Tag Archives: worship

March 14 – Our Awesome God

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Deuteronomy 8-10

Now Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (10:12-13)

Moses has been reminding the Jews all the things God has done on their behalf. Now he wants to remind them WHO God is. I hope you read Deuteronomy 10:12-22 today, and let yourself worship this awesome God of ours.

God created the heavens and earth, yet set His affection to love us. God who loved us so much He sent Jesus, so that anyone who believes in Him will live forever with Him. (John 3:16)

God is the God above all Gods, Lord of lords, great, mighty, and awesome.

He is our praise and He is our God.

Amen!

Feb 24 – His Holiness

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Numbers 3-4

What does it mean when we say God is holy? I’m not sure we can grasp the whole of it, but Scripture does give us a glimpse at the truth of God’s holiness.

The Levites were appointed keepers of the tabernacle, the carrying of it, the assembly of it, the priestly duties inside it. Some parts of the temple were considered holy so that even the Levites could not touch them with their bare hands. Those things had to be covered first to prevent even an accidental touch, resulting in the death of the one whose skin touched a holy object.

And don’t even think about getting too close if you’re a layman. That was a death sentence, too.

God’s Presence had made the temple holy, including the ark, the veil, the table, dishes, pans, all the furnishings of the sanctuary. And all these things were untouchable by virtue of their holiness.

This picture from Numbers reminds me that God is not our equal. In light of His holiness we can only bow before Him. It’s such a blessing to know that Jesus has provided a way for us to approach our Holy God. He’s not the God to be worshiped from afar like He was in the Old Testament.

We are even invited, as children redeemed by Jesus’ blood, to come boldly into God’s throne room.We are privileged to have the Spirit of our Holy God living in us.

But let’s not mistake this Holy God for our buddy. Don’t reduce Him to one of the good old boys.

Grasp His holiness. He is no less holy than He was when the Levites were covering the spoons, knowing if they touched one they’d die.

Our Holy God, we can only fall to our knees in Your Presence. You are Holy. You are awesome, powerful, perfect. We are nothing in comparison. Forgive us if we gloss over the fact that You are holy, holy, holy. May we worship You today with the measure of understanding you’ve given us. You are holy. There is no one like you. You are eternal. You were, are, and are to come. We give you all our praise.

Feb 20 – No Work For The Wicked

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Leviticus 22-23

When God was setting down the rules for the special sabbaths the Jews were to observe throughout the year, He always gave the instruction that no laborious work was to be done on those days. It seems very important that the people understood there was to be no work, because that direction is repeated often in the verses we read today.

Got me to pondering. God must have wanted their full attention during these times of sacrifices and celebrations. It reminds me of the encounter Jesus had with Mary and Martha recorded in Luke 10. Martha was busy preparing the meal while Jesus Himself was speaking in the next room. Scripture says Martha was distracted, and Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet chose the better part.

So in my walk with the Lord this side of the cross, what can I glean from what I read today? God seems to be asking me what it is I allow to distract me during my time with Him. Where does my mind wander when I read His Word or pray?

When I sit in church do I play a game on my phone? Do I take my baby into the service where, not only I am distracted by her crying and cooing, people around me are distracted by her, too? Do I worry about the roast in the crockpot? Think about the big game this afternoon? Or go over in my mind that strategic plan for work?

God gave us six days to be busy. He asks for one day out of the week when we focus only on Him. One day. And sometimes I think He’d appreciate the one hour we are in church, if our focus was truly on Him alone.

Reading these chapters in Leviticus today helped me understand how important it is to God that we give Him our undivided attention in our worship of Him. It’s a choice, my friend. It’s an act of will, that I put every thought out of my mind except the thought of God, His Holiness, His love, His interest in me, and His demand to be worshiped above anything or anyone in my life.

I hope you are planning to attend the worship service in your church tomorrow. Will you put aside any distraction and choose the better part? Let’s prepare to worship God tomorrow as He deserves. No work. No distractions.

Just God. And you focusing only on Him.

 

 

 

Feb 15 – Standing On Ceremony

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Leviticus 8-10

I tried to put myself in the scene described in these chapters today. What would it have been like to have witnessed Aaron’s consecration service? It must have been a pretty impressive ceremony. I think I would have wanted a front row seat.

The Bible says the congregation gathered at the doorway of the tent, in obedience to God. They were about to see history in the making. They saw the cleansing of Aaron and his sons, watched Moses put the tunic on Aaron, and everything that went with it. They saw the turban placed on Aaron’s head. They witnessed the anointing, the sacrifices, smelled the aroma, and watched as Aaron and his sons ate the ceremonial food.

