The Red Letters...

Proverbs 8

If there is a passage of scripture in the Old Testament that should be printed in red letters, it must be Proverbs chapter 8. There is no other individual in all of history that can make the claims written in this chapter than Christ.

The passage is written from the point of view of the ‘woman wisdom’ and is incredibly detailed in its description of who Jesus is. From this passage we learn that ‘Wisdom’ (Christ) is the source of knowledge, prudence, discretion, sound judgment, understanding and power. If we have ‘Wisdom’ we will fear the Lord, hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Comparing verses within the passage to new testament descriptions of Jesus, we find common traits:

• Verse 15 & 16; All authority of rulers is granted by ‘Wisdom’ - 1 Peter 1:13-14
• Verse 17; If we seek ‘Wisdom’ we will find ‘her’ – Matthew 7:7
• Verse 22-31; ‘Wisdom’ was coexistent with God before the creation of the world – John 1:1 & 2, Revelation 22:13
• Verse 35; ‘Wisdom’ is life – John 14:6

Thinking of the woman wisdom as Jesus, consider the end of the passage again;

32 "Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.
34 Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.
35 For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD.
36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love
death."

Lord Jesus – I wait at your doorway today. You are wisdom. To know you is to know wisdom and discretion. You are more precious than silver or gold and I desire to seek you today above all else. In you I have found life, and nothing I desire compares with you. - Amen

Discipline…

Proverbs 3:11 & 12

Do we embrace discipline? Do we receive rebuke?

The bible is clear in stating that we must not despise the Lord’s discipline nor resent His rebuke – they are His teaching tools. If we are to become wise, we must heed these things. Like the toddler who touches the hot stove with disregard for his parent’s warnings, we can be hurt if we do not listen to our Father’s correction. A father will correct the child that he loves to prevent him from harm. In like manner, God’s discipline is one of the strongest indicators of His love for us (Hebrews 12:6 & 10).

The bible frequently compares our relationship to God as that of child to parent. We know that an unruly child will require frequent and strong discipline and correction where a more compliant child can be taught with infrequent and mild correction. If we are compliant with God’s will we will be sensitive to His slightest discipline. Of course if we do not respond to that discipline it will get stronger and stronger until we do.

We should consider ourselves blessed if we are corrected by our heavenly Father (Job 5:17, Ps. 94:12). In fact, if we are not experiencing the discipline of God to one degree or another, we should suspect that our relationship to Him is not right. The range of correction indicated by the bible goes from the “Still, small voice” to absolute catastrophe. Scripture is the primary vehicle through which God conveys His correction, as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. It is up to us how much discipline he needs to provide to make us comply.

Father – You are my Father, my God. Help me to recognize your correction today so that I may know your great love for me. Open my heart to accept discipline and rebuke so that I may truly be wise. Amen.

Bless and do not curse...

Luke 6:27-36

In the sixteenth chapter of second Samuel is the story of Shimei of the clan of Saul who cursed King David loudly as he and his men passed by while fleeing from Absalom. The guards with David wanted to strike the man down, but David resisted saying, “It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today” (verse 12). David voiced understanding of a principle that Jesus stated clearly in the gospel of Luke – God sometimes puts difficult people in our lives to try our patience and mercy.

In today’s scripture reading Jesus is very clear about one thing – we are not to show any hint of prejudice in our Christian charity toward others. Loving those who love us is easy. Loving the unlovable is tremendously difficult. “Give to everyone who asks of you” he says in verse 30. Surely he doesn’t mean everyone?

We may encounter prejudice on several different levels that will keep us from obeying this biblical injunction. There is the materialist level – prejudice against those who threaten our way of life. This kind of prejudice is targeted against certain classes of people we view as different and therefore threatening – foreigners, immigrants, those of different racial makeup from ourselves, people from different socio-economic environments. These are superficial prejudices – ‘Archie Bunker’ style defensive reactions to differences in others. This is commonplace in America where everyone is so concerned about acquiring and maintaining the ‘American Dream’. We have no problem running down those who might get in the way of our achieving ‘success’.

