ApprehendingGrace.com

The History of a Nation and
Guidance for the Newly Formed Churches

Kings, Kings and More Kings
We will spend the bulk of our Old Testament reading First and Second Kings. Don’t lose sight of the message in the succession of kings and their exploits. The two overriding messages in the books of Kings are:

• God is faithful and His people (i.e., us and our forefathers) continually turn away from Him. In the book of Kings, we see his judgement ultimately play out in the exile of the Israelites to Babylon.
• Nations follow their leaders. We will see again and again that the spiritual climate of the Israelites very much followed that of their leader.

We’ll follow up our reading in First and Second Kings with the book of Ruth – a book that is all about courage, faithfulness and redemption. Many see it as a love story, but it is so much more than romance. It is the courage of a young woman, the faithfulness of God and the redemption of God’s people. That makes it a great book to cleanse our palates after reading Kings.

Forming a New Nation of Believers
As we read the books of Kings, we’ll also read what is commonly referred to as the “Pastoral Epistles” – the last writings of Paul, which are letters to Timothy and Titus. These letters provide instruction and guidance about caring for and protecting the newly born churches. The letters focus on church life, as well as leadership qualifications and responsibilities. The recurring themes in these books is keeping true to sound doctrine and living a life of godliness.

While it may seem that we are reading these books out of order (we’ll read 1 Timothy, then Titus, then 2 Timothy), this is the order in which they were written. 2 Timothy is widely believed to have been written shortly before Paul’s execution in AD 66-67. As you read this last letter of Paul’s keep in mind what he penned in chapter 4:

⁶As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. ⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. ⁸And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return.

There was a time when I didn’t much like the Apostle Paul. Now, I want to be like him when I grow up. How about you?

Blessings as you read this month. May God speak to your heart and spirit.

The recommended reading schedule is below.

To download a PDF of September’s recommended reading plan, click here.

Me & God Today
The truth is that my prayer life has been declining for awhile. Yet God is so good. He graciously continues to speak to me and to protect and love me. Yet slowly, I was allowing the world to grab my attention and it was pulling me away from God. Yet , God is so good – even when I drift farther away, He pursues me.

This morning, after reading my Bible, I began to update my to do list with new things that needed my attention today. While doing so, God prompted me to put three items of prayer on the list. I don’t usually put prayer items on my to do list, but this morning, I recognized God’s prompting and added the three items to the right of the things I needed to do today.

Let me again say that God is very good. I said that “I recognized” God’s prompting, but I don’t mean to take credit for it – all credit belongs to God, even the credit for me recognizing His promptings. His prompting was so strong, that thankfully, I paused while making the list to actually pray for the items! Making a note to pray, or saying that we’ll pray, and actually praying are radically different things. This morning I paused to pray about the items.

One of the three issues I prayed about related to a new endeavor in our business. We were moving ahead and I was beginning to be uncomfortable about the direction we were taking. So I prayed and asked for guidance. About two hours later, a totally new idea came to my mind that makes SO much more sense than the other direction we were headed. It is less expensive, has less risk, doesn’t impact customer service, and if it results in lower quality I won’t have lost anything for having tried the approach.

God is so good! He prompted me to pray, I prayed, and He answered.

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
John 16:24 (Jesus is speaking)

Phil & God Today
I went upstairs to tell my husband about the new direction and the goodness of God. After listening to my story, he had his own to tell. His prayer life has also been declining and this morning he was feeling prompted to pray. He began by opening his Bible t read a few chapters, but found himself in an Old Testament book that is sometimes dry and factual – not a place where we hear from God easily. But he prayed, expressing his desire to continue reading from where he had last left off and his desire for God to speak to him. He read seven verses before God responded to the prayer! God began to speak to him about an area of his life that needs refreshing.

God is so good. He prompted Phil to pray, Phil prayed, God answered.

⁹“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11:9-10 (Jesus is speaking)

You & God Today?
God is so good! Today He saved Phil & I from ourselves by prompting us to pray – and we couldn’t be happier about it! May we encourage you to take those issues that are on your mind and those areas of your life that need His input and ask God to speak to you? He wants to hear from you, so don’t put it off. We’re really glad we didn’t.

