True Worship of God

Wednesday, November 27, 2013, 6:58 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:

My Jesus, My Savior / Michael W. Smith

My Jesus, My Saviour,

Lord there is no one like you,

All of my days, I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love.

My comfort, my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath, all that I am

Never cease to worship You…

Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read James 1 (ESV).

Joy

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds… V. 2

Do you ever have trouble counting it all joy when you face trials and tribulations? I know I sometimes do, because I occasionally lose my focus, and I need to be redirected. Yet, we should never confuse external or temporal happiness with joy, especially happiness which comes from indulgence in self-pleasure. One can be joyful and at peace with their circumstances while still sorrowful due to human loss, suffering and pain. Joy is more of an attitude of heart and mind which determines to rise above the circumstances, to accept God’s sovereign will, to look for the good that can and will come from it, and which chooses to keep an eternal outlook and perspective despite the difficulties of life. True joy in our lives comes from the Lord, and not from our own flesh, as we choose to yield to and accept his purposes in our lives. Happiness is often based in our circumstances, whereas joy is based in the Lord Jesus Christ, irrespective of what is going on around us.

Steadfastness

…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Vv. 3-4

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. V12

When we are steadfast, we are resolute, committed, dedicated, determined, persistent, loyal, faithful, trustworthy, dependable and unwavering. I can attest from personal experience that these are not sustainable in our flesh, because our flesh is weak. Yet, in the Spirit of God we can be steadfast in our faith. I can also attest to the fact that this is learned through suffering and the testing of our faith, as we choose to yield to the wisdom of God in our circumstances, and we choose to not respond according to the flesh. Jesus, for the joy of our salvation set before him, endured the cross. When we keep our eyes, minds and attitudes set on Jesus Christ and the salvation of lives, and on loving others with his love, in the Spirit within us we can remain steadfast in persevering in our faith even despite severe persecution, rejection, abandonment and the fear of death for our witness for Christ.

Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Vv. 5-8

When we pray for wisdom from above, and God clearly speaks to our hearts in very tangible ways, so that there is no doubt but what he has answered us, and we are certain it is God who is speaking, because the wisdom is supported and not contradicted by the teachings of scripture, then we should trust that wisdom and hold on to what he has told us without wavering back and forth in indecision. Why pray for wisdom and then end up doing what we want to do anyway? Why do we have such difficulty trusting God’s voice? Certainly we should make certain it is God’s voice, as there are many voices in this world speaking to us, and most usually just the opposite of God’s wisdom, but then we should follow the wisdom God gives to us, and believe him to work everything out for his purposes and for our good.

Humility

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Vv. 9-11

We may be physically poor or of low esteem in the eyes of humans, and yet we can be rich in faith, joy, peace, love, etc., in our Lord Jesus Christ. Or, we may be rich in the eyes of humans with regard to material possessions, and yet our true richness is not in the things of this world but in our humble submission to God’s providence over our lives. I find that snobbery is not something unique to the rich, for it exists, as well, in the poorest of poor, because we are all flesh, i.e. we are all human no matter our status in life or the amount of money in our purses. True richness and true humility are of the Spirit, and not of the flesh of man, and in that we can all rejoice! The things of this world are fading away and they will all die out. A person is truly rich who realizes this and who has the correct perspective about earthly things, and who lays up treasures in heaven instead of on the earth.

Temptation

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Vv. 13-15

I don’t believe all temptation is rooted in our own conscious and/or willful fleshly or sinful desires raging within us, though much is. Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan, and Jesus was without sin, yet he was flesh, too. Sometimes Satan will try to tempt us to do things that we have not even thought of, and perhaps the temptation there is more to get us to come over to his way of thinking, or to appeal to our flesh in general. And we are susceptible because we live in flesh bodies, so we must be on guard against all temptation which comes our way. Yet, much temptation presents itself to us because it is what our willful flesh desires, and so we are more easily lured and enticed, oftentimes because we are not fully armed with God’s spiritual armor, and/or because we are playing with fire and we are “testing fate,” i.e. willfully putting ourselves in harm’s way (a dangerous situation), thus making it inevitable that we will eventually give in.

Unchanging

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

God does not tempt us to sin, so we should never blame God when we are tempted. And, we should never get angry with God when we give in to temptation. If we sin, it is our own fault, and no one else’s. Others may contribute to our temptation, but we choose to sin. All that comes from God is good and is heavenly. He doesn’t change like humans do. He doesn’t say something is a sin one time and then later on tell us it is not a sin. His word does not change nor is it to be altered with the passing of time or with change in culture or political climate change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen! We can always depend upon him to be God, and for his word to remain steadfast and true. He gave us new life in Christ Jesus by the word of truth, and in that truth we should always remain.

Listening

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Vv. 19-20

I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of this frequently, in particular the parts about being quick to listen and slow to speak. I pray often that the Lord Jesus will remind me to listen more and speak less, or to at least be sensitive to know when to speak and when to keep silent. I don’t need to hear myself talk. I want my lips to be ones that speak truth, the word of God, praise and thanksgiving, honor and respect, love and admiration, as well as counsel, wisdom, guidance and direction of the Spirit and of the word of truth.

Doers

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Vv. 21-27

Before we can even take in the word of truth into our lives we must first put away all filthiness from our lives, which hinders the word of truth from being implanted into our lives. How can we possibly take in the spirit of the truth into our hearts and minds and apply its truths if we are willfully and knowingly involved in what is filthy and what is wicked? The two don’t mix. Yet, oftentimes believers in Jesus Christ will take in hours upon hours of filth via TV, movies, video games, the Internet, music, etc. and then give God a few minutes in reading his word and then wonder why they struggle with sin and why they seem to be going nowhere, and/or why they can’t seem to get anything out of the word. It is pointless to read the word of God if we are knowingly doing what is opposed to it, and so we read it and go away and just forget what we read. We have to apply its truths to our lives, and we have to persevere in doing what it says, and then we will be blessed!

My Jesus, My Savior - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSQvoinDE4