The Reward for Constant Tribulation.

God knowing us, it would seem is a commonality among those who belong to Him. A silly thing to say? Common sense dictates that truth? I guess what I'm trying to point out is the intensity of the belief from the one known by God. Yesterday I mentioned a bit about David and His wonder at God's knowing of him even before he was created by his parents. David marveled at God's all-knowing of Him. He wasn't alone…

Jer 15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Jeremiah called out to the LORD, 'thou knowest'. Yes, the LORD knows so much and our recognition of it should only enhance our worship of our KNOWING LORD. Jeremiah called to the Father and said, THOU KNOWEST and then asked God to remember him, and visit him, and revenge him of those persecuting him. Jeremiah didn't want to be taken away in God's longsuffering- in God's plan for humanity, that some imagine is truly a long game when in fact to God it's completely different. Jeremiah wanted God to know that he suffered rebuke for Him- he did God's will, spoke God's truth and he suffered for that. Did God already know all this? Of course, He did. Jeremiah worshiped God and recognized the holiness of God, the reality of God. He knew to speak to God what was on his heart, he didn't just sit back and know that God knew and what would be- would be. He had to speak what God knew, he had to use his voice to cry out to God- who was everything to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah wrote- He found the words of God. Not only did he find the words of God- words God wanted Him to speak- but he ate those words. How do you eat words? Well, there is a saying that you're going to make someone eat their words when you prove them wrong- you know what I'm talking about. Someone brags about something being a certain way and you know differently. You tell that braggart that they are going to eat their words when you can prove they aren't talking truth. And when you go get your facts and return to the braggart, and reveal the truth to them, you tell them to eat their words. Now, there can be no literal eating of words spoken, but the figurative meaning in this analogy is making someone take back what they said, to admit to their failing, that their bragging was nothing more than hot air, untruthful and in need of being corrected. When the braggart admits to their false claim people are satisfied that the lying words have been taken back and the truth substituted for them. Of course, this isn't the claim of Jeremiah. Jeremiah eating the words that he found meant figuratively that he was claiming those words of God. He was taking the words God gave him and making them a part of his life. Those words he found and consumed were life to Jeremiah.

Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

When Jeremiah found and ate the words, they gave his heart joy, his heart rejoiced! He was speaking God's words! He was using God's words! He was blessed with the words to speak and while others were rebuking him for this, he was rejoicing to be called as one who spoke the words of the LORD God of hosts! He was known to be God's mouthpiece to others. He was known as a prophet of God! The agonies prophets often endured were intense, but the joy was knowing they were being used by the LORD, the GOD OF HOSTS!

Jeremiah's joy and rejoicing was in the LORD!

Let's finish reading that passage-

Jer 15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Jer 15:17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Jer 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? Jer 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. Jer 15:20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Jer 15:21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

Jeremiah found joy in the knowledge that God was using him as a prophet, however, as God's prophet he was subjected to the reality of abuse. He didn't take part with those who mocked God, he suffered alone filled with disdain for those mocking God with their lives. Jeremiah suffered for his joy of having God's words in his heart. His pain was constant, his wounding incurable, and he wanted the words he spoke, the prophecies he relayed to the people to come to pass so he wasn't considered a liar, as a dried-up well - no use at all.

The LORD answered Jeremiah. He told Jeremiah that if he chose to remain a prophet of His that he would stand before Him. If Jeremiah chose the good from the bad, he would be used by God. If Jeremiah took all the abuse without giving in to any of those wanting Jeremiah to agree with them by taking their side, then Jeremiah would be protected doubly so- a fenced brass wall that none could destroy. God would SAVE Jeremiah if He repented and returned to Him, God would deliver Jeremiah from the wicked, God would redeem Jeremiah from those terrible people causing him to suffer.

Jeremiah's joy and rejoicing was in God's word, in God's truth, but he suffered for that joy.

How often is this the truth in life, holding fast to God results in putting a person at odds with those around them? It happens all the time. God is the joy, suffering for keeping that joy, ultimately redeemed as we holdfast during the awful suffering for the joy of God's word in us!

God will not fail us. Those around us would have us believe otherwise, that God fails us all the time. When every bad thing happens in our lives some believe God has dropped the ball and does not favor us. Yet we KNOW that God will never drop the ball and favors us beyond our ability to fully comprehend. We KNOW because God has told us we would SUFFER here, HE TOLD US WE WOULD SUFFER!

