Last Wednesday I started a subject on worship. I would like to continue that theme until I am told otherwise. If anyone who reads these wants to have me do something else then write to me. And by the way, please if you know of someone who is looking for something to read, send then a link to this blog or write to me and I will put you on my mailing list.
As we know David from the Bible was known as a man after God's own heart but he was more than that. He was a great preacher, a great leader, a model soldier, a great king, and a psalmist or song writer. He was definitely an all- around great guy. He probably would be compared to some of the famous people that E! would follow or you might see his picture in the magazines. He was just a great guy. You could say that woman wanted him and men wanted to be him.
But if you were to interview him today. The interview might go something like this;
"Well, David, welcome to the show we have all been anxious to hear you." (crowd screams)
"So, tell us your passion must have been to remain undefeated on the battlefield, to lead your men again and again to victory."
DAVID " No, not really."
"Is it to rule as a great king, to sit on the throne?"
DAVID "Oh no (chuckles) not at all."
"It's not your ruling passion to be a great king?"
DAVID "No. It is rather incidental."
"What is your ruling passion then?"
DAVID "Have you not read the Psalms? Particularly Psalms 27?"
Psa 27:4 I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking Him in His temple.
David's desire was to be with God. To have a personal relationship with Him ALL THE TIME!!! His perspective of God was not to have Him ready when he needed him. He do not set his plans and develop his goals and then called upon God when he needed him. NO! David understood that it was God's plans and goals and it was David that needed to fit into His plans. I think that is where we stumble at lot in life. Especially when we hear this "Gospel of Prosperity" that is preached on the radio and TV. We can not put God in our pockets and pull Him out when we need Him. We FOLLOW Him not lead him. David understood that WHEN not IF we follow God we become part of God's ultimate plan, His perfect plan.
I borrowed this idea from a book I am reading call "How to Worship Jesus Christ" by Joseph S. Carroll.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Quiet Time
How many of us really sit down and just talk with God? Honestly! In Bible college we were required to have a quiet time every day and the school even allotted time right after chapel for that purpose. I remember my first semester there. I was on fire and ready to go! I was so excited to be around others whom God was working in their lives. I noticed that there were others like me but then there were some who acted a little apathetic. They didn't care whether it was time for prayer or not.
At first this disturbed me but later realized that I had become one of them. I used the quiet time to catch up on studying for a quiz or playing games on my computer. I kept telling myself that I would wake up early in the morning to have my quiet time. When that morning came, I would hit the snooze button and go back to sleep because to staying up too late the night before.
How sad is this scenario? Jesus always took time to talk with the Father. He never procrastinated His quiet time. If we are to follow the example of Jesus then we need to prioritize and MAKE time for Him. After all, how valuable is 1 hour of sleep compared to 1 hour with the King!
At first this disturbed me but later realized that I had become one of them. I used the quiet time to catch up on studying for a quiz or playing games on my computer. I kept telling myself that I would wake up early in the morning to have my quiet time. When that morning came, I would hit the snooze button and go back to sleep because to staying up too late the night before.
How sad is this scenario? Jesus always took time to talk with the Father. He never procrastinated His quiet time. If we are to follow the example of Jesus then we need to prioritize and MAKE time for Him. After all, how valuable is 1 hour of sleep compared to 1 hour with the King!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Most Important THing
I remember watching the movie City Slickers when I was a kid and one scene stood out. It was when the character Curly was trying to explain what the most important thing was and only held up one finger. Mitch replied "what is it? your Finger?"
"No" Curly said, "Just one thing."
"What is it?" questioned Mitch.
"You have to figure it out"
After a series of parables, Jesus went to the house of Martha.(Luke 10:38-42) There he was relaxing while her sister Mary, was at his feet just adoring him. She was soaking in every word he said and giving him her full attention. In the meantime Martha was being a good host but she felt that her sister was being rude by not helping her. When she mentioned this to Jesus, he said to her "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her." The choice she made was more important than everything else that was going on in the house. Martha was too worried about the traditional values that the women are to be the servants of the house when guests are there. She was too worried about the appearance of her house while Jesus was there. How often do we think that we have to look good or clean up before we come to Jesus? How often do we think that we are going through the traditional motions of worship when in fact we lose our focus. We should be focusing on what is really important in our life instead of trying to prepare for it. The worship of Jesus is more important than anything we could possibly think of. John MacArthur said in his forward of the book How to Worship Jesus Christ by Joseph S. Carroll, " Worship is that one essential activity that must take precedence over every other duty of life."
