What if Adam lied?

I have read a number of commentaries and many sermons discussing the fall of Man. In each, it is clarified that God had only given one law that Adam had to follow. Read Gen 2:16-17. The law begins with all that Adam was allowed to do, followed by the one restriction and ending with the outcome to reaffirm the need for the restriction. '

As everyone will tell you, all he had to do was not at from that tree. The question I am asking is what if Adam had lied prior to eating from the tree? Would that have been sin? Would that have resulted in the fall?

In looking at this, the Lord has revealed that my question is wrong or that my understanding of sin and sin nature was faulty. I propose that Adam was incapable of lying prior to the fall because the manifestation of sin, that is lying, requires a sin nature. We commit sin because we are sinful. In the garden Adam did not have a sin nature. He was innocent.

To clarify this, lets look at a possible lie Adam could have told and dig deep into it.

Adam could have told Eve, "I rode a Rhino today" when he had not done anything of the sort. This is a lie where he is trying to get Eve to think he was brave or even to get her to increase her desire for him. We lie like this all the time in small and big ways in our lives. We exaggerate our history to increase our prestige, or we gloat over small victories expanding them to make a better story.

We do this because we want to be respected, to be considered superior. Adam in the garden, did not have this flaw of the sinful nature. He truly loved Eve and his desire for her would have been to lift her up and not himself. He would not have considered lying, because the sinful desires that would have prompted that lie did not exist in his nature.

Their are many types of lies we tell, but the intent and desire that underlies those lies come from a nature that seeks our own glory, our own self preservation, our own rebellion from God. Adam, when he ate that apple, decided to take his life into his own hands instead of trusting in God. God created us in His image. We were intended to be other-focused, other-centric, good creatures of Love. When Adam put himself before God he became unnatural. Thereafter, all humanity became unnatural, corrupted, prone to committing acts of sin from their sinful nature. Each a betrayal of the Love and Goodness of God that deepens the stain of sin and further cements us as separated from God.

We are not good people that slip up and tell lies. We are rebels to God and we lie because it is what we are. Each lie darkening our rebellious nature a deeper shade of evil. We cannot do good because it is no longer in our species. When Adam fell, there was only sin. God must judge that sin. Yet He had a purpose in creating us and no creature in Heaven or Earth will thwart His will. His Love surpasses even our rebellion and at great personal sacrifice, He sent His beloved son, with no regard for His own concern, to take on the penalty for our sin. He experienced the full wrath of God on that cross, a willing sacrifice on our behalf. Now God's judgement has been satisfied and His Love also has been satisfied, in that if we trust in His son, he will give us a new life, the life of His son, eternal. For in Christ we die, yet we live, but not us, Christ lives in us and through us.

If you find yourself lying, look at the source. Are you glorifying yourself, protecting yourself, executing your plan for your life? Stop, confess your sin, repent, and seek the glory of God, trust God to protect you, follow His Will and then surely the goodness of God will follow you.

Thoughts on Love

How can you tell if you love someone?

The truest test of love is what do you want from the one loved? Are they there to meet some need or want that you have? True love wants nothing from the one loved. You seek to find ways to make their lives better, to fulfill their hopes and dreams, to make them happy. When you love someone, you are not concerned with what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. 

Do you love God? He loves you. 

The truest sign of the Christian life is the expression of love. Is it all about what God can do for you or what you can do for God? Do you love the lost? Are they as important to you as they are to God? Is the love of Christ in you? 

These can be tough questions. Our love can never reach the expression of love that Christ showed to us. Yet when we were made new, that transformed new life grafted us into Christ. That love so great now flows in us and through us and this gives us life. 

So love and be loved. You cannot do this on your own. Christianity is not a thing to do or some precepts to keep or doctrines to believe. It is a relationship with the living God. Love God. Seek Him and His glory. Let Him into your secret chambers where you plot and plan your life and let Him rewrite those plans. Seek Christ, Ask for His glory and receive His love. 

