WORSHIP

by Hallie Gipson

Psalm 29:2 

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

Sometimes when we speak of worship, we tend to think of the corporate worship that we participate in during Sunday services. But as we reflect on what worship means to us in our personal relationship with the Lord, is it a part of our daily communication with God? And what exactly is worship?

Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words includes these phrases to define the word “worship”:

• To prostrate oneself in homage
• To put religion into practice
• To minister to God
• To revere or adore

What does worship look like for you? How do you let God know how much you adore Him? How inhibited are you in your worship?

The following Scriptures help us focus on several elements of worship –- our ‘posture’ (physical stance), how we worship, why we worship, and our attitude as we worship.

Ø      Psalm 95:6-7

          Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

          For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

The posture/physical stance of the Psalmist is bowed down and kneeling. This also tells us why we are to worship God – He is our maker.

Ø      1 Chronicles 16:29

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

Bring an offering and come before him;

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

This verse tells us how we worship – with an offering. It is an action we take because of our love for God. We are worshipping God for His attributes of glory and holiness.

Ø      2 Chronicles 29:30

. . . so they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshipped.

Although this is an example of corporate worship during King Hezekiah’s reign, it is a fitting example of bowing the head. How did they sing their worship? With gladness!! Our faces should not be downcast when we worship.

Ø      Psalm 100:1-2

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

The worship in this verse is with ‘gladness’ and the songs are ‘joyful’.

Ø      Matthew 2:11-12

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshipped him.

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of

gold and of incense and of myrrh.

The Magi showed homage to the Christ child by bowing down, worshipping, and presenting him with gifts.

Ø      John 4:24

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

Ø      Matthew 28:9

Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings”, he said.

They (the disciples when they saw Jesus after His resurrection) came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.

Our worship here on earth is also a rehearsal of things to come in heaven. And what a worship service that will be!! Revelation 5:-13 gives us a glimpse of that worship:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of

myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

          “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive

power and riches and wisdom and might and

honor and glory and blessing.”

And every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth

and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,

          “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing

          And honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

As you worship Him and meditate on all that He is, consider the attributes listed in the WORSHIP acrostic. God is truly the only One worthy of our worship!!

Worthy

Omnipotent

Righteous

Sovereign

Holy

Incomparable

Perfect

Intentional or Haphazard

By Hallie Gipson

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to You

and eagerly watch.”   Psalm 5:3 (NASB)

As I was sitting in my favorite place on the sun porch this morning, the clock was chiming 9:00 a.m. --- well past the hour I usually get out of bed to spend my first waking moments with the Lord.  I had allowed myself the luxury of an extra hour’s sleep. By the time I got out of bed, the coffee was brewing and my husband was already on the porch watching the much-needed rain quench the parched earth.

The morning progressed as I read e-mails on my iPhone, ate breakfast, made a few phone calls, and completed kitchen cleanup.  There was nothing ‘wrong’ with these activities and some of them are a necessary part of my day, but the end result was a lack of intentionality in pursuing time with Lord.  I did not purposely seek the Lord before seeking to fill my time in other ways.

Is it any wonder, then, that focusing on God’s Word and prayer were so difficult?!   I suddenly became acutely aware of the subtle ways I allow things of this world -- people, problems, daily tasks, etc. -- to creep into my thoughts.  When God’s Word is not the first thing I read and when my first words of the day are not spoken in prayer, then the ‘world’ has already invaded my thoughts.

Armed with renewed understanding, my approach to my quiet-time once again becomes God-aware and intentional rather than something I haphazardly insert into my day if there is time. It serves to remind me that whether I spend 10 minutes or an hour with the Lord in the morning, that time is vitally important – it helps me to “Set your (my) mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.”  Colossians 3:2 (NASB) (emphasis mine)

Prayer:

Father, thank You that You do not judge or condemn me, but by Your Holy Spirit’s presence, You speak truth to my heart. Plant within my heart a desire to read Your Word and spend time with You with an intentionality that speaks of my love for You.  Forgive me for placing other things before my time with You.   Amen.

“Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.”   Psalm 119:38 (NASB)

SWIMMING LESSONS

By Shirley Wiggins

I never learned to swim, never had much desire to learn to swim, but I have longed to be able to swim.  I do not like for water to get in my face, particularly my eyes, nose, mouth or ears.

Ironically, I love to look at the water and be near enough to “drink” in its beauty with my eyes.  I love the water!  Oceans, lakes, sparkling clear blue pool water  -- all of it!   Especially at sunrise and sunset:   such a glorious sight to see!  To see, mind you, not swim in.

Facing the coming of the autumn this year is both a joy and a delight, even though we missed our trip to the coast again this year.  As August blended into September, I counted this season’s change as one of adventure.

Our two-story house has sold and we have an opportunity to downsize to a house of rooms all on one level --- grateful, grateful!  (To borrow a phrase from a wonderful woman named Lucy!)

A brand-new grandbaby is set to make his debut around mid-October.  He is a beautiful little bundle of surprise coming from God to our daughter and son-in-law.   He is also a special addition to so much good in our future that we have to look forward to with great excitement.

As with all of life’s seasonal changes, challenges come, too, along with the greatest opportunities for new life-seasons.

Details, details, details - bringing in so much to do, much uncertainty, and so much work requiring so much time and energy! 

Over all of life hangs that opaque curtain suspended over the “now,” and “then,” and “when.”  One-day-at-a-time living is called for and with all these uncertainties surely they are bringing unending opportunities to practice the “walk-by-faith-and-not-by-sight principle that God has set for His people.

Determined to go through this time in my life right now in just that way, with all excitement, exhilaration, and enthusiastic expectations of good, I walked confidently into September.  Until… recently when an unexpected something  reared up in front of me and quietly said, “Boo.”  And, I became afraid.

I put on my well-worn “happy” facemask, and waded on into the ‘ocean’ – ankle-deep, and then knee-deep.  I could see the waves of potentially very rough water on the horizon, seeming to roll relentlessly toward me.

Various disappointments keep bobbing up and I keep carrying each one to my Father, who is a very powerful King.

I seek His face in prayer.  I read His word with daily diligent care.  And, still the disappointments come in -- some small and minor, some huge and scary.

And, I become afraid - again.

Awakening in the deep, dark midnight hours or the starry early dawn, I recount each one into my Father’s ears…until peace descends again, covering me with the comfort and assurance of His continued presence, and His thorough knowledge of every situation and circumstance.

Suddenly, on any given day, a most unwelcome visitor is likely to come rolling in, usually right on the heels of several of these “little” disappointments.  His name is Discouragement.

He came in this time with fully packed bags obviously intending to stay for an extended period.  And again, I became afraid.

I assessed my arsenal of resources and believed I could withstand his messy, irritating presence, as he has been a too-frequent visitor to my house in the past.  No matter where I happen to be living, he always seems to find me and barges in unwanted.

I review again in my mind all the ways and times that my Father’s Presence without fail equips me to deal with the despicable deceptions that discouragement always throws haphazardly or methodically all over the place when he drops in for a “visit.”

He makes himself at home and immediately begins to redecorate my surroundings with darkness to block all the sunlight.  He casts a pall of negativity over absolutely everything.  He delights in spreading his deceptively subtle thoughts and innuendos – never including any hint of good about anything.  Every event is always a portent of worse to come.

Soon enough, chest-high water escalates into neck-deep water, and my feet begin to slip in the shifting sands of the deep undercurrent of oppression.

And, I become afraid - again.  Again, I look almost helplessly around me only to acknowledge there is no human hand available to help me:

 I have to learn to swim in deep water!

The waves of life are now too strong, too frequently rolling over me, pulling me into the deep.  It will be foolish, and to my own detriment, if I continue to childishly rely upon any human arm to be available, or even able, to pull me back to the safety of the shore every time another wave of discouragement threatens to pull me into dangerously deep and shark-infested waters.

