“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” ESV
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” NIV
...
This week's verse takes us to the throne room of heaven. One day you and I will gather before the King of the universe — the one who created all things. Here in Revelation chapter four, we get a picture of what it will be like.
John describes a throne with heavenly creatures gathered around it. This is simply a foretaste of the glorious moment when people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will gather around the throne to worship Jesus. This verse also gives us a taste of something presently true — Jesus is on the throne. Have you ever thought about the fact that right now, Jesus of Nazareth, the second person of the Trinity, is ruling over the universe? Rankin Wilbourne writes, "A certain man, of a certain height and weight, now sits on the throne over the whole cosmos." [1]
However, Jesus is not merely reigning over all creation but also building and creating a church. A people called out of the world to represent him in the world. He is physically present on the throne and in our midst through the Spirit. He is building his church and sustaining the world at this very moment. Today as you ride the bus, stand in line, sit in class, or sip your coffee, Jesus is present with you and directing the events of the entire cosmos. It's difficult to grasp that kind of power. People have observed that the universe seems vastly disproportionate to man's needs. This is one of the reasons scientists believe life could exist outside our planet. But what if the universe is so vast because it’s designed not simply to sustain life but to declare the glory of God?
If the universe is merely a living space for humanity, then it is far more extensive than necessary. If, however, the point of the universe and all of creation is to declare the glory of the one who both made it and sustains it, then the universe is just the right size. [2] No wonder the song that the angels sing is worthy. When you see the power of God over creation and the glory he deserves, "worthy" is the only response that makes sense.
So remember, today, Jesus is on the throne. He doesn't hypothetically rule over the universe. He rules in practical ways that impact every part of your life. He’s a kind king with ultimate power. He created all things and is personally sustaining them right now. Your life and circumstances fall within the scope of his kingdom and reign. Therefore, if you are in Christ, you have nothing to fear. The King of all creation calls you friend. That’s a powerful truth. Let it encourage and carry you through the busyness of your day.
Written By: Nick Harsh
Nick Harsh (MDiv, Clarks Summit University) is a ministry leader with The Salt Company, a ministry of Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa. While publishing regularly at nickharsh.com, his writing has also been featured at The Gospel Coalition, For the Church, and Relevant Magazine.
Website: nickharsh.com
[1] Wilbourne, Rankin.Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God.Kindle Edition (Colorado Springs: CO, Tyndale House Publishers. 2001), Loc. 2400[2]
[2} John Piper, Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnpiper/status/585789778890743809?lang=en
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
E G G A E P G I F A , C D F T F O L , W W T I N V O S D T C . JAMES 1:17
Let us pause for a moment from the busyness of our lives and the distractions that compete for our attention and meditate on the glorious truth found in this verse. Let us reflect on the nature of God that is revealed here.
All the good in your life, anything worthy of praise or being grateful for, comes from God. There is not one good thing that you will ever know or experience that wasn’t from Him. From the things we take for granted, like your ability to breathe while you read these words, to the more noticeable gifts like holding your newly born child in your arms. In God, there is nothing that isn’t good. He is the fullness and ultimate reality of the concept of good. Anything that is not good is apart from Him and is a distortion of His character. If our understanding of good comes from Him, we should look to Him alone for goodness and praise Him for it and not anyone or anything else.
Secondly, God is the Father of lights. James wants us to consider this truth in a couple of ways. This first is supposed to be a mental picture of the stars, specifically the brightest from our perspective, being the sun. The sun shines its rays down on us with which there is no darkness found in the rays themselves. The second way of understanding the verse is this. Traditionally, light is representative of purity, wisdom, and happiness in the scriptures. So, putting these together, the Lord is the origin of all the purity, wisdom, happiness, and goodness that comes to us, and as our ultimate source of these things, there is no variation or change found in Him. God is the fountain of all light, all that is good, and He mercifully extends his beautiful qualities out to us so that we may delight in Him and experience all that we see as good.
