As I
waited on the Spirit of the Lord this morning preparing my heart for
fellowship, there came a word to my heart and mind and it was this:
"Celebrate
as the children of unparalleled promise the One whose gifts cannot be
equalled in spirit and in truth. By this will I know the ones who
belong to Me!"
My
spirit bore witness to its author - it was my master. His words spoke
to me of the Lord's desire for His children to identify themselves
with Him in sincerity by recognizing the power and value of their
identity because of His grace and then worshipping Him from the depth
of that true gratitude and awe that comes from the full realization
of the truth.
It's a
long held personal conviction of mine that unless I can prostrate
myself in spirit, crucifying the fears of my flesh, without fear of,
or regard for the opinion of others before the Lord, that my worship
lacks the pure humility before Him to submit myself to Him without
condition and to recognize Him as He is. In other words, it lacks
sincerity. Because whoever I am or appear to be in the eyes of others
does not diminish the awesome wonder of who He is. So if I am to
worship Him in spirit and in truth as the Lord requires of true
worshippers, I cannot concern myself with what others think or my
worship will not be equal to the truth of who He is and in fact risks
becoming an affront or offense to Him.
23.
But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for
anyone who will worship him that way. 24. For God is Spirit, so those
who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."(NLT)
If I am
a babe in Christ, then my knowledge of who He is may be limited and
my worship may reflect that. But as a veteran in Christ, having been
blessed by His Spirit in me to have greater knowledge of Him and some
measure of maturity... I am without excuse and am held accountable by
His witness. So in reverent fear and awe of Him, forgive me if I seem
overt to you in my worship. Forgive my tears of endless gratitude and
spirit overwhelmed by His presence. Forgive my passion and compassion
if you ask me to pray for you. You may be struck by them as though
they appear to me to be matters of great concern or perhaps even life or
death. In our God's eyes they are and His Spirit bears witness to
mine of that truth. Please pardon my offense to you if you find it
unseemly by your own standards. I do not seek to offend you, ... but
I will not offend Him.
In this
stage of life, this moment on earth, I will have but this one moment
to demonstrate my heart toward Him before this opportunity comes to
an end ... and He holds the fullness of my future. So while I
love you dearly, the truth is that you cannot hold a candle
to Him ...
We are
the children of unparalleled promise, the recipients of every good
thing that we do not deserve by our own effort. Of all that have
walked the face of this earth created by the very great hand of the
God who is, we
are among His children from that great multitude and are made heir to
His promises. In the days to come these promises of God alone will
spare us. There is no other to make provision for the safety of men's
bodies or souls that has the power to supersede what God has said is
to come. There is no other true safe haven. Of all that men can
promise and even deliver in this stage of life, nothing can withstand
the earth's coming demise and the end that God Himself has promised
unless it is born of His own Spirit and promise. You and I can
promise many things, but without His power to bring them to fruition
those promises are worthless. So our hope has to rest solely in the
promises of the God who's love for us is unchanging and who's
promises are unshakable. Our relationship to Him has to supersede
any other because He is
our only hope.
Promise: A promise
is a commitment by
someone to do or not do something. As a noun
promise
means a declaration
assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb
it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give.[1]
It can also mean a capacity for good, similar to a value that is to
be realized in the near future.[2]
(Wikipedia)
Who
alone makes promises that have no challenge or doubt? In the days to
come, if I can tell that the hour is late by God's own word, who will
walk with me and make provision for me in the days ahead? Only
the children of God are full heirs to all of His promises. As for the
hour and the days ahead? Think about the unshakable truth of
Christ's words regarding those days to come on the earth and judge
for yourself the hour:
Mark
13:5-27
5 Jesus replied, "Don't let
anyone mislead you, 6. because many will come in my name, claiming to
be the Messiah. They will lead many astray. 7. And wars will break
out near and far, but don't panic. Yes, these things must come, but
the end won't follow immediately. 8. Nations and kingdoms will
proclaim war against each other, and there will be earthquakes in
many parts of the world, and famines. But all this will be only the
beginning of the horrors to come. 9. But when these things begin to
happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the courts and beaten
in the synagogues. You will be accused before governors and kings of
being my followers. This will be your opportunity to tell them about
me. 10. And the Good News must first be preached to every nation. 11.
But when you are arrested and stand trial, don't worry about what to
say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then it is not
you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.12. "Brother will
betray brother to death, fathers will betray their own children, and
children will rise against their parents and cause them to be killed.
13. And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me. But
those who endure to the end will be saved.14. "The time will
come when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes
desecration standing where it should not be" -- reader, pay
attention! "Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 15. A
person outside the house must not go back into the house to pack. 16.
A person in the field must not return even to get a coat. 17. How
terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their
babies in those days. 18. And pray that your flight will not be in
winter. 19. For those will be days of greater horror than at any time
since God created the world. And it will never happen again. 20. In
fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, the entire
human race will be destroyed. But for the sake of his chosen ones he
has shortened those days. 21. "And then if anyone tells you,
'Look, here is the Messiah,' or, 'There he is,' don't pay any
attention. 22. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and
perform miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible,
even God's chosen ones. 23. Watch out! I have warned you! 24. "At
that time, after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened,
the moon will not give light, 25. the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 26. Then everyone will see
the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with great power and glory. 27.
And he will send forth his angels to gather together his chosen ones
from all over the world -- from the farthest ends of the earth and
heaven."
If the
Lord determines that we should walk the earth through those days,
where will our hope be? In whom will we rely on to trust? Whose
promises will we have to hold as our surety? Think about that now
and don't be found a stranger or one who has demonstrated a lack of
sincerity if the moment comes that you live to be faced with the
perils that God has warned us will come.
He is
God now and deserves our worship beyond the highest levels of our
ability to give it - and of course He knows that. But if we give all
that we have in sincere worship and in keeping with the truth, then
we will have been faithful. And let me just remind any who will
listen that worship goes beyond our presence in fellowship - it is an
offering we lift up by the lives that we live.
As for
me, I'll hang my hat on my relationship with Him and stake my life
eternal on His promises. No fear of what someone else, someone other
than my God, might think will deter me. My reverent and holy fear of
who He is and what He has said is what compels me to surrender in
humility what belongs to Him alone.
Hebrews
13:5 "Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what
you have. For God has said, "I
will never fail you. I will never forsake you." (NLT)
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