, revering Him, regarding Him in everything.

Our God is a righteous God, and even though He loves us and wants to do everything for us and in us, He also has a government according to which He needs to judge what does not match His holy nature.

This is true and real whether we are Christians or non-Christians; God is the Creator, the Almighty God, and He disciplines and judges.

A very good picture of this is seen in Daniel, where King Nebuchadnezzar was first warned by God not to be proud because of what he has and what he has achieved, and then later was judged by God for a period of time due to his pride.

Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar learned the lesson and worshipped God, giving Him the worship and reverence He deserved. However, his descendant Belshazzar did not learn this lesson.

Rather, he went so far as to insult God’s holiness by using the cups from the temple of God for him to drink wine and worship his gods.

Therefore, God weighed him on His scale and found him wanting, and He judged Belshazzar.

Before He did this, He gave him a sign; a hand appeared and wrote on the wall while he was in debauchery with those around him.

On that very night, God ended his reign and even himself, and He gave the kingdom to Darius, the Mede.

As we live in this world today we may see many evil people who thrive and do all kinds of evil things, seemingly not being affected by the existence of God nor giving any reverence to God.

And then one day, they fall; out of the blue, something happens and they are gone.

We need to open to God and learn the lessons that He wants to teach us as we go through our daily living.

He is a righteous Judge, and He judges everything that does not match His holy nature so that He may gain a pure and clean universe that is filled with His righteousness.

As believers in Christ, we are part of the church, and judgment begins at the house of God.

Today we need to live before the Lord, even pass the time of our sojourning in fear, so that we may not be judged with the world when the day of the Lord comes.

May we seek to enjoy the Lord, experience Christ, and live Christ, and may we just love the Lord and do all things in oneness with Him.

And daily, may we learn to revere God, fear God, and live before God, knowing that He has made us, our breath is in His hands, and He is righteous and holy.

Be Humbled under the Mighty Hand of God and Pass the Time of our Sojourning in Fear

The story of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar needs to be a warning to us in our Christian life; we need to be careful and not consider what we have achieved.

We may not achieve as much as these kings did, but if we achieve something and then consider it, we may become proud.

Nebuchadnezzar built a palace and expanded his kingdom everywhere, and when he walked on the roof of his palace and looked at what he achieved, he became proud; this ushered in God’s judgment.

Belshazzar, even worse, did not regard God but rather, lived in debauchery and insulted God’s holiness; therefore, God came in with His judgment.

God reduced Nebuchadnezzar to nothing until he learned that God in heavens rules and does everything according to His desire.

There is no one on earth who can resist God’s hand nor can anyone say to HIm, what are You doing? (see Dan. 4:35) God is able to abase those who walk with pride (v. 37).

In 1 Pet. 1:17 Peter tells us that, if we call as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, we need to pass the time of our sojourning in fear.

God is our Father; we have a life relationship with Him, and we have His divine life, for we are children of God (John 1:12-13).

On the one hand, we love God as our Father, and we love being the children of God; we worship Him, we thank Him, and we adore Him as our Father.

On the other hand, however, our Father God is the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work; therefore, we pass the time of our sojourning in fear.

We fear God and, out of the fear of God, out of revering God, we do not do certain things, we do not engage in certain activities, and we cannot speak certain words.

Even more, we realize that God operates not only to dispense Himself into us so that we may be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ, but even more, He works in our environment to deal with us and discipline us.

Therefore, we need to be humbled under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt us in due time (1 Pet. 5:6).

We do not know how proud we are; we do not know how much pride is in us.

Pride is in all of us. Our parents are proud of us, and we become proud of ourselves and of what we achieve.

Whenever we look at what we have, where we are, and what we have achieved, we are proud of ourselves. Oh Lord Jesus!

The only person in the whole history of mankind who was not proud was the Lord Jesus.

In our case, we need to be willing to be made low by God’s humbling hand in His discipline.

This is a prerequisite to our being made high by God’s exalting hand and to our enjoying the Triune God Himself as our life supply, which is multiplied in the humble believer (v. 5; 1:2; 4:10).

If we want to enjoy the supply of God, even the multiplied grace of God, we need to be willing to be humbled by God, even to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

He will exalt us in due time; on our side, we simply need to be willing to be made low by His humbling hand in His discipline.

We can take Christ as our humility; in ourselves, there’s not even a shred of humility, but we can take Christ as our humility and live by Him.

To enjoy Him as grace every day, we need to be willing to be humbled under the mighty hand of God.

Lord Jesus, cause us to see that our Father whom we love and worship is not only our dear Father but also the One who without respect for persons judges according to each one’s work. May we be filled with the fear of God and have a reverence toward God, and may we be those who pass the time of our sojourning in fear. We worship You, God! We are nothing but You are everything! We are willing to be made low by Your humbling hand in Your discipline so that, in Your time, You may exalt us and grant us the enjoyment of the Triune God Himself as our life supply. We open to You, Lord. You see what is in us. You see how much pride is in us, and You know how proud we are of what we have, what we have achieved, and where we are. Oh Lord Jesus, we take You as our humility. You are humble and You were willing to be humbled under God’s mighty hand. May we be humbled under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt us in due time! Amen, Lord, we love You and we take You as our humility today!

We Fear the Lord by Revering Him and Regarding Him in Everything in our Daily Life

What does it mean to fear God? What does it mean for us as Christians to fear the Lord?

On the one hand, we love the Lord, we enjoy Him, and we partake of His riches in spirit by exercising our spirit to call on His name and pray-read His word.

As we sing, pray, read, fellowship with the Lord, and fellowship with the saints, we enjoy our wonderful Lord Jesus as the all-inclusive One.

