It is amazing to think that we, who are his, are rejoiced over by God. Some may say it is our song (our lives) that sing to the Lord but why do our lives sing to the Lord?
We sing because it is the love song God sang to us at the beginning and continues to sing to this day.
God helps us realize in our humbleness that we need Him, we weren’t able to get through all the situations and events in our lives without him, he’s the one who gives us peace, the one who makes us truly happy and he makes all things possible. When we are troubled he pleads with us to come to him so we don’t get carried away in our own ways and our own understandings. He is the one who delivers us and restores us from all things. He helps us see that we can come before him even though He is Holy. He is not about religion but relationship. The more we are allowed to understand his splendor and majesty and his authority the more we see how grateful we should be… He sings to you and me everyday if we just look to him. He helps us see the wonders of his love. We seem so small in the universe or scope of things yet he sets us on his knee and listens. (He even listens when he knows we won’t listen when it’s his time to speak.) Through his son, Jesus Christ, we have an unbreakable line of communication and friendship. We are saved by His love alone.
Listen to God’s song that He is singing to you and glorify Him in all that you do.
Zephaniah 3:17
For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Actions Speak Louder then Words
A friend from church sent me this one. It's pretty good!
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.
He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.
The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion.
When the minister gains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget."
"Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.
He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.
The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion.
When the minister gains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget."
"Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"
Friday, June 01, 2007
Toss out Your Presumptions.
The world is full of presumptions or judgements.
I bet even you make presumptions on people by the way they dress, talk, walk, or act.
Presumptions cause us to act out of personal judgements instead of fact. Presumptions of others limit enrichment in our lives. It causes us to put up walls and barriers instead of welcome mats.
I am not saying make a buddy with everyone you see… common sense should tell you that - but ask yourself if you are acting "this way or that way" to someone based on presumption or fact?
Jeremiah 1:4
"The LORD gave me a message. He said, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world."
"O’ Sovereign LORD," I said, "I can’t speak to you! I’m too young!"
"Don’t say that," The LORD replied, "for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
Then the LORD touched my mouth and said, "See, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against the nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them."
You see if we make presumptions about God and ourselves how can we build up others and plant them in the faith of Christ Jesus? How can we stand up for what is right and stand up against what is wrong? How can a person live according to God’s will if they don’t trust what God says?
Pride and presumption - Jonah suffered from pride and presumption. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because of his own pride and presumption. His presumptions of God caused him to run away and his pride only made him think about himself and not God’s plan for mercy for the people of Nineveh.
"I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you would cancel your plans for destroying these people. Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen." Jonah 4:2
People make presumptions of others based on blessings and tragedies. Take the story of Job for example. Job lost all his children and riches and came down with a terrible case of boils and had to leave his home and sit outside the city where people dumped their trash. His friends thought God was cursing Job because he had sinned against God but they were wrong.
Job 42:7 "After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite; "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was. Now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was."
Just because this or that has happened to a person don’t make presumptions and especially not about God.
Isaiah 55:8 "My thoughts are completely different then yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher then your thoughts."
Here are two other warnings to keep in mind when it comes to presumptions about ourselves.
1 Corinthians 10:12
" If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin."
James 4:11
"Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?"
So presumption ends with God’s wisdom and we build up and plant others in Christ Jesus as we live in that wisdom.
"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." James 3:17
I bet even you make presumptions on people by the way they dress, talk, walk, or act.
Presumptions cause us to act out of personal judgements instead of fact. Presumptions of others limit enrichment in our lives. It causes us to put up walls and barriers instead of welcome mats.
I am not saying make a buddy with everyone you see… common sense should tell you that - but ask yourself if you are acting "this way or that way" to someone based on presumption or fact?
Jeremiah 1:4
"The LORD gave me a message. He said, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world."
"O’ Sovereign LORD," I said, "I can’t speak to you! I’m too young!"
"Don’t say that," The LORD replied, "for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
Then the LORD touched my mouth and said, "See, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against the nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them."
You see if we make presumptions about God and ourselves how can we build up others and plant them in the faith of Christ Jesus? How can we stand up for what is right and stand up against what is wrong? How can a person live according to God’s will if they don’t trust what God says?
Pride and presumption - Jonah suffered from pride and presumption. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because of his own pride and presumption. His presumptions of God caused him to run away and his pride only made him think about himself and not God’s plan for mercy for the people of Nineveh.
"I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you would cancel your plans for destroying these people. Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen." Jonah 4:2
People make presumptions of others based on blessings and tragedies. Take the story of Job for example. Job lost all his children and riches and came down with a terrible case of boils and had to leave his home and sit outside the city where people dumped their trash. His friends thought God was cursing Job because he had sinned against God but they were wrong.
Job 42:7 "After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite; "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was. Now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was."
Just because this or that has happened to a person don’t make presumptions and especially not about God.
Isaiah 55:8 "My thoughts are completely different then yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher then your thoughts."
Here are two other warnings to keep in mind when it comes to presumptions about ourselves.
1 Corinthians 10:12
" If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin."
James 4:11
"Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?"
So presumption ends with God’s wisdom and we build up and plant others in Christ Jesus as we live in that wisdom.
"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." James 3:17
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