Walking With Jesus

The Prize Ahead

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)

Heaven grows more appealing to me with every passing day, not necessarily because of my physical issues, but because of my growing appreciation for who the Lord is enabling me to become in Him. His nearness enriches my life and His leadership keeps my focus on Him. My hope is you’re experiencing these same things in your life as you focus more and more on His investment in you.

It’s easy in the discouraging days in which we now live, to get down, to lose focus, to lose heart and forget we’re never alone, but the Lord is faithful and will always guide, guard, and equip us for every circumstance.

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” “The Prize Ahead”

Brother Ray Majoran’s prayers always encourage and uplift me. May his encouraging words bless you as he prays: “Our Risen Lord, You are the goal of our lives and the prize we long to receive. We praise You as the One who calls us higher, teaching us to let go of what holds us back and to press forward with hope. You are worth more than every achievement, every possession, and every dream this world can offer. Nothing compares to knowing You and being found in You. (Amen! 😊)

Thank You for the reminder that our past does not define our future. You free us from the weight of failures and regrets, and You set our eyes on what is still ahead. In seasons when we feel weary or stuck, remind us that You are faithful to finish the good work You began in us (Philippians 1:6). Please give us strength to take the next step, knowing that the race You have called us to run has an eternal reward (2 Timothy 4:8).

Help us, Lord, to live each day with focus and perseverance. Teach us to press on in faith when the climb feels steep and to fix our eyes on the crown of life that You have promised to those who love You (James 1:12). May our lives point others to the joy of following You, until the day we see You face to face and share in the fullness of Your glory.”

Are you sensing the joy? Is your heart beating a little faster as you think of being with the Lord in heaven? Yes, of course, there are people and things we love here on earth, but our greatest Treasure is Jesus and to be with Him for all eternity tops every other consideration. Learning to thrive in a perfect environment, surrounded with only good and people who all love each other and Jesus with their whole heart, never having to worry about anything, ever! What’s not to love about that?

It occurs to me that in each of our lives there are those who still believe thoughts of God, heaven, eternal life, and the like is all “pie in the sky,” imagination, wishful thinking. It breaks our heart to think of being in heaven without them, but we do what we can do and must leave the results to God. Yes, of course, we continue to pray faithfully, believe wholeheartedly, and work diligently to help them come to the Lord, but ultimately, it’s their decision and the Lord will guide us in the best ways to reach them.

Know this! You are on my mind as I write today and though many of us will not meet on this earth, I look forward to hugging you and with tears of joy in my eyes, thanking you for your faithfulness to the Lord, absolutely, but also for reading these words that He daily gives me. You inspire and encourage me!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Weakness

“Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

Every human being has weakness in some area or avenue of their life. We can be immensely strong physically but have weak character. We can have any mixture of physical, emotional, intellectual, and many other characteristics and be strong in some, but inevitably we’ll be weak in others. Factor in the spiritual aspect and you’ve got a recipe for weakness.

Paul writes in the very next verse: “That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” On some levels it’s an oxymoron, strength is born out of weakness or apparent weakness reveals true strength. So, what’s the point?

As we look at our life in Christ, where are we strong? Weak? Think of the “fronts” of battle for a believer, what heads the line? Temptation, persecution, trials, challenges, etc. In what setting or environment are we most wanting to be strong, but tend to be most weak? It may vary from person to person, but quite possibly all of our weaknesses are born in prayer.

If the Holy Spirit is the source of our greatest strength and we access His assistance through believing prayer, yet we too often fall flat on our faces when confronted by the enemy, wherein lies the problem? If we don’t ask, we don’t receive, so, the problem may not be weakness, but lack of appropriate and timely prayer.

Leonard Ravenhill gives us insight when he writes: “If weak in prayer we are weak everywhere.” What does that mean, to be weak in prayer? Does it have to do with the amount of time we spend in prayer? Our attitude as we approach prayer? Our expectations as we pray? Our understanding or misunderstanding of the purpose of prayer?

Any or all of these things and many others may attribute to our weakness in prayer, but the key as I understand it is childlike confidence that when we ask our faithful Father to do something that’s in line with His plans and purposes, He will do it. It may not be in our timing or in a way we expected or desired, but we entrust the answer to our Father because we trust His judgment.

