Tag: worship

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The Heart of Worship

Daily Reading

Amos 1-5

Daily Thought

Amos has a knack for straightforward simplicity. He is clear and to the point. “Seek good, and not evil” (Amos 5:14), Amos demands of Israel, “Hate evil, and love good” (Amos 5:15). It is a two-pronged approach, with gusto. Good health is not merely the absence of illness, but the presence of wellness. The bad must be expunged and the body must be strengthened. Israel needed a radical remedy.

“Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.” ~Amos 5:23

Mike Pilavachi, pastor of Soul Survivor Church in London, England, realized his church had lost focus, “We seemed to be going through the motions. Our hearts were far from Him. We needed to take drastic action.” So he fired the band and the band leader, Matt Redman. 

When the music fades,
All is stripped away, and I simply come.

Out of this time of silence arose a beautiful song of praise, “The Heart of Worship.”

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you, all about you Jesus.
~Matt Redman, fired (then rehired) band leader, Soul Survivor Church, London, England

It is not music that praises, but the heart, and no bad heart can fill a song with worship.

“But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” ~Amos 5:24

Then you can sing.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and My God, if my words mean anything, it will be because they are a reflection of my actions. May my life display your lordship. With gusto. 

I know what that looks like, it looks like the cross. Jesus showed me the heart of worship when he said, “Not my will, but yours be done.” It is such a better way to live. 

Amen

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Baseball Cards

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 51-52

Daily Thought

Boys collect baseball cards, but when we were boys, we didn’t know any better. We liked the clicking sound baseball cards made when you clothespinned them to the spokes on your bicycle. It didn’t matter what card; Mickey Mantle made the same noise as Yogi Berra. We did not know that a 1914 Babe Ruth would sell for $717,000, or a 1952 Mickey Mantle for $2,880,000, or a 1909 Honus Wagner for $3,120,000. 

“Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
They are worthless, a work of delusion.” ~Jeremiah 51:17-18

Prophets are seldom subtle. There is one God, proclaims Jeremiah, and “it is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens” (Jeremiah 51:15). It is the fool who bows before objects of wood and stone, cardboard and clay, who values things more than the Creator of everything. 

We pinned baseball cards to our wheels because we did not know people would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 2”x3” piece of cardboard. And we were the foolish ones?

Daily Prayer

Most Wonderful God, I worship You. The galaxies, the stars, the moon and sun, planet earth, oceans, animals, and me. You created it all, simply by Your Word. You spoke and it was, and it was good.

There are times, God, when I value things too much, when creation steals more of my attention than the Creator. Lord, may I never lose sight of You, Your glory, Your wisdom. May I always be foolish enough to disdain the wisdom and the wealth of this world, and find my full value in You.

Amen

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An Awful Lot of Space

Daily Reading

Psalm 103-105

Daily Thought

“The universe is a pretty big space. It’s bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before,” says Ellie Arroway, a character in the movie “Contact,” adapted from a novel by American astrophysicist Carl Sagan. “So, if it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space, right?” As if size makes a difference. She dreams of the greatness of the universe, but cannot imagine the grandeur of God.

O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind.” ~Psalm 104:1-3

If, to God, “a thousand years are but as yesterday” (Psalm 90:4), then what of light years and solar systems and black holes and galaxies and an awful lot of space? There is no difference in effort to create birds that fly or stars that shoot, so even if it’s just for us, I delight in creation and adore the Creator, and that is the point. “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all” (Psalm 104:24). A wall calendar might do, but God “made the moon to mark the seasons” (Psalm 104:19). God fills the dreams of the Psalm writers, so that we would look to the stars and know “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11).

The universe is a pretty big space and that is an awful lot of love.

Daily Prayer

My God, Maker of the heavens, Creator of the earth, wow! What a world! Your fingerprints are seen in everything, the wisdom of Your ways, the wonder of Your workmanship. You are mighty and majestic, and You are my God.

I’m amazed at Your attention, that You look after me, and more, that You rescued me. You, the king of the heavens became a baby on earth, and served man, and died for me. There is no greater love, no wonder you made a big universe to display it.  You are worthy of my praise and my all. I worship You.

Amen

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Broken Windows

Daily Reading

Psalm 96-102

Daily Thought

When David became king, the country was divided and disheartened. Israel required a king who would unify and lead. How to pull a country together and point it in the right direction is the task of the new king, and David embraces it enthusiastically. Psalm 101, “I will sing” (v 1), “I will ponder,” “I will walk” (v 2), “I will not” (v 3), “I will know” (v 4), “I will destroy,” “I will not endure” (v 5), “I will look” (v 6), “No one shall,” “No one shall,” and “I will” again (vv 7-8). To unify rightly, you must raise up something worthy to compel devotion, “I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music” (Psalm 101:1). To lead well, you must walk the right path, “I will ponder the way that is blameless” (Psalm 101:2). There must be the right mix of setting the course and cleaning up the place.