My feet too easily shift in the slippery sands at the bottom of this ocean I am in, and I shamefully admit that I have wasted too much valuable time wading in shallow water and playing about in life.  I must sacrifice everything it will take for me to finally learn how to swim, and how to float, in order to survive in the unruly waters of this life.  I wholeheartedly intend to survive, because my Father has said that I am more than a conqueror, and furthermore that my future inheritance is so certain that it is guaranteed.

Even a non-swimmer like me can foolishly let self-sufficiency keep us semi-grounded in shallow water as the smaller waves of disappointment roll around our ankles and knees. 

We recognize that feeling of letting our feet sink deep into the swirling and shifting sands of the ocean’s bottom as the gentle, and occasionally the not-so-gentle,  waves roll over us as we stand comfortably near the beach’s shore ankle-or-even knee-deep in the warm summer ocean.

Some of us are so strong-willed that we can keep ourselves mildly stable in our stance, even in the midst of waist-high or perhaps even chest-high water.  We are at ease in our spot as long as we can calm ourselves with the shallow platitudes of common sense reasoning; as long as we rely on our own way of thinking and understanding.

But, when discouragement thunders in on us like a hungry shark, no longer just the passing whale, and seems determined to wash us out of the shallows into the dark, deep, and mysterious waters of life, we realize with the utmost urgency that it is now time to learn how to swim spiritually. 

Life is so similar to the sea, that “great body of salt water that covers nearly three-fourths of the earth”  … “the ocean {that} still holds mysteries that we are only beginning to unravel.”

As we celebrate more birthdays in life, we discover that the more we learn about life, the more that we just don’t yet know about life.  Some of the things we’ve relied on in our belief system just won’t deal adequately with the dead seriousness that life takes on sometimes.

This age in which we now live, for example, is deadly serious and is the time in history for Truth, not common sense reasoning, or the philosophies of mankind, and the foolish dependence upon what we think we know, and what we are taught to ‘believe’ in our heads and recite with our mouths. 

These are the times that ‘try men’s hearts’ – the times that put to the test all we’ve been told and taught to believe in this modern, technologically savvy world in which we currently live.  This is the world which seeks to dethrone God and dismiss His laws and destroy traditional values and replace them with various myths, fables, and fairy tales that were unproven in earlier generations, but still put forth as theories, and which are now being taught broadly as though they were proven truths -- even as Truth itself is being brutally attacked, forbidden and publicly banned from polite society.  "Truth is dead in the streets..."

Disappointments come to all, and discouragement comes to many.  The ocean of life becomes more and more agitated and we hear the news reports of typhoons and tidal waves around the world.  And, we become more and more afraid because we know with ever more certainty that surely one day, they will reach the shores of our dwelling too.

As adults, we ourselves must first and finally learn to swim in the deep water with the deadly sharks, teaching at early ages, our children, and our grandchildren, how to float, and then how to become experienced long-distance swimmers in the sea of life.  Perseverance and endurance is exactly what is needed now.  Firm faith grounded in the standard of God’s truth.

God is the Supreme Swim-Team Coach.  He has mastered life in the shallows and life in the depths because He engineered life and brought it into being.  His Word, The Holy Bible, contains 66 Books of information and illustrative instruction --- well documented, and recorded and preserved forever.  Not one word of God’s Word will ever fail or disappear.  He has provided this Book because He desires that we learn everything about Him that He has revealed about Himself, about life and how to live it, and how to prepare for eternity.

His invitation to “come and dine,” remains open during this Age of Grace.  How long will this current age last?  No one can say for sure, but the Bible states emphatically that God Himself has determined its last “day”.   Each passing day brings us nearer to the preset date in time.

Open your eyes and know that the time approaches – every day brought nearer than it was yesterday.  It is high time to wake up and sign up for your spiritual swim lessons and join the Savior’s Swim Team.

