Let Us Worship and Bow Down Before the Lord

Psalm 95:6-7: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the sheep of his hand.”

Each day, we get to make a choice as to who or what we will worship. What do you think about more than anything? Where do you spend the most time? What are the greatest sources of your anxiety or fear? What brings you the most joy?

The answers to these questions will quickly reveal what you worship. Throughout Psalm 95, the psalmist reminds us that God alone is worthy of our worship and adoration. He calls us to come wholeheartedly before him, to recognize that all that we have and all that we are come from him. He is our maker!

Who are we? We are his people. As in many other passages of Scripture, we are likened to his sheep. As sheep, we acknowledge that we need the Lord’s guidance, protection and provision.

This Lenten season, let’s allow God to examine our choices of who and what we worship. May we repent of our idols and return wholeheartedly to the Lord. Let’s make the choice to bow before him alone.

Soften Our Hearts

Soften our hearts

Exodus 17:1-2: “From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’”

In Egypt, the Israelites groaned under oppression. God intervened; he made a way for their escape and then provided water, food, and direction in their travels. Now, we see these people groaning again – “Give us water!”

After seeing God’s faithful provision, we would assume that the people would look to God and ask him to provide for their daily needs. They had seen his miracles. Instead, we see the hardness of their hearts. Instead of trusting, they begin demanding. They get angry with Moses accusing him of bringing them into the wilderness to die.

Hardness of heart is a dangerous thing. Despite seeing the goodness of God through their freedom and provision, the Israelites chose to doubt God and to doubt Moses.

Do we do that? Do we allow our immediate fleshly desires to overrule us so that we begin to doubt God, get angry at God, and allow our hearts to get hard? 

Father, forgive us for the many times we allow our hearts to get hard. Soften our hearts through the power and presence of your Holy Spirit and empower us to trust you to meet our needs.

The Perfect Care of the Lord

The Lord alone can protect us

The Collect: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

With all the fear and anxiety plaguing our world today, it is the opportune time to ask the question from the collect — are you entrusting your body and your souls to the Lord? The Lord alone can protect us. May we move out of the fear, anxiety and self-protection and move into the perfect care of the Lord.

No Condemnation

John 3:17: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Have you felt the sting of condemnation? I sure have, and it hurts! There is no greater pain than that of being told that you don’t measure up, that you never will measure up and that there is no hope for you.

It is from this pain and bondage that Jesus came to free us. Jesus knew that we could not make peace with the Father on our own. We were in bondage to our sin; there was no way out and no hope to change. Jesus came to make a living sacrifice so that we could be freed from the effect of sin, the bondage of sin and so that we could live in hope.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). There is freedom, healing and hope. Are you living into the freedom, healing and hope? Praise God if you are and then share those gifts from God with others.

The Gift of Righteousness

Romans 4:1-3: “What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.”

Abraham was made right before God by believing and not by doing. He obeyed God to leave his home and to go to the land that the Lord would show him. Abraham failed many times along the way. His obedience, though commendable, could not justify him before a holy God or make him righteous.

Instead, the righteousness of God was reckoned to Abraham through faith. Like Abraham, we can never obey perfectly to earn a righteousness of our own. But we can, through faith, receive a righteousness through the gift of Jesus Christ.

Where do you look for your righteousness? This Lenten season, may we marvel at the great gift given to us through Jesus. He was and is the only one to live a life of righteousness.

My Help Comes From The Lord

Psalm 121:1-2: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121 is a Psalm of Ascent. These are psalms that the Israelites sang during their journeys to Jerusalem. The hills represent the unknown. As they journeyed, who knew what was upon the hills – wild animals, bandits, etc.?

As Christians, we are all on a journey to our true home. There are many hills in our lives, plenty of unknown. How do we deal with our fear? The psalmist looks to the Lord and recognizes that he alone is the source of help. He recalls that the Lord is the one who made heaven and earth; this is a recognition that all power over heaven and earth is in his hands.

As we journey through this season of Lent, we have the opportunity to allow God to lead us in the transformation of our lives. Part of that transformation comes in considering where we place our trust. There will be plenty of unknown in this world. The Lord, as the one who made the heaven and earth, has all power to meet us in each and every challenge, each and every unknown.

Can we, like the psalmist, cry out to God to provide all the help we need to journey well?

The Obedience of Abram

Genesis 12:1-4 : “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.”

The Lord told Abram to leave his home, all that he had known and all the security he may have enjoyed upon the earth. Abram was to go to the land which the Lord would show him — no map, no well-defined plan, no security.

Despite the ambiguity, the text tells us that Abram obeyed. He went.

How do you respond to the direction of the Lord? Are you one to lay out all your concerns and questions and use them as an excuse not to obey the Lord? Or, do you follow the example of Abram, and follow the Lord’s guidance even when you don’t know the way, just the waymaker?

Father, give us the faith of Abram to go where you send us, to do what you have called us to do so that you may be seen and glorified in our lives.

Overcoming Temptation

Matthew 4:1-3: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered him, ‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Fasting was used in the Old Testament as a means of focusing intently on prayer. Jesus, as the Son of God, took time to focus on prayer and to deny his fleshly appetites. After the 40 days, the Scriptures tell us that Jesus was famished. His flesh was weak. It was in that weakness, that the tempter came to him. Think about the temptation here – “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Satan was questioning Jesus’ identity, asking him to prove himself while he was also appealing to Jesus’ fleshly need for food.

Jesus, though experiencing the same kind of temptation that we face, stood his ground with Satan through the Holy Spirit. He answered Satan by quoting Scripture, and Jesus was triumphant over the enemy.

We, too, can overcome the many temptations of Satan through the power of the Holy Spirit. The temptations will come, especially when you are trying to carve out intentional time to grow in your faith. This Lenten season, you may be fasting from something. There is great value in that fasting! Just like Jesus, we can use the fasting to be more intentional in prayer and to overcome the desires of the flesh.

When the temptations come, be prepared to respond with Scripture. Have a Lenten verse memorized and ready to speak out as needed.

Jesus came out of these 40 days and began his public ministry. What do you think the Lord wants to do in you and then through you after these 40 days?

The Gift of Righteousness

Romans 5:15-17: “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness are ours in Jesus Christ our Lord. One man’s sin brought condemnation and one man’s gift brings justification. Adam gave us death, then Jesus came to give us life, and not only life but abundant life.

While Lent is a somber time to think of Christ’s journey to the cross and his sufferings on our behalf, it is also a glorious time to rejoice in the hope we have in him. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, we lived in Adam’s sin. Now, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we live in righteousness.

Are you unwrapping this free gift of righteousness? You have been freed from all condemnation. Let us use this Lenten season to rejoice and live into this free gift.

Heavenly Guidance

Psalm 32:8-9: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”

The Lord promises to lead us in his ways. Just as an earthly father longs to teach his children, to guide them into maturity and to protect them along the way, so the heavenly Father longs to do the same for us. The God of the universe cares enough to direct our steps.

Just as earthly children often resist the guidance of their fathers, we can resist the guidance of our heavenly Father. In this passage, the Lord warns us not to be like the horse or mule. These can be stubborn animals that naturally resist training. The bit and bridle are used to curb these animals, to keep them close to their owner.

How does the Lord need to curb you? How do you move away from him? Can you take some time today to honestly assess your life to see if there is rebellion to the leading of the Lord?

The heavenly Father loves you more than any earthly father ever could. His guidance will lead you into his abundant life. Will you surrender to his guidance today?

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