Beyond the first level of prejudice deeper levels can often be found. We may not think that we are prejudice against the poor, but may harbor the thought that they need not be poor if they would apply themselves. This type of prejudice stems from our human need to try to assign a ‘why’ answer to every problem. In reading the gospels it is blaringly obvious that Jesus was not interested in why people were in the circumstances they were in. We serve an ‘equal opportunity’ God who is no respecter of men (Acts 10:34) – meaning he shows no prejudice whatsoever toward anyone, for any reason. If you have been saved, take a moment to consider what that means to you personally in light of all he has forgiven you!

While the first two types of prejudice are common among both the world and the church, there is a third type that is fairly unique to the church because the church encourages philanthropy as did Jesus. This kind favors those in humble circumstances – the poor, the sick, the elderly; anyone perceived as helpless. If we ever say to ourselves, ‘I’m not going to help him, he’s wealthy’, or ‘I won’t lift a finger to help that person who is perfectly able-bodied’, we can be sure we are experiencing this type of prejudice. Again, Jesus said in verse 30, “Give to EVERYONE who asks of you…” – there is no qualification in the statement.

The basic message in both the teachings and the life of our Lord as portrayed in the gospels is this – God is love. All the time, for everyone, regardless of circumstances – he is unbiased in his love for all of mankind. If we are to glorify Him, we must be as He is and share His love with everyone he brings us into contact with.

Heavenly Father – I pray that you would show me any prejudice that I harbor against my fellow man. Drive it far from me Lord that I may be as you are – no respecter of persons great or small, rich or poor, young or old. Help me to see them all as You see them, that I may allow You to love them through me. Amen.

Trust and Obey...

John 8:31-47

Thinking of the words to the old Hymn… “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey”. Truer words were perhaps never sung – there can be no lasting peace or joy in our relationship to the Lord if we cannot trust him and obey him. The prerequisite to trust and obedience is hearing. We cannot put trust in promises that we do not know and we cannot obey commands that we have not heard.

Today’s passage from John is telling. If we dissect it we can see a pattern that must be followed if we are to hear God’s promise and desire:

• Know what the Word of God says – verses 31 & 32. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." If we are not exposed to the words of God then the process cannot begin. We need to spend time daily in His Word if we are to know what to trust and how to obey.
• Realize and admit that you are ensnared and need to be set free – verses 34 through 36. If we cannot admit that we are slaves to sin by nature, we cannot take the steps needed to live in accordance with the will of God. Freedom can only be obtained through knowledge of the truth.
• Accept the Word of God without prejudice – verses 37 and 38. You must lay aside preconceived ideas and notions when you approach the Word of God for wisdom. We can ‘hear’ the Word without hearing if we have already made up our minds about what it says.
• Don’t hold too tightly to spiritual tradition – verse 39 though 41. We can hold our own truths in such high esteem that we cannot hear the absolute truth. We may even find ourselves defending our traditions in the face of new revelation, saying things like "We are not illegitimate children. The only Father we have is God himself." Keep in mind that God’s mercies are new every morning. Passages will speak different things to you at different times of your life – try not to build walls up around a revelation that may keep you from hearing God through the same passage in the future.
• If you find you are having trouble ‘hearing’, search your heart for the reason and ask God to reveal the truth to you through His Word – verses 42 through 47. If we struggle to hear spiritual truth, or cannot hear it at all, we really need to find out what’s going on with our hearts. If our hearts and lives belong to God as they should, we should hear and understand His word every day. If we find that we hear nothing from God there is definitely something wrong with our relationship to Him. Frequently it is one of the five items listed above that is causing the problem. If you are seriously wanting to hear from to God, pray through them and today’s passage to see if indeed something in your mindset is blocking understanding of His truth.
  