The beauty of the words James writes in verse 17 is magnified when you consider the verses right before it:
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” - James 1:13-15
The pain and destruction we experience result from our own sin or the sinful nature of our fallen world. We see that we are lured and enticed by our evil desires, which bring about destruction and death. Furthermore, we experience the consequences of other people falling into the same pattern that we are stuck in. This is an important truth to think about when experiencing the world's brokenness. God allows pain for our sanctification, and God allows our sin for His own divine will. But God is not the author of sin, which brings about brokenness. We must remember this. In God, there is only goodness and holiness as He is completely unstained of evil and fallenness.
God is love, which means anything that He hates is that which is in contrast to or destroys that which is love. His love reaches down to a broken creation as the sun spreads across the earth with its warmth at the break of dawn. So in the times we experience suffering or brokenness in the world, let us remember who our God is. He is fully good and gracious. Though the trials we experience now may be painful, they are temporary. He is our comforter, our deliverer, our good Father, and the giver of every good thing.
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In fact, I thought it was lame, boring, and there wasn’t much that sounded worse
My life was full of wickedness and death
When Jesus found me I might have only had one more breath
It’s because of love and that Jesus died for an awful sinner like me
That by his blood I have now been set free
So let me tell you the most incredible story,
About a Man who is the definition of holy
For God sent His only holy Son, down to this sinful, wicked earth
Starting with the miracle of a virgin birth
The Son of God, born to be our perfect lamb
Both fully God and Fully man
He lived a perfect life of servanthood
And by His life, He set the standard for good
The wind and waves obeyed Him
But in the end His disciple betrayed Him
Our sinless savior, beaten, mocked, and scorned
On His head, was placed a crown of thorns
The perfect lamb of God hung on a sinner tree
But it didn’t stop Him from thinking about you and about me
He was placed in a grave
And did it all so that we could be saved
For three days, death thought it had won
But death, did not know the plans, of the father and of the son
Jesus won the victory through the resurrection
And now we have the gift of salvation.
The number one reason why Jesus came, died, and rose again, was to set us free, to set us free from sin’s pollution, sin’s penalty and sin’s power and to break our slavery to the law.
How wrong would it be to have Christ die for our freedom from the law to just want to be placed under it again?
Imagine I told you that the only way you could be sure that you were saved was I you made your bed every day? What if you believed me? You’d become so concerned about making your bed every day that it would become a a ritual in your life and you’d be once again a slave.
Paul says in verse 2, ‘Christ will be of no advantage to you’. Your relationship with Him will no longer be one of faith and trust, but one of relying on your attempts to keep this ‘law’. You will be looking to your own efforts to obey, rather than to Him, and what He has done.
In fact, what He has done on the cross has not changed, but you will get nothing out of it. You will not benefit by it. In other words, you are saying: ‘Christ is not enough. I also have to do this thing as well.’ In other words, your relationship with Him is no longer one of faith and trust alone. Since faith and trust alone is the basis upon which God accepts us, then Christ’s death is of no value to us when we add our works to His.
It really boils down to faith! We either trust and have faith that Christ works alone on the cross save us and that we are now under a new covenant of grace and mercy or we are not.
Many days I feel unworthy of this amount of grace and I too want to be back under the law so that I can feel “worthy” of the gift of salvation, yet we must remember grace by definition is unmerited favor.
Today rejoice that your father in heaven has given us such a gift and live your lives in a manner of gratitude.
]]>Galatians 4:3-7 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)
We were enslaved to the world. Ephesians 2 talks about how we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, following evil and enslaved to sin. Paul is clear in Ephesians 2 and Galatians 4, that this was how we lived, but now we are no longer enslaved.
Jesus came to redeem us from the world. Jesus took our trespasses and sins upon Himself, nailing it to the cross. Because of this, those that believe in His redemption, are no longer slaves, but children.
We are now heirs through Christ. We are no longer enslaved to the world, but are children of the promise, and heirs to the kingdom.
Are you working for God as a slave, or are you building the kingdom that you are going to live in forever, because you are a child of the king?
