- Aug 10, 2006
- 14,954
- 3,824
- 74
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Psalm 100:1-2 NIV
This is a call to the whole earth to worship God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But, by worship is not meant ritual or tradition or religious rites. Worship is not performing some religious duty, either. It is also not going through the motions of following after the customs of a religion.
It is also not merely external. For, we can shout out in some kind of emotional fervor, and we can appear to be really happy, and we can sing joyful songs out loud, with hands raised to the sky, and still not be worshiping God.
For, true worship of God begins in the heart of one who has first of all been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who has been resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him.
And, true worship of God is daily surrendering to him our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. It is being separate from the world of sin, too, because we are being made to be like Jesus Christ. And, it is a life that is putting sin to death and that is living to Christ’s righteousness, too.
Then, we have true cause for joy, for Jesus Christ set us free from our bondage to sin. He delivered us from those chains which held us in captivity. And, he gave us new lives in him to be lived for him, to walk in his ways.
And, he gives us all we need, too, to walk in his holiness and righteousness. So, we have much to be thankful for and for which to sing joyful songs of praise to our God.
Psalm 100:3 NIV
This is so important, but it is SO MISSING even among those who profess to believe in Jesus Christ. God is often treated as a genie there to grant our every request.
Or, his grace is taken for granted when people assume that Jesus’ death on a cross for our sins means that we now have heaven secured but that we don’t have to do anything to change our lifestyles. That is a slap in the face to God for all that he did to secure our freedom from sin.
Americans, especially, have lost the awe of God, and so many of them do not give him the honor, the worship, the praise, the respect, the submission and the obedience that he so deserves, and which he demands of his followers.
They do not see him as the all-powerful, all-knowing and ever present God that he is, nor do they see him as a God of justice as well as he is a God of mercy. So many just want to see God as their buddy who loves on them all the time no matter how grossly they may regularly sin against him, too.
But, our God is completely sovereign over all he has made, and what he said he would do, he will do. He will surely bless those who are his, but he will also judge those who refuse to follow him, and who will not obey him, and who make sin their practice, instead of holiness.
We were made to worship God, not to walk in sin and to live to please our flesh. For those of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ, if we are truly his, then we belong to him. He is now Lord (owner-master) of our lives, and we are to live our lives for him, not for ourselves. So, if we are truly his people, his sheep, then that means we listen to him and we follow (obey) him.
Psalm 100:4 NIV
What are his gates and his courts? They used to be physical places, but now they are places of the heart where we come before him to enter into fellowship with him, where we read his Word and we pray and we go out from there to obey what he has taught us.
We are to enter into our times of fellowship with our Lord with thanksgiving for who he is, for what he has done for us, and for all his many provisions and blessings in our lives. But, our thanks to him must not be lip service only, for if we are truly thankful, our thankfulness will be reflected in how we treat him, and in how we live our lives, either for him or for ourselves.
Psalm 100:5 NIV
Our God is definitely good! He has been very good to us in giving his life up for us on that cross so that we can be set free from our slavery to sin, and so that we can walk freely in his love and his grace, and in his righteousness and holiness.
He is love, so he can do no less than love. Yet, this love is not to be confused with emotional feelings or with just saying to others what makes them feel good about themselves.
Jesus definitely is God, and as God, he is love, and it was in love that he came to this earth to give his life for our freedom. But, if you read his words – all of them – you will realize that many or most of them would never pass the “love” test among today’s modern church gatherings.
For, Jesus understood that true love cares enough about people to tell them the truth, and it never lies to people to make them feel better about themselves.
So, he expounded a lot of very hard truths, and he even spoke some harsh words, at times, to the hypocritical self-righteous religious leaders who were not acting in love towards people, and who were sinning wickedly in secret behind closed doors.
So, when he loves us, it does not mean he turns a blind eye to our sins, or that he smiles on us if we are willfully and blatantly continuing in sinful practices in his face. He, like a loving parent, will discipline those of us he loves so that we will be holy as he is holy, and so we will listen to him and so we will obey him.