Finally, once we know what is required of us, we need to obey. As scripture states in James 1:22-24: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like.” Hearing and doing tend to work in a cyclical nature. If we hear from God and do not obey, we are less likely to hear Him the next time he speaks. If we obey immediately, he will likely speak to us quickly. If we remain always hearing and thereafter obeying, we can come to the place where all of life is summed up in two words – Trust and Obey.

Father – Help me to trust and obey you today! Reveal your will for my life through your word and strengthen me to live in accordance with that revelation. If any of the things mentioned above is hindering me from hearing and understanding you, please reveal that to me as well and cleanse my heart from stubborness and spititual prejudice.

Ready Obedience

Philippians 2: 5-7

Many of the things which God asks us to do are not difficult once we get past the initial issue of obedience. Those He calls He equips to fulfill His calling. It is in obeying the call that we most often find difficulty.

Is it possible that there is an attitude or state of mind that is always ready to obey God’s will, when once we hear it? In today’s passage, Paul admonishes us to have the same attitude as that of Christ himself – considering ourselves nothing and equality with God as nothing to be grasped. In every Biblical instance where groups or individuals considered equality with God something that they could grasp, failure resulted. But Christ was in very nature God and did not grasp for that equality but humbled himself and allowed the Father to live through Him.

We know that we are brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus because the word tells us so. We cannot say, as Christ could, that we are in nature God, but God has imparted His nature to us if we are born again. As such, we might be able to deduce that we have the nature of God in our regenerated lives, and indeed we do. Where we so often fail is in our attitude – our supposition that equality with God is to be grasped. When once we stop grasping and simply surrender - ‘taking on the very nature of a servant’- we may begin to live in the fullness which God intended for us.

LORD GOD – HELP ME THIS DAY TO REALIZE THAT EQUALITY WITH YOU IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I CAN GRASP. REMIND ME BY YOUR SPIRIT THROUGHOUT THE DAY THAT I NEED ONLY TO TAKE ON THE NATURE OF A SERVANT AND YOU WILL IMPART YOUR NATURE TO ME AND THROUGH ME. AMEN.

Inconvenient Truth…

Psalms 50:16-23

We live in an era of “postmodern thought” where each person can supposedly establish for himself his own truth. The predominant proposition of postmodernism is that there is no absolute truth; hence there is no God.

I have heard it rightly argued that postmodern thought is self-defeating. If there is no truth outside of my own perception of truth then any kind of imposed idea cannot be absolute truth. Since postmodernism is an imposed idea, it cannot be considered truth. Therefore it is self-defeating thought.

I think that most people actually do have ‘gods’ in there lives, whether they want to acknowledge it or not. Many people have a view of God that arises from the kind of thinking that allows each of us to establish his own truth; in the same way they tend to establish their own idea of ‘God’. To them, God is a “higher power” who thinks and acts as they do; their idea of God being completely limited by their own narrow experience of human life. If they have been subjected to abuse, their God is one who could never send a soul to hell in judgment. If they are prejudiced, their God is one who would only allow people of a certain color or religious affiliation to be saved. If they have acted wickedly toward others, their God harbors the same feelings toward those whom they persecute.

As God himself states in verse 21 of today’s passage, “These [wicked] things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.” We are all in danger of limiting our understanding of God by defining him in accordance with our own narrow experience. We all, from time to time, begin to think that God is altogether like ourselves. We forget that God is absolute truth (the logos), and that he has always been and always will be absolute truth – regardless of how we define him in human terms.

The ultimate example of what this type of thinking can lead to is the crucifixion of Jesus. When he was brought before the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and elders of the Jews already had their minds made up about him. They had decided that this was not the awaited Messiah – this man was not the man their God had promised to send. As such they wanted nothing to do with the truth about who he was, they called him a blasphemer and handed him over to Pilate that he might be killed. He was an inconvenient truth to them.

There is only one way to know the God of the Bible and that is to know the Bible. If we think we know God and we do not know the Bible we are fooling ourselves. If the leaders of the Jewish people had properly studied the Word of God they would have recognized Jesus as the Christ. By properly studying I mean without prejudice – without preconceived notions. We need to just open up to the word, know it and obey it as the absolute truth that it is. In so doing we can serve the one true and living God.

