Worship for Today: There is only one God!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 13:4,

"It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere.
Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."

Moses warns this generation of Israelites to keep from following other
so-called "gods" of the peoples they will be dispossessing in the
Promised Land. They are not to follow prophets with their miraculous
signs and wonders that would lead them away from God. They are not to
follow family members or anyone else that would lead them to the
worship of other "gods".

The reality is that there are no other so-called "gods." There is only
one God and he is the Creator of the vast expanse of the universe, all
there is. Everything we know of on planet earth, including ourselves,
were all created by him for his good pleasure. To turn after other
"gods" is simply to turn away from him. With all of the world
religions, all of the cults and false religions, all of the "isms and
scisms" there are plenty of false gods for people to turn to.

Our creator God is the only God, and from Deuteronomy 6:4, we learn he
is one God. From the Scriptures we find he exists in three persons, 2
Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:16-17, etc. God the
Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, a trinity
of persons forming one God with single purpose, agenda and imbued with
pristine, exquisite perfections. He is consistent within himself, full
of love and mercy and the judge of all who sin.

There simply is no other "god", no other prospect for life after death
than to either enjoy him for an eternity of pleasure, Psalm 16:11, or,
if we don't hold fast to him, an eternity of torment, to exist forever
in a lake of fire, Revelation 20:11-15.

How wonderful that our God, the only God, has made a way for us,
provided a place for us at his table by sending his Son, Jesus Christ
to pay the penalty for our sins!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God communicates to us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 12:24-25,

"You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. Do
not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after
you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord."

The prohibition against eating blood is explained in Leviticus 17:11.
Blood is to be used for atonement and is therefore not to be eaten by
the Israelites. What captures my eye this morning is that the Lord
told the Israelites what it was that "is right in the eyes of the
Lord." What if the Lord never told us what it was that was right in
hie eyes? What if we were all left up to our own imagination as to
what the Lord wanted? Sometimes is seems like a lot of folks have this
perspective.

Having written communication from God in our Bibles insures what the
Lord deems right in his eyes is available to us. We live in a culture
where what is deemed right, moral or important shifts continually.
Save the whales and abort the babies, fight global warming, same-sex
marriage, politics, religion, cults, etc. If anyone wants to know what
God deems right only has to open up the Bible to read his perspective
on it.

Our God is a communicator and loves us. Because of this he has
revealed himself, his thoughts and feelings in the pages of Scripture.
I find it fascinating that his thoughts, his comments, his
requirements and commands are all there for me to inform myself of.
Just fascinating...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God's word is worthy!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 11:18-20,

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols
on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your
children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on
the doorframes of your houses and on your gates..."

Here Moses tells the Israelites to immerse themselves in what he has
to say, the Scripture that all subsequent prophecy will be gauged by.
As I think about it this morning, I consider how important his words
are to me today. Do I consider all of Scripture important enough to
read, to memorize, to meditate on, to invest my time in? I realize
that it is not the lip-service I may pay to Scripture that is
important, but how I actually use my time, energy and effort. How much
time I spent last week in Scripture says much more about my commitment
to it than anything I have to say today about it.

Peter tells us that Scripture came about by men speaking from God as
they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:20-21.
Paul tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16. He
tells us it is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work." This is the same God who has provided us a way
to escape his own judgment for our sins, who sent his Son to die a
horrible death to pay the penalty for our sins. The God who has
expressed a kindness, mercy and love that human language strains to
find appropriate expression of.

Is what this God has to say important enough for me to spend time in,
to memorize, to meditate on?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our Lord delights in kindness, justice and righteousness!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 15:7-8,

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the
land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or
tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely
lend him whatever he needs."

At many points the law that the Lord gave Israel manifests the nature
of his heart. Here he expresses concern for those who are hurting, in
trouble, in need of help. He asks his people to be gracious toward
those who are needy by being openhanded. The Israelites are not to be
hardhearted or tightfisted toward the poor.