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

IN the world we will have TRIBULATION!

God is not trying to deceive us! God is not painting a rosy picture of how our lives will be if we choose to love and believe in Him if we choose to belong to Him.

We will have TRIBULATION! And sometimes that tribulation is constant with no end in sight. Jeremiah suffered! We will suffer! Our joy must be in Christ the OVERCOMER of this WORLD! We can rejoice because this WORLD Is NOT where we will live in perfect peace and harmony without any tribulation. We know we are to suffer here! Our hope is in the good news of the gospel- the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN with our SAVIOR!

Our hope for a tribulation free existence is not a hope for a tribulation free life here and now, but for the future where we are storing our treasures of eternal life!

Is your life filled with tribulation? Constant tribulation? Do NOT think for one moment that God has abandoned you as some would have you believe so you turn your back on God. God's promise of eternal life will never fail no matter what we are called to go through here and now.

This is all TEMPORARY to ETERNITY!

God keep the truth of Your love ever before us! Ever in our hearts! Keep us from evil, from despairing, from forgetting where our joy and hope is in heaven, in YOU.

All in the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

I Am Still With Thee.

"I know you." Have you ever had a stranger utter those words to you? I suppose it would depend upon the inflection of their words whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. A happily spoken, "I know you!" With a smile and obvious happiness, would be a good thing. A harshly-worded, "I know you!" With a furrowed brow, and angry eyes would indicate this knowing wasn't such a happy occasion. Both scenarios would be a bit confusing if you didn't know the person proclaiming knowledge of you. You might frantically search your memory for some sort of recognition- school, work, friend of a friend, an acquaintance at some event, maybe a person you sat next to at a doctor's appointment or saw at a grocery check-out, the list could go on for a long time and in that split second of trying to figure it out and failing you realize it would be easier to just ask…

"How do you know me?" You might ask with a smile or your own frown depending on the initial encounter. What you want now is to know how you are known, and if maybe this is a case of mistaken identity. Thinking you are known when you really aren't known at all.

When someone declares knowledge of you, you want to be able to declare it back to them. A memory of a meeting- good or bad. "Oh, you're the person who helped me get that package off the high shelf in the store." Or perhaps, "Oh, I accidentally knocked over your cart the other day." You want to comprehend the knowledge because we don't particularly care for people knowing us when we do not know them. In fact, we can't fathom how very well they know us if we do not know them in return.

Can you know someone without their knowing you? Of course, it's possible. You could be a private detective who has done a really thorough deep dive into a person's life from birth to current age and know so many facts about them, you probably remember things the person hasn't thought of themselves for years. You know that person factually, and maybe even by second-hand information from that person's family and friends. You might know the person has a great sense of humor and even heard many stories about their sense of humor, or you may have learned they have a short temper. These things you've learned make you feel as if you know the person and yet your claim to knowing them is not a firsthand experience but based on the views of others. Yes, you could know from a financial profile of them that they are a person who likes to spend money. Or you may discover the person hoards money and is someone who doesn't part with their hard-earned income easily.

We can KNOW all about a person and still NOT KNOW them truly.

How often after years of being a friend or loved one to another have the words- I never really knew you at all- come up? I've no clue, but I'm sure it has happened.

When we are known by someone the degree of their knowledge of us will vary, and not a single person alive will ever know us completely, not from the standpoint of how we know ourselves. You could talk all about yourself, leaving nothing out and still their knowledge of you, their perception of all you've said will not be taken from your own point of view- it is impossible.

Being known.

How important is being known? We like to think our loved ones- spouses, children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers all know us. We especially like it if our best friend(s) know us. We say things like- "You know me, I…" and you tell of something you surely think the other person knows. A shared laugh, a shared knowledge and agreeing upon the trait that is yours, these are all good things. To have a close friend insist they never knew something about you that you're sure they know, is confusing and you hope quickly it is a joke they're playing on you- a pretending not to know. When that friend is adamant about their lack of knowledge and being completely serious, it's a bit frightening, definitely worrisome because you believed they had to know this fact about you, how could they not?

Also, finding out a completely different side to someone that you thought you knew is cause for alarm. This happened to me very recently and to say it threw me for a loop is a bit of an understatement. It was actually very, very frightening to think I didn't know something so important about someone I thought I understood and knew. I was taken off guard and my whole world tilted off its axis in such a way I struggled hard for months and months to get it right again. All that because I thought I knew someone only to find out I didn't know them as I believed I did.