Father – We pray that we may know you in accordance with the one way in which you truly reveal yourself; through your Word. Give us the courage to reject any thinking or ‘understanding’ that we have that is contrary to your Word. Help us to set aside time today to be in your Word and listening to what you have to say to us about whom You really are. Amen.

If you can’t say anything nice…

Ephesians 4:29-32

As we become more and more familiar with the Word of God we begin to recognize where many of the traditional norms of our society came from, even though we are drifting away from them. In today’s passage Paul admonishes us to be careful about how we speak to one another. In effect he is saying, as many of our mothers did, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!”

In truth, Paul uses words slightly stronger than those of our mothers. The word which is translated “unwholesome” in the NIV is translated “corrupt” in the King James and is from the Greek word meaning rotten, derived from the word meaning “putrefied”. He is really saying that we should not let anything rotten or putrid proceed from our mouths. The things that would be considered putrid speech would be as listed: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice. These things do not build up our listener, but rather grieve the Holy Spirit. Our mother’s advice was sound; if any of these are about to proceed from our mouths, we would be better off to say nothing.

We have the choice, however, to speak only those words which are helpful in building others up according to their needs. Words of compassion, kindness and forgiveness accomplish the work of the Lord in our lives and the lives of our listener.

Let us attempt to monitor our speech for one hour today, asking the Lord’s help in doing so. By an act of will, if we find we are about to speak in an unwholesome (rotten, putrid) manner, let us stop and hold our tongues and search for words which will intentionally build up and benefit the person listening. And if we can’t say anything nice, let us not say anything at all!

Lord – Help me to be mindful of the things I desire to speak today, even before I speak them. Convict me of those things I would say that might tear others down or compromise my witness for you. Give me the specific words which will build up the person with whom I am speaking, for you know all of our needs. Use my tongue as an instrument of your will this day. Amen.

Two Masters…

The view from our front porch this morning...

Matthew 6:19-24

Are we nervous about possessions? Honestly, are there things in our lives that we cannot bare to part with? If we can answer yes to either of these questions (and we all can) we need to search our hearts to see if we are serving two masters.

Jesus cautioned us about storing up for ourselves treasures on earth. He did not caution about storing up ‘things’, for so long as we think of ‘our’ possessions as things we are not in danger. When we start thinking of these things as treasure - treasuring them in our hearts – we are in trouble already. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

Christ requires and demands that our hearts belong wholly to Him (Matthew 22:36 & 37). God knows that treasuring the things of this earth will lead us to heartbreak when they are destroyed, decayed or removed. He wants so to save us from that heartache. He also knows that we are creatures who find it much easier to grip tightly those things which are tangible while we turn our back on those things which we must understand by faith. If we allow our hearts to love some earthly object we have made a choice – consciously or otherwise – to turn away from God. By our nature we cannot serve two masters. As Jesus stated it, not mincing words, if we love the one we will hate the other!

Lastly God knows that all earthly things will be taken from us one day. Whether we die and leave it all behind or He returns and destroys all of it (2 Peter 3:10) it will be taken from us. Since our heart is where our treasure is, when we have to leave our treasure behind what is left of us? Paul writes of those who build their lives around the things of this world, “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (Read 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Lord – let us be those that store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not on this earth. Help us today to set our minds on the things above. Let us consider carefully what we allow to capture our hearts, and keep us from choosing those things which you have slated for destruction. Let us build upon our faith carefully with only those materials which will survive into eternity with us, and lay all else aside. Amen.

The fear of the Lord…

Psalm 25: 14

We are all familiar with Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. The word ‘fear’ in this passage has the same root word translated as ‘fear’ in today’s passage from Psalms. One way to translate the word is ‘moral reverence’. “Moral reverence of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom…”

We live in a day when everyone expects everything to be ‘warm and fuzzy’ all the time. Fear has become a bad thing – it makes people very uncomfortable. People cannot even understand the concept of moral reverence. Sadly, even much of the church has fallen into the belief that faith is entirely about the grace of a loving God. This idea is not without merit – our relationship with God is all about the grace of Christ that covers our sins. But I will stand on a limb and say this; if you do not know the fear of God (if you have no moral reverence for him) you have never had a relationship with Him.

