The nature and being of God is the foundation of all true worship and life.
The biblical principle behind this is that God made everything for His glory, so that this worship or devotion to Him is absolutely necessary for real life in us. We are in the words of John Owen:
…in our hearts, minds, and souls, to admire, adore, and love him; his praises are we to celebrate; him [are we] to trust and fear, and so to resign ourselves and all our concernments unto his will and disposal; to regard him with all the acts of our minds and persons, answerably to the holy properties and excellencies of his nature. This it is to glorify him as God; for seeing “of him, and through him, and to him are all things,” to him must be “glory for ever,” Rom. 11:36. [1]
[1]Owen, J. Vol. 3: The works of John Owen. (W. H. Goold, Ed.) (65). Edinburg: T&T Clark.
As this thought matures in us as the people of God, his own sons and daughters, we should find ourselves more alert to the things around us that do bring glory to God. Those things should cause us to join in that circle of praise that always and forever surrounds his throne and his person. We join that circle, not just when we verbally praise him in song or word, but when we do his will in this world:
Hebrews 13:15-16 (ESV)15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
The sacrifice of praise includes a life devoted to God along with an attitude of thanksgiving and adoration. Yes we should praise him with our speech but notice the author of Hebrews says that our works are sacrifices pleasing to him.
In a devotion by C.H. Spurgeon this week I was clearly reminded that a life like this will involve separation from the values and idols of our present culture. He also reminded me that it will be worth it.
In his words "O professor, too little separated from sinners, you know not what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength, and makes you creep where you ought to run. Then, for your own comfort’s sake, and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you be a Christian, be a Christian, and be a marked and distinct one." Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.) (October 14 PM). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
May our communion with The Father, Son and Holy Spirit mark us as distinct in an age where everything is becoming blurred.
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Marked…distinct…non-conforming……wow! Those sound like radical, freaky-weird-Jesus-people words………hmm……swimming upstream……reminds me of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman:
ReplyDeleteI'm diving in
I'm going deep
In over my head I wanna be
Caught in the rush
Lost in the flow
In over my head I wanna go
The river's deep
The river's wide
The river's water is alive
So sink or swim
I'm diving in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=098PwlqHD-o
Watch it……but make sure your speakers are turned ALL the way up to the max!!!
I don’t want to be left on the bank lookin’, scared to jump in……in over my head I wanna go!……
Lately I feel like John in the desert or Jeremiah in the pit…a stone crying out…even in my Christian community. It would be a lonely place but for my Lord…but how to keep from clanging like a noisy gong?! Ah…I Corinthians 13 gives me the answer I seek. Love…radical, Jesus kind of love……easy to say……
CAN this be overdone?! This Jesus-hanging-on-the-cross thing? Someone said to me this week, in essence, she was bored with it, wanted something new for Good Friday!!!!………something new………
My soul burns within me…how can I keep quiet?!!! When His white hot love is staring me in the face?!!! When this Man who is also God of the universe willingly took my place!…willingly took my shame!…willingly became a bloody, unrecognizable pulp………for me. His blood splattered everywhere……during his mockery of a trial…dripping in rivulets upon his brow as the thorns were laughingly smashed further down…smeared behind him as He wearily carried His own cross along the road of suffering…gushing forth from His wrists, His feet, and His side as He hung there limply………humiliated…scorned…mocked…’for the joy set before Him’…WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?!!!
What wondrous love is this O my soul O my soul
What wondrous love is this O my soul
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul for my soul
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down
When I was sinking down, sinking down
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing
To God and to the Lamb I will sing
To God and to the Lamb who is the great I Am
While millions join the theme I will sing
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing on I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing and joyful be
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And through eternity I’ll sing on
Yes, I am passionate about my Savior!!! How can I NOT be?!!! I am compelled by God’s Spirit in me to bear witness to Him!
Luke 19: 37-40 - 37As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." 40He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."
We are commanded throughout His Word to ‘speak’ with our words and deeds in love to all with whom we come in contact. If we, who are His own, do not obey, may the very stones cry out indeed! And what an indictment upon us if they do.