Knowing and being known, this is important stuff. Sometimes we want people to know us, expect them to know us and get upset when they claim not to know us. We get exasperated when we think someone should know us 'by now', they've been around us for years so surely they knew something would upset us because it has upset us for years. Sometimes we don't want others to know us, it rattles us to hear someone say they know we are a certain way when we thought we hid if very well from them. A lot of times we exist in our own spheres of knowing who knows us and we don't want anyone else intruding on our spheres and saying they're a part of it when we don't want them to be.

I can know someone for a few minutes and a short shared conversation could make it seem like I've known them for a lot longer. I can know someone for decades and a short shared conversation could reveal things I never knew about them.

This knowing, why am I going on and on and on exhausting the subject of knowing someone or someone knowing someone else, or not knowing?

Because being known or not known is something intimate, something we try to control. We want others to know us as we reveal ourselves to them. I might have work friends who know the 'work me'- a person that disappears when I go home and become the 'at home me'. I may have an acquaintance me that is nothing like the me once you really have spent time with me. It might not be that I'm even deliberately trying to be different in each scenario I live, but circumstances are automatically eliciting the different behaviors that make it appear I'm a different person each time. I wouldn't expect someone who just met my husband to know him like I do. I wouldn't want them to know him like I do, any more than I'd want others to know me like he knows me. We don't just expose our fears, our desires, our hopes and dreams, our nightmares to people we hardly know.

I allow you to know what I want you to know of me and if you somehow figure out more of me without my wanting you to know, it can make me feel uneasy, and exposed.

If there were such a thing as mind readers, real mind readers who could get into the minds of others and know their thoughts, we'd all be in a hurry to figure out ways to block that ability. We don't want anyone knowing our every thought, right? Especially if someone catches us having a bad thought but doesn't hang around long enough to catch the remorseful thought that follows.

God can and does know us- all of us every last awful bit of us, and every last good bit of us- God knows it all. There is no way for pretense with God. We are known.

However, when Jesus will tell many people upon His return to get away from Him, that He never knew them - this will be true too.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Surely He knows us all, and this is true. What He is telling these people is… you may have lived believing you know me, and are living for me but you weren't living for me at all. You didn't do any of those things you claim to do for me, you did them for yourself. You may have used my name, but I wasn't a part of what you were doing. You lived your life filled with deceit even to yourself, you lied to yourself, but you can't lie to me. You told everyone you knew me- you spoke as if you were relaying messages from me, you prayed and your prayers were seemingly answered but it wasn't me who answered them. You lived a life you claimed I was a part of, all the good things you did you told others I was using you to do them- but it wasn't true. You never revealed your heart to me, you used my name without ever really letting me know you beyond knowing your selfish intentions which are far from one who is truly mine, far from my knowing them intimately as I know those who are mine.

Jesus knew the sin in the person claiming to know Him and to have lived for Him. Jesus knew the lie of the person claiming to have done only good in His name. What Jesus didn't know was the love that would have made them His, truly His.

The analogy of a shepherd with his sheep is a good one. Sheep come to know their shepherd and when they hear their shepherd's voice they follow him. If they hear the voice of a stranger they aren't going to follow him, he's not their shepherd. Just as a pet dog knows their owner, they'll often come to the call of their owner but not the call of a stranger.

Joh 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

My sheep hear my voice and I KNOW THEM, and they FOLLOW ME.

The Shepherd KNOWS the sheep who hear His voice and Follow Him.

Knowing and being known, we long for Jesus to KNOW US, we long to hear HIS VOICE, we long to FOLLOW HIM, and to do this is a PART OF OUR LIVES, a living for HIM, a constant FOLLOWING of HIM in ALL we do.

David- beloved of God- wrote this song about GOD knowing him:

Psa 139:1-18

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Like David, we need to be able to say- When I awake I am still with thee.

When Christ returns for us, let us awake with HIM. Let us be known by Him.

All by HIS GRACE.

The CREATOR Knows me!

Can we with David speak to Our Heavenly Father and say- You have searched me and known me.

Has God searched you, and known you?

Some would have us believe that God set up all the pieces of life on the game board called the world and then simply took off to go play another game somewhere else, leaving all the pieces of this game to simply to fend for themselves.

