August 2023

Involved In Worship

AUGUST 25, 2023
Daily Reading – Psa. 97-102 / Rom. 16

GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 100:1-2 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I stand a little over six foot tall. Not a giant, but taller than many folks. When walking with a group of people in a crowd, I’m often asked, “what do you see from up there?” They never ask me that on Sunday mornings when I am sitting on the platform looking over the Sunday crowd. Honestly, it is not always a pretty picture. Imagine, the music starts to play, people are coming in, and the service begins. The music director tries to get people into a spiritual mood with a few opening words. Most people are not paying attention yet. Then the congregational singing starts, well, for some. Some are still talking about who knows what. Some are fiddling with candy wrappers. A few are looking at tablets or cell phones and giggling. (Probably watching cat videos or something.) While others are seriously singing and worshiping God. What is different for them?

        It is not the music. Although that can play a role in helping our hearts move toward worshiping God. It is not the preaching. It is not the people nor the program. It is the intent of each person. How we come prepared to worship makes the difference. Did we come to meet with and worship God, or to visit with our friends. Do we come to join in singing and serving God, or desiring other to in some way serve us. Worship actually begins a long time before the first note is ever played in church. Worship begins and lives in each believers heart.

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        When our verse says, “make a joyful noise,” it’s not talking about just being noisy. Worship is fully directed to one person, “unto the Lord.” Worship is meant to bring us into a closer relationship and fellowship with God.

How involved are you in worshiping our God?

 Intelligence Is?

AUGUST 24, 2023
Daily Reading – Psa. 90-96 / Rom. 15

GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        Who might be considered intelligent? I guess that depends on who you ask. If intelligence is being a genus, Wikipedia says, “A genius is a person who displays exceptional intellectual ability, creative productivity, universality in genres or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of new advances in a domain of knowledge.” Yea, what do they know. There are people who are book smart, who have no common sense at all. Just like there are people who have street smarts but cannot read or write. Is one more intelligent than the other? I had a friend who said, “it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid, than to open it and prove them right.” I am not sure if he was being funny or trying to tell me something personally.

        In Psalm 92:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Simply put, we do not live forever, so it would be a good idea to use most of our time seeking after wisdom. That is not trying to become smart in man’s eyes. It is understanding what it means to be wise in God’s eyes. In Prov. 9:10 it says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” So then, according to God, being humble and respectful before the Lord is where wisdom begins. Reading His Word, just adds to that. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        You can be the smartest person in the world’s eyes, and have all the toys that Satan can provide, and still end up in a sinners hell. To me, that does not sound too intelligent.

How will you use your time, and mind,
while living here on the earth that God,
not man, created?

 

Iniquity, This Is Serious

AUGUST 23, 2023
Daily Reading – Psa. 86-89 / Rom. 14

GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 89:31-33 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        How serious is iniquity. First, we need to know what iniquity is. The Strong’s Greek and Hebrew Dictionary says it is “perversity, i.e. (moral) evil: – fault, mischief, sin.” How serious is this? Well, what is the penalty. For example, a parking ticket costs a few dollars. Assault gets you put in jail with a bigger fine. Sin however carries a death sentence. Rom. 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The gift of eternal life is only available because someone paid the death penalty for us. Iniquity cost Jesus his life and God His Son. In our passage today God says He will visit iniquity with a rod and stripes. For the believer in Christ today, that means our death penalty has been paid, but sin is still serious. It severs fellowship with God. Psa. 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” How serious is our Iniquity… Very Serious.

        This should also tell us just how great God’s lovingkindness is. So great that even though we have committed this serious crime against Him, He does not take His love utterly from us. Could you imagine a mother in a store with her child and the child misbehaves, so she abandons him there. No, she will scold and reprimand him, but never abandons the child. Our loving God also chastens His own children, but He does not abandon them, nor leave them forsaken.

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        I am so glad that the promises and mercy of God are not based upon my ability to be perfect. The bible says His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness is not conditioned by my faults. Like the song says, “He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.”

How will you thank Him?

Israel’s Costly Counsel

AUGUST 22, 2023
Daily Reading – Psa. 80-85 / Rom. 13

GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        Watching a bad movie can be so frustrating. You can plainly see what is about to happen. You already know something bad lurks behind the door they are about to enter. If it were good, they would not play spooky music. You could almost write the plot to the story before it ends. Still, people in the film continue to make the most obvious of mistakes. The point of my frustration is that I yelled out for them not to go in that door. I told them to turn around. I pleaded with them not to go down the alley. Do you think they would listen? No, they don’t. If they had listened to me, all their problems could have been avoided. The most frustrating part for those in the room with me is probably me yelling, telling the actors what to do. Sometimes when those with me have had enough, they tell me what to do.

        Like a script from a bad TV show, is the true to life situation Israel finds itself in. God forewarned them about messing around with other gods. He told them this would cost them their land, their families, and worst of all, their fellowship with Him. Yet, in Psalm 81:11 it says, “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” They listened to the wrong counsel. Verse 12 says, “…they walked in their own counsels.” Instead of listening to God, who could see how things would end, they took counsel one from another. It is like the blind leading the blind. That is not a good idea. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        People today want to change or ignore God’s word, often to fit what they want to do. We need to realize what Israel failed to realize. God already knows what is coming in life. Taking counsel from someone who cannot see the end of the story, is a bad idea.

Who are you following in life?

 

Integrity Above All

AUGUST 21, 2023
Daily Reading – Psa. 78-79 / Rom. 12

GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        People often love authority, power, and the spotlight. They change when they are put in charge, and they think they are being watched. I remember working with a guy in a restaurant who disliked the manager, with good cause. He said, “If I am ever made manager I will never act like that guy.” Which was good, since the manager he was talking about was arrogant and egotistical. This guy thought the sun rose and set just for him. He treated people terribly and was rude to anyone he did not like. Needless to say, he did not last long in a customer driven business. Too many people complained. Oddly enough, the guy who said he would never be like him, was made manager, and immediately began to act just like him. What happened? He let the position go to his head, and his head could not handle it. As you might guess, he did not last long either.

        In Psalm 78:70 it says God chose a man to lead the people of Israel. He did not pick a man from the military for his commanding skills. He did not choose a CEO for His leadership skills. He did not pick someone of royalty who knew the ropes of running a kingdom. It says, “He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:” See, God did not need a commander, a leader, or a man of experience. God was already all of those things. He just needed a man of Integrity. Not someone with a big head, just a big heart for God. 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        It has been said that someone’s character is who that person is when no one is watching. A person with integrity does not change their character no matter who is watching. David’s integrity is what drew God’s attention.

What is God focused on when He looks at you?