The Israelites had the visible presence of the Lord to follow as they wandered in the wilderness. He appeared either as a pillar of cloud or fire. Those of us who trust Christ as our Savior have Him living in us and the Holy Spirit to lead us. Pillar of clouds or fire – visible and tangible; the Holy Spirit’s leading – invisible and usually intangible. How do you follow what you cannot see? How do you grasp what you cannot touch or feel? Let explore some answers to those questions.

Engage your faith.

¹Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ²This is what the ancients were commended for… ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:1, 2a, 6

We grasp the movement of God first by faith – by believing that He is within us and that He wants to teach and lead us. That means approaching Him with confidence that He will teach and lead – He will respond when we pursue Him. It means beginning each interaction with the Lord – whether worship, prayer, Bible study or service – reminding ourselves that He wants to speak to us and will speak to us if we attune our ears to hear Him.

It’s very easy for me to begin to read the Bible in the morning and be halfway through a chapter (or further) when I realize that I’m just reading. I’m not approaching it with an expectation that God will speak to me. There is a world of difference in what I hear from God when I simply read as opposed to when I ask Him to speak to me and I expect to hear from Him. (Even so, I am always surprised when I do hear from Him – how antithetical is that?)

Be “in faith” – believe – that God will speak to you and lead you.

Be predisposed to follow wherever He leads.
Just as you have an expectation to hear from God, have an expectation that you will do whatever He says. A “wait and see” attitude is not only displeasing to God, it is a mask that covers the face of pride, a critical attitude and seeds of doubt.

A “wait and see” attitude pridefully says that you will decide if what God has told you to do is the right thing for you to do or not – if it is best for you. It puts you in the position of being critical of the plans God has for you. It casts doubt that He will enable you to do what He has called you to do. Pride, criticism and doubt are all problems that plagued Job and his friends. I believe God would say to those of us who nurture a “wait and see” attitude, the same thing He said to Job:

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—

⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
Job 38:4-11

Unquestionably, God is more knowledge and more power than you and I. Sometimes He needs to remind us about that.

If you want to find and follow the invisible, you must believe that He is and be determined to follow Him when He reveals Himself to you.

Friends, I have to pause here and say that as I write this, God is dealing with me so seriously about this issue. I can think of so many times when I have wondered “is this God?” and not been obedient, only to learn later that it was, indeed, God. I can think of so many situations where I have been afraid that others would think it wasn’t my “place” to do something, so I haven’t acted upon God’s leading. I can think of so many situations when I have kept silent when God was prompting me to speak.

Lord, forgive me. Change me – give me a predisposition to speak and act when I sense Your leading.

Readers, may I encourage you to pause and ask God to reveal if this is an area of weakness for you? If it is, repent (agree with God that you have failed Him) and ask Him to forgive you and change your heart and mind so that You are predisposed to follow Him.

Experience God’s presence regularly.

You will more likely be able to recognize God’s leading in your life if you regularly pursue God’s manifest presence. (See my blog “Recognizing the Invisible God” for more on the manifest presence of God.) Regularly do those things that most easily lead you into His presence. Attend church, have your own personal times of worship and Bible study, fellowship with other believers. I find that when I am regularly experiencing the manifest presence of God, I am more likely to see His presence in my life throughout the day. I am more likely to sense when He begins to move and when He settles in. Practice experiencing the presence of God so that you can recognize when He moves and when He stays. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of pursuing God apart from attending church weekly. Worship Him throughout the week, not just on Sundays.

I recommend the Christian classic The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence was a French monk who purposed to find God in the everyday activities of His life. You will be challenged to do likewise by reading it. It’s a short book that packs a powerful punch. There are many versions of it available, so the one you purchase may not look like this, but you can click on the book title above to order it.