We live in a broken world, and it’s easy to lose sight of the kingdom we belong to--The kingdom we are heirs to...forever. But, when we lose sight of the kingdom, we forget where to store our treasure. We begin to store up our treasure on earth, and slowly become enslaved once again to the thing we’ve been freed from.
Being freed doesn't just mean leaving something behind, it means there’s something greater ahead. We must remember what we are being freed TO. Being a child of the kingdom produces in us a desire to grow it. God uses freed people to help free people. Or in other words, “broken people help broken people.” We were once broken and captives of the world, BUT GOD, being rich in mercy and love, set us free. Remember our freedom, and proclaim it to the world.
My final question is this: Do you want the king or do you want the kingdom? -- Do you want the Father, or do you just want His stuff?
Just reflect on that for a moment, and then think about it again.
The kingdom of Heaven is great because of the King on the throne. The King that loves, sacrificed His life, pours out mercy, and withholds no good thing from His children.
Paul turns to the Galatians and He says something like this:
‘You fools! Who on earth has been deceiving you? When I came and preached the Gospel to you, you saw Jesus Christ as the crucified Son of God, and you knew that there was no other way of being saved.
'By faith you came to believe that salvation was entirely through His cross, and that you didn’t have to ‘perform’ or ‘do’ anything to be accepted by God. But what has happened to you now ? I can’t believe you are being so stupid!
'You began the Christian life by faith, by simply believing in the cross. And you received God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in the same way by faith.
'But now you are saying that in order to go on living the Christian life, you have to do something—you have to observe a few laws here and there—you have to "perform" in order for God to still accept you!
He accepted you at the beginning, just as you were. He accepted you because of what Christ did for you. So what makes you think you now have to maintain your relationship with Him by doing something to keep it? I’m heartbroken by this.
Do you ever feel this way? I know I do! Many days my gratitude alone convicts me into believing I must do more. The truth is nothing but the blood of Jesus could justify us. Now as it pertains to the righteousness God asks of us while we await glorification, all that is required is our constant surrender. It is by that surrender that the Holy Spirit, unhindered by our flesh will continue the ministry of Christ. For it is not our works but the works of the spirit that give life. This is why Paul said our works apart from the spirit are filthy rages.
Less of me and more of you God. This should be our response after receiving forgiveness, Grace, and mercy, and just as we came to Him now we should walk, in humble surrender.
Don’t put back onto the yoke that which Jesus already paid for. We don’t need to put thousands of years of laws back onto our shoulders after they have already been crucified by Christ.
For to try and follow a single law for earning or maintaining salvation is to be guilty of them all.
Romans 10:9-11 "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
If you ever think that you can do something to earn the gift of salvation, you will begin to think that you deserve it, when you think you deserve it you will never be grateful for it. Salvation comes from Christ and Christ alone.
We are to work FROM our salvation and NOT FOR our salvation.
Do good. Not to be saved, but because you have already been saved.
]]>I wish we had the space to focus on every single verse in this passage, and I encourage you to do so in your own time, but for today we will lean into verses two and eleven.
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How are you running?
Galatians 2:2 - I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. (NIV)
Paul, first points out that he was following a revelation of the spirit, so he went up to Jerusalem, (after 14 years) and presented his message before leaders in private. He did this to make certain that he was not running in vain.
You can never be too far into your mission, that correction still isn’t needed.
We can assume this message had been one that Paul had been preaching for 14 years. A message that Paul had seen change lives, but He still desired correction, truth, and encouragement from his fellow believers. He was not only open to being corrected, but he desired it if necessary. He does anything to make sure that he is running on the straight and narrow path.
...Are you running in vain?
What Gospel are you preaching with your life, actions, and words? Is it the Gospel of Christ or is it the Gospel of you?
Follow the example of Paul, and seek out correction, even when it may not be necessary.