His Word says that he will do this, so don’t be surprised when he does, for he is completely faithful to every word he has spoken to us. His words will not return empty, but they will accomplish the purposes for which God sent them. So, please take God and his Word very seriously.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
This is a call to the whole earth to worship God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But, by worship is not meant ritual or tradition or religious rites. Worship is not performing some religious duty, either. It is also not going through the motions of following after the customs of a religion.
It is also not merely external. For, we can shout out in some kind of emotional fervor, and we can appear to be really happy, and we can sing joyful songs out loud, with hands raised to the sky, and still not be worshiping God.
For, true worship of God begins in the heart of one who has first of all been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who has been resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him.
And, true worship of God is daily surrendering to him our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. It is being separate from the world of sin, too, because we are being made to be like Jesus Christ. And, it is a life that is putting sin to death and that is living to Christ’s righteousness, too.
Then, we have true cause for joy, for Jesus Christ set us free from our bondage to sin. He delivered us from those chains which held us in captivity. And, he gave us new lives in him to be lived for him, to walk in his ways.
And, he gives us all we need, too, to walk in his holiness and righteousness. So, we have much to be thankful for and for which to sing joyful songs of praise to our God.
Psalm 100:3 NIV
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
This is so important, but it is SO MISSING even among those who profess to believe in Jesus Christ. God is often treated as a genie there to grant our every request.
Or, his grace is taken for granted when people assume that Jesus’ death on a cross for our sins means that we now have heaven secured but that we don’t have to do anything to change our lifestyles. That is a slap in the face to God for all that he did to secure our freedom from sin.
Americans, especially, have lost the awe of God, and so many of them do not give him the honor, the worship, the praise, the respect, the submission and the obedience that he so deserves, and which he demands of his followers.
They do not see him as the all-powerful, all-knowing and ever present God that he is, nor do they see him as a God of justice as well as he is a God of mercy. So many just want to see God as their buddy who loves on them all the time no matter how grossly they may regularly sin against him, too.
But, our God is completely sovereign over all he has made, and what he said he would do, he will do. He will surely bless those who are his, but he will also judge those who refuse to follow him, and who will not obey him, and who make sin their practice, instead of holiness.
We were made to worship God, not to walk in sin and to live to please our flesh. For those of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ, if we are truly his, then we belong to him. He is now Lord (owner-master) of our lives, and we are to live our lives for him, not for ourselves. So, if we are truly his people, his sheep, then that means we listen to him and we follow (obey) him.
Psalm 100:4 NIV
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
What are his gates and his courts? They used to be physical places, but now they are places of the heart where we come before him to enter into fellowship with him, where we read his Word and we pray and we go out from there to obey what he has taught us.
We are to enter into our times of fellowship with our Lord with thanksgiving for who he is, for what he has done for us, and for all his many provisions and blessings in our lives. But, our thanks to him must not be lip service only, for if we are truly thankful, our thankfulness will be reflected in how we treat him, and in how we live our lives, either for him or for ourselves.
Psalm 100:5 NIV
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Our God is definitely good! He has been very good to us in giving his life up for us on that cross so that we can be set free from our slavery to sin, and so that we can walk freely in his love and his grace, and in his righteousness and holiness.
He is love, so he can do no less than love. Yet, this love is not to be confused with emotional feelings or with just saying to others what makes them feel good about themselves.
Jesus definitely is God, and as God, he is love, and it was in love that he came to this earth to give his life for our freedom. But, if you read his words – all of them – you will realize that many or most of them would never pass the “love” test among today’s modern church gatherings.
For, Jesus understood that true love cares enough about people to tell them the truth, and it never lies to people to make them feel better about themselves.
So, he expounded a lot of very hard truths, and he even spoke some harsh words, at times, to the hypocritical self-righteous religious leaders who were not acting in love towards people, and who were sinning wickedly in secret behind closed doors.
So, when he loves us, it does not mean he turns a blind eye to our sins, or that he smiles on us if we are willfully and blatantly continuing in sinful practices in his face. He, like a loving parent, will discipline those of us he loves so that we will be holy as he is holy, and so we will listen to him and so we will obey him.
His Word says that he will do this, so don’t be surprised when he does, for he is completely faithful to every word he has spoken to us. His words will not return empty, but they will accomplish the purposes for which God sent them. So, please take God and his Word very seriously.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Friday, November 23, 2018
