2/27/12

This Week in Scripture; make a joyful noise to God!!

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. - Psalm 100:1-5

Yesterday, these verses were read for our call to worship; immediately after it was read, two or three infants started making "joyful noises" (So much so that the pastor started laughing, the congregation was laughing, and my husband had quipped "Those are joyful noises, Pastor!"). What a perfect way for God to prove His sovereignty and His perfect timing (It was also a good reminder that we are to have joyful hearts when it comes to worship; sin has a tendency to burden our hearts and try to rob us of our joy. When penitent Christians come together, joy is to be found.)! :D

God is indeed faithful and His love is steadfast; He is also just and holy. All of those things (and more!) are reason enough to praise Him.

It is a blessing to know that we are His people, and that He wants us to call Him our God.

Speaking of joy, Charles Spurgeon had this to say about it:

Our happy God should be worshipped by a happy people; a cheerful spirit is in keeping with his nature, his acts, and the gratitude which we should cherish for his mercies.

Praise God with happy hearts and cheerful spirits!

2/20/12

This Week in Scripture; what is love?

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

One popular song when I was growing up was Haddaway's "What Is Love?" (I'll spare you from posting a link to the video.). However, the question was never really answered (At least, to my satisfaction.).

Instead of some pop song, God not only gave us the answer to "what is love?", but He fleshed it out in the form of His Son being crucified in our place. People may find that hard to swallow (I did!), but it is the Truth. We should never apologize for standing up for that Truth, but we are to confess it with boldness and gentleness.

We're to rejoice in the Truth! We're to revel in it! We're not only to embrace it, but we're to share it, too! If we do love, then we must endure for the sake of Christ! Nothing else can change that and nothing can separate us from this Truth (Nothing can separate us from the love of God...see Romans 8:38-39.).

To God be the glory; great things He has done!

2/14/12

This Week in Scripture; a joyful heart.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22

Lately, I've been out of sorts; I couldn't explain why, since things have been looking up. Even so, there's always a small, dark cloud hanging nearby.

That's why this verse will be memorized this week; one who has a joyful heart can go through trials bruised but never crushed. The one with the crushed spirit withers and fades away.

When we find ourselves with crushed spirits, we need to turn to the Holy Spirit (We are His temple.) to give us a joyful heart. While feelings are fleeting in this world, joy remains constant in the Christian's heart.

May the Lord bless you with a joyful heart this week!

2/6/12

This Week in Scripture; do the will of God!

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. - 1 John 2:15-17

I honestly believe that we struggle with this constantly; we find things that entice us into sin, yet God wants us to give up those sins to run toward Him. The desires of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life often hinder us and burden us with sins that, frankly, embarrass us before the throne of grace.

It's our sins that put Christ on the cross. It's our sins that condemned Him to die in our place. Why? God loved us. God may be a God of wrath, but He is also the One that draws us gently to Him in the first place.

We also ask ourselves what God's will for us is; a suggestion might help. If it doesn't align with Scripture, it's best to leave it be. That does mean that we must be knowledgable with the Word, but we must also be close to our Father.

Do the will of God and despise the very things that entrap us! There'll be a time when we will be in eternal communion with the Sovereign of the universe; how glorious that day will be (Especially since we don't deserve to be in His Presence yet He allowed us access anyway!!)! Glory be to God!