When something important to you happens you generally do not simply forget about it unless you have brain trauma in one fashion or another. When you give birth to a child you can never forget. You carried that baby in your womb, and even if you give the baby away without ever seeing or holding that baby, the time it spent in your womb remains with you. When you know for a fact that you fathered a child is that something you simply forget? Even if you are never a part of that child's life, the knowledge forever remains that there exists a child you had a hand in creating, part of you is in that child wherever it may be.

We are simple creatures when it comes down to it, right? Our memories are only so long. We don't share the memories of our ancestors beyond tidbits of history. Our memories are not stacked one upon another going back to our very first origins. Our memories are short. I can pass down stories told to me to my children and they might remember one or two, maybe a few more but their own lives take up the most of their thoughts. I can remember some stories my own parents told me of their parents and a few stories of their grandparents, my great grandparents but none, absolutely none of my great, great grandparents. Where did the memories of them go? I'll tell you in part- my great grandparents on one side left their country of birth and in doing so, they left behind their parents and grandparents. My grandparents did not grow up surrounded by their grandparents, or great grandparents- they just heard a few stories and no more.

I'm going to stop this train of thought here by saying we KNOW beyond doubt we have a long, long history of ancestors or we would not exist. There has been no new model human beings put out since we were first created. We have ancestors a plenty, yet we live in a very limited sphere of memory. The exceptions being those notable in history, they've kept thousands of years of lineage in their history books, and plenty of stories have been passed down through their families- this is ultimately RARE.

God did NOT create us and forget us. Every single one of us is a CHILD of His- for better or worse. Every single one of us will choose to either remain a child of God or to free ourselves from His parenting.

You heard me right. We are given a choice to emancipate ourselves from God, He does not force us to remain under His guidance. In fact, there comes a day in each of our lives when we have to make a conscious choice to remain God's child, or branch out on our own- otherwise known as choosing another's guidance.

Stripping ourselves from God's life is a very dangerous thing. When we remove ourselves from God's life we remove ourselves from eternal life support and begin our life spiraling down to eternal death. We may try to fool ourselves into believing that we are just fine without God's eternal life support, but ultimately we will be proven wrong.

Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

I want to be able to say- O LORD You have searched me and known me.

I want to recognize my CREATOR knowing me inside and out, better than I know myself. I stand in AWE of the fact the CREATOR of all knows me.

Some may be thrilled when a famous person comes into their lives and knows who they are. As close as I've come to this is knowing my husband has a cousin who is a fitness instructor to many famous people. I know my husband's cousin knows my husband from their youth, but that's as far as it goes, my husband's cousin does not know me, we live on opposite sides of this huge country. And even if some chance had me meeting my husband's cousin, there is a slim to none chance of any of the famous clients of my husband's cousin being around at that time. Then even if they were, they would not take any time to get to know me. There is a good chance a lot of the clients do not know my husband's cousin beyond their working relationship- known but not known.

Again my long-winded tale leads to this, people who are not famous who actually are known by famous people will generally brag on this fact because of the fame they are associated with bringing them a sense of importance, and uniqueness.

The CREATOR KNOWS ME! This is the most important, the most famous of all in all and HE CAN KNOW ME!

Don't say He knows us all because I have it straight from the mouth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, that not all will be known by Him.

This is a special knowing, a mutual knowing, a deliberate knowing, an eternal knowing.

Creature.

Worship-

(A few excerpts from a book I'm currently reading/studying - THE IDEA OF THE HOLY - AN INQUIRY INTO THE NON-RATIONAL FACTOR IN THE IDEA OF THE DIVINE AND ITS RELATION TO THE RATIONAL)

'… of solemn worship.

In what does this consist? Schleiemacher has the credit of isolating a very important element in such an experience. This is the feeling of dependence.'

'…the feeling, as a sense of personal insufficiency and impotence…'

'What he overlooks is that, in giving the feeling the name feeling of dependence at all, we are really employing what is no more than a very close analogy…'

'…creature-consciousness or creature-feeling. It is the emotion of a creature, abased and overwhelmed by its own nothingness in contrast to that which is supreme above all creatures.'

'And this response must be directly experienced in oneself to be understood.'

'When Abraham ventures to plead with God for the men of Sodom, he says (Genesis xviii. 27) : Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.'

'The difference between the feeling of dependence of Schleiermacher and that which finds typical utterance in the words of Abraham already cited might be expressed as that between the consciousness of createdness and the consciousness of creaturehood. In the one case you have the creature as the work of the divine creative act; in the other, impotence and general nothingness as against overpowering might, dust and ashes as against majesty. In the one case you have the fact of having been created; in the other the status of creature.'

