Ascribe To The LORD

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness...”
Psalm 29:2

Throughout the Older Testament Scripture we read many times that when ever the act of worship occurred it required a sacrifice. A bull, a ram, a goat, a broken heart, a life given, whatever it was it always involved a sacrifice. Praise God that through Christ’s sacrifice we don’t have to offer a daily physical sacrifice to atone for our sins or to worship, however, because of what Christ did do for us how much greater should our “sacrifice of praise” be towards our God?

As we read what God requires of us and what He wants for our lives, bottom line it is us who He desires not the “things” that we bring to Him. Remember Micah 6:8? “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

One of the offerings of worship that we see in Scripture is music. Music is seen as a tool of responding to God for all He is and what He has done. When you read the Psalms, you are reading a musical response to the Creator of the Universe! So, indeed, music plays a mighty role in worship. However, we have in many ways come to the point now that whenever we refer to worship, our minds automatically think of music or musical styles. But as Matt Redman reminds us though his song, “Heart of Worship”, it’s about “more than a song!”

Scripture reminds us over and over again that the quality of worship, bottom line, is about the condition of our hearts. Whether you brought an animal, gifts from the ground or a song, God weighed the condition of the heart over all other factors. And He still does. Since worship is a heart issue, we are reminded once again that we are to worship an Audience of One. That Audience is God and God alone. He is the sole person that needs to be pleased with our worship.
Today as we worship consider this: worship always involves sacrifice. It always cost something. It did for every biblical character, and it does for us today. If it doesn’t cost us something it’s not sacrifice. David reminds us of the importance of this in 1 Chronicles 21:24: “But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."” What is your sacrifice of praise costing you today; pride, fear, being uncomfortable? What are you willing to set aside in order to present to the Lord all He is worthy of?

Help Me To Remember That You Are Lord

“Almighty God, when all hell is breaking loose
against me, help me to remember that You are Lord,
that You are able, that You are present.
Help me to lift my eyes from earthly conflict
To see Your heavenly power. Cause me to know the
Peace that passes understanding, a peace
That comes from acknowledging Your lordship
In every circumstance of my life..”
(a prayer taken from the NIV Worship Bible Exodus 14:14)

As we look at the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, how many times can and do we see ourselves. God had just done so many miracles, things that only He could have done. They had watched Him turn the Nile river into blood; cover the land of Egypt with frogs, gnats and flies. They had seen God kill all of the livestock of the Egyptians, but spare theirs. Theywitnessed God sending boils to cover all of the men and animals throughout the land. These people had seen God rain down hail on the land of Egypt and destroy everything growing in the fields. Then they saw the plague of locusts and darkness that culminated in the death of all of the first born of Egypt while all of God’s chosen people who where covered by the blood of the lamb did not see death. You would think that after all of that, trusting God would not be an issue with these folks. However, our human nature is strong and how soon we forget God’s gracious provisions and protection when the going really gets tough.

Their thought was that this had to be a trick. All that separated them from their enemy was land and in front of them sat the Red Sea. They cried out to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (14:11-12) But God in His incredibly gracious way, once again provided for His own. He opened a way where there was no way. He made a roadway in the wilderness and a path way through the sea. The pathway of life for the Lord’s people became a roadway of death for the Egyptians. God had given His word through Moses and Aaron that they were going to a land that He had prepared for them. He had made a covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. He was not about to break His promise. However, circumstances seemed to be delivering other signals.

God has given us His Word. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. In every circumstance He has promised to meet our every need! He has promised to not only hear, but to answer our prayers. We need but to exercise our faith and believe Him at His Word. He is worthy to be trusted, He has never failed. Praise His Name!!

Pastor MJ

Living For Christ

If someone held a gun to your head and asked, "Do you believe in God?” what would you say? On April 20, 1999 Cassie Bernall went to the Columbine High School library to study during lunch. Shortly afterward, a member of the Trenchcoat Mafia pointed his gun at her and asked: "Do you believe in God?" "Yes, I believe in God," she said. "Why?" the gunman asked. But he did not wait for an answer. He shot Cassie Bernall dead. She is now in the presence of her Savior.
Many people proclaim that they would die for Christ. But what about this question: Would you live for Christ, and what does that mean?

There have been many men and women, boys and girls who have given their lives for the cause of Christ. There are many brothers and sisters around the world as you are reading this that are losing their lives on this earth because of their faith in Christ. Dying for Christ is not easy, but praise God it puts an end to our struggle and on the other side is a life with no more suffering, no more tears and an existence with the God of the universe where all is better than well.

