Not just for crocheting!

Psalm 148:13 "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted, his majesty is above earth and heaven." 

Who is “them”? If you take time to read the previous verses, you will note the following: All of creation is to praise the name of the Lord!  (praise means to worship the greatness or excellence of a person or object.) What is the object of worship?

The name of the Lord.

The name of the Lord is His renown, reputation and character – NOT the word that describes it (Elohim, El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh, etc...).  In the Old Testament, a name was not only what you were called, but was a description of who you were.  Throughout Scripture God reveals His character and majesty to us through His names.  Therefore, we worship the name of the Lord for what it reveals about God

Why?  Scripture says “For His name alone is exalted”.

The majesty of God (His splendor, authority, strength and character) is above earth and heaven.  This description indicates there is NONE like Him, AND there is none that can compare to Him.

When we study the names He reveals to us in the Bible, we will better understand His character and glory. With that understanding, we will be drawn to the place of genuine worship.

I suppose the next question should be, "How do we worship the name of the Lord?"

We can sing. We can pray. We can meditate. We can serve. But, something is still missing.

Since we are ambassadors (official representatives) FOR Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), our worship and praise of the character (name) of God is displayed in our attitude and behavior in the communities in which we live. We can not praise the name of the Lord in hate. Or selfishness. Or bitterness. Or unforgiveness.  Or stagnation. We praise the name of the Lord as we reflect His character!

Psalm 148:13 is a beautiful verse, but it is not just for crocheting on pillowcases.

 

Sunday is coming...

Isaiah 53:1-11

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Meditate on the truth of this prophecy.

By faith, this event is life and eternity changing! Therefore, it is time to take off your grave clothes, leave the chains of bondage behind and walk out of the tomb.  We do not live in His death, we live in  His resurrection.

We recognize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ today, but Sunday is coming!!!!! Let's live as though we believe it!

For me? Incredible!

I cannot help but contemplate the cross today.  While it represents my "new" life and eternal hope in Christ, it was a journey of love for my Savior. En route to the garden, where He knew betrayal was on the horizon and unspeakable pain would come the following day, Jesus poured out His heart to the remaining disciples.

He did not complain to them.
He did not whine.
He did not wish for something different.

He encouraged them.
He prepared them.
He taught them.

He was selfless. Yes, His mind was on the coming events, but His concern was for the disciples and their understanding that He loved them.  He loves you too.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.  For Jesus so loved the Father, He obeyed Him unto death on a cross. For Jesus so loved me, He willingly became sin, suffered in my place, and died.  He became sin and DIED.  For me.  For you. Why?  Because you and I were/are helpless and hopeless. Without Jesus, we have only condemnation and eternal separation from the love of God. So, He (God the Son) was condemned in our place.

Condemned.

He suffered because of sin.  He was separated from God the Father because of sin.  He was at the will of Satan (though for a short time) because of sin.  In our helpless circumstance, the Father provided the only way to eternal hope and security through His Son.

It IS finished. We will either identify with Christ by faith (confession, repentance, surrender) or we will remain in our helpless and hopeless state.  I am thankful for a Savior who offers me every opportunity to experience His abundant love!

Just-as-if-I’d

Romans 5:9 "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

We (those who have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation) have now been justified by His blood.  Being justified, the offense and debt we have against God is removed.  One way to remember the result of being justified is:

“Just-as-if-I’d” never sinned.

How is this achieved? Scripture says by His blood by faith.

So, to be justified is to be declared righteous and set free in the strength and power of Jesus!
Without this justification, we are declared guilty and condemned in our weakness and pride.
The bondage we were in because of sin has been removed by Jesus through His life, as He gave His life for us.  That is justified by His blood, but it is also by faith. In faith you believe Jesus did what God said He did and trust that His righteousness will be credited to you through His sacrifice as God said it would.

Not only did Christ pay the debt and remove our sin, His sacrifice also saved (rescued) us from the wrath of God!  The text is written in the passive tense declaring we could not rescue ourselves.

We are helpless.

So, how did Jesus rescue us? Jesus DID NOT take on the wrath of God.  The wrath of God, as described in Scripture, will come against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of mankind in the day of the Lord. 

Christ saved us from the wrath of God by removing the very thing that would cause us to receive His wrath!

In short, He became sin. He became my offense and credited me with His sinless life.  2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

He did what I could not do...because He loved me...while I was His enemy. He is my Lord and Savior!

Bending the knee

My mother had a much needed knee replacement surgery three weeks (and 3 days) ago. The procedure went well. The hospital staff, however, did not get her up as quickly as the surgeon anticipated and the intensive therapy did not achieve the expected results. Talking with Mom, she was happy with the movement she now had - which was more than she has had in decades!

The surgeon had a follow up visit last week and was dissatisfied with Mom's condition.  He was not happy with 50% movement and declared the hospital did not do its job, the therapist group did not do their job and Mom did not yield herself to therapy in the way she should have.  He cancelled therapy and gave Mom until yesterday to make a decision - go in Tuesday for a follow up procedure to break through the scar tissue or remain just as you are.

