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News from December 2011

Worship!

December 23, 2011

Revelation 16

5…“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgements. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

9…they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

10…People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

As I read this passage, there are a couple things I am confronted with…the first being that God is completely just and He is completely love…in my own finite mind these two seem to contradict each other and in a passage like this…‘love’ isn’t what’s ringing clear for me… How could God in His love completely destroy those He loves, those He created… And how can I, in my incredibly limited human perspective and argument ever question God and His love and His judgements?

The second reality that I am confronted with is the response of those afflicted by God…it’s like they have a choice, a second chance to recognize God, recognize their sin, repent and glorify God…yet, they refuse and instead of worship and relationship they choose death and an eternity separate from the one who loves them… How often do I choose to live in a sense of death and separation from God rather than in worship and relationship…when I feel afflicted by God what is my response?

Can I honestly point my finger and place the blame on those who curse God, do I not also in my questioning and fear of God in the times I feel afflicted, do the same if my response is not one of worship?

How fickle my heart truly is, I seem to be reminded of this truth daily…I coast from one strong emotion to the next and my response in worship is far too dependant on the emotion of that moment…

Jesus I am sorry…help my heart to be steadfast towards you regardless of emotion, regardless of circumstance, regardless of anything…may my response to you always be worship…for you are worthy, you are to be high and lifted up – always! I pray this in your Name, Jesus, Amen.

Erin

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Stopped.

December 22, 2011

Revelation 15:3–4

“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Do you ever come across a passage of scripture that just sort of stops you? Like you’re reading along, and then all of a sudden something inside of you just sort of….stalls.

I couldn’t move past this passage this morning. It stopped me.

I think it stopped me for two reasons. The first is that the general thematic elements of this passage – the all-consuming Glory of God, his power, justice, righteousness…those are all things that I REALLY BELIEVE to be true…and yet I know that I still struggle with allowing the truth of them to affect my daily living.

I don’t question God’s glory, I don’t doubt His sovereignty….and yet I still try to control things, and work for my own Glory. I still stress about money and materialism…..

And I wish I wouldn’t.

The second reason why it stopped me I think is simply because of the mental picture here. I mean we have a sea of Glass and fire, with people all around it with harps singing this song…I mean it’s such an incredible vibrant picture of worship…

And I want to be a part of it.

So Jesus this morning, I simply have stopped…and in stopping you have reminded me yet again of the depravity of my heart…of my constant need to submit the desires of the world that seem so appealing to me so that YOUR glory can become my ultimate concern. In stopping you have touched me with the beauty of the majestic worship that will take place when all is made right…and although there is still so much mystery for me surrounding those things…I can say that I really am excited to spend my eternity worshipping you…

Thanks for stopping me today.

B.

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The Needs of Wisdom

December 15, 2011

Pr. 19:20

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

All throughout this chapter is a call to hear, listen carefully to, and apply the wisdom that God wishes to speak to us. Now on the surface this sounds like good advice – and it is good advice. However – its SUCH good advice…we could have a tendency to write it off as common knowledge – kind of an “of COURSE I should do that” attitude.

And the problem with that…is that WISDOM doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Before we can ever be listening to and applying wisdom in our lives, we need to have already done the work of positioning ourselves to be NEAR wisdom.

To be where Wisdom is.

Our growth in wisdom needs to be thought through and intentional. Am I surrounding myself with people who love Jesus? Am I posturing my heart in such a way that when these people are speaking to me…I’m listening? I’m seeking out wisdom?

Am I testing what I am hearing against scripture?

Am I praying that Jesus would continually shape and mold my heart?

Or…

Am I being selective as to the voices I’m listening to?

Am I only paying attention to people I agree with?

Am I not open to challenge?

Am I not really listening?

Wisdom has needs, if it is ever truly going to be applied in our hearts….and my prayer is that I would always be a man who postures myself towards wisdom, and that Gods voice, spoken to me in all the ways He chooses, would be the loudest and clearest voice I listen to.

Jesus, let it be.

B.

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Flawed.

December 13, 2011

” Disregarding another person’s faults preserves love; telling about them separates close friends”

Proverbs 17:9

Flawed.

Just another simple reminder that we are all created uniquely.

We all have quirks.

We all have flaws.

We are all wonderfully made.

We are all beautiful in God’s eyes.

We are all precious in God’s eyes.

We need to learn to see on another that way.

We need to learn to love one another despite flaws.

Sure, we all need to be challenged. We all need to push one another to be better; to grow. But we need to do it out of a place of love and grace.

How often in my life do people’s faults frustrate me?

How often in y life do I actually move past their faults and just love them?

Probably not as often as I should.

Father, help me to be more loving. Like you. I love you. Amen.

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Plans

December 12, 2011

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” Prov 16:3

I like to believe I have plans for my life – goals, ambitions, dreams…
There are many things I wish to fulfill in my life. But my worry is: are these God’s plans for my life too? Are my goals, ambitions and dreams part of God’s GREAT plan? How do I know?

LORD, I want to think about this for a while… You are the one who knows my heart more than I know it. I guess this morning my prayer is for your blessing over my life. Would my life be lead by you, my plans inspired by you, and my heart motivated by you. And God… when the plans I had start to change… I pray that I would continue to trust in you… May the plans that I have bring you honor and praise.

Amen.
Kelsey

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Thought for the Day

December 5, 2011

Thought for the day:

In my family, and a lot of other families, it seems that a lot of children have visited the Children’s Hospital lately. Joshua Michael Goerzen, Madelyn Gaudette, just to name two in my life right now. Both of them amazing miracles, a true taste of God’s healing power. This made me think about the people who work at Children’s. They see miracles and tragedies every…single…day… This then lead me to think about their hearts. It made me think if many of them believe in God, and if they pray to God for healing for the children as well… This also lead to me think about their own lives, and the personal trauma they experience when a child dies at the mercy of their hands. They did their best. But God had other plans…

Today God, I pray for those who work at Children’s Hospital. You have gifted the doctors and nurses with your amazing grace. When a child is sick, you want them at Children’s because we know they will be safe there. I pray for those workers today God, would they see your glory, would they turn to you when times are tough and would you continue to equip them with the strength they need each day to do what they do, to see what they see. No child should ever be sick, but we trust them in their hands… in your hands… Be with them today.

Amen,

Kelsey

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