Worship – You Are God and I Am Not. - Purity 1381

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of the weathered surface of a picnic table and a roaring campfire surrounded by a forest of green comes to us from yours truly, as I captured the scene during my backpacking camping trip to Nennerod Cabin in Rupert, Vermont, back on May 25th. My wife and I liked the peace and solitude of that place so much that we decided to make a stay there a yearly tradition, and I just booked it for a return trip next year. But it's not just the thrill of roughing it or getting out in nature that makes our stay there a special time. We also spend time in worship, as we are not only blessed with enough cell reception to stream our church's online services on Sunday morning, but we also carry the extra weight of our Bibles and other Christian resources to draw nearer to the Lord with while we are there. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and although I don't have any specific plans for this weekend, I know that parts of my time away from my day job at my countryside home will be spent in worship. My daily spiritual practices of prayer, gratitude, meditation, and Bible study, my walks along Freedom Road, and even time listening or watching Christian music audiobooks, podcasts, or videos are all ways to connect with God. But of the things that mark the special times with the Lord are those times when I turn away from whatever it is I'm doing and talk to him and listen to what he has to say to me. And that can happen at any time during any of those activities. Sometimes worship comes when my walk is on solid ground and where I am doing everything right, quote unquote, and and I'm just experiencing peace and joy and I'm thankful for it. But more often than not, and perhaps more importantly, worship happens when I am not performing as I should be or when things are not going well at all. They say that crisis reveals a lot about what we believe and what we value. And I believe that a true mark of spiritual maturity is when we make the decision to go to God and worship him when things go south. Walking through the Get Used to Different student guide by The Chosen team as a morning devotional, and although it is geared toward youthful new believers and fans of the show, I've been really blessed by the material in it as it encourages an authentic Christian faith and spiritual practices to draw you closer to God. Today's entry highlighted The Chosen Season 2 narrative of Nathaniel, and how he became a disciple of Jesus Christ after his dreams were dashed to pieces. In the show's narrative, utilizing artistic license, in his suffering, Nathanael cried out and worshiped the Lord under a fig tree when he had experienced— where he experienced the present— the Lord's presence, an experience that Jesus later mentions, causing Nathanael to declare him to be the Son of God and the King of Israel. The biblical narrative in John 1:48-51 tells us, um, tells us, Nathanael said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree. I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, 'Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.' And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.' Jesus' promise to see greater things and more wonders is something that all of his disciples can experience, and often The gateway is worship. The chosen team writes about Nathanael and gives us an invitation to worship as follows. And that team, the chosen team writes, worship puts God where he belongs, at the center of your attention. When Nathanael said the Lord is one, he was reminding himself of who God is. He was posturing his heart and mind in reverence. He was redirecting his focus back to God and praising in spite of his grief because that's what God deserves. Worship moves us to confession because focusing on God helps us see who we really are. It reveals our motivation and exposes our hearts, which means it helps us deal more honestly with God, which means our worship isn't always controlled or contained or even pretty. Under the fig tree, Nathanael's praise led to this honest and messy plea: "Do not hide your face from me. Do you see me?" He was raw and real and wounded and needy. Worship has a way of bringing those things to the surface. But it also has a way of reminding us that God is bigger than our problems, that he welcomes us just as we are. And so worship draws us closer to the one who cares for us most, which makes it an incredibly important spiritual exercise, whether it takes place with a group of people or when you're alone in your room. Doesn't have to be complicated or organized. Simple statements like the one from the Lord's Prayer are worship: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. When you shift your focus from yourself to God, You're climbing off that exhausting hamster wheel of self-worth and self-help and self-medication. You're declaring God and God alone deserves to be at the center of your life. You're confessing his worthiness to be praised in spite of hard circumstances. You're admitting your inability to navigate hard things without his help. Worship doesn't require a song. Though you're welcome to sing. It doesn't demand a psalm, though scripture is full of words we sometimes don't have. Bottom line, your worship doesn't have to be anything other than simply turning your heart toward heaven and declaring, "You are God, and I am not." And the chosen team prompts us to pray, "You are God, and I am not." You are the one who created the universe, who created everything, who created me, and I am not. You are the one who holds the entire world together, and I am not. You, Heavenly Father, are high above it all. Help me turn my heart toward you today. Amen. As we draw into the last day of the work week and the first weekend of summer 2024, It is my prayer that all of us will enjoy our lives and take some time this weekend to worship the Lord and to thank Him for all He has given us, to humbly acknowledge that He is God and we are not. It's okay to let the Lord lead your life. You will find that the pathway to peace and joy is through a close relationship with God and faith in Jesus Christ. You need merely seek His presence and surrender to His purpose for your life to find it. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on divorce. Today's verses are Matthew 25— well, Matthew chapter 5, verses 23 and 24 from the New Living Translation. The word says, "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God." Today's verse is the second of three passages of scripture that fall under the ninth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on divorce. And today's— and that 9th point is, uh, the believing spouse must seek reconciliation when trouble arises. Today's verses declare the importance of resolving conflicts in our relationships. Jesus tells us to stop worshiping if someone has something against you. Disharmony caused by anger, unforgiveness, or bitterness is that serious. Rather than worship God We should get rid of those negative feelings and, as much as it depends on us, make peace in our relationships first. God doesn't want us coming before him to worship with malice or worry in our hearts. He wants all of our attention, and he wants us to be at peace. So how much more important is it to be reconciled to our spouses? Husband and wife are one flesh. And when we are in conflict with one another, we could be said to be sinning against our own body. God didn't create marriage for conflict and contention. Marriage is supposed to be the holy union where man and woman are to declare their commitment and love for one another and to have God at the center of the relationship. So as much as it depends on you, make peace in your marriages and your marriage, actually, uh, and not marriages, just one, um, and love one another as your spiritual service to one another and to the Lord. As always, we invite you to go to mtforchrist.com where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our 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. Alford. And in his devotional, uh, Alford prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is 1 Corinthians chapter 8, and from that chapter he shares a portion of the first verse of chapter 8, which says, knowledge puffs up but love edifies. And Stephen Alford writes, The power of this spiritual truth is evidenced by its practical outworking. The apostle tells us that their love suffers long and is kind, is not puffed up, thinks no evil. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5. Oh, then, to excel in this essential— its secret lies in the heart of the Holy Spirit. Its secret lies in the work of the Holy Spirit, for he sheds abroad the love of God in the heart of the believer. Moreover, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Oh, to be filled with the Holy Spirit moment by moment, day by day. Then, and only then, shall my ministry be edifying, building up believers in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of Christ compels us to live, teach, and preach Christ in love. Alford ends by praying, Holy Spirit, fill me with the love of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Yeah, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Um, yeah, in, in Christian circles, we can, you know, we run into danger sometimes when we, you know, are filled with knowledge and don't have any love. Uh, it's one thing to tell everyone about, you know, what they're saying, you know, what sin is, and even, you know, to know things about church tradition or church history. But that's— while that's all very nice, it tends to, um, it tends to pump up our egos that we know all this stuff. But if we don't express our love, our knowledge really doesn't help. You know, our love edifies. And that's one thing that's being impressed upon me as I step out as a Christian life coach that, yeah, I'm there to encourage, I'm there to, you know, tell people what to do and, you know, or support people with their goals and, and to teach them spiritual truths from scripture and things I've learned along the path. Um, but if I don't love my clients, if I don't show affection and appreciation for them and their lives and, and honestly care about what they want to accomplish with their lives and help them with their goals, You know, it'll puff up my ego, but it won't edify. It won't, it won't be a blessing, you know. You know, in the Christian life coaching business, it's very important. The most important thing is our relationship to our clients, and I'm discovering that more and more, that You know, after the goals have been established, now it's time to press in and to support our clients with love more than knowledge sometimes. That we are encouraging progress, but we're lovingly walking with them regardless of whether or not they're doing everything absolutely right. I'm not there to chastise them. I'm there to be a help and a support, to point out blind spots in their perception and in their knowledge. And, you know, when, when somebody believes something that isn't true, um, it's a— it's an amazing gift to show them the truth and to show them the truth in love. Um, you know, last night I was meeting with a client who who revealed very subtly that he believed, you know, he believed that you could lose your salvation. And it was something that, you know, I lovingly pointed out as incorrect. You know, basically, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the only hope that we have is that we won't lose our salvation, because otherwise we're not saved by grace and by faith alone. We're saved by our works, and that's not what the Word of God says. Um, if we fear that our sin is going to cast us into hell, then we don't know the gospel. We don't know Jesus. Um, you know, not— we might have an idea about it, but we have a misunderstanding there. And I had to come alongside him and encourage him. And this morning I sent out some texts basically to to further support that, that, you know, the only