We are at a point in the church today where we preach a gospel (not the gospel) that has nothing to do with fear of the Lord. Many come to the alter because they are driven by ‘a feeling of emptiness’ or ‘the need for love’. We all have these needs in our lives, and the Lord can overcome them, but the thing that ought to drive us to the alter is the scripturally substantiated fact that we are all sinners and are condemned to eternal damnation if we do not accept God’s plan of redemption from sins – the acknowledgment that Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sins.

We so often quote John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…” and forget that two verses later Jesus said, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” There is an element of fear at the beginning this relationship that cannot be denied. Without the fear there is no true desire for repentance. Without repentance, there is not true salvation. Without salvation, there is not true relationship with God.

Beyond the beginning of our relationship with God, fear plays a continuing role in our lives as we grow in grace. Today’s passage states the Lord confides in those who fear Him. He makes His covenant known to them. When we reverence Him, he draws close and reveals Himself and His will to us. If you have not heard from Him in awhile, perhaps your heart is not in the proper place. Is there some sin that you have attempting to hide? Bring it to His feet with fear and trembling and lay it before Him in repentance, and you can be in right relationship with Him once more!

Lord – Help us to understand the concept of ‘fear’ as you have stated it in your
Word. Develop in our hearts a correct moral reverence for you that will allow us
to come to that place where you we live in your confidence and know your
covenant with us. Let us with reverence lay all things at your feet, that
through fear we may come to know you more and live in obedience according to
your loving kindness. Amen.

Self Flattery…

Psalm 36:1-4

How we must be constantly on guard against the quiet habit of flattering ourselves! It is so frequently difficult to detect and easy to fall into. I have caught myself wanting to make a comment in a group to prove I am intelligent or ‘spiritually wise’. Even in this writing I have to frequently check the motives of my heart. Is it my desire to gain renown as a result of this, or simply to share that which the Lord has laid upon my heart?

If I am in reverence of God, I will check my selfish attitudes. He will convict me when my heart begins to wander toward insincerity. If I continue along the path of self flattery I will eventually develop a blind spot toward my sin, ignoring the sin in my life. John warns us against ‘boasting of what we have or do’ (1 John 2:16). This is self flattery.

How subtle are the clues that we have fallen into this pattern! We let slip something under the guise of a “prayer request” so we can share some bit of information with pride. Perhaps we find ourselves singing more loudly than others so we can prove our voice is superior. Jealousy of the gifting of others is frequently a sign that we harbor too high an opinion of ourselves. This reveals itself in the attitude that says, “I should be doing that – I can do it better”.

If any of these subtle signs of self flattery have crept into our lives, we need to repent of them and turn back to right ways. We need to stop plotting this evil and reject what is wrong (Psalm 36:4). Again – fear of the Lord is the beginning of our return to right paths.

Lord – Examine me and reveal to me any sinfulness in my heart. Let me see myself as others see me. Help me to leave room for others to recognize and acknowledge your gifting in my life without my having to express it. And when they do, Lord, let me give all the glory to you. Amen.

He who has ears…

Matthew 13:10-17

It is a sad fact that not everyone with whom we are acquainted ‘has ears’ as Jesus states. There are those, both saved and unsaved, who never have had or have lost the ability to hear spiritual truth.

When Jesus brought news of the kingdom of heaven he did not share it openly. He spoke in parables which indicated truths by analogous example. Some would say he did this to make the truths easier to understand – more relatable - but I disagree. He knew that some would understand what he was really getting at but the majority would not. For many, these would just be pleasant stories - to the chosen ones, they were the words of life.