So, young man, do you love that young woman? Do you want her for what she does for you? Or do you want to serve her and be a blessing to her. 

So young lady, is he going to be Mr. Right for you or will you be Ms Right for him? Is he your chance for a happy life or your chance to make someone happy?

Wives submit to your husbands...

Husbands love your wives...

Children, Obey your parents in the Lord.

Small miracles

We are amazed by the big miracles. Impressive is as impressive does.

God doesn't work in big ways or small ways only. He works in all ways. His grace to us is to show us His handiwork in ways we can see. He directs our attention to what we need to see. When you are looking at a problem, do you see the Lord at work or the problem? Seek and you will find. 

So here is the small miracle today. God is at work right now. In every direction that you turn, He is working to the fulfillment of His will. From the keys on this keyboard to the judge's chambers of the Supreme Court, our God is in charge and His purposes will prevail. Trust in Him and follow His will.

God meets us where we are. If we aren't where we need to be, then walk with Him and He will get you there. Along the way, watch Him work and glorify Him through thanksgiving and praise. Keep it simple, keep it small. 

God be with you

I have been struggling since yesterday afternoon. I have been tempted to rely on my own wisdom and not trust in the Lord. As always the Lord is faithful. The lessons He has been impressing upon me, just got a more realistic example. I am in need to trust in Him all the more as my perception of the best scenario came shattering down. 

I heard today from someone at our church that they would be leaving. This is someone that I had come to trust. The Lord had worked through both him and his wife mightily to restore me to the church. Their patience, encouragement, and faithfulness are an expression of Christ's love. The Lord has called them to depart from our church organization. The Lord does not do these things lightly. In turn, this must be intended as a blessing both for them and us, as this is God's will. 

In there absence a void will be created in our church, a significant one at that. It is here that I pray the Lord is working. This void is a call to others in the church to step forward, to grow, and mature. The Lord has blessed Crosspoint with this family, and now God is calling on others to provide that blessing while sending our brothers and sisters to others where He has need of their faithfulness. 

He has been glorified and will continue to be glorified. I want to thank this family, and if you are reading this, then you know who you are. I pray and will continue to pray that the Lord will brightened your path and God's glory will be seen wherever He leads you. 

Never forget the cross

I wrote and deleted a rather long blog post tonight. 

It was about people who call themselves the leaders of the christian movement nationwide, but they are not. The world thinks they are, but the love of God is not in them. In my thoughts on this, I had to stop and dislodge a fairly large beam from my eye. 

I was upset to see them try to solve the problems of this world by worldly means labeled in christian terms.In expressing my thoughts on this and laying out my idea on how to solve this issue, I realized I was doing the same. 

"But for the grace of God, there go I." How easy it must be to trap men. These men were once devout men that went into these fields with great purpose. The devil is a viscous opponent and how he worked to deceive and played on their pride. I was wrong to criticize them as I did. We must pray for such men all the more that they have been given such a platform to sway the hearts of so many. 

God has allowed these men to represent the Church. What a wonderful opportunity for Him to display His power and change them. The christian church in America is falling apart. People are leaving in droves. The false gospel has taken its toll and when it no longer satisfies, the people seek a new experience. Nothing has changed in all the years from Christ to now. People need to see the love of God lived out faithfully in front of them. We are the vessels of His light to the world. We are an example of the gospel expressed. 

The rise of the Atheism movement has allowed for a clear line to be made visible. God has turned this country over to its desires, as this country has requested. In His grace he has allowed this nation to fall away. Now once again, the Light shines all the brighter in this new darkness. 

The tragic event in Charleston was disturbing. However, the response of true Christians shook the world. Christ was seen in that moment and so many were brought back to Him. When real Love is expressed through the work of the Holy Spirit in a believers life, it is power to convict of sin, to draw men to Christ and to redeem the lost. 