Living for Christ is another matter. How many of us who so quickly agree that we’d die for Christ actually live for Him fully on a daily basis? The case can be made that living for Jesus is more of a difficult task than dying for Jesus.

As we go through our days we are faced with many opportunities to live out our commitment to our Lord, and how many times do we neglect to live for Him because of inconvenience, doubt, fear, our outright disobedience.

God has called us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been loved. We are told to share Christ with those with whom we come in contact with and even to go to the ends of the earth to do so. God’s Word tells us to flee, even the appearance of evil and to not let any unwholesome word come out of our mouths and along with that to guard our hearts and thoughts and make sure they are pure. We are told in scripture that part of living for Christ is suffering for His sake. When we suffer, do we complain and get discouraged and doubt God in the midst of our trial? God has told us certain things that He hates. Do we hear or even tell jokes that make light of or make fun of things that break God’s heart?

You see, living for Christ is a moment by moment, day by day decision to live as Christ lived and includes dying, but to self. That is not easy, but will make the eventual experience of our physical death so much sweeter. So, until and unless the Lord calls you or me to sacrifice our lives for Him let’s strive to live for Him daily by dying to self each and every day.

Blessings,

MJ

Would You Live For Christ

If someone held a gun to your head and asked, "Do you believe in God?” what would you say? On April 20, 1999 Cassie Bernall went to the Columbine High School library to study during lunch. Shortly afterward, a member of the Trenchcoat Mafia pointed his gun at her and asked: "Do you believe in God?" "Yes, I believe in God," she said. "Why?" the gunman asked. But he did not wait for an answer. He shot Cassie Bernall dead. She is now in the presence of her Savior.

Many people proclaim that they would die for Christ. But what about this question: Would you live for Christ, and what does that mean?

There have been many men and women, boys and girls who have given their lives for the cause of Christ. There are many brothers and sisters around the world as you are reading this that are losing their lives on this earth because of their faith in Christ. Dying for Christ is not easy, but praise God it puts an end to our struggle and on the other side is a life with no more suffering, no more tears and an existence with the God of the universe where all is better than well.

Living for Christ is another matter. How many of us who so quickly agree that we’d die for Christ actually live for Him fully on a daily basis? The case can be made that living for Jesus is more of a difficult task than dying for Jesus.

As we go through our days we are faced with many opportunities to live out our commitment to our Lord, and how many times do we neglect to live for Him because of inconvenience, doubt, fear, our outright disobedience.

God has called us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been loved. We are told to share Christ with those with whom we come in contact with and even to go to the ends of the earth to do so. God’s Word tells us to flee, even the appearance of evil and to not let any unwholesome word come out of our mouths and along with that to guard our hearts and thoughts and make sure they are pure. We are told in scripture that part of living for Christ is suffering for His sake. When we suffer, do we complain and get discouraged and doubt God in the midst of our trial? God has told us certain things that He hates. Do we hear or even tell jokes that make light of or make fun of things that break God’s heart?

You see, living for Christ is a moment by moment, day by day decision to live as Christ lived and includes dying, but to self. That is not easy, but will make the eventual experience of our physical death so much sweeter. So, until and unless the Lord calls you or me to sacrifice our lives for Him let’s strive to live for Him daily by dying to self each and every day.

Blessings,
MJ

Love The Lord Your God

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
And with all your mind and with all your strength!”

(Mark 12:30)

One of the most difficult things about playing football in high school was the preseason double-session practices that we had everyday for the two to three weeks before the beginning of the season. These practices were rough two and a half hour practices in sometimes 95+ degree weather and after a couple hours break we’d come back for more. And we did all of this willingly, without pay!

As a Montclair Mountie, we had a history of success that we were expected to uphold. We were used to winning and everyone expected us to win. One of our coaches however desired something more than winning; he wanted us to play with all of our heart. I remember us sitting in the field house watching films during a skull session and going over and over a play hearing the coach say, “look at that, your form was good and your pattern was correct and you read the play right on, but your heart was not in it!” We knew what he meant as we watched – the “spark” was missing.

Unfortunately, this happens too often in our worship. Sure, we know what it means to love God with our minds. We know what it means and how to love Him with our strength. We study the Bible daily and we apply its principles and instructions to our daily lives. But so often our heart and soul are not involved.

If our heart and soul are not involved in our worship, a part of us hungers for more. This is because God’s Word is not just meant to shape our thoughts and actions, but also to connect us with God’s heart. God’s heart is huge, flowing with emotion.

My friend, God desires not for us to have just the form of worship right. He wants our hearts and soul to be engaged with His heart. When this happens, your life will be flowing with love for Him that expresses itself in heartfelt worship and praise.

Let’s meditate on that this week…
Pastor MJ