This, to me, speaks of the Lord's own heart, his kindness, his mercy,
his love for all mankind. The Lord has demonstrated this in the
greatest of ways by sending his own Son to die a horrible death on the
cross to pay the penalty for my sin. How wonderful it turns out that
our Creator has a heart of kindness. Of course, on the other hand, he
is also the God of justice and righteousness. If we don't avail
ourselves of the offer of payment for our sin we will have to pay it
ourselves. "'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong
man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let
him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the Lord."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God has chosen the faithful!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 14:1-2,

"You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or
shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy
to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth,
the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession."

As I read these words it causes me to think of Paul's words in Romans
9:20-21, "Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is
formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"'
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of
clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" Paul's
point here is that God has every right to choose who and what he
wants: he is God. A few verses later Paul says who it is God has
chosen and why he has chosen them. In Romans 9:30-32 we read, "What
then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but
Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why
not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.
They stumbled over the 'stumbling stone.'"

So God has chosen or elected Gentiles. Why? Because they embraced
Jesus Christ by faith. The Jews largely passed over the righteousness
that is from God through the gospel in favor of establishing their own
by attempting to keep the law. Why did God choose Israel as his
children originally? Because of what we read in Genesis 15:6, "Abram
believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Because of God's promise to Abraham, the man of faith, and his
offspring, of Israel Moses said, "You are the children of the Lord
your God." They were a people holy to the Lord. Out of all the peoples
on the face of the earth, the Lord chose Israel, as faithful Abraham's
offspring, to be his "treasured possession", because Abraham embraced
the Lord in faith. Later, as a nation, Israel did not embrace Jesus
Christ in faith. Some Jews did, as the entire early church was
comprised of only Jews. But as the gospel went to the Gentiles and was
embraced by them, the church grew in Gentile numbers.

God is the Creator of everything. He created the universe, the earth,
all that is in it - and he created us as well. As such he can and does
make his own decisions without checking in with me first. What he has
chosen is that all who will embrace him in faith will be his children,
holy, and set apart for himself.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God reveals himself in Scripture!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 13:1-3,

"If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and
announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or
wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, 'Let us follow
other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you
must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.The Lord your
God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your
heart and with all your soul."

Here is a sobering warning from Moses. If a prophet comes among the
people and announces a sign or wonder and if the sign or wonder takes
place and the prophet tells the people to follow other gods, they are
not to listen to him. They are to put him to death. Moses says the
Lord will be testing the Israelites. It is fascinating to me that the
Lord will either allow or cause a miracle to take place to provide a
measure of authenticity to a false prophet in order to test the
people. Apparently it is not enough to acknowledge that a miracle
takes place to authenticate the validity of a prophet.

What this means is that Israel was not to be driven in their worship
simply by miracles, signs and wonders. Moses tells them they might be
led astray if they do so, and that by God himself! God would be
testing them to see if they love him with all their heart and soul.
This means that the Israelites needed to know their God in spite of
any miracles, signs and wonders they may witness.

We live in a day where often times people look at circumstances to
authenticate, in their own minds, the things of God. If the church
building fills up, it must be from God. Therefore whatever is being
taught about God must be correct. After all, isn't God bringing the
blessing? Some are drawn away by what appear to be miraculous
healings, various manifestations of the Holy Spirit and so forth. It
is assumed that whatever group is experiencing these must be the
authentic group because God is seen as moving within that fellowship.
Otherwise, how do you account for what is seen?

If God's ways haven't changed, I'm not sure it is enough for us to
witness the miraculous. To be certain, God does engage in the
miraculous. Jesus' ministry was peppered with miracles and healings
and various signs. The physical manifestation of Jesus Christ
following his resurrection has to be the most convincing miracle of
all. The book of Acts is filled with accounts of the miraculous. If
nothing else, these miracles, fulfilled prophecy, etc. authenticate
who Jesus Christ is and all that he did. These miracles point us in
the right direction. But there is something that is required of us
once pointed in that direction. That is, we are to know God! We are to
know who he is, what he is like and we know these things from what he
has revealed to us in the Scriptures! The entire scriptural
enterprise, the writing of the original autographs by men who were
carried along by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:20-21, and the
transmission of those writings throughout the history of church up to
us today has been with a purpose. God is revealing himself to us
within its pages that we might know him. Not simply by miraculous
signs and wonders, but a more intimate knowledge as he reveals his
heart, his agenda, his intentions, who he is and what he is like.