We don't need more laws. We don't need better plans. We don't need the schemes of politicians and the promise of a new movement. 

We need Christ. 

Christ alone saves.

Want to stop abortions? Live the gospel. We know that laws won't stop it. There were abortions before Roe v Wade. Want to stop Gay marriage? Spread the good news. Gays were here before the courts made their ruling. Want to stop predatory lending? Love the lost and downtrodden. Want to ease the problems of Prison populations? Pray that God would reach out to them. 

We must go to the lost and live among them. Paul didn't just tell people about the cross, he lived the cross. 

"For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." - I Cor 2:2 

Blue Belle Blessings

What a blessing a broken car can be.

My car has been in and out of the repair shop for the last month. It has actually spent more time at the shop than in my driveway. I am thankful that the Lord has provided me alternative transportation while I wait for the repairs to be completed. However, I have been so blessed by how I have gotten to witness the change he has wrought in me. Not once during this entire time have I gotten angry. This is not my nature. 
"When a problem comes around, you must bend it to your will or destroy it."  - Todd from days past.

I have always been a man of extremes. Feast or famine. All in or all out. Full speed or sound asleep. Burn the candle at both ends or enjoy the darkness...


God has been using this car to demonstrate the extremes. Even the problems it was having are a matter of extremes. When it started it sounded like a thousand sparrows on gerbil wheels trying to take flight. Once it got up to speed and warmed up the engine would go back to normal sounds. However, as I move it up to highway speed and new sound like steel balls on a grindstone would start coming up from the driver's side wheel. It was rather unnerving of an experience to drive that car. 

However, the Lord was my Shepard and there were no outward appearance of issues, no rattle, and no shimmy. So, being far from home and with a promised companion to assure safe delivery, I turned over the trip into His hands and relied upon Him to get us both safely home. 


The Lord was faithful and that ride home was a true blessing. We both got to share how God was working in our lives and experience His faithfulness together. 


I can report now the root cause of the car troubles. First, the bird sounds was cause by the new serpentine belt that was from the wrong manufacturer. It was fine to be in the car, but cheap and prone to making those bird sounds. It would have worn out much sooner than the quality belt that was ordered. They are replacing that. The grinding noise was caused by the flap that directs the air around the tire. When they replaced the axle, someone didn't fasten that back properly and when it got to highway speeds the flap would rub against the tire. So these great big problems that sounded like a car was going to fall apart were nothing more than empty noises, signifying nothing. My friend and I were never at any risk during the trip. 

This is how Christ meets us. God is the only true mechanic, and when we see things that happen in our life, we are prone to respond like its the end of the world. Yet if we trust in our Mechanic, then we know he would never put us on the road with a faulty life. Sometimes he gives us those warning sounds to let us know that we need to keep the engine running and go at his pace. Not so slow that we never get where He is leading us and not to fast that we overrun His plan for our lives. He leads us as the good Shepard, prodding us when we need to move and hooking us to pull us back to His flock. 

Thank you Lord for the blessing of faulty cars. 

Today's Lesson

People at work know about my daughter, my mother, my other family members. Do they know I also have a relationship with another member of my family, namely Jesus? He is an integral part of my life. He is with me in every moment. He is not just hanging out, but He should be living through me. So many times, I still take the controls and try to guide my ship to His destination only to run it ashore in frustration. 

He is patient and when I learn to trust in his guiding hands to navigate my life, I see endless blessings. Last week, the Lord work wonders. Even through the trials with my car that remains "unfixable" His grace was there. I can still feel the struggle as I rove Him with Stephen from work. We both experiencing our need to rest in Lord and not upon our own wisdom. In trusting Him we received peace and what a great time to minister to each other that road trip became. 