He is awesomely able and wondrously willing to teach all we need to know to survive the challenges of this temporary life and inherit, as more than conquerors, the eternal life He has prepared for all who will believe on and adhere to and trust in Him.¹

Look for more to come about spiritual swim lessons, how to float, and how to swim, swim, swim in the ocean of life.

   

¹ To be a child of God, you must first have a relationship with Christ. 

John 3:16-18 (ESV):    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

If you have never acknowledged your sin and confessed it by agreeing with God about it, and received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life, you are encouraged to listen for His Holy Spirit "voice"  to invite you to pray the prayer of repentance sincerely confessing your sin and asking Jesus to cleanse you of that sin.   If you repent and turn from your sin, to Christ, and “confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead; you will be saved," according to God's Word, the Holy Bible, in Romans 10:9.

If you have just prayed to receive Christ, tell someone.  Then become an active member and participant in a church where God is exalted, and His Word, The Holy Bible, is taught as the standard of life.

GUEST ARTICLE By Elaine Ham

We are so happy to have a guest article by Elaine Ham to share with you.  Elaine is Founder and National Trainer for Plans for You, Inc., a consulting company founded in 2000 to assist pro-life organizations in raising funds for their ministries.  She has served as National Consultant for the Southern Baptist Convention.  Elaine has more than 25 years of experience in the business world, as a manger and the owner of two retail businesses.  Elaine and her husband Tom have two children and two grandchildren.

Shirley's  favorite thing about Elaine is that she is her cousin!  Elaine is a beautiful lady who is faithfully following God’s call on her life.  You will hear more from Elaine on this blog site in the future, as well as other venues where she serves tirelessly sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5 & 6  (NIV).

Many times in our lives we define success for ourselves based on actions that others must take to make it happen. For example, because I grew up in a home filled with conflict and insecurity, I was determined that my son’s childhood would be filled with love and happiness. For the most part, that vision became reality.

However, nothing could protect him from a broken heart when his girlfriend dropped him, or when his little league coach benched him, or when he failed to get the part he coveted in a high school play. While most of his life experiences were positive, without experiencing disappointment and loss, he would not have grown into the thoughtful husband and loving dad he is today.

I’ve often wondered why it’s so easy to see God’s hands at work in the life of a friend or family member but so difficult to apply that same principle in my own life. As a young child of about seven, I still vividly remember a scene that happened one evening in my own home. After going to bed, I was awakened by the sounds of my mother and father having a heated argument about money and alcohol, a not uncommon occurrence in our house. I quietly climbed out of bed and, with tears streaming down my face, hid behind a piece of furniture in the living room and listened. The argument finally ended, and I made my way back to bed—but not without making a decision that changed my life.

As I stood behind that door in a cold living room, a thought formed in my mind that has affected my entire life—“I can do better than this.” Throughout my school years I studied and made good grades and, because of my godly mother, made good decisions about my personal life. My drive to be a success in the business world took me to many places with many titles, and God blessed me with a husband who allowed me to chase the dreams and titles that were so important to me.

But through it all I knew something was missing—a close relationship with Jesus Christ. A Christian since the age of seven, I had never made the decision to put Him first in my life. That changed in 1993 when He very clearly called me into pro-life ministry. In that ministry I found the satisfaction and peace of mind I had never experienced before. The last twenty years my husband and I have spent in raising funds for pregnancy resource centers that help women in crisis pregnancies make life choices for their unborn children.

And now, facing retirement, once again I am depending upon God to show me His direction for the latter years of my life. I must admit it’s frightening and calls for more faith than anything I have ever experienced before. But a lifetime of seeing God’s love and faithfulness, and the promise He gave me in Proverbs 3:5-6, remind me that the remaining years belong to him—all I have to do is sit back and watch Him work!

Elaine M. Ham

President
Plans for You, Inc.
www.plansforyou.org

 

WORDS THAT WOUND

By Shirley Wiggins and  Hallie Gipson

 Spoken words that wound…they strike us hard – they wound us internally.