'If we may repeat the contrast already made, not feeling of our createdness but feeling our creaturehood, that is, the consciousness of the littleness of every creature in face of that which is above all creatures.'

*******

The comprehension of our creaturehood as we recognize our Creator for what He is, this is something we need to understand. Dust and ashes- this is the whole of us in comparison to our Creator. If we pick up a pile of dust and ashes and add a bit of water to make clay and then out of that clay we create a figure- that figure is one of our making. We might display it proudly for all to see if we deem it worthy, or even if we don't deem it worthy- we just might be thrilled with our ability to have created something. We do this all the time. We accomplish a task and desire praise, even when we say we don't. We take things already created and rearrange them in a unique way and beam with pride over our ingenuity. Some people take really big already created things and piece them together bit by bit making huge edifices and because they've managed such a grand feat they are honored. Others move pieces of things already made around and fit them to other things in such a special way that they are saving lives with their learned talent. Constantly we exist in a world with created things and we use them to make new things, different things. We alter chemistry with other chemicals, we mix and mingle until a new thing exists. We may study for years and years and through much trial and error come up with something spectacular- we do this with things already created.

Right now I could ask most people who invented various remarkable things we use and they'd be able to tell me because that person became famous for the invention. The person became famous for rearranging components into something astounding. Do they deserve such fame? Yes, they are the ones who took the materials used to make something we all use every day, so yes, it's a good thing to recognize that person for what they did.

The point of all this jabbering is the CREATOR of the things we use to make the many things we make, is the ONE who deserves all the GLORY, the supreme GLORY. Strip away everything and stand there alone and know YOU were CREATED. Your existence stems from your CREATOR. The world around you stems from the same CREATOR. The breath you are now breathing comes from the CREATOR.

Created.

And once created…

…forever a creature.

CREATOR.

You may hold a title as the creator of something, but the truth is you are a rearranger of things created. Every word I put on this screen, this study I've just written, was created by a creature using things already created. I exist because of a CREATOR. The comprehension of my creaturehood is accepting the UNCREATED CREATOR.

More on this tomorrow by the will of God, through the grace and mercy of my SAVIOR, my CREATOR, now and forever, in Jesus Christ my Lord!

God In All- Worship.

God- Thy Will Be Done.

Thoughts on a quote- continued…

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven." — Whatever Happened to Worship? A.W. Tozer

We talked about a bit about boredom and being turned off by worship yesterday. Now let's say what that is really talking about. Bored with God? Turned off by God? Boredom is finding something uninteresting, right? I can be watching a tv show and find it completely boring. It's just not interesting. I could start reading a book and find it terribly boring. It just drags on and on and the plot is stale without any excitement or any hooks that make me want to know what comes next- it is boring! I could be stuck in a conversation with someone who is droning on and on about a subject I don't want to hear about at all, in fact, if I never heard about this subject my entire life I'd be fine, yet there I am, stuck and completely bored with what is being said. My time is being wasted on these boring things, so why bother? Sometimes in life, you endure boredom for other's sake, right? Sometimes you endure things that repulse you because you want to please someone else. How many people go to operas with spouses but are truly repulsed by opera singing? We choose to let these things go on in our lives because we care about the happiness of another, and they want us to take part in their interests. Being bored, wasting time that could be spent doing things that interest you, it's all a part of life really. It takes a very callous person who will not put up with any boredom for the sake of a situation involving other's feelings. Or maybe you put up with the completely boring, and repulsive seminar you are taking because you need to keep your job- it happens.

Having said ALL that, if you meet a person and they completely and utterly bore you, and possibly repulse you- then you are not going to seek the company of that person again if you can help it. How many first dates end up being the last dates because of these reasons? LOTS.

With worship- the honoring of our God- the recognition of God's supremacy in our lives in all things- if we are repulsed by this, or bored with this- then we most certainly have a very big problem is we are hoping to live eternally with God.

Eternal life, the Gospel preached by Jesus during His three-year ministry- all the time, without a single day going by without its mention, is supposed to occupy our lives to the utmost! God and eternal life, salvation from our eternal death sentence through Jesus' Christ's sacrifice these are ALL about our hope of belonging wholly to God and living with Him forever. You cannot have a hope for true eternal life without a love for God, a love for worshiping Him.