New York City was a dirty city and Rudy Giuliani became famous for cleaning it up. A “broken window” theory was key to the clean-up. Windows break; it happens. “But,” asked Giuliani, “why must they stay broken?” A building has a few broken windows. Leave them, and vandals break a few more. Squatters take over the building and criminals take over the neighborhood. Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City, declared “Zero Tolerance” on broken windows. A broken window will not be tolerated. Fix it now.

“I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I will know nothing of evil” (Psalm 101:3-4). Not only committed to do right, David pledged to hate evil. “No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes” (Psalm 101:7). He hated broken windows and the City is grand once again.

Daily Prayer

My God of Love, who hates sin because it destroys, may I share your passion. I must hate, truly despise, sin. I must also desire and cling to goodness and righteousness. This is not natural for me, but God, You have changed me. Your Spirit is inside me. May I submit to Your ways and walk with Your Spirit.

Do not allow me to tolerate sin in my life, God. Thank You that I can come anytime to Your throne and confess, and find Your forgiveness.

Amen

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All of Me

Daily Reading

Psalm 46-50

Daily Thought

In Psalm 50, God says he wants everything because he wants nothing. He wants your sacrifice because he doesn’t need your sacrifice. This makes no sense; or it makes all the sense in the world if you understand that religion and worship are not the same thing.

God calls Israel to judgment, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me” (Psalm 50:8). Okay, you are religious, says God. Let’s examine your religion. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:14-15). Your religion is a formula: give God what he wants and he will give you what you want. You are using God to serve yourself. But, “every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills,” says God. “I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). God doesn’t need anything. The formula doesn’t work. Now what?

Now you can worship. You can give God everything because he needs nothing, and, therefore, you can trust him fully. What are you giving him that is not his already? Yourself, and that is worship.

Daily Prayer

Father in Heaven, The world is Yours, and all that is in it. You are the source of every good and every blessing, and the greatest blessing is I am Your child. You have adopted me back into Your family by making me righteous again through the saving work of Your Son. You call it grace. I call it good news.

You have given me everything, God. I give it all back. It’s yours, all of me. Now tell me what to do!

Amen

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Delight

Daily Reading

Psalm 36-39

Daily Thought

The serpent spoke to Eve, “Did God actually say…” (Genesis 3:1). Nothing has changed; “transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart” (Psalm 36:1). Sin still talks to us. Made in God’s image, we must be deceived to sin. “You will not surely die,” said the serpent. “You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). The lie is not that we don’t know, but that God is somehow not the final word. Every sin is deception, “there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.” (Psalm 36:1-2).

Our defense against sin is not willpower, then, but worship, finding our delight in God’s delight, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The fruit of the tree was delight to Eve’s eyes, but rather “delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4), transforming our corrupted desires as we “drink from the river of your delights” (Psalm 36:8). Drink often, drink deep.

Daily Prayer

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. ~Psalm 36:5-11

Amen

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First Things First

Daily Reading

2Kings 18-19

Daily Thought

How many times has it been written of the king, “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, except the high places were not taken down”? The high places were set on hills near cities where people could worship and bring offerings, often to foreign gods, sometimes to the true God. Kings Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, and Jotham each did right, but left the high places. Hezekiah removed the high places. God desired the gathering of his people in one place for worship, his Temple. 

The Temple was due for some repairs and in the first year of Hezekiah’s reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord.” They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month (2Chronicles 29:3, 5, 17). 

Genesis 4:4, “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering.” Exodus 23:19, “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.” Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 2Corinthians 8:5, “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Revelation 2:4-5, “You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

First Things First.

Hezekiah got it right. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered (2Kings 18:5-7).

Daily Prayer

My Lord and My God, I worship You and love You with all that I am. Which makes sense, since all that I am was created by You. You had an idea for me before I was born, and You formed me and watched me grow. I live best, Father, when I remember from Whom I came and to Whom I am going. 

You are the First and, also, the Last. The Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega, A and Z. You are before all things, and in You all things hold together. There is no life without You. Why would I even think of living my life without You. You are my God. May I wake each morning and think first of You, beginning each day with anticipation. You are God, One and only, first in all things, first in my heart. 

Amen

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Accept Jesus

Daily Reading

Leviticus 5-7

Daily Thought

God establishes a litany of sacrifices, the burnt, the grain, the sin, the guilt, the ordination, and peace offering, and he meticulously lays out his orders for each. He has instructions for the tabernacle, the priesthood, the altar, and the animals and grain. But even when it comes to worshipping God, we’d rather do it our own way. Our nature argues for personal choice, but God will have none of it. Our personal choice is what made the sacrifices necessary in the first place. 

The same is true today. We claim one faith is no better than another and all roads lead to God, but the truth is “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Said Jesus, “”I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The world preaches self-acceptance, but God’s acceptance is what we truly need (and actually desire).  

Daily Prayer

Righteous and Almighty God, You are holy and Your laws are good. I pray for Your kingdom to come in its fullness and restore Your reign on earth, as it is in heaven.

You have made righteousness available to me through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Death is the cost for my sins, and Your Son paid the penalty. Thank You for Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice. I am Yours, purchased by the blood of Your Son. May my life be a daily sacrifice to You.

Amen