Then seven days later, the congregation came near again, and stood before the Lord. More sacrifices were offered and then…

the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (9:23-24)

I wonder if we are missing something with our casual approach to worship these days. I certainly don’t think we have to go back to the kinds of ceremonies we read about today here in Leviticus. But is there something we can apply to our approach to God from what we read?

I think the Old Testament people went to this important church service in obedience, and with hearts focused on God. They didn’t go for a worship experience. They seem to have gone, however, expecting to worship God.

There is a subtle difference I am convinced we need to be careful of. Going to church for a worship experience puts the focus on me, on my experience. Going to church to worship God takes me totally out of the picture, and the focus on God alone.

There was nothing casual about this ceremony. And God’s glory appeared to them with fire from on high. Their response was to cry out and fall on their faces in worship of a Holy God.

May we worship God as He deserves.

 

 

Jan 26 – I Bow Down

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Genesis 41-42

It was a famine that brought Joseph’s brothers to him. They were desperate for food, and went to Egypt to buy grain from Pharaoh’s right-hand man. And, just like in Joseph’s dreams, he was that man to whom his brothers bowed.

Sometimes it takes a famine to force us to our knees, too. Sometimes God uses heartache, disease, loneliness, guilt, helplessness, to give us a chance to realize our need, and recognize He is the only One who can fill us.

Jesus said He is the Bread of Life, the Living Water. When we bow down to Him, when we empty ourselves of pride, and dreams, and relationships, and popularity, and self – He gives us exactly what we need.

In fact, He gives us more than we can ask or think. He gives Himself.

I bow down.

My Heart

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Earlier this year a friend of mine posted a picture on FaceBook of her twenty-something son, standing on the beach, a beautiful sunset behind him, looking lovingly into the eyes of another young man. Below the picture she had written, “Comments welcomed.”

My heart broke as I remembered her son who had been a student of mine in middle school. A quiet, shy, nice boy. A really good boy from a good family.

One of the comments I read said, “The heart wants what the heart wants.” And it made me think of Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things.

There is nothing in our hearts that want to obey God’s Law until that heart is given to God. Without a repentant heart we are self serving, ego driven, self centered people looking out for number one. Like Muslims who obey Allah so they’ll be surrounded by virgins when they die, or Christians who go to church for a worship experience.

A true believer obeys God for Jesus’ sake. They go to church, resist sin, share the Gospel, not for what they gain, but because they just love Jesus so much they can’t help themselves. They don’t go to church to be entertained or to avoid hell. They go to church to give God the worship due Him.

Scripture tells me to guard my heart. And the best way I know how to do that is to give it to God. Take myself, my control, my desires, out of the picture. I want to love Him like He deserves to be loved, serve Him like He demands, fellowship with him through prayer and reading His Word like he longs for me to do, and share Him with those who don’t know Him because he died for them.

Here’s my heart Lord. Guard it. Use it. Take it. Keep it beating or don’t. It’s Yours. For Jesus’ sake.

If you say it often enough…

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Saying something doesn’t automatically make it true. In Acts 19 we see that during a riot, the city clerk stood up and said:

“Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of Ephesus is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.” (NKJV)

Is it a fact that some god named Zeus fashioned a statue in the clouds and dropped it in Ephesus? Is that what the city clerk said cannot be denied? Do you believe that to be true?

How often have you heard the earth is billions of years old stated as a fact that can’t be denied? What about the statement that life does not begin at conception? Or that homosexuality is a viable lifestyle? Have you heard it is possible to change your gender stated as fact? Or that marriage isn’t restricted to a union between a man and a woman? Some people even preach God is a god of love and accepts all of us just the way we are.

And they keep saying it, and saying it, and saying it.

The sad truth is, if you tell someone something often enough, very often they’ll begin to believe it.

But I’m here to tell you I can certainly deny that city clerk’s story about the statue. I know for a fact that the earth is thousands, not millions of years old, that there is nothing normal about homosexuality, and abortion is murder. I stand on the truth that God is not only a God of love, he is Holy and demands holiness of his children.

And none of that is true just because I say it is.

I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover several times. And each time I do, the more I realize I cannot deny it is true. It has so many checks and balances. This book, written by many writers over many years, clearly presents God as Creator, Almighty, True, a God who loves each and every one of us, a God who demands our obedience and deserves our worship.

In its pages we see Him proving He is who He says He is. And not just once. He chose the physical nation of Israel, and then the Church, to show us exactly what he expects, the consequences of disobedience, the blessings of faith in Him, and the grace that is ours through Jesus. You have to admit that the fulfilling of so many prophesies is hard to deny. Who else but God could bring that about?

I have learned to check what I am hearing with what is written in God’s Word. The voice of Satan is loud and repetitive. And if I’m not carefully guarding my heart, I might begin to assume he’s telling the truth.