 On the outside, the tears coming from our eyes look like water, but they are tears of heart-blood.

If you have experienced the wounding of words that hit like blows to the face, you know those blows strike deep into the heart, as if making an imprint in the soul and spirit.

A physical body, when beaten, bears outward evidence of the trauma inflicted upon it, whether bruises or gaping gashes.  We know how to treat these external injuries and when to seek medical attention.

 When words wound us, they wound deeply and invisibly.  The anguish inflicted upon the bruised heart will not go away without appropriate attention.

Where do we take this internal wounding?  Who can understand this pain and bring healing wholeness to our lives?

We must take our wounded hearts, minds and souls to the One who created us.  He is also the One who suffered indescribable anguish for us, both physically and emotionally.

To become healthy and whole, we must allow our hearts and minds to be exposed to the Light of God for He is the One who breathed the first breath of life into the first human.  He knows us as no one else knows us – better than we even know ourselves.

 Because He knows exactly how we feel in our wounded hearts, and how we think in our minds, and the depth of the resulting effect on our bodies and souls, He alone knows what is needed for our healing.

 His desire is that we be healed and made whole in body, mind, and soul, for this is His plan and purpose for us.

       

No matter the source of our hurts, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Source for healing:  spiritual, emotional, physical – the Great Physician is the Specialist in every area.

 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 (New English Translation NET).

“Praise the Lord … He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds.”   Psalm 147:3 (NET).

 He loves us as no one else loves us.  How could He love like this, since it was for us that He suffered?

Jesus suffered horribly and awfully in His body until He died, hanging on a cross of shame, exposed to the jeers and mocking taunts of the crowds demanding his death.

 He suffered emotionally in His mind and in His heart and in His soul -- for us.  For each and every one of us, He suffered an indescribable anguish we cannot comprehend. Even as He hung on the cross waiting to die, wounded for our transgressions, these words were a portion of Jesus’ prayers to His Father on that day:

 “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23: 34 (NKJV).

 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him.  And by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every- one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. … He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”  Isaiah 54: 5-7,9b (NKJV).

 Sinful disobedience came through deception into the Garden of Eden by one woman and one man, whose sins are described as “failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness.”

We know that we each have, in our own individual and unique ways, continued to perpetrate the sin of disobedience to God’s Word and His ways.

 And, the wounded can also be the offender who severely wounds another:

“The words were stinging and seemed to be coming from another’s mouth –

but it was my mouth that was uttering hurtful and bitter words that were unfounded!

Why would I do that?!

 The issue is mine, but I’ve passed it on, trying to make someone else responsible for working it out for me. I have been telling myself that the issue is settled, but the recent argument revealed the lack of truth in that wishful thinking.

My sin is against God, my heavenly Father, and lies in the things not utterly surrendered into His hands that have the potential to enslave and control me – when I least expect it.

 My sin is also against the one I argued with – hurtful, bitter words that lingered in the air long after I had spoken them.  The wounded one bears the burden of the ‘wound’ and the offender, the regret of causing it.

What heaviness of heart, mind, and spirit this conflict of emotions has brought into our lives!”

 Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back.

 “Where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”  Proverbs 10:19.

 Words are wonderful, opening the doors of communication.

 But “words are powerful; take them seriously.  Words can be your salvation.  Words can also be your damnation.”  See Matthew 12:34-37 (The Message).

 Our careless and heedless ways have led to great distress for us as individuals, nations, and peoples.  And, still:

 “In all their affliction He was afflicted…”  Isaiah 63:9a.

 There is One who understands and who has provided for the healing of the whole world.  He is the one who suffered the penalty of all sin for all mankind.¹

 The sinless Son of Man: 

"He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.  He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.  Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”  Isaiah 53:2b -4 (NKJV).

 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.  When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.”  Isaiah 53:10,11.