It remains so today. Some choose not to hear the call of our Lord. Some choose to hear the words of the Lord as pleasant stories. Some are just so spiritually deafened by the din of life that they can hear nothing. Are you any of these?

Dearest Lord – I pray that I may have my ears opened this day and every day to the truth that you bring. Please appeal to others through me using just those words which you know they will hear. Amen.

Integrity…

I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
When will you come to me?
I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing.

Psalms 101:2 & 3a

David was a man who took his integrity seriously. He understood what integrity is – it is what you are when others are not watching. David understood that God saw all he did, as evidenced by the first two lines of the quotation for today. It was his ambition and desire to be found blameless should his God come to him when he least expected it (Mt 24:42-44).

Most significant to me as I read this passage was that David mentioned a specific place where he would be careful to maintain a blameless heart – his home. I’m sure he was like many of us who really do not find it difficult to remain blameless in the public eye, but find it much more challenging in the private places of our lives. To that end, he strives to live a home life that is pleasing to his God, removing those things that could cause him to stumble not only from his public life, where others can see them, but from his presence in private as well.

LORD-
Help me, like your servant David, to be mindful of the way I live my life both in and out of the public eye. Help me to be constantly aware of the fact that you are near and ever ready for your appearing. Let me seek by great carefulness to lead a blameless life before you, regardless of who might be watching.

Humiliated in My Own Eyes...

David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes."

2 Samuel 6:14 -16; 20 -22a

How we perceive things is often dependent on the attitude of our heart. The passage quoted today is an interesting exchange between husband and wife. David is clearly not ashamed to become a fool before his God. Michal is clearly ashamed of his behavior.

Whenever we attempt to do extravagant things for the Lord, there will be those who say that we are fools. We give too much. We sing too loud. We attend church too often. What believer hasn't heard these things said?

Notice exactly how Michal's disgust is couched, though. In verse 16 the scripture clearly states that she hated him in her heart when she saw him leaping and dancing before the Lord. She found his display of public affection for the Lord offensive. In verse 20, however, she does not indicate that it was his affection for the Lord that offender her - his spiritual extravagance. That admission would be nearly heretical. So she instead speaks as if she were jealous of his behavior before other women - disguising her true motive.

David's answer to her seems rather curt, depending on how you read it. I believe that David was merely stating the fact that he was going to celebrate before the Lord regardless of whether she approved or not.

In all likelihood those reading this are relating to David in this passage. If you even take the time to consider these things it is unlikely that you will be one to put a stumbling block before someone else. So if you are of the mind of David, stand your ground and lovingly but firmly insist that you have an obligation and a desire to serve the Lord in whatever way he calls you. You might even hit them with a little "You ain't seen nothing yet" like David did Michal.

If you are of the mind of Michal, consider carefully your arguments and motives. When you say these things; "You give too much", "You sing too loud", "You attend church too often", are you really in essence saying, "You are being too spiritual and it makes me uncomfortable"?

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

Romans 14:12 & 13

LORD-

Help each of us, regardless of our mindset, to seek to be
honest before
you. If we are 'dancing' before you, let us do it out of pure
love - never
contrived. If we are uncomfortable 'dancing' before you, let us
not
put any stumbling block before others who are - under any pretense.

AMEN

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:19 & 20

I really felt led to write something about music this week because I have been leading song worship at my local church and many, many things go through my head each week as I attempt to inspire people to worship through music. It is the most beautiful experience to lead song worship, and perhaps one of the most frustrating experiences to prepare for it.

Here is where the difficulty lies; we all have a line drawn in the sand as far as music is concerned. For some of us, if it ain't in the Hymnal, it ain't worship music! To directly quote one of my own friends , "I have no use for contemporary worship music." Then there are those who were brought into the church when early praise choruses were being written and have a line drawn shortly after that. I won't lie, I have my own line. I enjoy some of the praise songs that were popular in the late 80's when I gave my life to Christ. I also enjoy some of the modern worship songs that we do now. But some of the stuff that young folks listen to and sing currently is lost on me.

