Worship for the Weekday
Cast Your Crown
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Revelation 7:11-1211. And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12. saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."
Revelation 4:10-1210. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 11. "Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created."
When I think about heaven, I fell like a little child waiting for Santa Claus! The nearer the calendar draws to Christmas, the more animated and excited I am. It’s so hard to wait for something that amazing! I think that’s why I’m drawn to scripture about heaven lately! When I think about what heaven will be like, I almost can’t contain myself.
I wonder if I will actually be able to see the face of God or if, even in heaven, his glory will be so great that we can’t look upon him. Revelation is John’s accounting of what God revealed to him, including a vision of heaven. In John’s vision, even the earthly powerful and elite threw down their crowns-their possessions, wealth, power—at the foot of the throne of God. None of it matters. None of it sustains. None of it lasts. In utter and complete shame and grief, the earthly kings cast down the symbols of their own greatness.
What crowns will we cast down? What gods are we worshipping in our lives? Does what we say is important match up with how we live? Or will we, like the twenty-four elders arrive in heaven and finally have our minds and hearts and souls opened and God’s glory and wisdom and power and might be revealed? Will it be only then that we give God the honor only he deserves? Will our thanksgiving at that time be for allowing us in his presence in spite of our abject sinfulness?
“Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all”
[I Can Only Imagine]
All will be revealed at that time. Every question we have will dissolve. Pure truth will emanate from the mind of God to our minds. Our tears will dry up. God will dry them all. We cannot begin to imagine what heaven will be like. Mere words are inadequate to even share our individual visions of heaven. We cannot describe the magnitude, the vastness, the all-encompassing goodness, wholeness, light and love that is God, that is from God and that will be ours upon arriving at the throne room.
My heart races at the thought! Until I arrive to that glorious existence, I’m going to try each day to live a life worthy of heaven.
My prayer today is that you cast down your earthly crowns and fall on your face before the throne of God. And that you imagine heaven as you struggle through each day.
Mary
Labels: heaven, power, sin, wealth
I Can Only Imagine
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Revelation 4:8-10 NIV
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Revelation 7:11-12 NASB
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty- four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
Do you notice a pattern or theme in these passages? I think everyone spends time wondering what heaven will be like. Of course, we cannot even begin to imagine it! Following is a song that is one of my all-time favorite songs. If you haven't heard it, you should try to find it and listen to it. It is absolutely beautiful and I often start to cry when I hear it because of the emotion with which it's sung. I think these passages and the lyrics to the song will suffice to put you in a positive frame of mind today!
"I Can Only Imagine"
I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk By your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face Is before me
I can only imagine
[Chorus:] Surrounded by Your glory,
what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah,
will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do Is forever
Forever worship You I can only imagine
I can only imagine
When all I will do Is forever,
forever worship you
My prayer today is that you imagine heaven. And that you have hope in this life because of what awaits us in the next.
Mary
Labels: heaven, hope
Fearless!
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Romans 8:38-3938.
For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39. nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Philippians 4:6-76.
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Well . . . do I really need to add anything to these two hopeful and uplifting passages? No matter what is going on in our lives, we have the assurance that God is in it; He is with us and walks through every moment with us. That’s not always easy to remember when we are in pain, experiencing a difficult time in our lives, or have lost a loved one. To my mind, those are the times we need the reassurance of these verses the most.
I read the Philippians to mean that once we have prayed and presented our supplications to God, we need to let it go. Once we give it our Heavenly Father, we can be assured that everything will happen as he has planned out of his wisdom and grace. In a time of tragedy, mourning, struggle or fear we may not feel very close to God. Those are the times we actually need to seek Him out. That’s when we need to read and pray upon the Romans verses.
Because of Christ, we have assurance that God has our present and our future in his hands. There is nothing we can do, nothing we can experience that is stronger than God’s love. Think about that for a minute! Beyond our own daily lives and our personal future lives, He holds the world! No war or revolt, no acts of genocide, no words of hatred, no earthquake, volcano, tsunami, drought or flood is beyond the depth and breadth, the height or the power of God!