Dear one, let’s determine to depend on God’s Word to be our plumb line. Let’s allow God to be the Cornerstone from which everything is measured. Don’t fall for “popular opinion” or you might start believing a statue fell from heaven…

Ingratitude

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Ingratitude. That’s what Hiram expressed when King Solomon gave him twenty cities. (I Kings 9) Sure, Hiram had worked hard for Solomon for twenty years building the Temple and the Palace. But Solomon also made Hiram a rich man in the process. And gave him twenty cities on top of it. Hiram just wasn’t happy with the particular cities he was given. He thought he was entitled to something else.

Does ingratitude ever express itself in our own lives? God gives us life, we want health. God gives us forgiveness, we want happiness. God gives us eternal life, we want a successful career. God gives us Himself, we want a Ferrari.

Have you grasped exactly what it is that God has given you? What it cost him? What it means? If you know Jesus as your Savior, you have God Himself living in you! You have the promise of eternity in paradise, You have help for today, and hope for tomorrow. You are forgiven, washed clean, pure. You are loved.

Let’s never take any of this for granted or be ungrateful for God’s blessings. We already have more than we deserve.

Dear God, “thank you” just doesn’t seem sufficient to express what I am feeling this morning. I can’t fully comprehend the extent of your blessings to me, a sinner. Forgive me when I seem ungrateful, when I whine to you about insignificant things, when I pout if I don’t get what I think I need. I know you want me to bring my desires to you in prayer, and I thank you for the times you have answered those prayers. But, God, help me to really grasp what it is I have in YOU. May I live my life out of a grateful heart, cherishing every blessing I have because you are my God. You are all I need. You are all I desire.

Changed?

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The New King James version of the Bible says that after he had talked to Samuel, Saul left there another man. God gave him a changed heart. (I Samuel 10)

That’s as it should be. Reading God’s Word should change us, too. Hearing God’s Word proclaimed from a pulpit should change us. Did you leave church yesterday a different person? Did I?

It’s Monday morning. Can you even remember what the pastor spoke about yesterday morning? If not, why not? Was it because our hearts weren’t prepared to hear from God? Were we too busy to pray before we walked through those doors? Was it because our minds were on other things? Did our thoughts wander? Did we allow our children to distract us? Are we harboring sin?

Sometimes I read the Bible and write in my journal, then half way through the day can’t remember what I thought I’d learned. What a waste of God’s resources. Here I have God’s Word in my hands. I’m free to worship him and hear teaching from his Word every Sunday. I have this treasure at my fingertips, but too often squander it away.

Father, forgive me. I want to allow you to change me every time I read or hear your Word. I don’t want to miss anything that would encourage me, strengthen me, convict me, change me into a woman who radiates You. Help me to change into a person more like you every time I open your Word or have the privilege of hearing a sermon from your Word. I don’t want to miss any opportunity to draw closer to you.

Our God is a Devouring Fire

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Fire fascinated my dad. When we were little girls, our family would drop everything and jump in the car almost every time we heard the fire trucks’ sirens. We’d search the sky for smoke and rush to the scene to watch the brave firemen battle the dangerous blazes.

Fire takes on a life of its own as it devours its prey. I remember watching a garage burn a block away from our home. A big department store and a lumber company both burned while we watched from safe distances. I can almost hear the snap crackle of the burning wood, smell the acrid odor of smoking embers, feel the heat from dancing flames.

Hebrews 11 lists men and women of faith, people who believed God, and looked to him in spite of circumstances. Then Hebrews 12 begins with the word, “Therefore” and challenges us to have the same kind of faith as those listed in chapter 11, because God has proven himself to be faithful. The writer points us to God’s spiritual kingdom, as sure and real as the physical city of Jerusalem. But now God promises that one day, we who know him will live with him, while the rest of creation will be removed.

Hebrews 12:28 says, “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.” It’s followed by verse 29, a verse that jumped out at me as I read this morning: “For our God is a devouring fire.” (NLT)

Fire is welcome at a campsite, melting marshmallows for s’mores, heating hotdogs, warming fingers and toes. But campers know to enjoy the fire with fear and awe, knowing fire can also unleash its destructive power.

Those of us who know Jesus as our Savior can enjoy God like a camper by a fire pit. We benefit from God’s very being, we enjoy his fellowship, we are safe in his presence. But we must not take his power too lightly, or misuse his blessings. We must not forget that he is that devouring fire. That’s where worshiping him with holy fear and awe comes into play.

My prayer is that all who read this blog will know the warmth, the peace, the safety God provides to those who call on the name of Jesus. The alternative is frightening. Those who reject the Savior will only know the devouring fire of his wrath, his anger and punishment, and be separated from him forever.

May we worship God with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.