IF you think you love God or really believe you love God and yet you do NOT want to spend time with GOD now, what makes you think you'll want to spend eternity with Him?

How completely silly would it be for a person to want to marry someone they do not want to be around? (Sure there are nefarious reasons for wanting to do that, but not reasons of love.)

Did you work today? Did you earn money today? Did you spend money on something you really wanted today? Did you look upon anything you own with love today? Did you get pleasure from something around you today? While all those things are okay in and of themselves, ask yourself if you worked, or spent time and energy on worshiping God, on laying up for yourself treasures in heaven. Where are treasures are- that's where our hearts are, the Bible tells us this. Are you ever really bored with your treasures? Before you say, yes, that's why you move on to other treasures, I'm talking about current treasure whatever it may be or a treasure you are in the process of acquiring newly. The question is about something you treasure- because clearly, any treasure which loses your favor instantly is no longer a treasure to you.

We aren't repulsed by things we treasure, we aren't bored with things we treasure (I'm talking TRUE treasure here). If we are bored with heaven treasures- they aren't treasures to us at all.

Our treasures are supposed to ALL be of the heavenly- where nothing can corrupt them, rot them, ruin them, take them, destroy them.

When we put our hearts into earth treasures we are in danger of losing those treasures all the time. Our hearts should be in heavenly treasures safe and secure in our God. Everything on earth we are in danger of treasuring should be given first and foremost to God for His will, recognizing that no matter what happens to the things of earth, God is in control.

People think it foolish when we trust in God or say something is God's will when it's a very bad something. We aren't saying God enjoys the suffering, we are saying God allows the suffering for reasons we cannot begin to understand- but we are going to trust that He is always and forever in control- no matter what. One day all things will be revealed that need to be revealed to us and we'll understand.

Paul suffered unimaginable tortures throughout his life and he counted them joy. All life's pleasures meant nothing to Paul if He couldn't worship God in them.

Worshiping God in all our lives. I heard this term- 'thought prayers' and I like it so I'm going to use it. We can have a million thought prayers throughout our days- thoughts brought to God about all we do, in all our activities- work, pleasure it doesn’t matter. God can be in all we do!

If you say God can't be with you when you are doing something you know God wouldn't approve of, yet you are compelled for reasons to continue with that something- then you're wrong. God can be with you. Holdfast to God through it all! God will open a way for circumstances to change if they are needed to be changed, just do not ever give up on God, not ever.

God in all we do. Heaven isn't our getting into a ritzy resort and being left to our own devices. Heaven is God, heaven is our Savior, heaven is a life filled with the selfless love we can scarcely comprehend. No one who shuns God, who shuns living a life of worship to God truly wants heaven.

May we never be bored or repulsed by worshiping God, never!

All through the love, the mercy, the will of our Savior, by the grace of Jesus Christ our LORD now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen.

First Thought.

Worshiping God.

Thoughts on a quote- continued…

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven." — Whatever Happened to Worship? A.W. Tozer

Bored? Turned off, by worship? Then you're worshiping all wrong. Right? What creates boredom?

We're going to grab a dictionary definition.

In a nutshell, it is- tedium, monotony, dullness, a feeling of being bored. So what is bored? Definition- tired of and slightly annoyed by a person or situation that is not interesting, exciting, or entertaining. Uninterested. And we all know what being turned off towards something means- it doesn't interest you, in fact, it might repulse you.

This quote of Tozer's speaks about being turned off and bored by worship, so in effect, those who are not interested, not excited, and possibly repulsed by worship are not ready to live with our Savior when He returns to take us back to heaven with Him.

How many people put on an act of worshiping God by going to church? By completing a Bible study once a day, week, month, year? How many people proclaim their worship of God but it goes only as far as their mouth speaking the words, and no further? How many say they love God, but live without any interest in worshiping God? God knows all about those who will speak empty words, but whose hearts are far from Him.

Yesterday I mentioned our waking up and our first cognizant thought being turned towards God. Is it possible? Yes, it's possible. However, Satan will be right there invested in turning your mind elsewhere- like the fact you don't want to be awake, you want ten more minutes of sleep. Maybe he'll direct your attention to the coffee brewing and just waiting for you to get a cup so you can really start the thinking part of your day. Perhaps you'll be thinking about what lies ahead in your day- a test at school, a project at work. Maybe you've got other really important things going on- a fight with a friend, an annoyance towards a spouse, kids who are going to be very grumpy when you get them out of bed and start their days. All these things and a million more are legitimate thoughts to have as we live day to day in a world that rarely stays stagnant in routine- life and it's changing events are constantly happening.

