Our Worship Should Always Be,...All Or Nothing

Good Morning!! After reading Isaiah 1, I thought of this riddle: What is heavy for God when it's empty for me? Nothing is too hard for God to do, of course, but that doesn't mean that nothing is a burden to Him. In fact, one thing I sometimes take lightly is actually a heavy concern to God. In the time of the prophet Isaiah, the Jewish people followed their religious celebrations to the letter. They showed up at the right time, sacrificed the right amount, and offered many prayers. But when they left the temple, it was as if they left God there.
Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.—Isaiah 1:7 (NKJV)

After all this time, not much has changed. Sometimes we think our responsibility to God begins and ends with going to church and giving an offering. But this attitude makes us more of a burden to God than a blessing. We're not accomplishing the tasks that are important to Him,...doing good, seeking justice, defending the fatherless, and pleading for widows (Isaiah 1:17). God is not impressed with a full house, at religious gatherings, if the people come with empty hearts. God wants worshipers with hearts so full of love for Him, that they overflow in good deeds for others. Oh yeah!...,are you still wondering what is heavy for God, when it's empty for me? The answer is "worship".

Only the heart filled with praise, brings pleasure to God.

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"A good friend once has said; 'We act out what we believe, not what we know. our actions, our lifestyles, and our decisions are all reflections of our belief systems." (Jesus: The One and Only, Beth Moore, p. 213)

"Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness."

Open To Change

Good Morning!! In the time of Jesus, few people where dis-liked or hated as much as the tax collector. Zacchaeus was the head taxman, a short guy who wanted to be a big shot. He was rich, he cheated people, and he appeared to hate his neighbors and they appeared to hate him right back. To his credit, “he wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd” (Luke 19:3). So he ran ahead and climbed a tree. Sycamore-fig trees have low branches(easy access for someone of short stature). Its leaves and bark were used as remedies for various ailments. And Zacchaeus was about to get the biggest dose of healing he could ever imagine. All it took was one encounter with Jesus, and Zacchaeus was a new man.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."—Luke 19:8 (NIV)

The day he met Jesus, Zacchaeus turned the hard feelings between himself and his neighbors into kindness, help, and friendship. If Jesus is your Lord, you’ve had just as real an encounter with Him as Zacchaeus did so many years ago,...and you are a new person. Let the world see the difference Jesus has made in you.

Can we turn hard feelings into kindness, help, and friendship? How could we do anything else,... after coming to know Jesus?

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O Lord, how often selfishness will raise its ugly head, so help us, Lord, to conquer it and show Your love instead. Amen.

"Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness."

Learn To Give, Learn To Live

Good Morning!! I know I can't be the only one. :o) Many people are burdened by the accumulation of material goods they no longer need or use. But they have a hard time getting rid of things that clog their homes and businesses. One woman said, after five moves in four years, "You know how much stuff I brought with me to each place? I've asked myself, 'Where was your brain when you moved all this stuff?'" She then hired a professional organizer to help her learn to let go of things.

Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "I will give half of my property to the poor." —Luke 19:8 (AAJE)

People cling to their possessions for many different reasons. It seems that Zacchaeus struggled with this problem because he was greedy (Luke 19:1-10). But the story of this wealthy tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus culminated in a complete change of heart when Zacchaeus said, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor" (v.8). He then promised, "If I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." Jesus responded by saying, "Today salvation has come to this house" (v.9). The new spiritual freedom that Zacchaeus found could be observed as he turned from getting to giving. His relaxed grip revealed a renewed heart. Is it true of us as well?

We haven't learned to live, until we've learned to give.

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Father God, teach us that; not everything that can be counted counts,...and not everything that counts can be counted. Amen.

"Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness."

Set Vengenance And Hate Aside

Good Morning!! If someone hurts you, could you let it go? or would you need to hurt them back? If so, you wouldn't be the only one. That's why down through the centuries, calculated cruelty, murderous revenge, and even ghastly torture have made history a long tale of tragedy. It's how the World thinks and functions. Even if you and I could not see ourselves killing innocent victims, we must still guard against hardheartedness and pray for a spirit that is the very opposite of that kind of depraved sadism.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.—Ephesians 4:31 (NIV)

We must plead for divine enablement to fulfill Paul's imperative: "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:31-32). Ask Jesus to help you replace any lingering hardheartedness in your life with His tenderheartedness. And show Christlike compassion to someone today.