It doesn’t matter how loud or long we pray, it has more to do with the attitude of our heart. Are we asking or demanding; expecting our will to be carried out or His; anticipating a favorable reply or doubting; secretly wanting Him to do what we want or leaving the outcome up to Him?

Strength in prayer translates into confidence in the prayer-Answerer! So, conversely, weakness in prayer is a lack of confidence, doubt, or a wrong motive in asking in the first place. Often the greatest weakness in prayer is a lack of prayer, a dependence on our own understanding, following our “gut” rather than seeking an outcome from God.

Wanting what God wants as the foundation of all our asking, to me, as I understand prayer, is the key to strength in prayer. As Jesus prayed in the garden: “Father, not My will, but Yours be done!” We too often ask with such a limited understanding of outcomes, not realizing the Father sees from beginning to end, every conceivable scenario. Not to trust His judgment is truly weakness in prayer.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

How Are You Known?

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasure of an evil heart.” (Matthew 12:33-35 NLT)

What are your identifying characteristics? If someone is trying to describe you, what kinds of characteristics will they likely identify first? “She’s so sweet, kind, loving, caring…” “He’s a bully, full of himself, thoughtless, clueless…”

As a Jesus follower we’re bearing the fruit of the Spirit or we’re living a lie. How we speak, live, work, play, carry ourselves, in short, the characteristics of the person we really are will show, we can’t prevent it. We can pretend, seek to cover our flaws, pretend to be someone we’re not, but we will be found out.

Perhaps the greatest measure of who we are is illustrated through the exhibition of our faith. Are we a person of faith? How do we convey that to others? How would anyone who doesn’t know us recognize our life of faith? Why is that important? Because the fruit of our life will grow or die based on our measure of faith.

Greg Laurie helps us when he writes: “Be known for your faith, not your lack of faith.” How does someone recognize whether we have faith or not? Our attitude in trials, hardships, or pain reveals who we are at our core. If Jesus is our Lord and King, He will rule in every season of our lives, not just the good days. How so?

What’s foremost on our mind when we’re suffering? Or perhaps a better way to express that would be to ask: Who’s foremost on our mind when we’re suffering? If it’s not Jesus, where’s our faith? Nothing of significance is going to change in our health or our life except it passes through the filter of God’s permission.

We place a lot of stock in our doctors, as well we should, but doctors are limited. God is unlimited. Yes, of course, I trust my doctor’s wisdom and value their insights, but ultimately, I rely on the leadership of the Spirit of God to guide me in my choices regarding my health. I mentioned a few days ago that I was being considered for participation in a study to test a new drug that has proven helpful in reversing the effects of Alzheimer’s. It was exciting to think about that and I admit I was disappointed when I wasn’t accepted, but my trust is in Jesus, not in drugs, so, I’m confident if I’d needed to be in that trial I would have been. The Lord knows best, and my faith dictates my response even in disappointment. He has plans that will be better and more suited specifically for me, so, I will commit my confidence to Him.

What about you? What’s going on in your life that is enabling the brilliance of your faith to shine? In what area of your life is the Lord being exalted in this season? We are being identified as a child of God through and because of our trials, not in spite of them. They are purposeful, intended, God ordained for the very purpose of growing our faith. To miss that is to miss the point of faith. Faith is built in hardship.

So, I will ask again: How are you known?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Radiate

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.” (Psalm 37:5-6 NLT)

When I think of the term radiate the thought that comes to mind is our old house when the kids were small. We had a floor furnace on the main floor and small gas heaters in the upstairs rooms. Of course, in the summer when we didn’t use them, the kids got used to putting their toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other small things on top of the heater in the bathroom.

Then comes Fall, cooler temperatures, and the need to once again begin using those old heaters. You know what happened. Even after many “warnings” of what would happen, I came into the bathroom one morning and the kids’ toothbrushes, toothpaste and a toy or two were melted to the top of the old heater.

“Radiate” “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”

Fortunately, the radiance of Christ and the warmth of our love for others isn’t harmful. The Lord grows our innocence as we learn to trust Him more fully, and as it grows it becomes contagious, inviting, warm, and attractive to those in our spheres of influence.