Get to know God’s nature and character through Bible study.
While he may act differently with different people because He has created each of us uniquely, He will never act contrary to His nature and character. For example, God’s ways are always loving. Even in discipline, He does so in love, always desiring a restored relationship. His heart is revealed in so many passages, but I like this one:

³⁴“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁵Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Luke 13:34-35

Set aside times to be still before the Lord.
Our culture is fast-moving and it is seldom silent. All that noise and movement makes it difficult to find and see the invisible. After a personal three day retreat with the Lord at a local monastery, my husband described his quiet time alone with the Lord like this:

It’s like every noise and every activity is drawn on our soul. The soul gets over-crowded with such things, so we take an eraser and erase what we don’t need anymore. But the eraser leaves a chalky film behind. When I spent time quietly with the Lord, it was as if He had totally washed the slate board of my soul clean. There were no traces of all the gunk of the previous week. With the noise of my soul quieted, I could more easily see God in the world around me and hear His voice in my ear.

Do what He has revealed to you to do.
Earlier I wrote that we ought to have a predisposition that says “yes, I will follow You.” That’s step one. Step two is actually doing it. Having the predisposition toward obedience doesn’t take us all the way – we must actually make the decision to be obedient and then we must act accordingly.

Be obedient. If you don’t do what you know to do, God is not likely to show you more of the plan! By not being obedient, you are limiting how much of Himself God will reveal to you. He’s typically not going to reveal the next thing until you’ve done the first thing. Perhaps this verse reveals why:

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
James 4:17

We are actively sinning when we are not obedient to what God has revealed as His will for our lives. Deal with the sin if you want to hear more from God. Remove the veil that separates you from Him.

Well, that’s quite a list:

• Engage your faith.
• Be predisposed to follow wherever He leads.
• Experience God’s presence regularly.
• Get to know God’s nature and character through Bible study.
• Set aside times to be still before the Lord.
• Do what He has revealed to you to do.

Where are you weakest? May I encourage you to work in those areas, trusting that God is faithful and will meet you and reveal what you are to do? and may I encourage you to have a “full speed ahead” attitude toward following the leading of the Lord? He will reveal it when we are faithful to believe and pursue Him daily.

I love this passage from Isaiah. Perhaps you do to:

⁶For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)

As I prepared to preach at my mom’s nursing home this past Sunday, I was drawn to this familiar passage. What occurred to me was that in its familiarity, perhaps we have missed its application. And I don’t want to miss the application.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;

The Child, the Son, is given to us – to you and to me. Have you received Him? A gift may be given, but until it is received, the transaction isn’t complete. God has given us His Son. Have you accepted the gift from God?

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

In the December issue of Discipleship Journal Online News the editor, Connie Willems, quoted this line from The Message translation of the Bible: “He’ll take over the running of the world!” She went on to express her relief and state the obvious (which is what I so often need to hear):

“If it’s Jesus’ job to run the world, then I don’t have to. True, I’ve never been asked to run the world. But that hasn’t stopped me from occasionally slapping on a crown, waving around a scepter, and trying to force my corner of the world into perfect running order.”

Scripture says that the government will be upon His shoulders. And if He can shoulder the government of the world, He can shoulder the government of my life. Way better than I can. Which begs the question:

Is He that for you? Is He the ruler of your life? Do you give Him full reign in your life?

And His name will be called Wonderful,

Wonderful. Full of wonder. Jesus is, and always has been, and always will be filled with wonder. Truly awe-inspiring.

Is He that for you? Does He inspire your awe? Do you sense His WOW-ness?

And His name will be called Counselor,…

A counselor – a trusted friend who helps us find wisdom and peace in our situations.

A counselor (as in lawyer) – one who pursues righteousness and truth.

Is He that for you? Do you turn to Him for counsel when you need wisdom? When you need peace? When you need to know truth? When you need to find righteousness?

And His name will be called Mighty God, …

In my last blog I recounted about hearing the story of Mary read shortly before getting up to preach, one phrase caught my attention: “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) That message resonates in my spirit as I read Isaiah 9:6 this week. “His name will be called Mighty God.” He is the Mighty God of the impossible.

Is He that for you? It’s too easy to live our lives day after day not expecting the God of the impossible to be our Mighty God. I don’t want to live that way. I want to always know and live like I serve a Mighty God.

And His name will be called Everlasting Father, …

Everlasting. From eternity past to eternity future. More than I can comprehend, but I accept it as fact. Because I have accepted God’s great gift, the Son that was given to us, He is my Father – from eternity past to eternity future. My Father who protects, provides, loves, disciplines, and loves more. He is my Everlasting Father.

