The most important decision we can make to affect our future is to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (see Matthew 6:33). The promise to those who do this declares everything will be added to them. Nothing can so impact our lives for good than to keep seeking the Lord and His kingdom first and making this the primary factor behind every decision we make.
We are told in Proverbs 28:1, “But the righteous are bold as a lion.” Courage is also one of the most desperately needed characteristics in these times, and courage is the foundation of boldness. Nothing can instill in us courage like knowing we are right with the Lord, which is righteousness.
When the apostles were threatened by their national leaders not to continue preaching Jesus, their response was to pray for boldness (see Acts 4:29-31). As Christianity is under an increasing threat today, we must do the same. Boldness is now almost extinct in the church, but it should be a primary factor behind everything we do, and for what we are known.
The present timidity in Christians reveals how far from the Lord we have drifted. As we are told in II Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” The righteous are not timid, but “bold as a lion.” The present timidity is the result of how far we have fallen from righteousness, or how deceived we have become by the spirit of this world.
Some have confused boldness with presumption or arrogance. There can be a thin line between faith that results in boldness and presumption. Yet the greatest faith is found on that thinnest of lines between faith and presumption. Remembering that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (see I Peter 5:5 NKJV), we do not want to cross this line. So how do we walk in greater faith and boldness without falling into pride and presumption? The Lord in His infinite wisdom has provided a way for us to do this.
In all things we must seek wisdom. Wisdom is having the knowledge to make right choices. As we are told in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” As we keep in mind Who we represent and live our lives before Him rather than men, it will keep us in proper balance and from falling into presumption.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but it is not the highest wisdom. The highest wisdom is love, for God first, but also for others. However, without this foundation of the fear of the Lord, what we build on will be weak or distorted, which even love can be. Wisdom begins with knowing He is Almighty God, and boldness and courage means standing for Him and His truth. We are bold in the Lord, because of Who He is, not who we are.
Since a foundation is something we walk on every day, how close we get to Him and grow in love for Him, our foundational respect for who He is—Almighty God—should never leave us. We addressed before how John was intimate with the Lord, while Judas was familiar with Him. Decades later, when John had the Revelation, he who had been so intimate with Jesus that he leaned his head on His breast, fell like a dead man when he saw Him in this vision. True intimacy does not breed contempt but respect. John, the oldest living apostle, and the one who had been closest to Jesus, never lost his fear of the Lord, and neither must we.
The greatest opportunities to grow in faith come with the greatest challenges to our faith, and the most challenging choices. In the times of the greatest darkness there has ever been on earth, we will have opportunity to walk in the greatest faith. If we remain on the “path of the righteous,” we will have ever-increasing light to see through the darkness and will be even more decisive and bold with our decisions.
As the increasing light will have us seeing the Light, Jesus, more clearly, our devotion will grow to where we want Him to get all the recognition and glory. What Peter did so brilliantly was to seize the great demonstrations of the Spirit, such as on the day of Pentecost and through great miracles, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter was quick to say these things were not done by his own righteousness or merit, but by Jesus. The Apostle Paul did the same.
It is written, the Lord will fill His temple with His glory at the end of this age, and His glory will appear on His people. Let us never forget, whatever appears on or through us is His glory. The gospel of the kingdom we must preach at the end of this age is the Good News of who our King is. It is not the gospel of the church or us; it’s all about Jesus. Let us not be like the donkey that thought all the people were praising it as it walked into Jerusalem, not knowing the One who sat upon it.
© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.