As the Psalmist writes, our innocence grows out of our willingness to “Commit everything you do to the Lord.” The clear implication to me is, what we do in secret will become the basis for the radiance of our witness for our Lord. It matters little how we interact in public if our private walk with the Lord isn’t meaningful, personal, and endearing.

Radiance for our Lord grows out of our alone time with Him. Time alone with the Lord Jesus is precious, not only because we get to share in His closeness, His comforting, power-filled presence, but it’s in those moments He speaks to us, teaches us, reveals to us things about Himself that even the Scriptures don’t reveal, but also things about ourselves to which we’re blinded.

It’s not unlike conversations with our spouse or close friend. It’s the things that grow out of our conversations about nothing in particular. After nearly 32 years of marriage, my wife said to me recently, “I didn’t know that about you. You’ve never shared that with me before.” It wasn’t that I’d deliberately kept it from her, it had just never come up, and it wouldn’t have had we not been having that conversation.

It’s like that with the Lord. We learn things about Him, intimate things that we don’t read in the Bible, but we learn in His presence. Things like how interested He is in our individual lives. He’ll remind me of things I need to do, people He desires me to reach out to, attitudes I need to harness, or projects I need to complete.

They aren’t “universal” truths that apply to everyone, they are individual instructions that I would likely miss if it weren’t for my time with Him. Our spiritual radiance grows out of our intimacy with the Son. He is the Light of the world, and it’s His radiance that will be seen in and through our lives when we invest time with Him.

I love how Ray Majoran expresses it in his prayer: “Please forgive us when we hide our lives in fear, or when we look to human life approval instead of Your light. Teach us to walk openly before You with integrity and trust, so that our lives reflect Your brilliance. Through Your Word, shape us to shine with compassion, mercy, and truth, that the world might see the hope You have given us.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Unforgiveness

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NLT)

Isn’t it almost comical how quickly we want to receive forgiveness, but how reluctant we are to offer it? And yes, of course, it sometimes depends on what we’re being asked to forgive; however, think of what we’re asking the Lord Jesus to forgive us – a lifetime of sin, disobedience, rebellion, and utter disregard of the clear teachings of the Scriptures.

Is our mountain of debt to God EVER less than what we’re being asked to forgive? It’s very doubtful, yet we get so rigid when someone’s sin affects us personally. Why is it our sin always looks smaller in comparison with someone else’s? It doesn’t seem such a big thing when we gossip about someone, but it’s a completely different animal when we’re the subject of someone else’s gossip.

A man came to John Wesley, a passionate preacher from the 1700’s, and said: “I could never forgive that person.” Wesley said, “Then I hope you never sin. When you are unforgiving, you’re burning the very bridge you need to walk across.” Jesus clearly stated in the verses above that to fail to forgive others is to block the Lord’s forgiveness of us.

What are the implications for us today? The same as they were when Jesus spoke the words. It’s not unlike asking the Lord for forgiveness in the first place. The Lord cannot and will not forgive a sin for which no forgiveness has been asked, yet He consistently asks us and invites us to ask. Matthew 7:7 in the New Living Translation conveys clearly: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.”

Unforgiveness is like drinking a cup of poison and expecting the other person to die, it has little or no bearing on the other person, but it kills us spiritually. At some point we must decide what we want most, to get even or be forgiven, we can’t have it both ways. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:19: “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say: ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord.”

There’s no vengeance we could ever take that would equal how effectively the Lord repays someone for hurting us. We have to learn to trust Him to do what He has asked us never to do. When we draw lines in the proverbial sand and determine there are certain things we will not forgive, we have drawn the line beyond which the Lord will not forgive us.

The bridge to forgiveness can only be crossed by those willing to forgive others. In some sense unforgiveness is the unpardonable sin, the sin for which there is no forgiveness, unless and until it is released to the Lord by a willingness to forgive those who have sinned against us.

We’re always looking for loopholes, an exception, something so great and for which we could never be expected to forgive someone. Is there a sin for which the Lord will not forgive us? And immediately we think of the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Further study will show that that sin is essentially growing so callous to our own sin we find no reason for which to ask forgiveness. A sin for which no forgiveness is asked can’t be forgiven!