Just as Israel might have been led astray by signs and wonders, so we
might be today as well. We need to know God as he has revealed himself
to us, that we follow him and not the imaginings of our deceitful
hearts as we witness things around us.

Today, I thank God that he has chosen to reveal himself in the
Scriptures that we not be led astray!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord is to be worshipped as he sees fit!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 12: 8,13-14,

"You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit... Be
careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.
Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your
tribes, and there observe everything I command you."

Moses tells the people they are not to worship the Lord in any way
they see fit. When they enter the Promised Land they are to worship
where and how the Lord instructs them and not like the peoples the
Israelites will be dispossessing.

Such is our God. He decides how and even where he will be worshipped.
Some folks are fond of saying they can worship the Lord in the great
outdoors, in the magnificence of his creation. Maybe they can. Some
folks are fond of saying they like to worship they Lord in their own
way, using their own expression of worship they are comfortable with.
Maybe they can. But all need to realize the object of their worship
has something to say as to how he expects to be worshipped. It is not
just up to us to pick our own way and expect the Lord to be happy with
whatever it is our thoughts come up with. An example of the Lord's
expectation in worship is expressed by Jesus Christ himself. In his
conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well he says, "God is
spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John
4:24.

Our worship of the Lord may be personal and private. It may be
expressed in individual ways. But as our passage in Deuteronomy states
today, the Lord has some expectations about how he is to be
worshipped. It behooves us all to know just exactly what the Lord
expects in our worship of him, not just as "everyone as he sees fit."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord gave the law to manifest our sinfulness.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 11:8-9,

"Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you
may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are
crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the
land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give to them and their
descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey."

The happy fulfillment of receiving the Promised Land with the Lord's
blessing was contingent upon Israel keeping all of the commands the
Lord gave Moses. Not keeping the Lord's commands would cause Israel to
miss out on the Lord's blessing as the land would no longer support
them.

As I picture myself in the crux of those circumstances, I see myself
desiring the Lord's blessing and favor with the land producing
abundantly, and cringing at lost opportunity as I find myself unable
to live up to what the Lord required. Later, Jesus would come and
raise the bar higher by clarifying the law was even more stringent
than previously thought. In the sermon on the mount Jesus pointed out
that just looking at someone lustfully or being angry with them
violated the commands against adultery and murder.

Later we learn that these commands were given to Israel, and through
Israel to the world, to demonstrate that all are in desperate need.
The law demonstrates the true nature of our character, our proclivity
to sin and our great need for salvation. "Now we know that whatever
the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every
mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." Romans
3:19-20. If we do not recognize our sinfulness, we will not look to be
saved as we contemplate our eternal future. To escape the Lord's
judgement against us for our sin we need to recognize our sinfulness
and seek the Lord's payment he made for it on the cross.

This speaks to me of the great love the Lord has for us. Not only did
he send his Son to pay for our sins, he put the law in place to show
us our need for the payment his Son made for us, that we might avail
ourselves of the punishment he took on himself.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: We are freed from sin and death to serve and worship our God!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 10:14,

"To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens,
the earth and everything in it."

Moses makes clear to this second generation of freed Israelites just
who God is that has led them through the desert wasteland for forty
years. He is the transcendent sovereign Lord who owns it all,
everything in the vast array of the universe, everything on earth and
in it. Leading up to this observation of the Lord, Moses recounts what
it is God requires of them: to fear the Lord, to walk in his ways, to
love him, to serve him with all their hearts and all their souls.

Moses also tells the Israelites that God loved the patriarchs and has
chosen them, their descendants, as his people. The passage that comes
to my mind that underscores why God loved the patriarchs and chose
their offspring as a people of his own is given in Genesis 15:6,
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Moses also tells the Israelites that they must "circumcise" their
hearts, no longer be stiff-necked, serve him, hold fast to him and
take their oaths in his name.