Mary found out what mattered most in her life and put that in the highest priority. She found out what Curly's finger meant.
"No" Curly said, "Just one thing."
"What is it?" questioned Mitch.
"You have to figure it out"
After a series of parables, Jesus went to the house of Martha.(Luke 10:38-42) There he was relaxing while her sister Mary, was at his feet just adoring him. She was soaking in every word he said and giving him her full attention. In the meantime Martha was being a good host but she felt that her sister was being rude by not helping her. When she mentioned this to Jesus, he said to her "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her." The choice she made was more important than everything else that was going on in the house. Martha was too worried about the traditional values that the women are to be the servants of the house when guests are there. She was too worried about the appearance of her house while Jesus was there. How often do we think that we have to look good or clean up before we come to Jesus? How often do we think that we are going through the traditional motions of worship when in fact we lose our focus. We should be focusing on what is really important in our life instead of trying to prepare for it. The worship of Jesus is more important than anything we could possibly think of. John MacArthur said in his forward of the book How to Worship Jesus Christ by Joseph S. Carroll, " Worship is that one essential activity that must take precedence over every other duty of life."
Mary found out what mattered most in her life and put that in the highest priority. She found out what Curly's finger meant.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Scoop on Jesus
If I were to ask you "Where is Jesus"? How would you answer? Would you say "He's there when I need him." or "He is in Heaven making interseccion with the Father"?
What I were to tell you that these answers are correct and wrong at the same time.
When we examine Psalms 110 we see that there seems at first a contradiction.
What I were to tell you that these answers are correct and wrong at the same time.
When we examine Psalms 110 we see that there seems at first a contradiction.
Psa 110:1 A Davidic psalm.
The LORD declared to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool." 2 The LORD will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion. Rule over Your surrounding enemies. 3 Your people will volunteer on Your day of battle. In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, the dew of Your youth belongs to You. 4 The LORD has sworn an oath and will not take it back: "Forever, You are a priest like Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings on the day of His anger. 6 He will judge the nations, heaping up corpses; He will crush leaders over the entire world. 7 He will drink from the brook by the road; therefore, He will lift up His head.
HCSB
This passage is a Psalm of David proclaiming the Preistly King. The Israelites knew that they were supposed to be a nation that had a preistly king instead of haveing a nation full of preists and a king. Jesus also recognized this passage and quoted this passage more than any other. The event described also has already taken place. Which is the point of this writing.
The contradiction seems to be that how can the Lord declare to my Lord? If we look closely we see that the first LORD is in all capital letter signifying that this is the Father speaking to the Son. By the way this is an Old Testament proof for the Doctrine of the Trinity. The Father says to the Son or Jesus as we know, "Sit at my right hand". It is common in most places that the place of honor is at the right hand. I said earlier that this event has already taken place. Have you figured out when yet? This event took place 40 days after the resurrection. Jesus was invited to sit at the right hand of the Father right after he ascended into heaven.
God the Father also promised to make his enemies his foot stool. In the tradition of ancient warfare, the losing king would bend to all fours so that the victorious king could put his feet on the back of the losing king. Also in this passage, there is mention of a scepter signifying that Jesus would be a victorious ruling King.
All this being said, I ask you again. "Where is Jesus?" It still blows my mind when I sit and ponder this thought. When Jesus was crucified His body was broken. I mean broken. Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion"portrayed Jesus literally being broken. But Jesus arose from the dead. He did not get another body, he did not simply dispose of his earthly body and made a heavenly one. No, he arose in the same form as the disciples knew him as. Jesus is in heaven in the flesh. The same body as was when he was crucified. And he is sitting at the right hand of God RULING as KING of KINGS. He is not a little magic that I pull out to make me "feel" better when I need him. He is not something I pray to get something I wan tor to get me out of trouble.
Have you ever visited a king? How about THE KING? When you think of Jesus as KING, you tend to treat Him a little different. Think about this, when you pray you have an audience with the KING of kings, the creator of the universe, the sustainer of life. Even since I really recognizing that Jesus is currently ruling as KING, my prayer life and my worship has changed.
And that is the scoop on Jesus.
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