Practicing Presence – The Essence of Worship - Purity 1325

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a spec— spectacular nighttime sky over the silhouette of a mountain horizon comes to us from an unknown Facebook friend with a really good camera, mad photography skills, or both, who shared this scene on social media on or around April 23rd, 2021. This beauty is yours, and you would like the photo credit you deserve. Let me know, and I will update the blog after the fact. Well, it's Saturday, and I share today's photo because of the awe it inspires and how it points to the Lord. Our creative universe points to a Creator, and when you take a moment to look beyond yourself, it is natural to come to a conclusion that there is a God And he is good. Yesterday I drove up to my countryside home because in spite of the rain I encountered on the way, I knew that the trip would be worthwhile because of the company I would find there, that of my beloved wife, Tammy Lynn. Regardless of the weather, I find peace and joy in the presence of the woman I love, and it is only natural to express my affection for her when we are together. When I am with her, I express my appreciation for her with compliments, acts of service, and physical touch. My love for her causes me to do these things naturally, and doesn't much— and it doesn't much matter what we have planned for our time together. I find peace and joy just being with her. Similarly, I can find peace and joy when I go out into nature, take a hike, and start to appreciate the beauty of what I found there. Find there, um, was provided for us through God's handiwork. After dinner last night, the rain stopped, and in spite of the flooding from the downpour that created rushing streams of water running over the countryside, my canine friend Harley and I took our walk down Freedom Road. And as we made our return trek from the clearing at the end of that old wheel-rutted dirt and gravel pathway, I stood in awe over the beauty of the overall scene of the surrounding farmlands and how the sky was filled with clouds in motion and how the last lights of day were breaking through them all as they dispersed themselves on the horizon. As I slowly walked back, I marveled over the beauty of the scene before me, but before I reached the road's end, I started thanking God for the wonder of the world he created, my life, and all that I have been blessed with as I have walked through my life's journey up to that point. My sense of peace, joy, and gratitude over that present moment was deep, and I just had to, I just had to reach out to God to let him know I appreciated it and him. When we get out of our heads and just notice what's going on around us the wonder of God's creation and the miracles of our everyday lives, it is only natural to worship the Lord. These experiences all happened yesterday, but I encounter similar moments of peace and joy quite often because I practice presence with the Lord. I live in the context of my Christian faith by literally walking and talking with God, what I think of as the essence of a discipled or surrendered life. But it can also be considered the essence of worship, which is only natural when we contemplate or spend time with God. Neil Anderson shares similar thoughts from his latest blog this week, and I felt moved to share the good doctor's thoughts here to emphasize just how natural it should be to worship God. Neil Anderson writes from his blog: The Essence of Worship. When I taught at Talbot School of Theology, there was a student on campus who was 7 feet 6 inches tall. I felt sorry for him because people would stare until he looked back. They probably didn't want to, but they could hardly keep themselves from doing so. I found myself sneaking glances at him. Most strangers said nothing to him other than an occasional, "How is the weather up there?" Everyone thought, "That man is really tall." That is the natural response to attributes that are unusual or outstanding, which is the essence of worship. Worship is ascribing to God His divine attributes. God doesn't need us to tell Him who He is. He is completely secure within His own Godhead. Nor do we worship God to appease Him. Some believe that if we— if they keep telling God how good He is, He won't deal harshly with them or will grant them favors. That is spiritism, and that is not why we worship. We worship God because we need to keep fresh in our minds the divine attributes of God. You will never be alone if you know that God is omnipresent. You will never feel powerless if you know that God is omnipotent. You will never feel unloved if you know that God is love. Suppose you saw the student mentioned above, but he was a mile away. He would appear to be similar to any other mortal. Seeing him from a distance would solicit very little response. If you were standing next to him, you would be in awe. Your natural inclination would be to say or think, "Man, you are really tall." The dominant thought in your mind would be on that similar attribute, singular attribute. Such is our relationship with God. If you are not practicing his presence, he would seem to be a distant figure and not too large. He would be easy to ignore. But if you were ushered into his presence, you would be overwhelmed by his attributes. If that happened, you wouldn't say Praise you, you would say holy, beautiful, wonderful, power, except powerful, etc. Nobody would have to tell you to do that. Angels are not forced to worship God. In God's presence, they naturally proclaim his divine attributes. When I first saw a giant redwood tree in the Sequoia National Forest, I stood at its base and was overwhelmed by how big it was. I wanted to tell everyone, look at the size of that tree. It would take more than 20 men to put their arms around it. I don't worship trees or people. I am naturally in awe of nature, but it, it just— it is just showing forth the glory of God. I worship God who created trees, sunsets, and rainbows. The closer I draw to my Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and Lord, the more natural it is to worship Him and share Him with others. Should I feel disconnected from Him, I recall to my mind His divine attributes, and therefore I have hope. That was from Neil Anderson, and I hope it encourages all my friends to take some time this weekend to draw close to God and to worship Him. When we recall to mind His divine attributes and realize He is with us We connect— we can connect with him and enjoy his peace, his joy, and his hope. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on death and eternal life, and today's verses are 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. And the Word of God says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. These, uh, that was today's, uh, today's verses from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. And these verses fall under the sixth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on death and eternal life. And that sixth point is that believers who have died are absent from the body but at home with the Lord. Today's verses command us to encourage one another with the fact that Jesus will return one day, causing those who place their faith in Him to rise from the dead and to meet Him in the air before He reclaims the earth to rule and reign with us for 1,000 years. Death is not the end, and for the Christians who have left this mortal coil, their eternal rest in heaven will be interrupted as they, as they follow Jesus into resurrected life. They may be absent from their bodies currently, but they are present with the Lord and will come with him at his glorious return. And whether we pass before Jesus comes back or not, that's good news. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allford. And, uh, in his devotionals, Allford directs us to read a chapter of the New Testament every day, and today's chapter is John 17, from which he shares portions of John 17:11, 16, 18, and 21, um, saying, uh, these are in the world They are not of the world. I also have sent them into the world, that the world may believe that you sent me. Those are the words of Jesus. And Stephen Alford writes, these are in the world, verse 11. This is the believer's presence in the world. It is the sphere into which every man is born. It is the place in which he has to live. If he is to be kept from evil, he must seek the— the necessary power through the name of God. They are not of the world. Verse 16: This is the believer's position in the world. He is not of it, so must live entirely independently of it. I also have sent them into the world. Verse 18: This is the believer's purpose in the world. As Christ was sent with and for a purpose, even so is the believer sent. That the world may believe. Verse 21. And Alfred ends his devotional by praying, I do pray for power and grace to live in relation to the world as you have taught me here in your word. Amen. That's right, we might be in the world, but we're not of it. And Jesus sent, sent us into the world, and, um, the world, and we He sent us there so the world may believe that God sent Jesus Christ, that Jesus was the— is the Messiah, and he will return one day to rule and reign in glory. And it is only through him that we have eternal life, as he is the truth, the way, and the life, as Jesus told us in John 14:6. So, and, and You can enjoy the presence of God when you focus on His attributes and His love, His mercy, His grace, His omnipresence. He's with us. And when we put our faith in God, He's not somewhere out there. He's put His Spirit in us, the Holy Spirit. And if we seek the Lord's will for our lives, we'll hear His voice in our hearts and our minds. Direct us in the way we should go. It'll direct us to read His word to get more of what He has to say to us about who He is and how our life should be. And so I found peace and joy in the Lord that I never knew before. Even though I looked for love in all the wrong places, I found it in the Lord, and He let me to find it with my wife Tammy Lynn, and let me to find peace and joy within myself and, uh, in the world when I would go out into it and recognize that this has all been put here by God, and it's a gift. Our lives are a gift, and it's a gift that can keep on giving when we put our faith in Jesus. So, so why not worship the Lord? That's the natural response. Um, the only, the only reason we don't worship the Lord is when we're busy worshiping ourselves or something else. And so I ask you to step outside of yourself and look to the heavens or look to God's word to connect with him this weekend. You can find a new life, an abundant life of peace, love, and joy, um, when you look to the Lord. Anyway, it is Saturday today. We are going, we're going east. We're going, we're going on a trip to a museum, a children's author's museum in Massachusetts, and it's not Dr. Seuss. It's, uh, it's a guy who wrote The Hungry Caterpillar. I forget his name, so, um, if you Google it, you'll find it. But that's where we're going today, and we're gonna see what's out there because the weather is reported to be sort of a 50/50 or 60/40 proposition on the rain today. So we're planning to, uh, have something to look at indoors just in case we can't find something outdoors along the way. So that's what me and my wife and stepdaughter have in store for us today, and then we'll be returning home, I guess, to relax. It's the last 2 days of my vacation before I return to work on Monday, and I'm very happy to have found the peace and rest that I have found this week. So I, I, it's my prayer that anyone listening today would find some peace and rest and make the Lord a part of that this weekend. That's all I got to say today, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the peace and rest that we have, uh, in your presence. Uh, Lord, we pray for anyone listening or reading today's message, that they would, um, they would come to know this peace, rest, and joy that you have for them. Um, Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them and bless them, their prayer requests, their walk of faith. And Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom here on Earth. Or we need your help to do that, so we're asking Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.