I will admit though that that is human prejudice. Do I prefer guitar-based praise music? Absolutely - it's what I am comfortable with. But I can also understand those who believe the only true instrument of worship is the piano because that is what they are comfortable with. What about the crowd that is comfortable with electric guitars and keyboards? I can't say that it's my bag, but I'm not the one that they are singing for - and that's what we all need to remember. WE are the ones who draw the lines, not God.

Imagine with me for a moment that King David, with his lyre and harp, is dropped into a Sunday morning service in Vinita, OK in 1912 during the hymn service. He sees and hears a piano for the first time. He finds it to be somewhat loud relative to the instruments he is accustomed to. If he starts to enjoy it for a moment, he catches himself and feels that pang of disloyalty to his tradition - the thought crosses his mind that the emotions he is feeling are inspired by his flesh because of the atmosphere created by the hymns. As such, he remains reserved and refuses to allow abandon to worship through song. He has drawn a line in his heart which he dare not cross - for his own sake. So he misses the opportunity to worship his God through song.

Now turn the tables. David shares a Psalm with the congregation using his harp. They think the Psalm is quaint and cute, but nothing as powerful as their modern hymns. They humor David by listening and perhaps singing along, but they are convinced in their hearts that they cannot worship to this type of 'old-fashioned' music and they abandon tradition. In so doing, they miss out on the opportunity to worship their God through song.

What I am trying to say is that God did not stop His Spirit from writing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs through mankind when the harp became an outmoded instrument. Nor did he draw the line and proclaim the piano is the end-all be-all instrument. Nor is he likely to draw that line at the place where I have exceeded my tolerance of what I consider reverential music. Thankfully, God does not take my prejudices into account when he determines what HE will honor as worship. All the way from David to Chris Tomlin, the Spirit fell fresh on each generation as men were inspired by their relationship with God to write down the words which welled up from within their hearts.

Merriam-Webster defines worship as "extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem". In our case, God is to be the object of our esteem. As you may notice, I make reference to "worship through music" or "song worship" rather than referring to a song service as worship. Let there be no mistake that worship is far more than singing (see above). But when we come to God with spiritual songs do we come to show extravagant respect, admiration and devotion? I don't believe that any one of us, young or old, can answer yes to that question with a clear conscience if we allow our prejudice to dictate what type of music we think can and cannot worship through. It's not about how we sing; it's not about what we sing; it's to whom we sing that counts!

Resolutions...

Well here we are at the new year and it seems that goals and ambitions are renewed afresh annually at this time. I have been pondering the role of goals (resolutions, if you will) in my mind and have decided to go to scripture to get a little better idea of where the believer's responsibility lies as regards the achievement of spiritual goals.

The Scripture that started me thinking all of this is found in 2 Corinthians 13:11

Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

I suppose I often think that our real responsibility to God is to get out of the way so he can work through us (or sometimes in spite of us). Paul says in the passage above that we are to "Aim for perfection". At first glance this passage seems almost contradictory to what we are taught elsewhere, ie. John 15:5b - "Apart from me (Christ) you can do nothing". But as I have mulled this over in my mind the past several days I have come to realize that Paul did not say "Attain perfection" but "Aim for perfection". We need only to aim for the perfection to which we are called, for we cannot attain it of ourselves. We are responsible to plan for it, lay the groundwork for it and move in the right direction. God will have to get us there, and He will - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9.

Here are some of the goals that scripture outlines for us. If you are making some resolutions this year, consider these among them:

• To please the Lord 2 Corinthians 5:9


• To achieve our calling by the power of the Spirit Galatians 3:3


• To win the prize God has promised (eternal life) Philippians 3:14


• Lead a life that will witness to those around you 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

I really needed the Lord to speak this to me right now. After several months of extreme spiritual highs I have been going through a valley and feeling somewhat mired in life. Sometimes that is when you need to just make up your mind which direction you are going to go and pull yourself up by the spiritual bootstraps - and all of these scriptures have inspired me to make some spiritual resolutions this year.