Is He that for you? Have you accepted the gift of His Son? Do you allow Him to be your Father, turning to Him for protection, provision, love, discipline and more love? Is He your Everlasting Father?

And His name will be called Prince of Peace.

I am so thankful that the omnipotent – all powerful – God who spoke the universe into existence and holds it together with His very breath – that God, is a Prince of Peace. He is not a warrior God. Yes, He is able and willing to fight battles when they are necessary, but His name, His nature, is the Prince of Peace. He desires to bring peace out of warring chaos – peace that goes beyond our understanding. Peace when it seems there can be no peace.

Is He that for you? Do you allow His peace to hold and keep you?

Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,…

Read the words carefully – of the INCREASE there will be no end. Christ’s government and peace will forever be increasing! That means it will always grow, there will always be more than there is now. I can’t wait for tomorrow! More of Christ’s rule, more peace. Hallelujah!

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice forever. I confess – I like order! God’s world will be ordered (that is, not chaotic) and established with judgment and justice. That’s the Kingdom I want to live in. One that is ordered and established with judgment and justice. Don’t read judgment to mean condemnation. It means that He, who is the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father – He will judge and He will administer justice. Merriam-Webster defines “judge” as “to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premise.” The all-knowing God will carefully weigh all evidence and test all motives to judge righteously and administer justice. I look forward to that day.

And the pièce de résistance is the final line of the passage:

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Why and how will all of this be accomplished? By the zeal of the Lord. By His eagerness and strong passion. His great desire will ensure that this is accomplished. That’s good enough for me!

May I encourage you this Christmas season, to allow Christ to be all that He came to be in your life. It’s His heart’s passion and my prayer for you.

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

⁴⁶And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
Luke 1:34-49

I listened to this passage being read at a church service Sunday afternoon. It was being read just before I was to get up and preach the sermon. What struck me was a phrase that had nothing to do with my sermon. I had planned on preaching about how Mary literally carried the Christ child in her womb everywhere she went. Likewise, we have the awesome privilege of carrying Christ with us everywhere we go. The mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory! It would have been a good sermon.

God had other ideas. As I heard the passage read, what jumped out at me was verse 37: “For nothing is impossible with God.” It’s not a new verse. It’s been around a couple thousand years. I’ve know about it for, oh, maybe thirty or so. I’ve prayed it. I’ve clung to it when times are tough. Yet, it occurs to me that I walk through most of my life not really expecting the God of the impossible to actually do the impossible. I only look for it when what’s needed is beyond my own strength.

It’s been said that “you don’t need a miracle until you need a miracle.” In the past, I’ve like that perspective – it’s helped me be confident that God will step in before it’s too late. But I think I’m missing the boat. Using a biblical analogy, actually, I think I’ve been staying in the boat – instead of being a water-walker like Peter, I’ve been a boat-sitter like the other disciples. I’d rather be a water-walker. I’d rather trust the God of the impossible to do the impossible…even when I don’t realize that the impossible needs to be done! In other words, I want to look for the impossible that God is doing around me instead of just walking through life with my every-day glasses on.

Mary had her miracle-believing glasses on, and she was blessed for it. Notice what Elizabeth says “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (v45) I’m confident that believing God – believing that He will accomplish that which He has said, is a blessing in and of itself. I can believe Him or I can stress. Believing Him lets me know that I know that I know, that He will prevail. And when I hang onto Him, that means I will prevail, too. So where’s the stress? “Blessed is she (or he) who has believed that what God has said will be accomplished.” I am not only blessed by the accomplishment of the thing, but for having believed that it will be accomplished. (I feel like I’m writing in circles, but it makes so much sense to me – hope it does to you, too!)

Finally, look at Mary’s response – she rejoices and praises God – why? Because “the Mighty One has done great things for me.” Quite frankly, at this point in her life, I’m pretty sure that all the Mighty One had done for Mary was throw her life into chaos. A young girl, engaged to be married and pregnant but not by her fiancé – these are not pleasant circumstances for a young girl living in the year 1 B.C. But Mary believed that God would accomplish what He had told her and in faith rejoiced at what He had done for her. Lord, give me Mary’s faith and praise-response when I’m in the middle of the chaos from which you will do the impossible! I’m pretty sure that chaos…or disappointment…or failure… or any of those other circumstances that don’t come wrapped in a perfect bow arriving in plenty of time for us to properly open, admire and respond to with grace…I’m pretty sure that all of those situations are perfect breeding ground for God’s miracles.