The trial of the grinding wheel, gave both of us an opportunity to place our trust in the Lord and see His faithfulness through to getting us home. Yet I think sometimes it is easier to give the big things over to the Lord and not the many small things. It is often a small thing that makes us feel we have the power to deal with it. The faith we have in the Lord when our lives are on the line is one thing. Expressing that faith when the only thing on the line is a misplaced word or misdirected emotion is where I want the Lord to lead me. 

Faith like a mustard seed can move mountains and toss mulberry bushes into the sea. Faith in the little things is gift to those that wait upon the Lord. Lord, give me the grace to walk more closely with you and to shine Your light into the crevices and the corners. Teach me to trust in you with the moments in my life, not just the momentous events. Live through me, that others might see you and not this fleshy shell that fails you. Apart from you I can do nothing. 

Sunday Recap

I had a great time today leading the Sunday school class. There was a part in the middle where I got lost in my train of thought and I was so thankful that the others in my class filled in the space and allowed me time to recover. 

I can see where my calling to preach is so much more different than teaching. If I get the opportunity again, I hope that I can learn from this experience and grow in my ability to lead a class facilitation. 

That being said, the Lord really spoke to me in that class. After all the work in preparation, He had so much more to share. It is truly amazing how deep the scriptures can be. 

I really need to find a way to serve my church on a regular basis. I have been trying to figure out what I can do within the restraints that my life dictates. This blog is intended to supplement a little by providing an interaction point. I just haven't found a way to share my blog that doesn't sound self centered. "Hey everyone, check out my blog". I'll trust the Lord to open those opportunities.

I am avoiding social media, however, I know this is popular among members of my church. Perhaps, I should join Facebook again. I so disliked the invasive nature of the site. Twitter is well, almost the definition of foolish talk. It is not intended for true interactions. This will require some waiting upon the Lord. I will follow where he leads. 

Salvation to the next generation

Just a short note. God has been faithful and full of tender-kindness. Tonight he blessed me to share in leading my daughter to salvation in Christ. 

His kingdom come, His will be done. All hail the King of Glory!! Amen!

Lord and Savior

Is submission a work?
Is belief a work?

How is believing in Jesus different than believing in Santa Claus?

I can write a list of things I want for Christmas, I can put the cookies and the milk out on Christmas eve. I can genuinely think that Santa is real and live a life that reflects this belief. How is this belief not the same?

You might say that Santa isn't real. I would counter that Saint Nicklaus lived in Turkey and was a real person. Who am I to argue with the historical record. The difference between believing that Santa is real and believing in Santa is difference that matters. You can send that list and you can put out those cookies. Yet until Santa comes into your house and delivers those gifts and consumes the cookies and milk, your belief is nothing more than wishful thinking. You cannot make Santa your Lord. You cannot give him your life. You cannot "take up your sleigh and follow Santa." 

Jesus is not a mythological being that people have bet their eternity on. (although to some He has become this) He is God incarnate. Unlike Santa, he interacts with His believers. Christians follow Him, walk with Him, live in Him. It is not about thinking some list of facts are true. It's not about saying the magical words and you get saved. 

When a sinner encounters God through the prompting of His Spirit, he is convinced of the goodness/rightness/holiness of God. He becomes equally aware of how he has transgressed God's law and opposed God's will. This convicts the sinner of his sin, God reveals His just wrath to the sinner. Then through the testimony of the gospel, he reveals His love and mercy through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus who died and took onto Himself all the sins that man committed. The man is then offered eternal life, if he believes in Jesus. This believing in Jesus means he accepts God's offer of salvation. This includes being crucified with Christ so that you might live, not by your flesh, but by the power of God expressed through His Holy Spirit.

Faith is the conviction of things not seen. It is the assurance of things hoped for. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By faith, he lived as an alien. By faith, Noah prepared the Ark. By faith, Sarah conceived. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac. 

