Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Welcome once again to this broadcast of Power Walk with Dr. Paul Cannings, senior pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church in Houston, Texas. Pastor Cannings is also founder and president of Power Walk Ministries with a deep passion to share truth from scripture. Today he continues with the topic on fatherhood, your best life.

Being a father himself and understanding the various challenges involved, Dr. Cannings calls on us to take this responsibility seriously, but also enjoy it. He shares now how this can be a truly joyful journey in this message titled Your Best Life.

Dr. Paul Cannings: In all that takes place on a daily basis, many times we forget who to fear in all the whats we're fearful of. We're fearful of dying, some people. We're fearful of the disease. We're fearful of losing jobs, fearful of marriages failing, fearful of kids being hurt, fearful of kids that may make the wrong decisions on who to date, fearful that they're going off to college and they may make bad decisions that damage their life. We're fearful. We just live in so many whats to fear, we forget who to fear.

And the reason why that is important is because once we focus on who to fear, the whats to fear take on a different frame of reference. And that's why the Bible teaches us, when we are going to lead our homes as men in our homes, as fathers in our homes, it is not what to fear, it's who to fear. It's who to come to and function in a manner that leads to a best life that is a blessed life.

And that's what we need to focus on today as I keep taking this verse apart because it is the hallmark verse of all that takes place from this point forward in this passage of Psalm 112:1-3. It is the structure. It is the anchor of all that is going to take place from this point forward.

So when we come into this passage, he says, "Praise the Lord." Then he says, "Blessed is the man." It's not something he's going to do, it’s something he's going to be. Blessed is the man. And that's why when we come to this anchored verse, this important verse, he breaks it out this way: "Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord." So we're going to park on these two sections here, park on fear the Lord and delighteth greatly in his commands. That's what we're trying to look at today as we just take our time through this to grow through this.

Now here's the key thing about fear. Fear in the Bible is not terror-fear. It's not even dreadful fear. Those are different fears in the Bible. Terror-fear is an 18-wheeler coming down the road and you are in its path, and it's coming at 80 miles an hour. That's fear. Dreadful fear is the nation of Israel standing before Goliath, seeing that he is strong and mighty and powerful, nine-foot-tall seasoned warrior with a strong reputation, and nobody's ever stood up to him and lived. And so that dreadful fear is a clear understanding of the danger and it's logical to take the position they did. So there's dreadful fear.

He's talking here about reverent fear. Reverent fear is different. Reverent fear is where my dad spanked you, he spanked you. Yes, but it's the same father that I would go to and talk to. That father, because of his standards and how he held to those standards, caused me to not just go out and do whatever I wanted to do, especially in a small community I grew up in, because it could get back to the house. That standard was there, that fear was there, but the time spent with him did not constantly manifest fear. And then when I grew older and older and just said I'm going to respect his standards and adjust my life to his standards, that fear was different. It was respect.

You see, what is happening in our lives is what God is saying. That this man who praises the Lord, that then becomes blessed—not going to get a blessing, this person is blessed. Just like Satan saw Job, he is blessed. I just see your hands just blessing him. I just see what you're doing to him is just constantly doing for him. I know your hands, I could see what you're doing for Job. It's got to be you, you're doing this. So you stop doing it, see if he's going to turn away from him.

Satan knew what God was doing. He could see when it's God's blessings, not a man-made thing. And he knew that this stuff ain't going nowhere because when God blesses somebody, the Bible says it's not going anywhere. Storms can come, rain can come, floods can come. It's not going anywhere because God's hand is in it. He establishes it. Proverbs 24:3-5 says it's established, can't be moved.

It's like the man who built his house on a rock. That’s the kind of expression that takes place. Job saw that and Job said, "No, no, no, I got to go to you to stop this and I'm going to check his heart out." This is what he's talking about. This person is not getting a blessing, got to reach out, touch this, grab this, do that. No, the person is blessed because they have this mindset in that they fear the Lord.

Here is three things you have to remember when it comes to fear. Fear in the Bible, the first thing is: the person who loves God, he casts out all fear. Fear, the Bible says, perfect love casts out all fear, 1 John chapter 5, verse 18. But in 1 John chapter 2, verse 3 through 4, he says that a person who loves God, who loves God and give their heart to God, that person will have a love that has no reason to fear later on in chapter 5 he would say.

So when he's talking about this respect, this reverence for God, it's a person who is so committed to do whatever God says. That's why this passage starts off with praise the Lord, blessed is the man. So when the person is so focused this way, then the person is having a reverent fear of God, meaning the fear is about respect, not terror, not dreadful fear. It's respect. I respect God. I reverence who God is. I reverence the fact that he is what he says. Fear is the Lord, the one who is mighty, the one who is powerful, the one who has all the ability to do anything he needs to do. I come to that realization the more I end up blessed.

