There are few theologians that have help my understanding of the great joy there is in following Christ, than Jonathan Edwards. His thoughts on the Scriptures are so deep and profound and help us to understand the great glory of God in a new way. The Bible is clear that God is seeking those that will worship Him: John 4:23-24-"But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth."
God is seeking men and women that will engage Him with the mind and emotions, He is our priority, we come into worship focused upward, this is what allows us to enter into worship in spirit and truth. Divine worship has always been the occupation and sustenance, the priority, of the believing soul.
This is what Jonathan Edwards' life was lived for. We would do well to read and meditate on Ps. 140-150 and think well on this statement from the life of Edwards, as to where our hearts are when it comes to worship.
"I had vehement longings of soul after God and Christ, and after more holiness, wherewith my heart seemed to be full and ready to break...I spent most of my time in thinking of divine things, year after year; often walking alone in the woods, and solitary places, for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and converse with God; and it was always my manner, at such times, to sing forth my contemplations... prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart vent."
I challenge you this week to think, when is the last time that you have meditated on how big God is, how glorious His creation is, and when is the last time that your heart burst forth into song or deep prayer. Divine worship is our priority, it is our aim. May we dwell this week on our great God. And may it stir our hearts to shout His glory.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
About Me
- Fellowship Church Lubbock
- We are not perfect, but we have been saved by the one who is. He did it by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, revealed infallibly by the Scripture alone.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Faith and Obedience
This week I want to examine the story of Abraham as told in Hebrews, here is the father of all that would believe, what was it about this man's life that made him a member in the "hall of faith."
Hebrews 11:8-10-"By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."
Can you imagine one day God says to you, "Pack up the suburban." "Where are we going?" "You'll know when you get there." Now for me, a guy who likes to know step by step what I'm doing and who would be ok if God laid out His plan for my life and let me know in advance, this blows me away. Abraham, who was very established and doing well where he was at, packs up the station wagon and hits the road.
This speaks to the action of faith. At some point our faith has to become more then the words that we speak or ideas that we know, it must result in obedience to the one that our faith is in. Obedience is the daughter of faith, it is what is birthed out of our trust in God. Obedience is the true sign that we believe God, and we trust that what He says He will do, He will do. Faith believes and confesses, but it is also move to action. The weight behind what Abraham does is why he is mentioned here, God became more then a mere concept to him, He became someone to follow.
Today, are you walking in faith, not just by words, but has that faith in God and His promise activated a living, breathing, moving obedience to what God has called you to?
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Hebrews 11:8-10-"By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."
Can you imagine one day God says to you, "Pack up the suburban." "Where are we going?" "You'll know when you get there." Now for me, a guy who likes to know step by step what I'm doing and who would be ok if God laid out His plan for my life and let me know in advance, this blows me away. Abraham, who was very established and doing well where he was at, packs up the station wagon and hits the road.
This speaks to the action of faith. At some point our faith has to become more then the words that we speak or ideas that we know, it must result in obedience to the one that our faith is in. Obedience is the daughter of faith, it is what is birthed out of our trust in God. Obedience is the true sign that we believe God, and we trust that what He says He will do, He will do. Faith believes and confesses, but it is also move to action. The weight behind what Abraham does is why he is mentioned here, God became more then a mere concept to him, He became someone to follow.
Today, are you walking in faith, not just by words, but has that faith in God and His promise activated a living, breathing, moving obedience to what God has called you to?
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Walking with God
As many of you know I have been in Hebrews for the better part of this year and have stalled out many times to think and dwell in certain areas, well here I am again, stuck in a section of Hebrews chapter 11 that has totally gripped me and caused me to wrestle with a lot of my own issues and ask some tough questions of myself. You may know Hebrews 11 as the "Hall of Faith" a compilation of ordinary men and women whose actions and belief in God the Father and the coming Son propelled them to extraordinary things. And they have been given to us as a cloud of witnesses to encourage us and challenge us. Well one man has really peaked my interest, and that man is Enoch.
Hebrews 11:5-6, tells us this about Enoch; "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him."
Now maybe you are not familiar with the story of Enoch, so here is his Old Testament blurb; Genesis 5:21-24-"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."
That is a crazy story, right? Here is a guy who walked so closely with God that one day God just took him off the face of the earth and into heaven, I think we can all agree this doesn't happen very often right? So what does this mean for us today? Because let's be honest most of us are not going to go home this way. What is Enoch telling us, how is he witnessing to us?
The chief end of Enoch's life was to glorify God, this pushed Enoch to walk with a tremendous amount of faith, that God was right there. We see two things from his life as mentioned in verse 6 of Hebrew 5: The first, faith must have an object, you must have straight who He really is, who is God and who is Jesus? And second, faith must also turn to God as the one who saves, this is not a works based salvation, but one that finds it's total dependency of Christ, and His work on the cross.
To please God, means to make much of Him, to seek Him for life, forgiveness, and a relationship, it is a walk with God. And like Enoch we will not taste death, this earthly shell will, but not the eternal soul, because Christ has overcome the grave. May we today walk with God.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Hebrews 11:5-6, tells us this about Enoch; "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him."
Now maybe you are not familiar with the story of Enoch, so here is his Old Testament blurb; Genesis 5:21-24-"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."
That is a crazy story, right? Here is a guy who walked so closely with God that one day God just took him off the face of the earth and into heaven, I think we can all agree this doesn't happen very often right? So what does this mean for us today? Because let's be honest most of us are not going to go home this way. What is Enoch telling us, how is he witnessing to us?
The chief end of Enoch's life was to glorify God, this pushed Enoch to walk with a tremendous amount of faith, that God was right there. We see two things from his life as mentioned in verse 6 of Hebrew 5: The first, faith must have an object, you must have straight who He really is, who is God and who is Jesus? And second, faith must also turn to God as the one who saves, this is not a works based salvation, but one that finds it's total dependency of Christ, and His work on the cross.
To please God, means to make much of Him, to seek Him for life, forgiveness, and a relationship, it is a walk with God. And like Enoch we will not taste death, this earthly shell will, but not the eternal soul, because Christ has overcome the grave. May we today walk with God.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
Thursday, May 6, 2010
National Day Of Prayer
Today is the National Day of Prayer, I pray that we take our cue from Paul in his letter to his son in the faith Timothy:
1 Timothy 2:1-3-First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made of all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior..."
Our duty as regenerate believers is to lift up those who God has allowed to be in authoritative positions. So today I would ask you to lift up our local officials, our state and national government, that they may be infused with godly wisdom, that their decisions would be made with a pure heart, without malice, or deceit, that they would honor the people they have been elected to speak for.
Remember that it is our God given responsibility to pray and daily lift up those, knowing that God has asked us to, and trusting in Him.
Proverbs 21:1-The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.
May the Lord bless you today and keep you and may He cause His face to shine on you.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
1 Timothy 2:1-3-First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made of all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior..."
Our duty as regenerate believers is to lift up those who God has allowed to be in authoritative positions. So today I would ask you to lift up our local officials, our state and national government, that they may be infused with godly wisdom, that their decisions would be made with a pure heart, without malice, or deceit, that they would honor the people they have been elected to speak for.
Remember that it is our God given responsibility to pray and daily lift up those, knowing that God has asked us to, and trusting in Him.
Proverbs 21:1-The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.
May the Lord bless you today and keep you and may He cause His face to shine on you.
LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE
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