Can I encourage you to practice Mary’s faith this Christmas season? Look for the “impossible” things that God is doing. Believe that He will do the impossible in your life. Rejoice in the midst of the chaos that is a miracle in the making.

You will be blessed for it!

A Season of Hope and Expectation

As we enter the final month of our Resting at the River’s Edge readings, we’ll be reading about the life, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus, and then the great book of Revelation, which is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave [John] to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:1-3) We’ll enter the great Throne Room of Heaven as we continue to read and praise with the living creatures and elders:

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
Revelation 4:9-11, and 11:16-17

We’ll end the year with as the Bible ends:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21

There are some other books thrown into the mix, but the highlight for me is always the revelation of Jesus and worship around His throne.

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the year! I pray that God has blessed you as you’ve been diligent in His Word throughout 2009. Whatever shall we do in 2010?

To download a PDF of December’s reading schedule, click here.

Christmas is Coming – Soon!

We’ve planned the Resting at the River’s Edge readings to bring us into the Christmas season with a focus on Christ – prophecies about His coming, His birth, life, death, resurrection and second coming. If you have fallen behind or perhaps have stopped reading along with us, may I encourage you to begin the pre-holiday season by following our recommended reading plan.

In November, you’ll read Isaiah and find the very verses of Scripture that Jesus read aloud in the temple and then declared that He fulfilled:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Isaiah 61:1

²⁰Then he [Jesus] rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:20-21

In Habakkuk, we’ll read that the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4), and we’ll end the month with the first eight chapters of Luke – the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus…

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:10-14

…and Jesus’ early life and ministry. It will set the stage for moving into the month of December.

I pray that as you read during the month of November, God prepares your heart to see Christ during the Christmas season in a way that you have never seen Him.

Be blessed as you read!

Be blessed, all!

To download a PDF of November’s reading schedule, click here.

About a month ago, my pastor suggested something whose time has come! He suggested that we go home, find a box, write out all our excuses on individual pieces of paper, crumple them up, throw them in the box and close the lid on them. It was something I needed to hear. I am ashamed to admit that I have more excuses today than I had six years ago. I have the same excuses I had six years ago plus a whole pile of new ones. I don’t want to have excuses. I want to have a heart that always says “Yes, Lord.”

I like to think that I have that heart…but the problem is that I have this stack of excuses that even keeps me from hearing God give me new assignments. When the excuses short-circuit hearing God’s voice, I am deceived into believing that I have the “yes, Lord” heart. If I received a clear word from the Lord with a new assignment, I’m pretty sure I’d say “yes, Lord.” I just can’t receive the clear word because every time God tries to speak to me, I short-circuit the connection with an excuse.

I am reminded of this parable told by Jesus:

¹⁵When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶Jesus replied: ”A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

¹⁸“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

²²“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
               Luke 14:15-24

I don’t want to take the passage out of context – it is intended to challenge the Jews who believed they would be partaking of the great feast in the Kingdom of God. Jesus was speaking to people who in most cases had not accepted Him as the Messiah. We are not in the same situation as the Jews of Jesus’ time. But there are some principles we can draw out of the parable.

Each person had an excuse. Each person missed what God had for them because they chose to do things that could have been done by someone else. One commentator shot down all three arguments:

• “I must go see the field” – if he had just purchased the field, he had likely just seen it;
• “I must try out my new oxen” – if he had the money to buy five oxen, he surely had people working for him who could try them out;
• “I just got married” – according to Jewish law, that was a valid excuse not to go to war for a year, but it wasn’t a valid excuse for missing a great banquet, especially one that they had already committed to attend.

These men chose to attend to matters of livelihood, commerce and family rather than the banquet. According to one commentary, they would have RSVP’d – promised to attend – but instead of keeping their promises, they made excuses.