An unforgiving spirit will result in a blindness to our own sin that blocks our repentant heart from seeking forgiveness from the Father who alone can provide what we need: deliverance from ourselves.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Four Steps to Strengthening Your Worldview (Part 3)

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)

*Please read carefully this third teaching by Pastor Rick Warren on the subject of our Worldview. This is the only time in the four years of offering this blog that I’ve dedicated three straight days to someone else’s teaching. I believe it’s that important. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed 😊

We all have a worldview—a set of beliefs we build our lives on. And that worldview affects absolutely everything: your relationships, your work, how you spend your money, and how you handle suffering. So how can you strengthen your worldview to live the life God has planned for you?

1. Learn the truth. Jesus told a story about two men who built themselves houses—one on a shaky foundation of sand and the other on a solid foundation of rock. When storms came, the house on the shaky foundation collapsed, but the house built on solid rock stood the test of time.

The point of the story is this: You’re going to build your life either on popular opinion or on God’s unchanging truth. If you build your life on eternal truth, you’ll be able to stand up under the most difficult circumstances.

The Bible says, “Learn the truth and never reject it. Get wisdom, self-control, and understanding”(Proverbs 23:23 NCV). You can learn the truth by studying God’s Word, reading good Christian books, and being part of a church family.

2. Discern what is false. The Message paraphrase says, “Don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world” (1 John 4:1). Even people who claim to be speaking God’s truth sometimes aren’t. But when you know the truth of God’s Word, you’ll be able to discern false teaching when you hear it.

3. Turn from the world to the Word. The Bible tells us to not be part of the world’s value system or, in other words, to not take on the world’s worldview: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will”(Romans 12:2 NIV). You have a choice: Will you get your advice on life from God’s eternal Word or from a world that is filled with constantly changing opinions?

4. Concern yourself with God’s agenda. Jesus promised this in The Living Bible paraphrase: “[God] will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern” (Luke 12:31).You can have only one “primary concern.” God wants to be number one—and for your other interests and goals to be secondary. He promises that if you put him and his agenda first, he’ll take care of everything else in your life.

All over the world, people are looking for meaning, significance, and purpose. If you build your life on shifting sand—on things like power, pleasure, and wealth—you’ll never find what you’re looking for. Instead, build your life on the truth of God’s Word and concern yourself with God’s agenda. You’ll find yourself with a clear worldview and a consistent, purposeful life that stands up to all of life’s storms.

Talk It Over

What foundation is your life built on? How can you strengthen your foundation?
Think about the teaching you’ve been listening to lately. Is there anything you’ve been believing that actually might be false?
In what ways have you been listening to the world’s values instead of the truth of God’s Word? How can you start changing that?

Why Your Worldview Matters (Part 2)

“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” (Colossians 1:16 MSG)

*Today’s post is the second of three in the series by Pastor Rick Warren giving us insight regarding why our worldview matters. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed

What’s your worldview? In other words, what lens do you use to look at the world around you? Yesterday we looked at a few worldviews that are popular in today’s culture—materialism, individualism, hedonism, and pragmatism—and the counter worldviews that God offers. Today let’s look at a few more.

Naturalism. Another word for naturalism is atheism. Naturalism says God doesn’t exist—or, if he does exist, he doesn’t matter. Naturalists believe that everything in life is a result of random chance. The naturalist says, “We’re all accidents of nature. There is no grand Creator. There is no grand design. There is no God.”

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” “A Grand Design”

But let me let you in on a little secret: If God doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, then you don’t matter. That’s the logical, rational conclusion of that worldview. Your value comes from the fact that God thought you up, created you, and loves you.

The Bible says, “There are things about [God] that people cannot see. . . . But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand by what God has made” (Romans 1:20 NCV). In other words, when we look at nature—instead of seeing that God doesn’t exist—we learn what God is like. We learn he’s creative, powerful, and organized; we learn he likes variety.