More, in spite of our own sins and the sins of the world, God values us tremendously. He jealously oversees our actions and knows our thoughts. He loves us anyway—individually as his precious ones, and as a people. We are all His Own, his beloved. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Cross won for us eternity in heaven. That’s why we are not to be anxious, to fret, to be afraid. No traffic light color of alert level will change our future. We’re going to heaven!
I think it helps to step back and reframe our own little lives, and all the things going on in the world from that perspective. Since we are going to heaven, all we need to really be concerned about is taking as many with us as we can, and being the best person we can possibly be. It’s a cliché, I know. But it is true, and it is the answer to how to have the best life possible—a grace-filled life of abundance and blessings. Death is not the final word. Nor is warfare, natural disasters, hatred, military power or living in fear.
Because of Christ we are fearless! We are not afraid, and so we are free to share the Good News and to live abundantly and fully into the promise sealed for us 2000 years ago on Calvary.
Rejoice! We have nothing to fear! We are God’s beloved and His precious creations. He waits for us!
My prayer today is that you fearlessly go out into the world intending to be Christ to the world. And that you live the rest of your life with reckless abandon!
Mary
Labels: Christ, death, fear, God, war
Seek the Cross
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Matthew 24:10-13 NIV
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Is it just me, or could this have been written last week? I imagine that anyone reading these words could apply them to their own current times. Mankind doesn’t ever really change! Two thousand years after Christ we have Christians preaching the “prosperity gospel” and wars all over the world and corruption, deceit, hatred and greed. We just don’t learn, do we?
There’s nothing wrong with working to be as prosperous as possible as long as the intention is to give that prosperity back to God and his world. I so admire Rick Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” He started what is now Saddleback Church with his wife in their living room. It’s now a multi-million dollar a year operation. But they haven’t lost sight of their purpose.
He’s personally acquired tremendous wealth from his books. As he acquired more wealth, he began paying back to the church the salary they have paid him over the years. At this point, he and his family are now tithing 90% of their income and living on 10%. That’s a stark contrast to flying around in multi-million dollar private jets, living in a mansion and owning several very expensive cars.
Again, I’m trying not to judge these folks, but it makes me want to examine them and their lifestyles in a little more depth. Speaking of trying not to judge . . . the latest poll reported on the news last night indicates that 65% of the country disapproves of the President and his performance. I probably don’t have to tell anyone which side of that poll I fall into. My hope is that if that if that many people are not satisfied with the current administration, they will get out and vote in the next election—for anybody—just vote!
The Middle East is a hotbed as I’m typing. I’m convinced that ardent prayer is the only explanation as to why we haven’t experienced a nuclear war! Spoiled celebrities make the “news” headlines and the continent of Africa is still plagued with genocide, HIV/AIDS, famine and abject poverty.
I don’t mean to be sounding off a doom and gloom message! I’m really just ticking off the things that ran through my mind as I read this passage. The media outlets are “loving” all the turmoil and anxiety, fear and violence in the world. It makes good copy. And we buy into the hype. Even faithful Christians can get caught up in it all.
Our only hope is the Cross! We need to surround ourselves with Christians and participate in a faith community in order to stay focused on what really matters. We are not powerless. We have the might and strength of our God within us and around us who longs for us to be one who makes a difference by how we live our lives, in simple ways—large and small.
My prayer today is that you turn to the Word of God to find truth and understanding. And that you seek the Cross before all else.
Mary
Labels: Africa, Christ, Christian, Cross, famine, genocide, God, HIV/AIDS, war
Oaks of Righteousness
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Isaiah 61:1-31. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2. to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3. to grant to those who mourn in Zion -- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
I try not to get too political in my posts. For some reason, though, these verses lead me to think about the local elections that took place on Tuesday and the upcoming Presidential election. You’ve about it haven’t you? How could you not? The campaigning began in earnest months ago! This time around, I’ve thoroughly researched the candidates and have tried to get to know who they are as people in addition to how they’ve voted on particular issues.