way we can have peace with God is to believe that his word is true and that he's not going to cast us into hell because that's not what he's going to do. He— if we've come to faith in Jesus Christ, we've been forgiven. We are made complete in Christ. It's, you know, part and partial of why I focus on the Who I Am in Christ list as a daily spiritual practice. To remind us of these truths, that we are citizens of heaven, that we are children of God. And it's not because of our performance that we did that, it's because of God's grace. He chose us to be free, to know the truth and to be free. Um, and so we, we have to remember that because the world, the flesh, and the devil will want to put us back on that, that hamster wheel of self-worth you know, that's based on our performance. And when we're not doing well, we'll shy away from worshiping the Lord instead of pressing in and worshiping the Lord. Um, you know, that's like I said, it's a crisis that sometimes reveals really what we believe, you know. So if something bad happens, what does the world do? Well, it usually comforts itself through, you know, substances or experiences or or whatever, you know, it's self-care, right? Well, a Christian doesn't really believe in self-care. We believe in the care of the Lord. Granted, we can practice, you know, things of self-care, but our comfort and our care and our hope all lie in our faith and in our relationship to God. So if we really want to take care of ourselves, we'll draw close to the presence of the Lord. That's how we find peace, you know, then, and knowing that no matter what we do, nothing will separate us from the love of God, and that God is with us and for us, and he cares for us, and if we follow him, he'll guide us in the way we should go, and he'll be with us every step of the way, even if we have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and walk through the pain of affliction and persecution. We can do so. Knowing that God will never leave us or forsake us. That's the hope of the Christian faith that is unmatched by, you know, any other faith stream out there, because any other faith stream out there puts your performance, you know, as the key. That you must do this, you must, you know, do that. You must gain enlightenment, you must become God, you must, you know, You must do more good works than bad works. And, you know, all these different performance-based streams. That's where Christianity is completely different. God did the work for us. It's a gift. And when we accept it, guess what? We receive joy and peace knowing that we're secure, we're significant, we're accepted in Christ. And, you know, this is the work that we need to do for one another. Is not to perform, but to encourage one another and build each other up, edify one another in our faith. And it's got to be done in love. You know, we're not always— you know, granted, you might have to chastise or rebuke somebody when they're off base or whatever, but if we don't do so in love, they're going to walk away, and they could walk away from the Lord. Now, I know it's sort of crazy But we don't, we don't know, um, the spiritual realities of, of someone's status. Um, someone might be at church but may have not actually repented and given their heart to Jesus. We don't know. Um, the word tells us how, you know, some people walk away and they're not with us because they're not of us, pointing to false converts. So somebody who's at church might not be in the kingdom. You know, how do we know these things? Our spirit confesses with his, you know, his spirit confesses to our spirit that we are children of God. And if people don't have that conviction or that thing, one of two things are happening. They're either being deceived by the enemy, "No, you're not a Christian," you know, or they really aren't and they know in their own hearts, "No, I don't really believe." help my unbelief type of thing. You know, that can be— that, you know, these things, it's not— you know, that's why it's a relationship. We have to confirm our relationship. We trust in our relationship, and we don't know what another's relationship is, so we can't assume anything. And so, you know, as Jesus said, you'll know my disciples by the love they have for one another, the The fact that they'll obey my commandments and follow and testify of them, you know, there will be fruit. So it's not the means to our salvation. It's the evidence that we have been saved. So we have to, you know, we don't just say a prayer and go about our business and live in darkness. We say a prayer and then we seek the Lord. Seeks to do His will for our lives. We start living for Him. That's the mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ, you know, fruit. Anyway, we'll try to grow some more fruit this weekend with worshiping the Lord. That's one thing we do, you know. That's the only thing you don't— I shouldn't, you know, not for nothing, you know, the Lord commands us, you know, to worship Him and follow Him. Well, we're in the kingdom. We'll want to do that. It's not a religious duty, it's something we get to do. It's something we want to do because we know his love and his presence. So we just encourage you to worship this weekend. Anyway, uh, before that, I have a day job I have to go to, so we should pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for the love you've given us. The fact that nothing can separate us from your love, Lord. Um, Lord, we pray for anyone listening today, uh, that they'd be encouraged and that you would come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith to help them, Lord. We also pray for that for, for ourselves. We pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, uh, to show us greater things than these, the wonders of, of, of our lives. And, um, to lead us in the way we should go, Lord, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and we definitely need your help with that. So we're asking for it today. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.