Humanism. Humanism says you’re in charge of your own life—that you’re the master of your own fate. And while most people wouldn’t say they worship themselves, when you believe you’re the center of it all, that’s basically what’s happening. For a humanist, you’re the center of your own universe.

The Bible says, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25 NIV). That’s what the humanist does.

Theism. Theism says that there is a God and he made you for his purposes. This is the worldview the Bible teaches. “Theism” comes from Theo, the Greek word for “God.”

The Message paraphrase says, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him” (Colossians 1:16). Look at that verse again. “Everything—absolutely everything”—was created by God, for a purpose.

All day, every day, so many worldviews compete for your allegiance. But the truth is that you were made by God and for God. Embrace that fact—and soon you’ll find that life makes sense.

Talk It Over

Even when you’re a Christian, popular worldviews can be appealing. Are you more tempted by naturalism or humanism? Why?
When you look at nature, what evidence of God’s existence do you see?
How does life make most sense when you realize you were created by God and for God?

What’s Your Worldview? (Part 1)

“There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death.” (Proverbs 14:12 GW)

*In the next three day’s posts I invite you to read carefully and thoughtfully Pastor Rick Warren’s insights regarding why our worldview matters. Read this article in its original format by clicking here. Blessings, Ed 😊

There are countless worldviews—beliefs you build your life on. Those beliefs come at you from books, media, classrooms, the people around you, music, advertising, and more. Most of the time, we don’t even think about our worldview. But you need to—because your worldview influences how you see yourself and other people, how you make decisions, and just about every other aspect of how you live.

Here are some worldviews that are popular in today’s culture. See which ones you recognize in the people around you, and maybe even in yourself.

Materialism. This worldview can be summarized with the word more—more, more, more. Materialism says that the only thing that really matters in life is the acquisition of things. Materialists confuse values with valuables. They think, “If I have more, I’m worth more.”

Jesus loved to challenge conventional wisdom, including the idea of materialism. He once said, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15 ESV). In other words, you can’t judge your life by how much you’ve got because the greatest things in life aren’t actually things.

Individualism. We live in a serve-yourself world that says, “It’s all about you!” Advertising tells us things like, “Live your truth,” “Be your own hero,” and “You deserve it.” It’s a self-centered, individualistic, “me first” way of living.

But Jesus taught, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:25 NLT).Jesus says you only begin living your life when you start giving it away. Significance in life doesn’t come from individual status, salary, or success; it comes from serving God and serving others.

Hedonism. Hedonism urges, “Do whatever feels good!” Hedonism is simply the desire that says, “The most important thing in life is how I feel. If I feel good, then it’s good; if I feel bad, then it’s bad.” The hedonist lives for comfort, pleasure, fun, and good feelings.

“What’s wrong with pleasure?” you might ask. After all, God is the one who created pleasure. But pleasure wasn’t made to be your ultimate goal. Instead, pleasure is a result of living the kind of life God wants you to live. The Message paraphrase says it like this: “You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied” (Proverbs 21:17).

Pragmatism. “Whatever works for you”—that’s the theme of the pragmatist. Pragmatism says it doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong; it doesn’t matter if it hurts someone; if it works for you, it’s fine.

But the Bible offers a different perspective: “There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death”(Proverbs 14:12 GW). Just because something seems to be working now doesn’t mean it’s right. Cheating on a spouse, stealing from your business, or relying on alcohol may all seem to work for you in the short-term, but eventually they’ll bring you down.

Think about your own life. Are you caught up in some of these popular worldviews? Or are you choosing to follow the different path that Jesus offers? Tomorrow we’ll look at a few more worldviews.

Talk It Over

Which worldview is more tempting to you—materialism, individualism, hedonism, or pragmatism?
How does it help to know the Bible’s perspective on whatever worldview is tempting you?
What is one thing you can do today to follow Jesus’ way of living instead of the world’s?

The Power of Promise

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT)

The power of a promise rests in the life of the one who makes the promise. As children if we wanted some of a friend’s candy we’d say: “I’ll give you some of mine. I promise.” But as soon as they shared theirs, we’d run away. Or, perhaps the classic promise is given to our parents when we disobeyed: “I promise I will never do that again!” and we all know what happened after that.

