February 29, 2012 … Is Our Worship Real?

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 14-15 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Psalms – Book 4 – Psalms 90-106 … To study these psalms, go to this link -

Numbers 14: 39-45: … [False Repentance] … 39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

My Journal for Today: Today’s chronological read was rather voluminous, taking me beyond two chapters of Numbers and into a section of Psalms referred to as “Book 4,” where one of the songs of Moses, Psalm 90, is documented along with a number of other songs he wrote. And from this rather extensive read/study today, the section which God emboldened for me is copied above for your edification and meditation – if you’re so led.

Moses was dealing with a lot at this time in the history of God’s chosen people; and finally, as we read in Numbers 14, the people had seemingly come to a conviction of their sinfulness and decided to do something about their ill-begotten lack of faith and sinful decisions. However, as we read above, Moses recognized that the alleged repentance of God’s people was not the “real-deal;” and they were striking out – on their own – trying to make it right with God.

And since it was included in today’s reading plan, if you go to Psalm 90-106, you can read in a number of the Psalms attributed to Moses. But in Psalm 90, linked here, we read of Moses singing his plea that God will, with His mercy and grace, open the minds/hearts of the people so that they can see what real repentance is all about. But again, in our highlight passage above from Numbers 14: 39-45, we see that Moses discerns that the people’s enthusiasm for repentance is misdirected and they are going off on their own rather than following the God’s leading, which at this time is coming through Moses.

So, the people ignore Moses’ leading; and they rush off to worship God by exhibiting their worship in their own, self-conceived manner, not following the dictates of God’s direction – through Moses – to make their worship conform to God’s directions. Moses recognizes that the way the people are trying to worship will not be effective and God-honoring; and that, unfortunately, is the plight of many of us today who’re not living out our lives worshipping God as HE desires. We’re trying to build our own styles of worship, which conform to worldly designs of what worship is all about but do not present lives of living worship (see Romans 12: 1-2) before the Lord.

And is it NOT surprising that such self-directed pursuits of “worship” are met with worldly defeat just as we read happened to the Israelites. After going off to worship God in their own style, they were swept aside by the Amalekites and the Canaanites. Christians today want to set up their own forms and styles of worship to make them FEEL GOOD; and they attempt to do so in ways that are entertaining and exciting. But God sees through our “seeker friendly” and “selfishly designed” methods of worship; and we can see that God’s Church is losing out in many of its battles with the world. And I don’t think I need to document the reality of how the Christian world is being decimated in our culture in our warfare against the world’s big guns of p0rnography, drugs, gambling, abortion, and the ever-present search for worldly power.

How can mankind call themselves seekers after God by going off to their palaces of worship on Sundays, and getting a self-induced “high” from the delusion of worshipping God? And then these same, self-labeled “christians” go off on Monday and succumb to the world’s ungodly pursuits of pleasure and painlessness. BUT … God sees through it all; and unfortunately He’s going to let us die out in our misdirected and misled formats of worship and false-repentance just as the Lord let His chosen people die out in the dessert as they traversed to the promised-land.

But I am encouraged that God always protects the remnant of true believers, as he did with the families of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, who remained true in their lives of worship to their God. And if we can retain true-hearts of worship, traveling through life (i.e., our wilderness) toward our promised-land of Heaven, God is going to direct and protect us just as He did the true believers and followers of the One, True God.

My Prayer Today: … Lord help us to worship YOU in Spirit and in Truth. Amen

2010 – August 2 – Just Sick About It !!

Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings, Chapters 22 – 23 [2nd Chronicles 34]; … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 34: 19 … NIV When the king (Josiah at 16 years of age) heard the words of the Law [found by Hilkiah, the Priest in the Temple], he [the young king] tore his robes.

My Journal for Today: As we’ve been reading in the book of Jeremiah the last few days, events were set in motion by God which would ultimately lead Gods’ people to be taken captive by the Assyrians (i.e., Babylonians); but there was a respite of obedience and order for a period of time during the reign of the young King, Josiah, when this grandson of Hezekiah, the great King of Judah, and of Josiah’s father, Manasseh, who did evil but then later repented, led a mini-revival after he was exposed to God’s truth in God’s word, the Book of the Law, which had been found in the rubble of the Temple, which Josiah had ordered to be restored. It’s a long story; but it shows that God will hold off His wrath, as His Covenant with God’s people is established, when/if His people (i.e., His children) repent and are obedient to God’s way. And that’s what happened during the reign of Josiah, who, for a season, led God’s people in a cleansing of the land and a renewal of the observance of the old feasts, including the most important of them all, … Passover.

Today we see, in our highlight verse, how Josiah reacted when Hilkiah, the Levite Priest, found the Book of the Law (scholars think it was probably the Book of Deuteronomy) as the men of Judah were cleansing and rebuilding the Temple at Josiah’s orders. And as we can read in today’s focus text, the young King wept and mourned in genuine sorrow when God’s truth was read to him, revealing just how far Judah and Israel had gone in rebellion and sinful disobedience of God’s commands. And it was Josiah’s genuine repentance which led God to delay the onslaught of the Babylonians coming down from the North to take God’s people captive for the repetitive disobedience where many former Kings of Israel/Judah had led God’s people astray.