But there is another side to our relationship with God, which is that we fear the Lord.

What is it to fear the Lord? Is fearing the Lord being afraid of Him, being afraid that He will strike us down if we sin or He will cause us to suffer loss if we disobey Him?

This is a natural way of looking at fearing the Lord.

To fear the Lord is to revere Him and to consider and regard Him in everything (Psa. 86:11; Isa. 11:2; Prov. 1:7; 3:5-10).

To fear the Lord is to never forget that He is the wonderful God who has created us for His glory (Isa. 43:7).

May we be those who pass the time of our sojourning in fear today.

Fearing the Lord stops us from doing evil, and it causes us to be touched by the sufferings of others and to show mercy and compassion to them.

As believers in Christ, we love the Lord on the one hand and we fear Him on the other.

To fear the Lord is to revere the Lord; it is to be in fear of offending Him. We love Him so much that we do not want Him to be unhappy or upset with what we are or what we do.

To fear the Lord is to be in fear of losing His presence and of not receiving Him as our reward in the next age.

In this age, we fear losing His presence, for we treasure His presence with us above all other things.

In the next age, we fear losing our reward, so we live in the fear of the Lord in this age.

We need to be in fear of missing the Lord’s smile in this age and His reward in the next.

Isa. 11:12 says that the Spirit of Jehovah that rested upon Christ is the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge, and the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah.

We can pray that the Lord would fill us with the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah.

In ourselves, when we live in the natural man, we do not fear God; rather, we rebel against God, we are filled with pride, and we disregard God in all things.

But as believers in Christ, we need to be brought back to fearing God in a proper way; for us to live a proper human life, we need to revere God and fear Him.

For instance, when we’re about to lose our temper, we need to fear God in what we’re about to say and do.

Before we were saved, we may not have feared God, but today as believers in Christ, we revere God and live in the fear of the Lord.

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:22).

We can receive knowledge, wisdom, and understanding only from God; when we fear God and revere Him, He gives us these things as our possession.

If we seek wisdom like silver and search for her like hidden treasures, we will understand the fear of Jehovah and we will find the knowledge of God (2:4-5).

The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil (8:13).

The fear of Jehovah prolongs our days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened (10:27).

If we walk in uprightness, we will fear the Lord, but those who are perverse in their ways despise Him (14:2).

In the fear of Jehovah there is strong confidence, and he who fears the Lord dwells in Him as a place of refuge (14:2).

The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, that one may turn aside from the snares of death (vv. 26-27).

Better is a little with the fear of Jehovah than great treasures and turmoil with it (15:16).

If we are rich in the fear of Jehovah, we will have peace. Today we as believers in Christ pass the time of our sojourning in fear, loving the Lord and also fearing Him.

The fear of Jehovah is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor (v. 33).

By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is expiated, and by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil (16:16).

The fear of Jehovah leads to life, and he who has it will lodge contentment; he will not be visited with evil (19:23). Amen!

It is good to take all these verses in Proverbs and pray over them so that the Lord may fill us with the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah.

No human being ever feared God as much as Jesus did, and this One lives in us. May we be made single in our heart in fearing the Lord’s name (Psa. 86:11).

May we all come to the Lord in prayer regarding this matter, regarding Him and considering Him in everything, and may we ask Him to fill us with the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah so that we may pass the time of our sojourning in fear!

Lord Jesus, we regard You and consider You in everything, giving You the preeminence in all things. May we never forget that You are the wonderful God who has created us, formed us, and even made us for Your glory! Amen, Lord, fill us with the Spirit of the fear of Jehovah today. Save us from not fearing God in our daily living. We love You, Lord, and we love Your presence; we fear losing Your presence, Your smile in this age and Your reward in the next age. Oh Lord Jesus, may we see You and may we revere You as our God. Only by revering You can we have knowledge, wisdom, and understanding from God. We hate evil and we fear God. Amen, Lord, in our daily living we revere You and we fear You, for You are our God and You have created us. May we have the fear of Jehovah so that we may have instruction of wisdom. Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You and we fear God! Make our heart single in fearing Your name. We want to pass the time of our sojourning in fear, for You are our God and Father, and You are the One who judges all men without respect of persons!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Proverbs, msgs. 2-3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God (2024 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 1, The Government of God for the Economy of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Fearing God and being generous to others, a portion from, New Believers Series: Governmental Forgiveness #18, Chapter 1, by Watchman Nee.
  – A Life Full of Meaning, a testimony via, The Church in Anaheim.
  – Repent and Give Glory to God, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Testimony of Charity Short, via, Living to Him.
  – Instructing Job to fear God, a portion from, Life-Study of Job, Chapter 28, by Witness Lee.
  – Why Does God Let Me Fail? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The Lord having regard not for what we do but for our dependence on Him, a portion from, The Heavenly Vision, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Proverbs (Program #2) – The Principles for Man to Live a Proper Human Life, via, Bible study radio.
  – Becoming a person who knows the Triune God, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Sinners in the Hands of a Misunderstood God, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – In dealings with the Lord as life / We need a proper heart, / That of His riches, in His grace, / We fully may take part. / We need a heart in all things pure, / With mind both sound and clear, / To understand His mind and heart / In trembling and in fear. (Hymns #744 stanzas 1-2)
  – To those who fear Jehovah’s name / How sweet the word the prophet brings: / The Sun of Righteousness shall rise / With healing in His wings. / It is to those that fear His name / His healing power the Savior brings; / Oh, let us hide with contrite hearts / Beneath His healing wings. (Hymns #754 stanzas 1-2)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Seeking Him in confidence; / Learn to touch Him as the Spirit, / Looking up in reverence. (Hymns #784 stanza 3)