Sadly, we do the same with God. “Please, Lord, get me out of this mess and I will NEVER do it again!” until the next time! Why? Because we believe the Lord is infinitely forgiving, which He is, but does He allow us to make a fool of Him by lying to Him over and over again? Of course not, so why do we allow the enemy to lie us into believing He will?

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

The power of promise lies in our desire to believe the promise will be kept, even by unreliable people. How much more should we believe the promises our Heavenly Father gives us, who never lies!

The words of the Lord above to the children of Israel as they stood on the boundary of a new land the Lord was giving them, challenge me as I stand on the shoreline of the rest of my life. They had no clue what lie ahead, but the Lord laid out for them essentially the same instructions He gives us: TRUST ME! BELIEVE ME! FOLLOW ME! OBEY ME! SUBMIT TO MY AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE!

But what about when the way is dark, when I can’t see what’s ahead? When I’m afraid? When I’m alone? When I’m doubting? When I’m ___________? It doesn’t matter the circumstances or how we feel about them, the Lord is ALWAYS faithful, He NEVER lies, He ALWAYS, under every circumstance, keeps His promises.

What if when we’re being tempted, rather than immediately seek to rely on our own strength and ingenuity, we simply said: “Thank You, Lord, for walking with me through this struggle. I will rely on You, on Your strength, and on Your ingenuity to deliver me. And I know You will because Your Word promises that You will ALWAYS “show (me) a way out so that (I) can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The power of God’s promises can be most helpful when we make them personal. When the Lord spoke to the children of Israel, in Deuteronomy 30:15-16 the Lord said: “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep His commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in His ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.”

The power of God’s promise to never leave me echoed in the words of Hebrews 13:5: “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you,” comfort me in every season of my life. In sickness when the future is gray and unknown; in death, knowing when I close my eyes for the last time here I will open them in the presence of my Savior; in spiritual battle/temptation knowing we are NOT alone; in persecution/trials knowing we’re not relying on our own strength and resource; in living, witnessing, working, praying – regardless of the circumstance we are never left alone to find our own way or to work in the energy of our own strength.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Praise

“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!’ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.” (Isaiah 6:1-4 NLT)

Worship of the Creator, Owner, and Sustainer of the Universe is an awe-inspiring event, one that leaves us with a much more accurate assessment of ourselves. Being humbled by God’s presence enables us to see ourselves, not as we’d hoped we were, but as we actually are.

In the very next verse Isaiah writes: “Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’” A natural biproduct of seeing God as He is, is seeing ourselves as we are. The closer we get to the Lord the more He reveals the truth of who we are.

We’re too often afraid of that honesty, not necessarily from God, but about ourselves. We want to believe we’re better than we are, but unless and until we see ourselves as the desperate, lost, lonely, and estranged people that we are, we’ll never allow our hearts and lives to reverberate with praise, adoration, and worship of our King.

Praise, especially in the Old Testament, took the form of singing that exalted God’s qualities, deeds, or attributes. The songs also centered on seeking to exalt His renown, fame, and glory. Since we have Jesus, how much easier and more natural for our lips and lives to exude adoration of our King of kings, and Lord of lords.

What are some ways we can allow our lives to more fully reflect praise for and of our Savior and Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ? We can allow Him to be reflected in our countenance. Often the expression on our faces let’s people think we just lost our best friend, when, in reality, He’s walking with us as closely as the air we breathe.

What if instead of a frown or scowl, we surprised those in our families and friends by always smiling? Might it generate conversation that might lead to an opportunity to praise, exalt, and celebrate our Savior? But as vital as that is, might we be missing an obvious opportunity to reflect Jesus in our praise of others?

Our spouses and children are often at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole to receive our praise and gratitude. We seem afraid if we praise them too much, they might think we’re satisfied with what we may view as their substandard behavior in some area of their lives. But what if we emphasized and praised them in an area of their lives where they’re showing improvement or making strides to improve?

Any of us is glad when someone brags on us, why not be the one who is always bragging about others, rather than the one always waiting and expecting someone to brag on us or bragging about ourselves? Praise for someone is always easy when you love the person about whom you’re bragging and it’s never easier than when we’re bragging about our Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