Even for President of the United States, a small minority of eligible voters actually exercise that right. I have never understood that. Voting responsibly is crucial to our communities, states and country! Of course, often there are no viable choices, which is another issue altogether!
On a personal level these words impart to us a tremendous responsibility. Each of these tasks taken alone seems impossible to accomplish. Taken together they are seemingly insurmountable and doom us for failure. But read the first 8 words of verse 1, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. In Isaiah’s time the Holy Spirit had not been given to all believers; only a select few were indwelt by the Spirit until Pentecost. The Spirit of the Lord not only allowed Isaiah to know what God wanted him to do, but allowed him to figure out how to get it done and afforded him super-human ability to do it—the ability of the Spirit.
We have the benefit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, too. The Lord has anointed each of us to minister to his world in the same ways revealed to Isaiah. We don’t need to jump on every bandwagon [inserting note to self] to act as a change agent. By living our lives so as to fully demonstrate and express the Spirit within us is all we need to do. All? Well . . . it’s not as easy as that sentence seems to indicate, nor do I ignore that fact.
If we begin each day determined to be the hands and feet, heart and mind of Christ to everyone in our lives, we will have gone a long way toward these goals. We don’t all have to be politicians or ministers, CEO’s or PTA presidents. Me being myself and you being yourself will be sufficient since we have the Spirit within us. When we get out of our own way and allow the Spirit to work within us, we are powerful, strong, kind, righteous and a change agent for the world.
Each of us making the world better in even the smallest ways contributes to a better world—cleaner, more abundant, safer, more secure, habitable and accommodating. Voting responsibly helps to ensure the vision of the world revealed to us by the Spirit come to fruition.
My prayer today is that you spend some time in the Spirit breathing in God’s mission for your life. And that you begin today to bring good tidings to the afflicted, bind up the broken hearted, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Mary
God Is Our Refuge and Strength
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Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. [
a]
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields [
b] with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
I didn’t come to the computer with a particular idea this morning, nor did I find anything in particular in my reading this morning. I came across Psalm 46 in a reading I had done some time ago and “saved” for a day when I would need it.
Considering the state of the world as reported on the late news last night, I think we need the God of Jacob as our fortress.
On a more personal level, my life has been somewhat of a whirlwind this past year, and I always find comfort in reading, verse 10. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
My prayer for you on this election day is that you think of the words of this Psalm as you go through your day. And that you find comfort in the power and mercy of our God.
Mar
C’mon, God!
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2 Corinthians 4:6-11 6. For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. 8. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10. always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
I think these verses are referring to the old adage, “God never gives us more than we can bear.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve doubted his wisdom in that regard more than once! I think sometimes his confidence in me is misplaced and mistaken! I do believe God is both wise beyond my comprehending and merciful beyond measure, but I admit I pause every so often, raise my eyes to the heavens and protest “C’mon God. Enough, already!”
I readily admit this because a friend of my agreed with my response a few days ago. She and I have had some similar challenges in our lives recently and so have shared some of the same battles of spiritual warfare. The very fact that she and I have someone else with whom we can share our sense of being overwhelmed and feeling ill-equipped for our current circumstances is reason to be hopeful and even comforted. We are part of a faith community together. We have a built-in support system because we belong to the same church.
So I wonder how does one deal with disappointment, discouragement, even anger and grief if they have no one with whom they can express their feelings. I recently was overcome with regret and disappointment regarding a particular situation. It overtook every aspect of my life. My best friend shared with me that she was concerned about the source of my uncharacteristic responses to situations and events. What was the root? What was causing me to view the world so harshly? Why was I so unsettled? Why did I feel so put upon and disgruntled?
