Worship: God has chosen me!

Matthew 14:33 - Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

After Matthew was born, I began to see how limited my thinking about God had been up to this point. Matthew, and a few years later Alice, helped me experience a small taste of what God feels toward us. I think about them often. I have pictures of them in my office. I try to get done early just to spend time with them. I carry their pictures with me and show them to anyone willing to look. I talk about them and tell their stories to others. I wake up in the middle of the night just to check on them and pray over them. I laugh with them and cry with them. I see new insights in my own discipline and try to hand off discipline to them. I want to give them the World.

Most times I come home for the church or visiting, and Matthew and Alice greet me by running to the door and jump into my arms before I can even get in the door. As you can imagine, arriving home has become one of my favorite moments of the day.

My own love and desire for my children is so strong that it has opened my eyes to how much God desires and loves us. My son and daughter’s love for me and their desire to be with me is the most amazing thing. Through this experience, my worship has expanded. I have come to understand that my desire for my children is only a faint echo of God’s great love for me and for every person He made. He also chooses to inhabit the praises of His people.

He loves me and He loves you. I am just an earthly, sinful father, and I love my children so much it hurts. God is our heavenly Father and He loved us so much, He died for us. He is offering His everything to you and me today…My prayer is that I will have the courage to move beyond staying in the boat, afraid and scared, neglecting the opportunity to kiss the hand toward God and experience His All-knowing, eternal, holiness. I want to jump out of the boat and walk on the water with Jesus.

You know I love ya - a fellow worshiper.

Worship: To Kiss toward God!

James Packer states, “To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see.” (Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, July 1986, P. 15.) The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God," and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Ps. 29:2; 96:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).

Biblical Word for Worship is “proskuneo” and its definition is “to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence.” It is the kneeling down and bowing one’s head down in total surrender to the Almighty God.

Scripture views worshiping God as a six fold activity:
1. Praising God for all that he is and all his achievements;
2. Thanking God for his gifts and his goodness to us;
3. Offering God our gifts, our service, and ourselves;
4. Communing with God to meet our own and others' needs;
5. Learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice;
6. Telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.

This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. The Primary “WHAT” of worship is focusing one’s attention on God directly -- Worship is kissing God’s direction.

The previous was an excerpt from my sermon yesterday. I thought it a good thing to meditate on this day after. May we never forget how God inhabits the praises of His people and thus, our dedication to worship and kissing toward God is a daily exercise for the good of my (and your) Christ-centered life.

You know I love ya - a fellow worshiper.

Friday Funny - I might do this.

It is Friday....I thought this was funny and then realized I might do this.

A visiting minister came to a church. There was a long line to see him. At was a little boys turn in line and he said he need prayer for his hearing.

So, the Minister grabbed his ears and said a prayer.

The minister let go and asked, "hows your hearing now''.

"I don't know.. it's not till Friday," replied the boy.

Have a great day and you know I love ya - Don

Ultimate Jump! Worship - God is all-knowing.

God is all knowing! Now isn't that an intimidating thought? Each of us, to some degree, fools our friends and family about who we truly are. But it is impossible to do that with God. He know each of us, deeply and specifically. He knows out thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around. He knows who we are and what we are about. We cannot escape Him, not even if we want to.

Take a deep breath...let it out...read this slowly...When I grow weary of trying to be faithful and weary of avoiding the sin that so easily entangles me and I want a break, it doesn't come to a surprise to God. He knows.

For King David, God's knowledge led him to worship. He viewed it as wonderful and meaningful. He wrote in Psalm 139 that even in the darkness he couldn't hide from God; that while he was in his mother's tummy, God was there.

Hebrews 4:13 states, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." It is sobering to realize that this is the same God who is holy and eternal, the Maker of the billions of galaxies and thousands of tree species in the rain forest. This same God knows intimately all the wrinkles and creases in the back of our hands. This is the same God who takes the time to know all the little details about each of us. 

He does not have to know us so well, but He chooses to. His choice calms our intimidation and opens assurances for worship...may we declare His worth today - Don

Ultimate Jump! Worship - God is eternal.

Most of us would probably agree that God is eternal. But how many of us truly meditate and contemplate what it truly means that God is eternal and what does it mean to our worship. Each of us had a beginning; everything in existence began on a particular day, at a specific time.