I become more dependent, more resourcefully looking to God, seeing that God is everything. So I seek him first and he provides for my needs according to his riches and glory. So since I am seeing God this way, I reverence him. I want to respect him. Here's the next part about it: I want to honor him. I want to honor him. Meaning in whatever I'm doing, I want to, as Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1 and 2, I want to walk worthy because I honor him. I honor him.

It's kind of like my sons walking out the door and I knew so much was in front of them and I would say to them, "Please don't forget that you represent a legacy. You don't represent a football team first. You don't represent yourself first. You represent this family first and this family came from a rich legacy that you must stand by. So your decisions don't affect that, because that has blessed you to walk out that door and as a teenage young man, a junior in high school, driving the car, you carry that legacy. So please remember that.

And have fun, have a blast. You'll never be 17 again with no bills and all this other stuff. This is a time to enjoy yourself. Go out, young man, Ecclesiastes say enjoy your days, but remember in chapter 11 and all the way to chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, remember that there's a day of judgment. So respect the legacy, but have a blast because this is a good time in your life." Understand, folks, there is a reverence, there is you honor this so that this affects the decisions you make because you don't want the retribution coming back to where people could say, "And you say you're a Christian? And you say that you believe in Christ? Well, man, how could you say you believe in all of this and act like that? I don't understand that. How could you treat your family and your wife like this and say that you're a man of God?"

See, when we function with a level of reverence to God, respect for God, because we are so committed to love him with all our hearts and do what he says that we need to do, that person ends up giving God honor. When he gives God honor, the Bible says now we're talking about a fear of God. When we get to this point of fear of God, he then says in Psalm 111:10, he says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." So we're right back to where we are in Psalm 112:1. Because a person who now fears the Lord, that person will delight in his commands.

Because the person is seeking what? Wisdom. Because they want to honor God, because they have a respect for God, because they come to God with a heart to do what he says. That's why his love has been perfected in them, 1 John chapter 2, verse 3 through 4. It's perfected in them, it's straightened out in them, and this perfect love, chapter 5, caused them to not need to fear God because they now have a level of respect. Why? And now seeking wisdom. Why? Because they want to honor God, they want to do what God says, they want to do exactly as God requires of them because they respect him and they love him and they want to keep his commands.

So this brings out this aspect of fear that now there is a carefulness about how they live their life. I never knew until my wife brought it to my attention that one day, while I was just talking to somebody, my son was next to me trying to emulate—right behind me rather—trying to emulate how I was talking and how I was functioning while I was talking to somebody at the house. He was trying to imitate that. And over the years I've learned he literally sought to imitate his life by his dad.

Suppose I was not imitating my life and correcting myself and leading on accountability for people who discipled me and learning the scriptures and trying to adjust my life to it because I know I'm going to make mistakes, I know I'm not perfect, but trying to continue to refine my life in Christ? Guess where he would have been? Guess where he would have been? That's why the Bible is coming to a father this way. Say, here is your best life that leads to a blessed life. It's that sense that this person has a reverence and a fear of God, not the negative terror-fear or walking around thinking God is going to kill me. That's a person that is not living under the commitment to respect and honor God. That's what 1 John says. They're not living like that.

And as a result of that, they're always afraid that God is going to get them. But God is going, "No, I'm a loving God. I'm not up in heaven with an axe trying to take your head off. I didn't lay down my life to have an axe over your neck. I laid down my life to be your friend. I want you to be connected to me so you have your best life and your blessed life so that you and I are so connected that you become just like me and guess what? I am God. I am resourceful. I don't need any help to become anything and to give you anything. So therefore when you're connected to me, you are blessed because you have come to the point where you have a fear of the Lord," which brings in those things that we've talked about today.

That I'm willing to love him, I'm willing to reverence him, I'm willing to respect him, and as a result, I want to live a life that brings him honor. And the Bible says when that happens, the man is a blessed man that ends up with this best life. There's no better decision I've made than to try to be the best father I can be. I'm not perfect at it. But when I was wrong, I told my sons, "I messed that up. I could have done better." I realize that there is nothing of greater honor than for God to decide to place a human being in your care, to develop, to nurture, to bring to the full abilities that they have so that they could multiply that process all around the world for his glory. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Fear the Lord and delight in his commandments. It's true, there are so many children who never receive loving instruction from a father, especially when having this kind of reverent fear of God could make a world of difference in their lives. Why not contact us and secure your copy of Fatherhood: Your Best Life? You can reach us at powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org. Or call us at 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402.

And when you contact us, consider being a Power Walk partner. We need people just like you to lift us up in prayer and to support us financially as we endeavor to reach more and more people for Jesus Christ. Once again, our web address is powerwalkministries.org. Our mailing address is PO Box 920517, Houston, Texas, 77292.

We'd love to hear from you. And if you live in the Houston area or you're planning a visit, please join Reverend Cannings at Living Word Fellowship Church this Sunday. For church location and service times, visit lwfellowshipchurch.org. And now remember, fathers, the most important thing you can instill in your child is the love, fear, and reverence for God.