Jul 26
servantGod Thoughts obedience, praise, promises, worship
Last night, the worship pastor quoted from Psalm 134, which contains a promise if you’re looking for it. I’ve read this Psalm probably a dozen times in my life, and never really paid attention to the clear promise of God it contains:
“Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!” (Psalm 134, NKJV)
There is a command and a promise here, and we can examine it using the “Five W’s” of standard journalism. The who is the servants of the Lord, people who serve and love God. The what is to bless the Lord, to worship and lift Him up. The when is at night. The where is in the sanctuary, in the house of the Lord (the church). The why is also to bless the Lord (this is both the what and the why — we bless the Lord and worship Him as an act and also as a reason). The how is by lifting up your hands.
And the reward? That the Lord who made Heaven and Earth would bless you (you, who keep His commandments to bless God, at night, in His house, by lifting holy hands and standing in the sanctuary). Think about it! For those who love God, this is not a hard command to keep. It really isn’t. And the benefit, the blessing of God for those who are faithful? Priceless!
If we honor the God who sent His Son to save and redeem us, and we honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us, then going to church at night is no chore. We should be more than eager to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, raising our voices and our hands in one accord, pouring out blessing and honor and glory to Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to die for our sins and paved the way for right relationship with Father God.
It is not our duty to go to church twice on Sunday. It is our privilege! When do we start to realize this and live our lives according to that truth? It isn’t a chore, it’s an honor!
Jul 04
servantGod Thoughts obedience, relationship, righteousness, trust, worship
Sometimes when we feel that God has not responded sufficiently, we need to look at ourselves first to see if we have responded sufficiently. This morning I thought about the story of Elisha and Joash when Israel was threatened by Syria. This story really illustrates how God responds and makes promises, and gives us direction, and yet the end result is still due to our response. The fulfillment of that promise is wholly based on us, not God.
Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:
“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)
Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)
Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained.
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Jun 15
servantGod Thoughts giving thanks, holiness, obedience, praise, prayer, relationship, worship
“‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’” (Rev 6:12, NKJV)
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sites on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Rev 5:12, NKJV)
Can you imagine the glory, the praise, the continual worship, the adoration and love and gratitude and blessing poured upon Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, in heaven? I can’t. This world is such a shadow, such a dim thing compared to what eternity will be like. And even here on earth, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the absolute abandonment and joy we can receive when we worship our Lord Jesus in spirit and truth, that anointing and blessing that comes from God the Father… I honestly believe it pales in comparison to what heaven will be like, despite how absolutely beautiful and fantastic it is.
Last night at church, as we were worshipping, I felt such an impression of “worthy, worthy, worthy”… it was so heavy, like it had weight, an importance behind it. It bubbled out of me like a desperate cry… God, You are so infinitely worthy! Worthy of my love, my time, my attention, my energy, my hopes, my dreams. You are worth more than I could possibly ever offer You!
And after such a wonderful encounter with God, and an awesome message, the reality hit me.
If He is so worthy (and He is) why aren’t we giving Him our best?
I mean, we sing songs about how worthy He is, how He sent His Son to die for us, how we owe Him everything. We sing songs about living lives pure and holy before Him, about inviting Him in, about becoming living sacrifices. And yeah, singing those songs are great and there can be a real heartfelt passion there, but… if He is so worthy, why aren’t we giving Him our best. I mean our absolute best?
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