Everything but God...has a starting point. Almighty Jehovah never had a beginning. (If you are ever asked if God has everything, you can say no. God does not have a beginning.) He always has been. Before there was an earth, a universe, or even angels, God was there. God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept.

Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, yet is expands our worship to new heights. It is also ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something so that we can be capable to comprehend it. What a stunted, insignificant god would ours be if he had a start. If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be foolish for me to say He is only the small amount of water so that I can scoop Him into my little can. God is so much bigger, so far beyond out time-encased, air/food/sleep-dependent lives. This makes him the Lord over all my dependencies.

Lets stop here, even if just for a moment, and join me in making this day a day to glorify the eternal God. "But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever: Your renown endures through all generation...but You remain the same, and Your years will never end." (Psalm 102:12, 27)

He always was, always is, and always will be. I like this truth...I am His and He is mine, thus I have a secure eternal existence.

You know I love ya - Don

Friday Funny - Smarter than the world around you.

Happy Friday! Never let the world get the better of you...

A mangy looking guy who goes into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender says: "No way. I don't think you can pay for it. The guy says, "You're right. I don't have any money, but if I show you something you haven't seen before, will you give me a drink?" The bartender says, "Only if what you show me ain't risque." "Deal!" says the guy and reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a hamster.

He puts the hamster on the bar and it runs to the end of the bar, climbs down the bar, runs across the room, up the piano, jumps on the key board and starts playing a tune. And the hamster is really good. The bartender says, "You're right. I've never seen anything like that before. That hamster is truly good on the piano." The guy downs the drink and asks the bartender for another. "Money or another miracle, or else no drink", says the bartender. The guy reaches into his coat again and pulls out a frog.

He puts the frog on the bar, and the frog starts to sing. He has a marvelous voice and great pitch. A fine singer. A stranger from the other end of the bar runs over to the guy and offers him $300 for the frog. The guy says, "It's a deal." He takes the three hundred and gives the stranger the frog. The stranger runs out of the bar. The bartender says to the guy, "Are you some kind of nut? You sold a singing frog for $300?

It must have been worth millions. You must be crazy." "Not so", says the guy. "The hamster is also a ventriloquist." ...

Have a great Friday and Weekend - You know I love ya - Don

Ultimate Jump, Worship! - God is Holy!

There has been a change of plans. I am not preaching on the 23rd of August, but I am preaching on August 30th in Solid Ground Services. The sermon topic is the "Ultimate Jump, Worship!" I am very passionate about worship and pleased for the opportunity. The next few blogs will be me sharing some of my worship thoughts in preparation for this teaching.

I am currently reading a book titled, "Crazy Love," by Francis Chan. He talks about how infinite God is and how Crazy in Love with us that God is. I encourage you to go to www.crazylovebook.com and watch the video on the Awe Factor of God. You will be amazed at how vast our God is and that He loves you. The same Jehovah God that created us, died for us. It is amazing to know without a doubt the love of God and then experience His vastness. All I can do is bow in reverence and worship.

Lets consider the worship truth, God is holy. A lot of people say that whatever you believe about God is fine, so long as you are sincere. But that is comparable to describing your friend in one instance as a three-hundred-pound sumo wrestler and in another instance your friend is a five-foot-two, ninety pound gymnast. No matter how sincere you are in your explanation, both descriptions of your friend simply cannot be true. There is only One God that created us, died for us, and redeemed us.

The preposterous part about our doing this comparison to God is that He already has revealed His name and identity. We don't get to decide who God is. Exodus 3:14 states, "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'." A few chapters later, God tells God chosen people to be Holy because He is holy. We don't get to change these truths.

To say that God is holy is to say that He is set apart, distinct from us. Because He is set apart, we will never be able to fathom all that He is. To the Jews, saying something three times demonstrates its perfection, so to call God, "Holy, Holy, Holy" is to say that He is perfectly set apart, with nothing and no one to compare Him to. That is what is means to be "holy."

Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can't contain Him. Personally, I am glad that I can and do worship a God that is beyond my ability to exaggerate! He is bigger than my feeble mind...His set apart from all my praises, yet chooses to dwell among the praises of His people...He is more powerful than any issue this world throws my direction.

I love you, God.To you be all glory, honor, praise, and adoration! Amen.

I plan on writing this topic for a few weeks, all your thoughts are welcome. You know I love ya - Don