True faith results in a confession. A confession is not empty, parroted words. It is an outward expression of a new conviction. When the word of God explains that you confess must Jesus as your Savior, it's not giving you a checklist of things to do. If you confess, the meaning her is that this is an outward expression of an inward change. You are publicly declaring your new allegiance from which there is no turning back. The word of God doesn't need to explain in a subsequent verses that you have to "really really" mean it. God deals in truth. When everyone is trying to make their point and it gets down to technical points, we get so close to the words that we lose sight of the Word. 

When did you deny yourself? Have you taken up the cross? daily? Do you follow Him? 

When did you die? When were you reborn? 

A dying man doesn't need to work at his death. Salvation is a gift, that gift includes a new creation, a rebirth. A new self and one day a new body. This new self wars with the flesh that remains corrupt in this world. Sanctification is the renewing of the new self into the likeness or image of Christ. 

Surrendering your life to Christ is the other side of the coin to believing on Jesus. When you turn from sin, you turn to Christ. When you die (Col 3:3), you are reborn in Christ and are hidden with Christ in God. Hidden by the blood of Jesus. Sealed by the Spirit until the day when Christ is revealed and comes into His inheritance. 

Can Christians commit sins? Yes. But this is no longer their nature. They have the flesh which longs to resurrect the old self. Thus our need to renew our minds, our new selves and live out our faith each day anew. Deny, Carry, Follow.

A Resting ride

I was listening today to a minister that the Lord has used many times in my life. He was sharing that the Hebrew concept of rest and the Greek concept of rest are vastly different. 

In the Greek concept, resting is lying still with little to no movement. An image comes to mind of lying in a hammock by a still pond with a cup of tea to calm the nerves. A pond mind you and not a stream or brook because that is not still. 

This is not the concept of resting as would have been understood by the Hebrew. Resting is more like everything running smoothly without needing you to interact. Coming home when there is no leaky faucet or overflowing trashcan. A car that doesn't have a clicking sound at 55 mph. A computer that boots up and doesn't need to get an update. Resting is everything working as intended and doesn't require your maintenance to continue. 

When God rests on the seventh day, he is not lying in repose. He is enjoying the goodness of it as all of nature operates smoothly as he intended. Resting is directly linked to goodness. When God spoke at the end of each day that "It was very good". It wasn't just a declaration of how it made him feel. It was a description of the nature of its existence. He made it very good. It functioned in a way that worked well with itself. Everything was in an order to be functioning smoothly. Each day he added and increased the complexity and yet He maintained the goodness of His creation. 

Thus on the seventh day, He could rest and enjoy the goodness of it. When God commands the Sabbath rest, He is not saying do nothing on Saturday or Sunday. He is asking us to enjoy His goodness toward us. We struggle each day with the endless little things that need our attention. The things that steal our time and our restfulness; The car that is broken down, the coworker that got on our nerves, the family disagreement, or some other distraction that requires us to work or tinker. Even now, when I consider the curse placed on Adam, that he would have to weed his garden. That is the curse where there is no rest. There is no rest for the wicked. 

When we find peace with God and follow Christ. He brings us to a continual place of rest. When we rely on Christ to live through us, we can rest in his power and grace. This rest is not one built on relaxing or laying down, but of walking and following. It is peace is like a river, and it is well with my soul.

So offer those struggles to the Lord and trust in Him. Rest in His power to do great things. 

Peace like a river

Rivers have always been a bit of a mystery to me. All that water flows and never seems to stop. That is, unless the river loses contact with its source. 

Today, I shared my testimony with my church family. Their love connected me back once again to that source. The peace of the Lord that flows through his body the church is refreshing. Home is where the heart is and what a peaceful home it is.

New beginnings

This is the first of a series of posts that will outline my testimony. I will cover events where God worked in my life to lead me to salvation or to lead me back to Christ. 

My walk with the Lord started with a misstep and it was a douzie. As a child I was sent to a vacation bible school as was common. In those days, a VBS was an all day event. You were dropped off in the morning and picked up after your parents got off work. Now a days, it seems like most are after hours and shorter. 

