We will continue on the seven graces that Christ ministered fully in. We will now jump to the last one as without it we will never be able to move in the other five graces fully. The fear of the Lord is the other bookend that holds the rest of the graces in place. With the true spirit of the Lord on one end and the spirit of the fear of the Lord on the other end we end up with an open ended belief system. We also end up with graces trying to move in our lives but not being truly effective because the boundaries are not n place, thus God cannot allow these graces to fully flow.
Is 11 Isaiah 11:1–3 (KJV 1900) — 1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, Neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
The verse above also says God wants to bring a quick understanding of this grace. For God to add that in the description and focus upon only this one, it holds a great importance and key. The fear of the lord is not terror or dread. Nor is it even an emotional response of surprise etc. It is a holy reverence for God because of the awesomeness of seeing him for who He truly is. This ability to see comes from the depth of relationship of allowing or recognizing the spirit of the Lord is upon me. The awe of God allows us to see who we really are and what we have been redeemed from. It also brings great humility with it as well. A servant’s heart is formed by having the fear of the Lord and without this the other five graces will not really operate. This is the place obedience comes from. Not obedience by forced actions to be accepted or to feel approval, but because of heart condition and reverence. The fear of the lord is His delight says Isaiah 3:3. God does not delight in our terror of him but our respect of him. It is what brings heartfelt repentance and ongoing heart examination to see if our condition is right. Without the fear of the Lord people will live a mixed life and allow worldly things to be part of their makeup. We see much of this in Christian life as we have lost our reverence and awe of God. Proverbs also says this “Fear “will lead us to wisdom. It is not human wisdom proverbs is talking about but the grace of wisdom, the seven fold breath of wisdom.
This “breath of awe” comes down upon us and as it does so it brings a portion of heaven with it. It is like a portal placed upon our heart to treasure the eternal realm and thus we safeguard it. Without this in place we will never truly cherish the other graces as they come upon us. This second breath is the breath now coming upon the church. It is the breath that causes decisions and long term commitments to the assignments. It causes a resolve in current and future covenants. It causes a great strength to come forth upon those who breathe this breath in and allow it to come upon them. It also shifts us from having no natural fear of rejection, men opinions, and failure. It brings a convincing of complete victory and overcoming obstacles because of the awe of knowing the one who sits upon the throne. This shift allows the other graces to move freely and have their full effect as they bear down upon humanity. Faith is release through the other graces in full potential and impact. The fear of the lord is also an element that needs to be in place as it causes great faith to arise for the future and the assignments of the Lord.
There has been times the presence of the lord has visited me and great awe was upon me as I literally hid from God. Isaiah had this experience in Isaiah 6 as he sees himself as undone and a man of unclean lips. He saw that unless God determined he had come to the true point reverence for Him that he could not carry the breath God wanted to give Him. The spirit of the fear of the Lord would release the other graces for Isaiah, specifically, wisdom, understanding and might. God pronounced him clean and in that pronouncement he received the breath of those graces!
We also see Paul in his encounter on the Damascus road being confronted and having Godly fear. The outcome is God heals Paul’s physical eyes, which is a type and shadow of his spiritual sight. Paul steps into the eyes of his understanding being enlightened.
Ephesians 1:17–23 (KJV 1900) — That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
This again is not natural understanding but the spirit of understanding. The breath of understanding. Paul knew instantly the time and season of God and stepped into the functioning of those graces needed. I believe each person has certain graces assigned to them at birth to be engaged with through life. It is God’s plan of success for us.
Greg Crawford 