Well, she did.  And he did.  I received a call from Dad a while ago that Mom had 100% movement in her leg! (Praise the Lord)

Now for the painful part.

God tells us who we can be in Him. We know who we used to be, we look in the mirror and are content with our progress - even though we are still missing God's expectations.  Generally speaking, the church is not doing its job (teaching in the power of the Spirit), small groups have not done their job (holding each other accountable and making disciples) and we have each failed to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We MUST be broken to the point of bending our knee before God Almighty! Not just 50%, but 100%. We may not want to hear the news (since we are all doing so much better than we were), but it is time to go back in for a follow up procedure and allow God to move us to where we should be.

Will you join me as I humble myself before God and ask Him to break me? I pray we will not settle for less than God's best so that He may be abundantly glorified through His church.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

By His wounds...or not.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  - Isaiah 53:5

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:24

We have entered a season where these verses become especially meaningful. Aren't you grateful we are given the opportunity to be healed?  Obviously, we must ask from what we are healed and how does this healing come about?

We are each plagued with a sin disease. Without healing, we are doomed without any hope. No hope of eternity in Heaven. No hope for righteousness. No hope for goodness. No hope for acceptance by the one, true, living God.

How does this healing come about? The ESV, NIVand HCSB translations say "by his wounds". The NAS translation says "by his scourging".  The KJV and NKJV say, "by his stripes". So what images come to mind? The passion of the Christ? Jesus beaten to within a breath of His life? If that is accurate, we are saying that Jesus brought us healing because man beat Him. Which stripe? Which bruise?

The Hebrew and Greek texts are singular, not plural (Meaning our translations are lacking). Therefore, by His wound, we are healed. Which wound could possibly bring us healing? A scourging? A crown of thorns? Nails in His hands or feet? I contend that none of the above could bring us healing from our sin.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

JESUS BECAME SIN. For the first and only time in eternity, Jesus was separated from God the Father. Becoming sin was THE wound that could bring us God's righteousness, the condition that can be obtained only in the absence of sin. By the work of Christ, not the efforts of man, we can be healed. Have you?

You want me to do what?

Genesis 22:1-2 "After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Scripture says God tested Abraham.  What does that mean? Why would God, who knows everything, need to test a man?  Since God knows our hearts, the test would not be for God to know the faith of Abraham, it would be for Abraham to know the genuineness of the faith he proclaimed in God.

It is one thing to say you have faith, but Scripture says faith without works is dead (James 2:17); meaning there is evidence of your faith in your behavior.

The test was a serious test. God told Abraham to take his only son, whom he loved, and offer him as a burnt offering.  This is the son Abraham longed for and was the faithful promise of God.  Would his devotion and faith still be to the God who miraculously provided Isaac, or would Abraham’s love for his son be greater?

What do we call something that steals our love and devotion from God? An idol.

The test is also a test for idols! "Abraham, is there anything, or anyone, that you love more than me?"
Perhaps God is using the passage to test you and me today. What or who do you love more than God?
While you may provide a "church" answer, how does your life answer that question?

What/who encroaches on your time in prayer, time in the Word or service to God?
(Relationships, gaming systems, work, family, tv, computer, self - other suggestions?)

The command to Abraham is relevant to you and me today.  We must re-prioritize whatever is coming before God; and ensure God is sitting on the throne of our lives. He is the One who died in your place to do what you could not do so you may be reconciled to God.  He is worthy of your devotion, loyalty, trust, love and obedience.

"Take your  __________, that you love, and surrender it to me as an offering."
Abraham stepped out in obedience and God was glorified. What will you do today?

Convicted to Live

1 Thessalonians 1:5 "because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake."

Not only did Paul and his team share the Gospel with full conviction, they lived out the Gospel in their presence. The phrase “we proved to be”, indicates they possessed the same characteristics they preached – and it was seen!

I can tell you I am gentle in spirit and it is by the power of the Gospel I have been delivered from my anger issues and harsh language.  That is a great testimony until I am in a situation that may prove to be explosive.  Now, we will see if my testimony is true. Will the power of the Gospel I declare overcome my personal response and affirm my testimony – or will I excuse my behavior and ruin the testimony of the power of the Gospel?

In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul said, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.”

That is a bold invitation that is rooted in full conviction!  He was humbly admitting Jesus was the only one worth imitating and he was personally living with that intention.  Jesus teaches us how to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, describing what to do and what not to do.  He then commands that we follow His teaching.  His teaching is not to restrict our lifestyle, but to reflect His!

So, when we ignore, disobey and rebel – we are choosing NOT to reflect Jesus to a world that desperately needs to see Him!  Our testimony is diminished and His testimony is diminished in us.
You can expect your children (or those who look to you) to model your behavior more than your words because your actions represent your full conviction. Is worship important? For what reasons do you "skip"? The lake, golf course, vacation, too tired? So, worship is important unless something else comes up. Let us live as though we believe what the Bible says (with full conviction)!