All of this history from God’s word in 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles and from Dr. Smith’s teaching today comes out to make a couple of very important points. First, we note that by Josiah’s time God’s word had become hidden by rubble in God’s very Temple because of years of neglect; but at the same time, when God’s truth was resurrected and read to a King who was already seeking the ways of Godliness, it came alive for Josiah when it was read to him; and we note how grieved he was when he realized – from God’s Law – just how far God’s people had fallen from obedience to the Covenant God had made with God’s people in the times of Abraham, Moses, and even Josiah’s repentant father, Manasseh, who had been one to desecrate God’s Name earlier before Josiah was born.

And Josiah wept and grieved and mourned when he heard God’s word being read. And as I read this today, it made me realize another general truth; and that is that any of God’s people – and I hope that is you and me – should be grieved by our sin. It’s like the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Christians in 2nd Cor. 7: 10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.“

When God can use His truth, from His word, as He designs to use it to reveal Whom He is in relation to whom we have become, this mirror of truth should likely cause us to grieve in our revealed ugliness. And that’s what happened for/to Josiah. Josiah looked into the mirror of God’s revealed truth; and saw just how ugly God’s chosen people, including himself, had become; and Josiah was touched with grief to the core of his being.

But during the earlier times God’s word had been absent from God’s people, hidden from their view and reading, with no ritual reminders (i.e., the Jewish feasts and traditions); and the people were living the old adage, “ignorance is bliss.” And their bliss was found in the pleasure of fleshly sin. But when God’s word and it’s powerful clarity were revealed to Josiah, the truth of Isaiah 55: 11 [linked] came forth. And Josiah was broken to repentance.

So, we have to ask ourselves, “Are we letting God’s word be the mirror unto truth for our lives? … Do we let God’s truth shine a light on our path by studying it deeply to reveal our God in His magnificence and seeing ourselves in our lowliness? … Do we grieve deeply when God’s truth reveals our sin? … AND, … do we do something about it in true repentance, letting God’s word guide us to righteous living (see the revealed truths in Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 119: 9-11, which, by now, I hope you have deeply implanted in your hearts)?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You know how deeply I go to see You and to see my sin revealed by Your word; but I know I can go deeper. Help me in my resolve so that I may see my sin clearly, grieve deeply, and truly repent to walk in purity and truth. Amen

2010 – April 10 – Grieving Over Sin

Study from God’s Word…2nd Samuel 21: 15-17; 2nd Sam. 21: 18-22 [1st Chron. 20: 4-8]; 2nd Sam. 8: 1 [1st Chron. 18: 1]; 2nd Sam. 10: 1-5 [1st Chron. 19: 1-5]; 2nd Sam. 10: 6-14 [1st Chron. 19: 6 – 15]; 2nd Sam. 10: 15-19 [1st Chron. 19: 16-19]; Psalm 60; 2nd Samuel 11: 2 [1st Chron. 20: 1a]; 2nd Sam. 11: 2-27; 2nd Samuel 12: 13a; Psalm 51; 2nd Sam. 12: 13b - 17 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 51: 3 … NIV For I know my transgressions, and my is always before me.

My Journal for Today: I know. Most of us know the story of David and Bathsheba quite well; but not everyone who will read this can identify personally with David’s fall, his sin, his cover-up, and his repentance quite as much as I can. And in today’s highlight verse, from the famous, or infamous, Psalm 51 (verse 3), we can read of the extent of David’s repentance and his grief over his sin.

My friends, I languished in serious sinfulness against God, my wife, my family, and others for 22 years of my life, … twelve of those being in rank infidelity from my wife. And my cover-up, though it didn’t involve murder as did David’s, was skillful in the human sense to hide me from others, like my wife, family, and colleagues; but, of course, nothing was ever hid from God; and my sin, like David’s, caught up with me; and as with David, my repentance broke me to the core of my being, leading me to the horror of memory that I will hold in my mind as long as I live on this earth.

I’ve been saved in Christ for over 25 years; and He has forgiven my sins, allowing me to daily put on His robes of righteousness, activated by His blood sacrifice on my behalf, and letting me cover over my rags of sinfulness. And even after this quarter century plus, I still grieve for my sin. But my repentance and commitment to the walk of freedom/victory He has given me, allows me to breath God’s air of freedom; and it also, as it did for David (reading Psalms 51 and 32), has given me the opportunity to witness to the power of God’s grace to others, and to be vigilant, preventing future breeches of sin and helping others, through the ministry God has called me to found/lead (see http://www.battleplanministries.org/). And by living and modeling “battle plan living,” my grief over my past sins can, through my repentance and ministry, be set aside in lieu of walking in freedom, exhibiting the hope that all sinners have for forgiveness and faithfulness in Christ.

King David, as I did, sinned grievously; and we can read in God’s word just how much he grieved over his sin; … BUT … he didn’t languish long in the tar pits of self-pity. No, David was a great example of surrendering himself to God’s saving, forgiving, and empowering grace and getting back into the flow of life, … allowing God to regenerate and renew his soul. Yes, David’s sin had dire consequences. Sin always has consequences. I’ll always have to deal with the consequences of my past sins; but like David, I can – and have – become a “man after God’s own heart” … by repenting of my sin, grieving of its effects, and then submitting myself to God’s enabling grace as He calls me to serve Him by wearing His full armor, carrying his Sword, and taking the high ground of prayer in the daily battles I face in His Name.

I pray that we all have come to hate the sins of our past, … that we’ve desperately have grieved over those sins, … and that we’ve repented and taken up the banner of Christ in being examples of His saving and empowering grace.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that you’ll keep me tuned to my weaknesses and ever relying on Your power and walking the road to righteousness on which You shine Your light of freedom and victory. Amen