patty drove up to Trout Lake yesterday to visit my Mom, and while she was there the front tire on the car she was driving came off, and she went down the road with the brake rotor as the new front tire. Fortunately it happened on a straight stretch of road, and no one was hurt. In the picture you can see the 4 studs broken off. The tow truck operator that brought the car home today said it was the fifth time this summer that he has been called to pick up vehicles that had wheels come off.

Psalms 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.

My guess is that Patty had an angel or two watching out for her today. Many people claim that guardian angels are watching over them, but it is important to note that Psalms 34:7 is not a blanket promise to everyone, there is a very clear condition attached to the promise. The condition is “those who fear the Lord”, and for those who do, this promise is for them. There are many commands in the Bible to fear the Lord, but most just blow it off as old fashioned. There are several aspects to fearing God, the first is that we acknowledge and believe that God made the rules for life, not us, we, ourselves. The second aspect to the fear of God is believing without a doubt that God sees everything we do, clearly and in detail, we don’t get lost in the crowd. The third aspect is that God is not mocked or ignored, when we violate God’s rules there is a consequence. God is merciful and does forgive, but only if we acknowledge that what we did was wrong, and commit to making the effort to not do that again, asking for God to give us His strength and power to keep the commitment always pleases Him.

I often hear people taunt God by saying, “a loving God doesn’t punish people”, God’s response in Revelation 3:19 is “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” But the real question is, “do we love God”? In John 14:15 Jesus has this to say, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”