 Each of us has felt the pain of the wounding words aimed at us by others, and, no doubt, we each have been guilty of being the one who shot the arrow of harmful words into the heart of another, quite probably one whom we loved dearly.

Each one of us requires the forgiveness of God, the heavenly Father by the blood of Jesus Christ, and each one of is to put away all unwholesome words from our mouths.

“You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those  who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk – indeed all malice.  Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.”  Ephesians 4:29-32 (NET).

Holy Father,

             “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

             be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

                                                                                                                                    Psalm 19:14

 

 

¹ To be a child of God, you must first have a relationship with Christ. 

 John 3:16 says:

            “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever

            believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life, you are invited to pray a simple prayer confessing your sin and asking Jesus to cleanse you of that sin.   If you repent and turn from your sin to Christ, and “confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”. (Romans 10:9.)    If you have just prayed to receive Christ, tell someone, and go to church!

 

WILLING TO BE DIFFERENT

FLEEING FROM THE SIN OF BLENDING IN.....

By Shirley Wiggins

The sin of blending in….¹  Could this be the answer to my desperate discomfort on so many Sunday mornings in worship service?

I berate myself for my clothes, hair, make-up, shoes:  my overall appearance.  I haven’t found one thing to suit me, so far.  I feel like I stand out like a sore – bleeding! – thumb. 

This is more than being displeased with my outfit on a particular morning.  I am so acutely aware of feeling “different” that I cannot shift my focus from me to my Lord and Savior –the reason for my being in church on each Sunday morning.  But, is He the reason for my attendance? 

Really?  Then, why am I more focused on ‘me’ than on Him?!

And my discomfort – is it because I am not like everyone else; or, perhaps that I am too much like the world? 

The root of my discomfort may be that I am not like the “me” I secretly want to be:  I want to be “different.”  I am in the process of coming to grips with an aging body. And, I want to be a “better” person in every way – now.  I want my physical age to line up with the maturing me I should be spiritually, I think to myself, momentarily forgetting that transformation is a spiritual process, not an immediate attainment.   

Yet, perhaps even this is not really the reason for my discomfort, and certainly it is not that I am more spiritual than the people around me.  I am not.  I cannot hold a candle among these saints for faithfulness and genuineness.

So, what is the reason for my desperate discomfort?  I need my Father to answer that for me.  Clearly show me what that is all about, and help me to repent of my sin.

Perhaps my sin is the sin of blending in – with the world.  “The world” in this context means the unbelieving world, the world which has rejected God and Jesus and the Truth of the Bible.

Am I actually not willing to be different from the world?  I have to admit this is a very real possibility.

Have I believed a lie and thus compromised the Truth of God’s word and just what the fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means for and to all people?

With repentant heart, I have to admit that on occasion I have, in a sense, done that very thing.  Not out loud and on purpose perhaps, but by remaining silent and inactive when the world denies His very existence.  When the world symbolically arises all around me and clamors for His death once again:  demanding that He (and His Name) be expelled and exiled from this nation and all other nations in every sense of the word.

I recognize, and repent of my sin of secretly blending in… silently with the world, when I refuse to be different – vastly, glaringly with the unbelieving world.

My place and presence is in the church building fellowshipping with the body of Christ and adding my voice to the worshiping and praising of the God of my salvation.  For I am a member of the body of Christ – He is truly my Savior and I am truly His born-again child of God.

So, what is my problem?

My problem is perhaps the same as your problem:  the age-old war against sin –  the spiritual battle that rages on in the world as Satan seeks to outdo God, to fight, lie, cheat, steal, and kill to prove he can be god himself, and that he can do God’s job better than God Himself.

The only problem with that line of thought is that it is based in the lie that the devil fathered, and he has fallen into his own snare and trap by believing his own lie!

Isn’t that astounding?!  That one could actually tell a lie and end up believing it oneself?!  That is amazing to me!

And, yet, I fall for those lies when I give in to deceptive thoughts in my own mind – when I fail to fight the lie with the antidote:  the Truth of God and His Word:

 His written Word, The Holy Bible, and

His living Word, Jesus Christ, and

 His revealer of Truth,  the Holy Spirit.