All week, we played and were taught the bible. There was usually a theme or a book of the bible we went over. I have long forgotten the lessons of the VBS when I was seven. What I do remember was the end of each day. After a day of bible studies and directed play there was an altar call. Soft music played from the piano and the preacher gave an urgent call. At first none of us went forward. No one wanted to be first. I don't remember now who was first, but I clearly recall the response. The child was celebrated by the adults. He was pulled aside and had a special meeting with the Pastor. Other grown ups called him brother and welcomed him to the family.  

I felt like an outsider in my own church. The next day, more went up and they all got the same response. All the more, I desired the adulation of the adults. So the following day, I pulled aside one of my friends and ask what happened. They explained what they were told, the time with the pastor and the questions he asked. They gave me the answers to the questions and knowing what was going to happen, I felt safe to move forward at the altar call. 

I was nervous when he gave his call. Should I go at the beginning? Should I wait till later? What if I wait to long? These were my thoughts when I went forward. They were not those of someone being called by conviction of sin. Although I apologized for my sin, I did not repent that day. Al though I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and made a commitment to follow him, these were just the requirements to convince the gate keeper of salvation, that is to say, to make sure I could get the stamp of approval by the pastor. If he said I was saved, who would question him. After the prayer, I walked out of his office into my mother's arms. "I accepted Jesus into my heart Mom", I lied. Her happy eyes and the pastor's confirmation locked me a new life. An insincere life that would follow me through out my youth. 

Later in my childhood, the Spirit of God would convict me of sin, but I would do no more than apologize to God for that sin and rededicate my life. Yet I would always fall short of placing my life in God's hands. I kept it firmly in my control. God would have to accept the scraps of my selfishness and be happy with that. I genuinely felt sorry, but I never thought I was all that bad. 

For this reason, I worry about the children growing up in the church. How much they need the message of James. They grasp the message of grace without actually accepting God's grace. How many of the citizens of our churches have had this conversion. 

If a man says he has faith, but doesn't live according to that faith, has he actually believed. What use does anyone get out of professing a faith in Christ, if they don't experience the transformation that comes with truly believing. When someone truly believes, they are reborn, They are inhabited by the Spirit of God and have new life. Christ by His Spirit in us, lives through us, (Gal 2:20) to the glory of God our Father. 

Quiet day

So happy to have a nice quiet day today. I was blessed with peace around the house and a time to recuperate after the long week. Looking for ward to Church tomorrow.  What a strange thought after all these years. I pray that I would yield to the Spirit  of God tomorrow and bring glory to Christ and God our Father. I mustn't muscle faith, but surrender to the mighty Lord to lead me. Not my life but His.  

Something more Worthy

Some verses to read prior to reading this post. Listed in order of how I will discuss them:
Genesis 22:1-19
Isaiah 6
Genesis 4:1-7
John 4:19-26

I have been revisiting the last post and I think I was wrong and incomplete on my thoughts regarding worship. In reading the passages above, I have come to realize that there are 4 main components of Worship.

1. Invitation
a. God summons the worshiper to come worship
2. Preparation
a. The worshiper must prepare themselves or become clean through a form of sacrifice or offering
3. Communion
a. God reveals Himself to the worshiper and the worshiper ascribes worth to God. There is a recognition and expression of that understanding toward God.
4. Covenant
a. God enters into a covenant that cements the communion and blesses the worshiper.

“Here I am”

Beginning with Abraham, we see the four parts laid out. It begins with a call to Abraham to offer Isaac as an offering. He gets his son and servants and heads straight out to the place God commanded him to go. When he gets there, Abraham offers his son as a burnt offering. He sets in his heart to put God first. It is here that God acknowledges Abraham’s intent toward Him and allows the communion with Himself. Out of that communion God blesses Abraham and establishes the covenant.

