Worthy

"Whatever cost, whatever joy or sorrow I will worship still because of who You are" -Lyrics from Great is the Lord by Starfield

Who is the Lord?

Just a few I come up with...

Creator, Artist of the Universe, Author of life and every good thing, Omniscient God, Stronghold, Fortress, My Helper, My Savior, My Redeemer, My Lord, My Maker, My Lover, My Master, My Friend , Sovereign, Holy, King of Peace and Righteousness

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16-17

God would be worthy of my devotion, my praise and my entire life, even if He chose not to save me from hell, simply because of who He is.

God's nature is that He is also loving and merciful, so He wouldn't leave me without a way to Him, but that does not change the fact that He would still be worthy! and much more worthy because He is also loving and merciful!

"What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:4

Think about the things the Lord has done

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard."

Psalm 19:1-3

The intricate workings of this world are His designs, His art, an expression of who He is

He is above all things, yet He chooses each person and fashions them exactly the way He wants them. His nature demands our praise, but His nature also quietly, compassionately, draws us near. His nature requires our devotion, but His nature also draws us gently to a place on our knees where we understand His devotion to us. His nature commands perfection, but His nature is so merciful and loving, that He made a way for us to be perfect!

We are not worthy to even be near Him, and yet He loves us dearly, truly and deeply. He desires our hearts, and we belong to Him.

Jesus Wept; The Great Comforter

Currently, I'm experiencing a few difficulties with my health, nothing major, but it has caused me to think a bit. =)

I spent a lot of time at faithwalkers "counting the cost" and giving individual aspects of my life over to the Lord, and I've been tested in quite a few of those areas sooner than I was expecting, but I'll take it! 

(James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.")

To put this post in context I'll just mention that one of the main things that drew me to give my life to the Lord was a lot of pain. I never wanted to make anyone feel the way I felt. 

Than I realized I had been doing to God the very thing that had been done to me that hurt so badly. So this isn't really a new thought, but it's worth expanding upon. =) And it is good to check my own heart to see where my hope is, and where I am focusing.

The Lord's pain is deeper than you or I can imagine. 

Oftentimes I don't even understand the depths of my own emotions; they penetrate deeply into my soul! 

How much greater are the depths of God's heart? I can't even fathom what He must feel, can't even begin to understand the depths of His spirit... The Spirit He chose to place inside of me? Yes. The Spirit He chose to place inside of every Christian!

What a privilege 

When we break for people, and it's hard to understand why, this is why. This is why we feel so deeply, because God feels deeply, and He indwells us! We feel the depth of God's heart within us!

The Lord's heart is full of longing! He knows what it feels like to yearn for someone, to yearn to be close, to want desperately to touch, to want desperately for people to understand His touch!

What a comfort. Our God knows what we feel, and He stands for us, right next to us.

So, when you're in pain...

He knows it all, He feels it all with you. His heart is so connected with yours, He is so enthralled with You that He actually shares and feels your hurt with you..

He'll cradle your face and tell you He is using your circumstances to bring Him glory, and of course He will deliver you! But right now He needs you to receive His grace so other's can see his great, great power!

And ultimately... Isn't that what we all want? For others to see God's faithfulness and power through our lives? For others to be transformed and trust the Lord because they see how real He is?

Does my current comfort really matter in light of that?

My pain, seems so microscopic in light of eternity and what God could be using it for!

Even just one soul added to the Kingdom is worth more pain than could be fit into a single person's life time. 

2 Cor. 4:17 "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."

If we don't endure now, those who don't believe will, in eternal punishment. 

Holding back?

I Thessalonians 2:7-8

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

I Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

I Thessalonians 3:9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God.

How often do we actually feel this way about the people we are reaching out to and spending our time with? 

When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he is writing to real people, people who he cares deeply about, you can almost feel his pain and longing to be with the people he is writing too.

This passage made me think about what it means to "affectionately desire" to be with people and be ready to share not only the gospel, but ourselves. 

God is love, we distinguish ourselves among the world because of Christ in us.. which is apparent through our Love!

We are the only real Love that the world will ever know.

Love requires us to be vulnerable, to be "ready to share ourselves" 

If we are the only real Love some people will ever know, we cannot afford to hold back ourselves.

Be ready to share the gospel, and along with that, your very life, which is no longer your own anyway, but has belonged to God since the day you were saved!

Sharing our lives, essentially means, sharing God.

He is our life.

He is our reality.

Children of the King

Act like who you are!

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what you ARE not something you'll "become someday"; This is your current state!

I've been reading a book by Ruth/Warren Myers and some of this next part is their ideas and my understanding of them...

"Dead to sin and alive to God means we become partakers of Christ's death and all it's benefits"

Romans 6 Dead to sin, Alive to God.

Dead to sin doesn't mean sin no longer appeals to, entices or effects us, it means we no longer have to obey sins beckoning to us.

I was listening to a message recently that talked about circumcision in the new testament and how it essentially means to remove a body part and throw it away forever. So we circumcise our sinful nature when we choose to follow Christ. We cut off what is ungodly and throw it away forever. However, we still wage war against the flesh until Jesus comes and gives us our new bodies. 

Imagine for a moment when we will finally have our new bodies that are untainted by sin. Imagine the glorious feeling to finally just

be Holy,

Righteous,

Pure,

to not have to fight within yourself!

Christian!! Your own spirit is already in that perfected state!! Our souls have been made completely holy and righteous!!

The only reason we continue to sin is because we believe lies that the world tells us!

How much easier does the battle to live a righteous life seem when we look at ourselves the way God sees us?

=) Praise Him for He is too good and gracious to His children!!