Having said “Yes” to Christ as not only my Savior but also my Lord, I have put in my RSVP to accept any invitation He extends to me. Yet I suspect there are times when He begins to extend an invitation and I preempt Him by saying “but…..” or “I can’t because…” or “I could if…” or even “when….then I’ll…”

Please don’t get me wrong. There are times when people will ask us to do something and our priority (or more accurately, God’s priority for us at that moment) is to take care of business or commerce or family. But I suspect that there are many more times when God asks me to do something and I short-circuit His request with one of the many excuses I seem to carry around “for such a time as this.”

Lord, make my “for such a time as this” opportunities be ones in which I choose to serve You, not convenient times to pull one of my old excuses out of my back pocket. Better yet, Lord, help me to pull those excuses out one by one, look at them, then crumble and lay them at the foot of Your cross. No more excuses, Lord!

Are you like me? Do you have too many excuses in your hip pocket? Do you suspect that your excuses are keeping you from even hearing the opportunities God might have for you? Do you suspect you’re missing opportunities to say “Yes” to God and serve Him with all your heart? If so, I pray that you will join me in my prayer I prayed above. And I pray that you will join me in the effort of identifying your excuses and bringing them before God one by one. I suspect one of two things will happen with each excuse: Either God will shatter the excuse with His wisdom – you will see the utter irrelevance of the excuse – or He will enable you to make your excuse a sacrificial offering to Him – that you will lay that excuse upon His altar and say “no more Lord. With Your help, I will not use this excuse to keep me from following Your will.”

I’d love to hear how it goes for you. Add a comment below or e-mail me at sandy@ApprehendingGrace.com.

This blog is the second in a new series of blogs called “The Heart of a Worshipper” series, or HWS. You’ll find the first article here. My prayer is that you will be blessed and transformed as you grow in your own worship of the King of Kings.

Deliberate Attentiveness to God
You won’t find a definition of worship in Scripture, but you will find a first commandment:

Thou shalt have no other God’s before me.
          Deuteronomy 5:7

You’ll also find the exhortation by Jesus (quoting the Old Testament) to:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
           (see Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).

These Scriptures are at the heart of worship and must be in the forefront of a worshipper’s mind.

I find it pretty easy to put my own needs, wants and desires before God; I find it pretty easy to love God with only a portion of my heart, soul, mind and strength, reserving the rest for my own pursuits. True worship, however, begins and ends with the Lord. He and he alone is our audience. When our focus is on ourselves or others (or what others think of us), our worship turns into performance and then quickly becomes religion. Our worship ought to always be for an audience of only One, the Lord.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m singing, praying, meditating on Scripture or listening for God’s voice during worship, though, I find that focusing completely on the Lord (and not on my wants, needs and desires) can be a challenge. It requires discipline. I include sign language in my worship to the Lord because it helps me to stay focused on Him and on the words of the song I’m singing to Him. Christ alone deserves my attention in worship.

Eugene Peterson, author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible, includes a definition of worship in his book Leap Over a Wall that addresses my proclivity to be more concerned about my agenda than about God. His definition begins like this:

“Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God….” 
          Eugene Peterson

I like this definition so much because it goes right to the heart of the matter – that I need to interrupt my preoccupation with myself. This tells me that the very act of worship works in me the process of dying to self. It helps me to make John the Baptist’s statement “He must increase and I must decrease” a reality in my life. Worship strikes at the root of my self-centeredness. As I learn to “attend to the presence of God”, the fleshly “me-first” response that is in me is cut away. Worship transforms me by creating in me a heart and mind that thinks of God first instead of me first.

This is what Eugene Peterson is saying. Let’s look at his entire definition:

“Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God. Worship is the time and place that we assign for deliberate attentiveness to God – not because He’s confined to time and place but because our self-importance is so insidiously relentless that if we don’t deliberately interrupt ourselves regularly, we have no chance of attending to Him at all at other times and in other places.”

The words and phrases Peterson uses in this definition are so strong: I must “interrupt” my “preoccupation” with myself and set aside time for “deliberate attentiveness” to God because my preoccupation with myself is “insidiously relentless.” I’m afraid that this is a true statement. My preoccupation with myself is insidiously relentless. If I’m not proactive to set aside a time and place for worship it doesn’t happen. Furthermore, if I’m not deliberate in my attentiveness to God during those times, I might as well spend the time watching television!