As long as there's bitterness in the heart,...vengeance will seem sweet.

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"Only knowing that we're right before God, can give us the strength to accept all that is wrong from men!"

"Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness."

No Shame

Good Morning!! The Bible tells us that God knows our every thought and every word on our tongue (Psalm 139:1-4). And when we don't know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit "makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). These biblical truths assure us that we can have communication with God even without a word being spoken, because He knows the intentions and desires of our heart. What a comfort when we are perplexed or in deep distress! We don't have to worry if we can't find the words to express our thoughts and feelings. We don't have to feel embarrassed if sometimes our sentences break off half-finished. God knows what we were going to say. We don't have to feel guilty if our thoughts wander and we have to struggle to keep our minds focused on the Lord.

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.—Psalm 139:4 (NIV)

And for that matter, we don't have to worry about a proper posture in prayer. If we are elderly or arthritic and can't kneel, that's okay. What God cares about is the posture of our heart. What a wonderful God! No matter how much you falter and stumble in your praying, He hears you. His heart of infinite love responds to the needs and emotions of your own inarticulate heart. So keep on praying!

Prayer does not require eloquence but rather earnestness.

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"God is attracted to weakness,...HE can't resist those who humbly and honestly admit, how desperately they need Him."

"Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness."

Read The Word, Heed The Word

Good Morning, and Happy Friday!! People seem to have a lot of excuses  for not reading the Bible, unbelief, indifference, busyness, and,...laziness. But I believe the real reason, is that It forces us to see the bad choices we've made,...and deal with them. Gamaliel Bradford, a renowned American biographer who explored the lives and motives of famous individuals, candidly admitted, "I do not read the New Testament for fear of its awakening a storm of anxiety, and self-reproach, and doubt, and dread, of having taken the wrong path, of having been traitor to the plain and simple God." Fear of facing up to failure, guilt, and sin is not a very reasonable reason to avoid reading the Bible! It's about as irrational as refusing to see a doctor because there's a suspicion that cancer has started to develop in one's body.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.—Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

Yes, the Bible does compel us to face ourselves. It is like an x-ray machine that penetrates below the facade of goodness,...and shows up any spiritual malignancy. It enables us to see how God views all the worst diseases of the soul. But the Bible does more than expose a fatal condition. It introduces us to the Great Physician, who can cure our sin and bring spiritual healing. If you read the Bible with a willingness to obey the truth, you will find life's greatest cure.

Many people criticize the Bible,...because the Bible criticizes their behavior.

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Instill within our hearts, dear Lord,
A deep desire to know Your voice;
We need to learn to hear Your Word
That we may make Your will our choice.

 

"Focus on the Kingdom of God,...don't give up, and don't give in."

The Truth, Really Is Our Friend

Good Morning! Are you surrounding yourself with friends who tell you the lies you want to hear? Our sins pull us down, they blind us. They help us believe things we know to be wrong, are O.K.. After all, we're only human,...and no one is perfect,...Right? I can truly say, "Truth was my biggest enemy,...until it became my best friend." Even those whose sin have taken them to the heights of wealth and power need to hear and know that. After the truth came out about corruption in several major US corporations and banks, a reporter said, "This isn't just about executive over inflated salaries and perks,...it's about greed and truth."

Am I now your enemy, just because I told you the truth?—Galatians 4:16 (AAJE)

Just like these corrupt executives, Israel's King Ahab was a rich and powerful person,...who got in trouble because he surrounded himself with advisers who told him the lies he wanted to hear,...rather than the truth he needed to know (2 Chronicles 18:4-7). His friends led him to a tragic dead end (v.33-34). Unlike Ahab, I came to the point of realizing that lies I loved, were just fake friends. In that moment, I turned and faced my biggest fear," truth". Truth about myself, my life, my choices, and when I did,...I found that what I was running from, was actually what I was looking for: God. All my attempts to save myself with lies led to the brink of self-destruction; but when I turned to the God of all truth, He made me a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Make truth your friend today, face what you've avoided up to now.

Those who continue to listen to lies, can lose the ability to ever hear the truth.

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Father God, give us the strength to turn and face our enemies "lies", and let us learn to walk in the Light of Your Truth. Amen.

"Focus on the Kingdom of God,...don't give up, and don't give in."