This is a living analogy of Worship. Abraham is stating by his actions that he assess God’s worth to be higher than anything on earth. He places his hope, his heart, his most precious child on the altar as an offering to God. He is valuing God above all else. By doing so, Abraham is placing God on the throne of his heart. Only in this way can he commune with God. He has removed the thing that would come between them.

So as I went through I wanted to look at what the invitation looked like. So I turned to what I consider the most terrific invite, God’s call to Isaiah. However, this did not turn out like I thought. Isaiah is summoned, not just invited. God pulls him up to His throne room suddenly. Isaiah is brought before the Throne of God, and he is not prepared. God has invited him, but there is sin between him and the Lord. Isaiah must confess his sin first and with the help of a seraph, offers his lips as a burnt offering to the Lord. After this the Lord and Isaiah commune and they enter into a covenant.

After seeing this, I went to look for the first instance of an offering to see if it was related to worship and here I found the lesson of Cain and Abel. Abel’s offering was pleasing to the Lord and Cain’s was not. The reason was not the offering, but the nature of the offering. Abel offered what was precious to him and Cain only went through with what he had to do. This wasn’t the best of Cain’s crops. Cain was sacrificing what he could afford to lose. That offering did nothing to draw him closer to God. Yet still God instructs Cain and warns him. He extends grace to Cain.

It is important to be prepared for Worship. I must look at my sacred things and determine if they are between me and the Lord. What do I need to place on the altar?

Yet we have good news. We no longer need to build altars or make burnt offerings anymore. Now we can worship in Spirit and in Truth. Christ was sacrifice on the altar for us. He was the lamb that was slain so the child could be saved. Yet there is a throne in our hearts where Christ has been placed. We can now enter the throne room of God through Christ and worship our Father who is in spirit.

Now, there is an open door policy to the throne room of God. Christ has prepared the way. Christ has removed all the obstacles between us and the Father. We can commune directly with the Father. We can worship Him. Now when we place our offerings on the altar it is not just out of obligation, but out of love. They can be pure offerings as God intended from the beginning. The need for offerings remains as much as ever, since we still allow things to come between us and the Lord. The difference now is that we have an open invitation. At any time we can confess our sin, and come before God to commune with Him.

Worthship

I have been thinking for a long time about the concept of worship. There is something underlining my basic concept of God and Christianity that has made it difficult to understand some parts of the bible. I think the following question highlights the issue and has helped me clarify my mental block and difficulty.

Why does God need his ego stroked by our praise? 

That question feels crass but I had to ask it that way to bring out the issue for myself. When we see people in our lives that crave others recognition and demand it, we find them to be self-centered and egotistical. Yet throughout the bible we see prophet, poet, and apostle encourage us to praise God. The largest book of the bible is devoted to praising God. Why are we told to praise Him. Why does God need us to praise Him. Why does he need and even command our worship. This just gives the feeling that there is something lacking in God that He needs us to worship Him to make Him feel better. 

Genesis 22:5
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

Worship here is a sacrifice. A gift to God not because God needs it, but because we need to give it up. We need to surrender the things that we treasure more than God. Worship brings us closer to God so that He can bless us according to His will. Worship of God opens the door for God manifesting His love for us.
Just to note, that in the New Testament, the first mention of Worship was the three wise men seeking the baby Jesus so that they might worship Him; offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

So worship begins with an offering. Something precious and valuable to the worshiper. Something given so that the worshiper can have less things separating themselves from the object of their adoration. When I approach God, is there something of this world that I am holding onto? Something that I desire more than him? I must bring this as an offering. This is how to worship. This removes the obstacles that keep me from my Lord. That draws me nearer to Him. Thus I get to know Him more. Knowing Him, leads inexorably to Praise. The purpose of worship is not Praise, Praise is the result of worship. The purpose of worship is to build a relationship with God.

Praise Him on high.

