:: To Worship Him ::

 

      “The sword shall never depart from your house.”  (2 Samuel 12:10)

 

   This is certainly not a word one would want to hear spoken about their home and family.  This word was given by the prophet Nathan to King David.  David’s son, Amnon raped Tamar, his half-sister, who hung out ‘desolate in her brother Absalom’s house as written in 2 Samuel 13:20.  This upset David greatly but he did nothing.  When his other son Adonijah staged a coup, David ‘never crossed him at any time by asking, ‘Why?’  This account is written in 1 Kings 1:6.  With his family crumbling around him, David should have taken authority over the situation.  It seems strange that David unified Israel, won wars, brought the Ark to Jerusalem and was outstanding in so many ways, yet he had a problem when it came time to bring peace and order in his household.  In 2 Samuel 15:30-33 we read the sad story of his son, Absalom’s untimely death.  David cried, “O my son….if only I had died in your place!” 

 

   This stirred my attention when I heard someone point out the absence of David praying for his household and family.  I can’t recall ever reading where he mentioned his family in his prayers.  Apparently nothing is ever recorded of such.  It’s as if they never existed and the price David pays is reflected in how he spent his last days.  When he was facing death, instead of sending for his wife and children, his servants hired ‘a …young woman…and she cared for the king.’  (1 Kings 1:3-4)  I’m sure David payed his price and learned too late, something we all must face.  Our number one duty is developing a vibrant relationship with our Lord.  Our number two duty is in loving, caring and praying for our family.  Our spouses and children are our most precious possessions.  We must never neglect to guard them with our prayers and our love.  We may not always think they deserve it, but we haven’t always deserved our Saviors love either.

 

 

   “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”  (Colossians 3:8)

 

   I saw a psychologist on TV the other day discussing anger, its effects and cause.  He said the root issue is fear and the physical symptom is control.  When one who is a controller is not allowed to control others and situations, then they get angry because of unmet expectations.  I know when I have allowed myself to get caught up into frustration and anger because of circumstances beyond my control, I have two choices.  Either I go along with the misery and price that I must pay for getting out of sorts, or release it and go about my business.  I have learned it is definitely not worth getting worked up about anything. 

 

   In Romans 6:11 we read “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  It is certainly a choice that we each must make.  Once we make the decision and choose not to allow situations to control us, then we are free to change those situations.  We loose God’s hands to work in that area.  Unless we release Him to change us, then we will forever remain stuck in those things that Paul talks about in the Colossian passage. 

 

   Our prayer should be to continually free God’s hand to point out areas that we must release to Him for His help.  The more we release to Him, the freer we become.

 

 

 

   My, my, Thanksgiving 2007 already!  So much to be thankful for!  So much the Lord has done for me and mine this year.  Never enough words to express my gratitude to the One who loves me most.  Prayers by others that I thought noteworthy.

 

O God, when I have food,

help me to remember the hungry. 

When I have work,

help me to remember those who have no home at all.

When I am without pain,

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering,

help me to destroy my complacency;

bestir my compassion,

and be concerned enough to help;

By word and deed,

those who cry out for what we take for granted.

Amen.

 

Samuel F. Pugh

 

Give me a good digestion, Lord, and also something to digest;

Give me a healthy body, Lord, and sense to keep it at its best.

Give me a healthy mind, good Lord, to keep the good and pure in sight;

Which seeing, sin, is not appalled, but finds a way to set it right.

 

Give me a mind that is not bound, that does not whimper, whine or sigh.

Don’t let me worry overmuch about the fussy thing called “I.”

Give me a sense of humor, Lord; give me the grace to see a joke,

To get some happiness from life and pass it on to other folk.

 

Thomas H.B.Webb

 

Thank You, thank You, thank You, generous God!

You have injected life with joy, thus we know laughter.

You have dabbed creation with color, thus we enjoy beauty.

You have whistled a divine tune into the rhythm of life, thus we hear music.

You have filled our minds with questions, thus we appreciate mystery.

You have entered our hearts with compassion, thus we experience faith.

 

Thank You, God, Thank You.  Thank You!

 

C. Welton Gaddy

 

 

 

 

 

   “When the prince enters, he shall go by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way.  But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate…No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out.”  (Ezekiel 46:8-10)

 

   God stressed to Ezekiel that the people of Israel were to leave the Temple area through a different gate than they had entered.  According to a traditional interpretation, God was saying that leaving through a different gate demonstrated that they had been changed by their encounter with Him.  They were different than when they entered because of His presence. 

 

   We would hope that rings true when we attend church services, prayer meetings or in our private prayer closet.  When we spend any time with God it should make an impact on our lives.  We should never remain status quo but leave a different person for the better.  When Moses had his encounter with the Lord, he was dramatically changed, so much that he had to cover his face with a veil.  (Exodus 34:29-35)  When we spend any time with the Lord, our faces should shine as well.  The opposite is to leave God’s presence without any significant changes, carrying the same burdens, plagued with the same problems, filled with the same fears, with no inspiration from His Word.  When there is not change, there is no victory, no gain, peace or joy. 

 

   In order to enjoy and benefit from our time spent alone with God, we must seek and look for the most intimate time and relationship with Him.  We must develop the closest friendship with our Lord, sharing our feelings and fears, and asking Him for help.  We need to expect change; and if we seek with all our heart, we surely will find Him waiting to bless us. 

  

 

         ”For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”  (Malachi 3:2b)

 

   Elena Bonner, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, says that as he wrote his memoirs, she typed, edited, and nursed the work, doing everything she could to make sure it survived seizure by the government.  Sakharov worked on his memoirs in Gorky, rewriting sections because they kept vanishing.  Then one day he met Elena at the train station and with trembling lips told her, “They stole it.”  She says he looked like a man who had just learned of the death of the closest of friend.  But after a few days, Sakharov returned to his work.  According to his wife, each time he rewrote his memoirs there was something new–something better.

 

   The Lord has certain ways of preparing His people for service.  His goal is to turn our lives upside down, inside out and refine us into jewels and the most precious metals.  In Malachi 3:3-4, the Word says “He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.  Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.”  The refiner’s fire accomplished its purpose and work when the heat is turned up to extremely high temperatures.  It breaks down the metal in order for it to become moldable and able to shape.  The work is not fully accomplished until the temperatures reaches a certain high level. 

 

   So it is in our lives.  We had rather not have to go through the process but until we do there is no gain.  As the saying goes, ‘no pain, no gain.’   Trials will surely come and we will always have to go back to the process of life as Sakharov did.  He continued to write and rewrite, even though discouraged.   Discouragement will surely come to us after our losses and trials,  but as we allow the Lord to do His work, our rough edges will be softened.  Our job, as someone said, is to avoid trying to blow out the fire.  Good point!