I have all these resources, and yet, to my dismay, I find that I have fallen for another of the lies.  The good news is that my Father’s Holy Spirit comes faithfully to me bringing truth to me again, dispelling the lie – again.

What an awesome truth of mercy and grace is the love of God, who pours out His love in the hearts of His people by His Holy Spirit, who gained this access for us into the new and living way by the death of Jesus Christ, and His subsequent resurrection and ascension back into heaven!

And, what an awesome gift He left here for those of us still stuck in this world without His bodily presence:  His own Holy Spirit who actually dwells within the bodies of believers!

What a powerful and amazingly accessible antidote to deception!  And, yet, sobering thought:  how many people are still living in the snare of deception – the web of lies spun by the Adversary? 

An apt name for the devil, Satan himself:  Adversary, for he opposes and fights against God and His people every day in every way.

And, yet, the battle is not ours in the most fundamental way.  God, our Father, has never left us alone – not for one single moment.  He is with us still.  After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven telling the believers it was advantageously essential that He return to heaven, but that His Father would send a Helper just like Him to remain with the believers in the world to aid and comfort and guide and protect us until Jesus Himself returns to gather His own safely home to heaven. (See John 14 – 17.)

Will you be in that number whom Jesus will come for and take back to heaven, our prepared place of eternal abode?  I will.  I am completely ashamed of my weaknesses, but I am reminded by godly people that my weaknesses are no match for God’s strength in Jesus Christ.  God actually proves His strength through weaknesses.  (Precious study by Priscilla Shirer:  ‘Gideon.’)

How amazing is that?!  No matter how weak I (or you) may be (physically or spiritually) on any given day, the grace of Jesus is sufficient for me (and you), for His strength is made perfect through our weaknesses.  (2 Corinthians 12:9.)

Let’s break from the sin of blending in with the world, and dare to be different!  Let us be women (and men, and boys and girls) of faith in Jesus Christ! 

Let us destroy the idols of deception that sneak into our minds and try to work their way into our hearts – demolish them by the power of God’s word, the Holy Bible, and His Holy Spirit.   God’s Word is to be read and meditated upon daily if we are to be strengthened by Him.

Let us stand up to the voices of the world, declaring our faith in and allegiance to the God of the Bible and to His Savior who died and rose again for our victory:  Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God!

The one man – Adam’s –  disobedient sinful act, at the offer of the adversary made to the woman, Eve, who fell for the lie, allowed sin entry into the world.  And the One Man – Jesus’ – obedient sinless act, provided for mankind’s rescue from the power of sin and death².

 “For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive (God’s) overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness (putting them into right standing with Himself) reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”  “Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so One Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.”  “For just as by one man’s disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).” …   “So that just as sin has reigned in death, so grace (God’s unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord.”  Romans 5:17-19, 21 (Amplified Bible).

The Son of Man– the One who dared to be different by refusing to blend in with the world around Him - put rescue and redemption within our reach. (2)

 He is our example:   “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.  ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats.  Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’ For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  1 Peter 2: 21-25 (NIV 2011).

He is our model, as is the apostle Paul, and many others who’ve lived by the commands of God in Jesus:    “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.  And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.  Only let us live up to what we have already attained.  Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.  For I have told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  …  But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”    Philippians 3:15-18, 20-21  (NIV 2011).

 

 

 

 

¹“Fleeing from the sin of blending in…”  I read these words in an email devotional I received , from the book Tozer on Christian Leadership by A.W. Tozer, compiled by Ron Eggert.

²To be a child of God, you must first have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  John 3:16 says:

            “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever

            believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life, I encourage you to pray a simple prayer confessing your sin and asking Him to cleanse you of that sin. As you repent and turn from your sin to Christ, and “confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”. (Romans 10:9) If you have just prayed to receive Christ, tell someone!  And go to Church!