Galatians 2:11 - But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Paul was able to oppose Peter, because he was first willing to receive opposition. In the same passage we see Paul seeking to be corrected and also correcting. -- He makes sure that he doesn’t have a log in his own eye before attempting to take the speck out of his brother's eye. (See Matthew 7:5)
Paul calls out Peter for acting in hypocrisy--a very common sin to us all. Peter had been acting differently around those who had differing beliefs, he acted one way around the spiritually “elite” and another around the gentiles.
If you a Christian live like the lost, how can you expect the lost to live like Christians? (2:14)
3 take away questions to reflect on:
What Gospel am I preaching with my life?
Am I seeking out correction as much as I am giving it?
Am I running the race as I am called to run?
We’d love to hear your take aways from this passage! Comment below!
Read Galatians 1 for full context!
...Galatians 1:6-10 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Who are you trying to please?
Paul goes to an extreme reminding this early church who it is that we are to live for, and it wasn’t for the approval of men or this world.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10
If you are anything like me you relate to this quote; “there is nothing more common than mans desire to be remarkable”.
It’s normal to want to fit in, it’s normal to follow the crowd, it’s popular to go with the flow and follow trends.
Yet to follow Christ we must go against the flow of culture and not be like the world. In other scripture we are commanded to “not conform to the patterns of the world”. So what Paul is reminding this early church and what he is reminding you and I is this, to follow Christ is to go upstream, it’s to turn away from the things of the world and to turn towards towards heaven.
To please God we need to deny being lord of our life and ask Christ to be Lord of our life taking on the role of a servant to righteousness.
Paul goes to great length to remind his audience that he once followed the things he was taught, that he did so to please his parents, to be great amongst men and in order to follow Christ he had to deny all those things and follow the commands of Christ and the gospel.
Are you trying to please God by the choices your making everyday or are you trying to please people?
Are you allowing scripture to shape you or are you allowing the culture around you to shape you?
If you want to know Christ as both Savior and Lord, you must follow Him upstream and allow Him to renew your mind, He came to be great by humbling Himself to the lowest level of servant, are you willing to decrease so that He can increase?
Choose this day whom you will serve.
- Joe Rigelsky
In John 16 Jesus puts our time on earth into a simple yet powerful illustration. We are to think of it like a women in child birth. In the words of Jesus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and our hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." (John 16:20-22)
This earth is truly NOT OUR HOME. We are in a VERY temporary dwelling, one that is with out a doubt, prone to destruction, pain, and trial. This should make us yearn for our true and eternal home built in heaven. When we truly know that this dwelling is temporary, our vision changes. Our main and only desire becomes knowing Jesus and serving the builder and creator of our eternal dwelling. Make it your goal to please him, and remember the time you have on this earth is short, worldly pleasures are fading, and trials are coming—but there is a true home in heaven waiting for us. A home that is free from destruction, death, trial, pain, and tears. A home with unceasing joy...so be of good courage. There will be a day when our sorrow turns to joy and when death is no more.
2 Corinthians 5:1-9... For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
Prayer
Lord,
Thank you for your promises that stand for ever.
Thank you for your promise of a future home.
Give me unceasing peace and joy in the midst of the destruction and trial that surrounds me on every side.
Help me to be of good courage, to walk by faith and not by sight.
Thank you for our future hope, and our present peace, found in the sacrifice of Jesus.
Give me the strength to make it my aim to please you in all that I do.
Lord Jesus, come!
Amen
]]>Sin can cause us to feel distant from God. Often times, this happens when we minimize certain sins and maximize others. -- This tends to make us believe that in certain seasons of life we are more worthy of God than in others. When we ONLY focus on the "big" sins in our life, we tend to feel unworthy to be in a relationship with God. We "punish” ourselves by running from Him and refusing to feel His presence. Then during seasons when we don’t have those “big sins” in our lives, we feel worthy of God and even blinded to other sin in our life. But the Bible says, “His mercies are new every morning,” which means we NEED His mercies every morning!
The worst part of you is never too bad for God’s grace and the best part of you is never too good that you don’t need it. We must remember that we are never worthy of God’s grace, yet He offers it anyway. We always need grace!