The truth was, I felt as if God had let me down. I felt I had done my part to bring about a positive conclusion, but ultimately I doubted if I had done enough; doubted whether my efforts had been enough. Notice a pattern here? My efforts, my doing, my, my, me, me. It’s so easy to get to that point when we have a bad day, piled on top of an issue or situation we’re struggling with. Then something else comes along that throws a monkey-wrench in the whole works. It doesn’t matter the situation. We’ve all experienced those situations where we have invested time and energy, in some cases sweat and tears, only to have someone say, “Oh, I can make that right.”
What? Where was this person all along? Why wasn’t this option presented earlier? Why? Why? “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.” Get over it! God’s plans are not always evident! Look at the life of Job? He lost everything—absolutely everything. God restored his life, gave him a new family, wealth and land and abundance that far exceeded his original life. No, he never stopped remembering his past life. Job would always miss the family he lost. That didn’t stop him from celebrating his current blessings.
I think that is the lesson. We can look back with regret, sadness, even anger. But when we do that we miss the blessings of today. Worse, we lose hope for the future. God assures us that He has a plan for us. He will take every pain, disappointment, regret, sin and event and make them into something good, powerful, reason for rejoicing. We can rejoice not because we forget, but because we remember and then realize God was in it all! And He is in our future.
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10. always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
My prayer today is that you turn over all your regrets and disappointments to the God who restores us. And that you look to the future – where Christ won for you a place in heaven.
Mary
Labels: Christ, despair, future, God, grief, heaven, Jesus, regret
The Gift of Grace
Ephesians 2:7-10
We are saved by grace, through faith; this salvation is not from what we do, it is a gift from God; Salvation comes from faith and not by works, so that no one can boast about what they did to get to heaven.
James 2:14, 17
“Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. … So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.”
Do these two passages seem to contradict each other? In the first passage, we read we’re saved by grace, and not by what we do. In the second, we read that faith without works is dead and useless. Hmmm. So which is the one by which we should live? Which one do we follow? Of course, you know I’m going to say both!
What I take away from these two scripture passages is that first of all, we are indeed saved by grace—God’s grace. We have the unspeakably generous gift of his grace in spite of our inherent sinfulness and propensity to demonstrate all the worse characteristics of humanity. Our faith that we have already received God’s grace and so are assured of a future with him in heaven is borne our by how we live our lives. We are not to ever think we have earned the prize because of our own doing. No, we have won it in spite of ourselves!
So how does the passage from James fit into the picture? We’ve already declared we trust and believe that God’s grace is unconditional—available merely by believing it is so. James addresses what should be our natural response to being saved by God’s grace. Think of the Good Samaritan, think of those from modern times who risk everything to help someone else or to take a stand on an important issue. Think about the person who holds the door for you when your arms are full. Think of allowing someone with 2 items go in front of you in the grocery store because you have a cart full.
We don’t have to be missionaries and live a life of poverty far from home in order to live out our faith. James tells us that it’s wonderful to have faith! God is pleased that you believe his promise! Acting upon that faith is a natural response to our gratitude and joy that we are saved! When we have faith, we cannot help but want to share it with the world!
So let’s review. We have this astounding gift of grace from God, freely given and offered without condition or cost. Our natural response to the gift is to share it with others. Not that we are not saved without sharing it, but that we cannot help but declare God’s unspeakable generosity and mercy. Faith without works means we haven’t fully grasped or embraced the gift of grace. It is so incredible that we just can’t wrap our minds around the why of it. There is no love on earth that equals God’s love for us. That’s the why. God made us to be his. He longs for us. He gave us a no-fail way to get to heaven so we could be with him at the end of time.
Psalm 51:15-1715. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Thy praise. 16. For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
My prayer today is that your faith is demonstrated by your works. And that your works cause others to ask you “why?”
Mary
Labels: faith, grace, praise, works