So when I think of the hero "worship" and the celebrity "worship" of our day, this is a poor picture of the real thing. God has since the beginning wanted nothing more than the best for us. The best thing for us is a relationship with our creator. That desire to be near Him, to be want to be close and spend our lives with Him is an attitude called worship whose act of worship is a surrender/sacrifice of our old self, the desires of this world, and the sinful nature of our former lives. 

Worship is not for God's benefit but our own. Praise is the outcome of worship as we discover His Worthiness. This highlights all the more for me, the importance of prayer and spending time with God. 

When thinking along these lines, it paints a less than flattering picture of God. There must be a misunderstanding on my part of both praise and worship. So as with all questions about God, I went to the source material to find out what bible has to say. I always start at the beginning. What is the first mention of Worship or Praise in the bible?

Abraham was being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of his beloved son and he called it worship. Worship here is an offering, a sacrifice to God. We see Abraham obeying his Lord and giving up his future. Reading on in this passage, we can see a description of the worship Abraham was going to perform. He builds and altar. He binds his son, the hope of his future, Abraham's life, the most precious earthly thing, and places him on the altar to be given to the Lord. Once Abraham commits to giving up his son, God steps in and stops the sacrifice and gives Abraham a ram to die for his son. Then God rewards the worship by blessing Abraham with the promise that his children will outnumber the stars and all nations will be blessed through his seed.

In rage or in Christ

Today was a tough day for me. I struggled in and out of short bursts of what I would call rage. This is unusual for me. I know I had some issues with my medicine and sleep was fitful last night. These are reasons I was more susceptible to anger, but not entirely the reason. The anger was triggered by  my work peers not meeting my expectations. I find myself repeating instructions and conversations over and over again. A push from other areas to get me to do their work for them, instead of them taking ownership of the work assigned to them. I should say, they are asking me to bend the rules in their favor. They keep at me trying to wear me down instead of accepting my previous instructions to the contrary. Align this with requests to defend a policy that I was enforcing by the manager that asked me to enforce that policy. He had subsequently changed his mind but had not informed those of us that were following his instructions of the changed.

"I know I sent an email..."

It was a struggle of a thousand points of frustration. Needle here and needle there. I would like to say I was victorious and that I trusted in the Lord. I did not. I tried to handle the issue. I tried to juggle all the issues and pokes and prods and eventually popped. The Lord's grace was there. He beckoned me to get away and get alone with him. I excused myself from the office and took my long overdue break and took a moment to pray. 

Why was I angry Lord? I was defending my kingdom on this earth and not His. I was fighting to be right and to be the solver of problems. I was trying to be a hero, the hero. I was getting frustrated because I was failing. I was failing because I was working in my own power. 

In the moment with the Lord, he always reminds me of this verse:

Isaiah 9:6

King James Version (KJV)
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I am reminded every time by this verse that This child that was sent, our Lord Jesus Christ will take over the government of our lives. 

• When we serve our Prince, He brings Peace. 
• If I look at this needles not as problems but instead opportunities to serve my Lord and my coworkers then I can rely on this Wonderful Counselor to guide me, 
• this mighty God to strengthen me in the inner man, 
• this Father to direct my path so that when I am in these struggles, I can know where to go. 

In order to lead, I must follow. In order to glorify God, I must not seek my own glory. Service is the christian's expression of love. 

Father, thine is the kingdom.

By hook or crook

Acts 9:5
King James Version (KJV)
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

The Lord is patient. He has extended a length of patience to me beyond more than I could have hoped. Two decades of drifting turned to running, turned to rowing, turned to blindness, and yet I sought the wisdom of this world. Yet He waited patiently. He allowed my mind to uncover all that the world has to offer and in slaking my thirst at the well of human understanding, He let me see my need for His sustaining water of life.

Ecclesiastes 12:11-14
King James Version (KJV)
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

This Blog will have one purpose: Giving glory to God the Father. I pray that the Lord will use the gifts given to me to share from what He has walked me through to help point hearts and minds to Him.

Psalm 23:4
King James Version (KJV)
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Todd