GAINS OF HAVING F.O.G ~ Precious Victor Akah

First off, F.O.G stands for "FEAR OF GOD". What does it mean to fear God? 

Let's see from Scriptures:

Proverbs 3:7: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil."

Proverbs 14:16: "The wise fear the LORD and shun evil,..."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

From the Scriptures we just read, to fear God is to have reverence for God. This reverence you have for God moves you to obey God, shun evil, and embrace righteousness, because God is righteous and He hates evil (iniquity, wickedness and unrighteousness). Those who fear God live to please Him.

Now that we've established this truth, we'll proceed to look at the gains (benefits) of having the fear of God.

1. Divine wisdom. Divine wisdom is available and accessible to those who fear God. 

Famous American businessman and oil tycoon, John Howard Pew was an extremely devout lifelong Presbyterian Christian who strongly believed in conservative values. He was strong supporter of the Republican party and a lifelong member of the conservative Presbyterian Church. He played an important role in the founding of the famous Christianity Today Magazine which he financially supported until his death at age 89.

John Howard Pew, expanded with his brother Joseph N. Pew, Jr., the Sun Oil Company (founded by his father; now called Sunoco) by introducing new refining, marketing, and distribution techniques.

John Howard Pew joined the company in 1901, was president in 1912–47, and thereafter was a director. He developed a way of making lubricants out of asphaltic Texas oil. Under his leadership, Sun was the first (in 1927) to use pipes heated with mercury vapour rather than with fire to separate lubricants, and the first (in 1937) to use Eugene Houdry’s catalytic-cracking process, instead of thermal cracking, to make its gasoline.

In 1916 Pew and his younger brother founded a shipbuilding company that produced oil tankers for Sun and its competitors. Sun’s shipyard used welding instead of riveting to build ships, thereby saving substantially on the amount of steel required per ship. During World War II, Sun pioneered in developing and refining aviation fuels and lubricants. In 1942 the company also adapted the Houdry process to the production of synthetic rubber. 

The wisdom Pew utilized to pioneer and formulate all he invented came as a result of his loyalty to God. If you really desire to have wisdom manifest in your life, choose to fear God from today.

Scriptural reference:

Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” 

2. Long life. The fear of God offers its possessors long life.

Sir John Marks Templeton was an American-born British investor, banker, fund manager, and philanthropist. 

During the Cold War era, Christianity faced existential threat but American billionaire Sir John Templeton remained loyal to Christianity. Not only that, The Templeton Foundation he founded played an important role in defending Christianity. Sir John Templeton was an extremely devout lifelong Presbyterian Christian. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church and for many decades was a member of the American Bible Society. Until his death, he invested huge amount of money into his foundation to counter left wing Communist propaganda in order to defend Christianity. He lived long and died at age 95. As long as you fear God and do what pleases Him, He'll ensure you don't die early.

Scriptural reference:

Proverbs 10:27, “Fear of the LORD lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short."

3. Health. Those who fear God do not have to live their lives battling sickness or diseases; even in old age, they're still healthy and strong.

Steve Jobs — an American inventor, entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc. — died of complications from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 on October 5, 2011. He was a Buddhist.

Sheldon Adelson, the CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands, who made it to Forbes 400 list in 2020, was worth $29.8 billion as at the time of his death in January 11, 2021. His source of wealth was casinos. Unfortunately, he died at age 87 after a battle with cancer. 

Fear of the Lord will keep you healthy and strong to eat and enjoy the fruit of your righteous labour.

Kenneth Max Copeland, an American televangelist, and the founder of Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. (EMIC) based in Tarrant County, Texas, is still healthy, sound and strong at the age of 86. Likewise Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the present General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, at his present age of 81.

Scriptural reference:

Proverbs 3:7-8, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."

We'll look at more benefits next week. 

Don't forget to come back!

God bless you.

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