Training our thoughts to seek God first should be our very first act of worship towards God every single day without fail. If tomorrow morning when you wake up your very first thought after recognizing you're awake isn't about God, then as soon as you do remember you wanted it to be about God- make it about God and keep at it until He becomes your first thought. Once God becomes your first thought in the morning, remember you'll need to continue the trend and on days you are distracted start over by pulling your mind to Him. Just give Him your will, let Him have you and your life, place it ALL in His hands. It is true that things bad or good, are going to happen to us all the time, and in those bad and good times we need to know that we've placed ourselves in God's will- without any comprehension of the whys and wherefores, but in trusting His will to be done in your life, as it will and is done in heaven.

Isn't that a part of what is known commonly as the Lord's Prayer from the book of Matthew?

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Talk of the coming kingdom of God and then God's will being done in earth as it is in heaven. Yes, it's right there, that desire for God's will to be done. And when we want God's will to be done we are putting our own will after His will- not before it.

More on all of this tomorrow….yes, I'm going to say it… by the WILL of God!

Ready for Heaven (Jesus' Return)

Thoughts on a quote- continued…

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven." — Whatever Happened to Worship? A.W. Tozer

Not ready for heaven, not ready for the return of Christ.

God set aside one day in every seven days to worship. The day God set aside is called the Sabbath- the rest day. Jesus kept the rest day perfectly, worshipping His Father in all He did on that day.

Jesus' life was one of worship towards the Father. It is very easy to say that Jesus lived for the Father. There wasn't a single breath Jesus took that wasn't breathed for the Father. Even in all His growing years, from infant to adult and all the way to the year He began His ministry- the outward revelation of His truth was lived for the Father.

For thirty years Jesus lives His life as the son of Mary and Joseph. He had siblings and extended family- cousins, uncles, aunts. During those thirty years Jesus lived with the knowledge of His Father in heaven- when He was twelve years old He was accidentally left in Jerusalem and when His parents rushed back to find Him, He had this to say--

Luk_2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

Jesus was doing this--

Luk 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Luk 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Luk 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

He was sitting among doctors in the temple- listening and asking questions. Those He had been talking to were astonished at His comprehension of all that was being discussed. He was clearly very learned for one so young, and not of those living day in and day out around the temple. This boy came from nowhere, a remote, rural place and here He was talking about things only a well-learned person should be able to talk about. Jesus was going about HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS at twelve years old. However, it wasn’t time for Him to continue in this way.

Luk 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

Luk 2:50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

Luk 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

Luk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Mary and Joseph didn't understand what Jesus meant about being about His Father's business- for all intents and purposes, Joseph was Jesus' father. They took Him back home and He was still required to listen to Him, and be subject to them as any twelve year old should be.

From then on, Jesus' wisdom only increased as He grew up. Jesus became a man that was favored not only by God- His Heavenly Father but by all around him.

Jesus' life was one of pure holiness and He worshiped God perfectly.

We have so much information given to us about Jesus' ministry during the three years before His death. His example was a perfect one and He worshiped on the Sabbath day as He'd done His entire life from infancy to adulthood. He shunned the traditions forced upon the Sabbath, but He did NOT break the Sabbath commandment, He couldn't, it would be completely and utterly impossible for Him to do so and remain sinless. He couldn't murder, steal, lie, and remain sinless, and right there with those commandments to be kept was the Sabbath commandment.

Worshiping God.

Recognize every day God's role in our lives. What role is that? Creator, from everlasting to everlasting, without beginning and without end, all-knowing, all-powerful. Supreme overall. The director of our paths, our lives. The One whose will is best for us. I could go on, you know I could, but let's pause here for a bit.

If at the moment our eyes open, no, let's amend that. If at the moment we are aware we are awake - eyes opened or not- we turn our thoughts first and foremost to God- is that a form of worship? It is, isn't it? It is a recognition of God's place in our lives. It's giving Him the glory, the honor, the praise in recognizing Him as having complete supremacy over us. Our choosing to place Him first, before all other thoughts that vie for our attention.

Worshiping God.

More on this tomorrow by the grace, and mercy, the will of our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever!!!!!!!