There’s another way that can cause us to feel distant from God. It happens when we confuse truth with feeling. -- Although “feelings” are significant to the Christian life, they are not the foundation of it! Sometimes we focus more on the feeling we get from worship than the one we are worshipping. Then when those feelings aren’t present, we believe God isn’t either. But just because we don’t feel God, doesn’t mean He’s not there. Feeling the presence of the Lord ultimately comes from focusing on the truth of the Lord. The presence of the Lord is constant, and HE promises to never leave us or forsake us.
Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. '"
The foundation of the Christian life is not feelings, it’s truth. If I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s that happiness and feelings are fleeting, but joy and the truth of God’s word are constant and never failing. If our faith is based on feelings, then it will fade with your feelings. But if our faith is solely based on the promises of God and His word, then it will never fade because His Word and promise are forever. Seek first the truth of who God is, and the joy will follow.
1 Peter 1:25 "but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
Devote yourself to the Word daily, despite how you feel! Because ultimately, we don’t read our Bible because of US - we read it because of CHRIST!
Incredible verses to rely on during this season:
1 Corinthians 13-7 - For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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.
Romans 8:38-39 - Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
May I remember your promises, and by them may my feelings be transformed. Lord, help me to remember that your faithful deliverance far transcend my fleeting emotions and circumstances. Help me to draw near to you as you have to me. Give me the assurance that nothing in all creation will be able to separate me from your everlasting love.
When you feel far away, help me to remember your word, and to give you praise even when I can't feel you.
Above all else, may I persevere with hope by running to your Word. And in your perfect timing, may your truth transform my feelings.
Amen
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Deuteronomy 2:7 " For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows you're going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”
Even when it doesn’t look like it, the God of the universe provides for His people. He provided for the Israelites when they where in the wilderness for 40 years “and they lacked nothing.” If you remember correctly, the Israelites were HUGE complainers. They were definitely not a people with contentment written on their lives. Although the Israelites had all they needed, they didn’t always believe it. Sometimes they even wished to return to their bondage in Egypt.
I don’t know about you but, on the outside looking in, it’s easy for me to think of the Israelites as ungrateful complainers that had no faith and think that if I were in the same situation I would be different. That I would be grateful, thankful, and trusting in the unseen plan and provision of God. BUT when I actually think of it, I am often in difficult situations and seasons that are far less trying than the one the Israelites happen to find themselves in. And what’s my instinctual response to these difficult seasons?—Confidence, trust, and patience?—SADLY NO, instead, my immediate response seems to always be fearful complaining and doubt. The same response that I tend to judge the Israelites for.
If the Lord provided for the complaining Israelites for 40 YEARS in the DESERT, then he will certainly provide for us in the situation that we find ourselves in now. It may not always be in the way we expect, but even if we have nothing, in Christ we have all we need. (Philippians 4:19, And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.)
Remember today and for the rest of your life that you are one small part of God’s big story, and that one day when you are able to “see the big picture” you will wonder why you ever doubted God’s perfect-miraculous plan for your life. Even if we have to spend 40 years in the wilderness to finally see God’s plan unfold, it will be worth it in the end. Even if this pandemic were to last for 40 more years, God would still be working and God would surely still be providing.
If the Lord of the universe died for you, then He will most certainly provide for you now. — God is ALWAYS working, and He is ALWAYS providing.
Prayer,
Lord, you are a good and gracious Father. Thank you for providing for my every need. For allowing me to rely more heavily on you by taking me through deep waters. Thank you for being patient with me even in times when I’m not patient with you. Continue to teach me patience, faith, and trust through trails of this life. Thank you for never leaving my side, and for giving me all that I need in Jesus Christ.
In your Gracious name, AMEN.
]]>The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Like me, you are most likely very familiar with this scripture, but I’ve realized that the more I am familiar with a scripture the less weight it tends to carry in my heart. I wonder if that’s the same for you as well.