Being deliberately attentive means that we must be participants in worship, not spectators. It’s not enough to come to a place where others are bringing their offering. We must bring our own offering and personally give that offering to our Lord. To do less is to miss the mark.

Perhaps you’ll join me in this prayer as you set aside time for personal worship this week or join others in worship next Sunday:

Lord, I want to love you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Please break into my preoccupation with myself and help me attend to Your presence. Begin (or continue) the process of transformation today, Lord. Cut away my self-centeredness. Circumcise my heart, Lord.

This blog is the first in a new series of blogs called “The Heart of a Worshipper” series, or HWS. May you be blessed and transformed as you grow in your own worship of the King of Kings.

Changed by Intimacy with God
I am an enthusiastic worshipper, but I haven’t always been so. I’ve known and followed the Lord for almost thirty years. Throughout that time, I’ve done a lot of teaching and shepherding, but it wasn’t until about fourteen years ago that I started to become a worshipper – that is, I began to understand the difference between singing hymns and songs in church services and worshipping God. Those who have known me for only a few years can’t begin to know the degree to which I was an uptight, overly serious, self-conscious worshipper of God. Much of the change that I have experienced has come through the transformation that occurs as I pursue God in worship.

Let me say at the outset that I recognize that worship is so much more than spending time with God. Many things can be considered part of our worship, including acts of obedience and service. Those are at least as important, perhaps more so, than the worship I’m addressing here. I find, though, that most of us are better at the obedience and service than we are at sitting at the feet of Jesus. It’s easy for the more personal and intimate type of worship to be neglected sometimes. Most of us are much more like Martha than Mary. But Jesus told Mary that Martha had chosen “what is better.” (Luke 10:42) Sitting at the feet of Jesus in adoration and love is what I’m addressing in this blog and in a series of blogs that will follow in the coming month.

This kind of worship has transformed me into a child of God, instead of being an adult of God. It has allowed me to experience awe and wonder as I gaze at His beauty. It has also allowed me to shed much of my self-consciousness as I began to understand the great, great, unconditional love God has for me. Caring too much about what others think is a form of bondage that keeps us from responding to God and from enjoying life. In worship I’ve experienced and come to understand more about how very much God loves me, and as a result I have become much more obedient and I enjoy life a whole lot more.

Worship has trained me to run to Him for comfort and protection in a way I never did before, because He holds my heart. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:21) It wasn’t obedience or serving Him that enabled me to give Him my heart, it was sitting at His feet in worship. Obedience and service caused faith, trust and character to grow in me. Sitting at His feet developed love.

So I am excited about writing this series of blogs about worship. I can truly say that worship has transformed my life and that the deeper I go in worship or the higher priority I make it in my life, the more the Lord is able to change me into the image of Christ. It’s my prayer that through these blogs, you will be inspired to pursue worship to a greater degree.

I am not Unique!
As I’ve studied worship over the past few years, nearly every book I’ve read validates my experience. They all say that worship transforms the worshipper, enabling him or her to accomplish the things God has for them. Tozer put it this way:

“The beautiful part of worship is that it prepares you and enables you to zero in on the important things that must be done for God.”
          A.W. Tozer

William Temple, the archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 to 1944 provided a rather long but excellent definition of worship. It explains how worship transforms the worshipper:

“Both for perplexity and for dulled conscience the remedy is the same; sincere and spiritual worship. For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is:

          the quickening of our conscience ………………………. by His holiness;
          the nourishment of mind ………………………………….. with His truth;
          the purifying of imagination ……………………………… by His beauty;
          the opening of the heart ………………………………….. to His love;
          the surrender of will ……………………………………….. to His purpose

– and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. Yes – worship in spirit and truth is the way to the solution of perplexity and to the liberation from sin.”
          William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1942-1944

Can one help but be transformed by worship, when it has the potential for all these things? If you want to grow in holiness, truth, love, service, and your capacity to enjoy the wonder of God, there can be only one remedy – spend more time in personal, private worship. Just you and God. Alone. Together. It will start a transformation process that can only lead to good things!