So let’s dive a little deeper, and once again feel the weight of it. —I think that this passage is so familiar because it’s used as a “feel-good” scripture in so many circles and if you grew up in church this was a very common Sunday School scripture. The words in this passage bring this picture of cloud gazing with Jesus, in perfectly cut grass, next to the echoes of a peaceful river. This isn’t a bad picture to have, but let me ask, when you have that picture in your mind, what caused you to feel peace?…. Was it the peaceful water, the freshly cut vibrant green grass, and the beautiful blue sky over head? Or was it the comforting presence of Lord? — if you’re anything like me, you probably had to take a heart check, once again realizing that your sinful heart are prone to focus more on the creation than the Creator. The best part about this picture is not the beautiful scenery but the presence of our Savior! Likewise, the best day in your life is not good because of what the world has to offer, but because of Who’s with you!
The first line in this poetic passage says it best, “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.” —When the Lord is with us, we have EVERYTHING we need!
Now, Let me put a different picture in your head…. you are walking down a deep valley with consuming darkness, clueless of where you are going, hearing echoes of insects crawling on the walls around you and the crunching of what sounds like bones under your feet. BUT in the midst of this valley Jesus is leading and lighting the way and He’s protecting you, ready to fend off whatever danger come your way. —What brings you a sense of peace in this picture? I’d imagine it wasn’t the consuming darkness, or the terrifying sounds, but the reassuring presence of the Lord.
Because trials and valleys are dark, they draw us closer to the Light. David shows this not just in the story of this poem but in its words. Go read the passage again and see if you can find it! There is a clear difference in how David talks about/to God when he writes about the mountain tops in life and the valleys in life. When David talks about the Lord in the green pastures he uses the pronoun “He.” In the dark valley he uses the pronoun “you.” —He goes from talking about the Lord, to TALKING TO THE LORD! The idea of a dark valley caused David to talk to the Lord directly. —I don’t know about you, but I find this extremely powerful. Nothing causes me to turn to the Lord in prayer more than trials and valleys. This is because the darkest valleys make the Light of the World shine brighter than ever before! Remember that the Lord is with you on the mountain tops and the valleys! No matter how great the green pastures and how peaceful the waters—our Joy can never be found in them, because the dark valleys will come. Our Joy must be found in the Lord!
Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for for being my consuming light, for always being with me—in the good and the bad. Help me to find my joy not only in your creation but in you as the Creator of every good and perfect gift. Thank you for allowing the valleys in my life to cause me to see you more clearly and to love you more deeply. Thank you for leading me even when I don’t want to be led, and protecting me even when I don’t think I need protection!
Thank you for being our Good Shepherd, Refuge, and Hope!
In you alone I find refuge and peace.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
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If it's only you and Jesus, you don’t know Jesus
"The passion for His fame is right there in the verse. Your name and your renown are the desire of our souls. And when we say that His name and His fame are our desire, we don't mean [to say] maybe He'll be famous. There's no maybe about it. in order to truly be born again as a follower of Christ, one must desire God more than anything else. If the name and the fame of Jesus the Savior, the Son of God, the King of Kings does not become your greatest desire, you will not only waste your life, you will lose it." -JP
With all this being said, the desire for the fame and the renown of Jesus Christ must be number one in your life. Everything must come second to this, but a lot WILL flow from this. If the name and renown of Jesus is # 1 in your life then from your heart, love will flow, selflessness will flow, grace will flow, patience will flow, truth will flow, and peace will flow.
Make Jesus Famous. — Wake up everyday conquering your selfishness in the little moments and this mission be the center of your heart. Wake up and putting aside the selfishness of your own productivity and success and pick up the word of God that will equip you to fight the countless battles you face every single day. Fight your pride in prayer and realizing that your life’s only meaning comes from Christ — (His Name and His Renown.)
In your selfish desire of making your own name known and trying to find life, YOU WILL LOSE IT. You may “gain” a good 80 or so years in this life, but in the end you will loose your soul in the eternity ahead. BUT when Christ and His renown are the center of all your desires AND more than that.. your main desire, you will “lose your life” (at least in the standards of this world) but in losing your life in this life you will then you will find it in the life to come. — (Matthew 16:25 - For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.)
Let me turn back and further explain the point, “If it's only you and Jesus, you don’t know Jesus”
…For this sentence has the power to change your life. — Our culture likes to promote a “Private Jesus” a “Jesus” that you only pray to when YOU need something, a “Jesus” that you hide in your back pocket until you need his saving grace or his miraculous healing, a “Jesus” that you turn to when life goes south but who you turn your back on when life is going well, or a “Jesus” you make to fit YOUR own morals and YOUR own standards. But let me tell you THIS IS NOT THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE. This is not the Jesus that has the power to save you from eternal punishment. If this is the “Jesus” that you worship, then you DO NOT KNOW OR WORSHIP JESUS.
If you know the real, life altering, grace giving, loving Jesus, then the main desire of your heart (and let me dare say the only desire of your heart) WILL BE the Name and fame of Christ. And if that is the position of your heart, then all other Godly desires will follow. If you know Jesus, others MUST know. (If your heart is set on Christ than your actions, words, and love will be shown in a way that those around you can’t deny that you KNOW Jesus.)
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
PROCLAIM HIS EXCELLENCIES!
If you truly know Jesus you WILL desire to make him known. Not maybe desire it, you MUST and you WILL desire His fame.
PRAYER:
Lord,
You are good, You are holy, You are Love, and You are gracious. Thank you for your saving grace and calling me out of darkness into your Wonderfull light. Change my desires from within that my actions change without. My desires tend to be selfish more than not, and I am prone to seek my own good and my own renown. Radically change this within me, I have no power to do this on my own, and only through you will I see change. I seek you because you first sought me. YES Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait EAGERLY for You, for Your name AND YOUR RENOWN are the desire of our soul.
Amen
]]>How can I not be ashamed? Is it by making sure I please everyone so they stop shaming me? NO. As we see in 2 Corinthians, Paul's way of not being ashamed of the gospel was not that he could keep himself in the best light with other people or that people always liked him and approved what he did. 2 Corinthians 11:23-26 Instead he was unashamed because of the power that salvation brings. If we avoid sin by pleasing other people, which we often do, we will inevitably be a slave to that. In order to know how to become unashamed we must look at the greatest example of all time-Jesus.
At the cross Jesus was made to look like a fool. He had all the shame of the world upon Him. How did He handle that shame? Hebrews 12:2 gives us our answer: "For the joy set before Him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus despised the shame. When shame had begun to threaten Him, He looked at shame in the face and said I DESPISE YOU. He said, "Shame, I despise you. I will not yield to you. I will not give to you any satisfaction. You may do with me whatever you please – in the short run – but I will not obey you or follow you or give in to you. I despise you, shame, and will not let you rule me.”(John Piper)
Shame threatens us and tries to rule us. Jesus did not give shame space in His heart or place in his life. He said I WILL NOT BE ASHAMED OF MY FATHER. He walked the calvary road to the cross and nothing shamed Him, NOT BEATINGS, NOT SPIT, NOT NAKEDNESS, And NOT TORTURE. Nothing deterred Him. When your soul gives way, what will you lean on? Lean on the Joy of the Lord and the Power of the Gospel. Jesus looked over the shame on His father and to salvation.
We will be shamed for believing in the Gospel but we do not have to be ashamed of the Gospel.
"Be shamed but not ashamed"
There's a difference from being shamed for the Gospel and being ashamed of the Gospel. If you are a faithful Christian you will be shamed for what you believe, but that does not mean you have to be a-shamed. We can not let the shame that comes upon us by others and by the world come into us and make us become ashamed. Look to Jesus, because shame doesn't get any worse than what He experienced. Jesus looked over His shame that was underserved and instead looked at The Joy set before Him. What's that Joy? Salvation.
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