Just as God broke the bondage of the Israelites to Egypt and freed
them to be a people of his own, so God has freed us from the bondage
to sin and death. He has freed us to be a people of his own. Purchased
by the blood of Jesus Christ we now belong to him as a people of his
own to serve and worship him.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 8:5,

"Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the
Lord your God disciplines you."

As we think about the agenda the Lord has for us, this is certainly
something to keep in mind. Repeated in a number of places in
Scripture, we are assured that as we experience various things in
life, the Lord is using them for our good. Just as the Lord
disciplined Israel as a son, so he disciplines us.

We are told in Proverbs 3:11-12, "My son, do not despise the Lord's
discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines
those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." The discipline a
father exercises with his son is something born out of his love for
his son. Appropriate discipline is for the good of the son. In this
passage the Lord is compared to a father who delights in his son as he
disciplines him. Jesus Christ tells us it is those he loves he
disciplines. "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Revelation
3:19.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the difficulty the Lord's
discipline brings into our lives has the purpose of producing
righteousness and peace in our lives, "Endure hardship as discipline;
God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his
father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes
discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of
our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as
they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may
share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but
painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and
peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11.

All of this is brought into our lives by the Lord because he has
something wonderful he is bringing about in us. Paul tells us of this
in his letter to the church in Rome, "We know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:28-29. God works in our lives
to bring about change, a change he has decided beforehand, to bring
about the likeness of Jesus Christ to our lives.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our God is faithful!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 7:8-9,

"It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your
forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God,
keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who
love him and keep his commands.

One of the qualities of God that is extolled in the book of Psalms is
God's faithfulness. He is faithful to all of his promises. "For the
word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does."
Psalm 33:4. Here in Deuteronomy and throughout all of Scripture this
theme of God's faithfulness stands out as one of his matchless
perfections. It is the very nature of God's faithfulness that makes
his promises so wonderful! Once uttered by him, they are as good as
done!

That is why our hope in the resurrection brings an inexpressible and
glorious joy! It is a certain hope, as good as done! Israel found that
the Lord was faithful throughout her history. We find the same as
well. Look at the promise Paul speaks of in his first letter to the
church in Corinth, "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you
will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has
called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is
faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9. How exciting is that?! God will keep
his children, all of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith,
strong to the end! Paul says this is certain based on his
faithfulness.

The love of God takes on real energy in my life as I consider the true
and pristine faithfulness of our wonderful God! All he has promised me
is as certain as it is that I am sitting here pondering it!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God's grace prevails where I fail!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 6:4-5.,

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength."

These two verses, starting with the Shema, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord
our God, the Lord is one." and finishing with what Jesus himself
described as the greatest command, were both quoted by him in Mark
12:29-30 to one of the teachers of the law.

The first verse, called the "Shema" is a centerpiece of the morning
and evening Jewish prayer services. It speaks of the monotheistic
essence of God. The triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit we worship is the only God. There is only one God existing in
three persons.

The second verse Jesus called the most important command, "Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength." In the passage in Mark, Jesus went on to quote
Leviticus 19:18 as the second greatest command, "Love your neighbor as
yourself." Jesus' comment there was "There is no commandment greater
than these."

The second verse, Deuteronomy 6:5, grips my heart this morning. To
love the Lord with all of my heart, all of my soul and all of my
strength is something! There isn't much left of my life beyond all of
my heart, all of my soul and all of my strength. Is the Lord due all
of this from me? How does this look? How do I do it? How do I arrive
at that place where it could be said of me that I love the Lord that
much?

I am afraid I fail miserably! Certainly our Lord is due this from me.
The Lord is my creator: he brought me into life. The Lord is my
redeemer: he paid the price for my sin. I am his. I owe everything I
am and have to him. The Lord is certainly due this from me.

When all the trappings of church involvement are stripped away, when
all my self-perceived "good points", spiritual disciplines, Bible
reading, prayer, etc. are all stripped away, there is just this: do I
love the Lord with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my
strength? I fail miserably!

It is just at this point that I celebrate the grace of God! I find I
am utterly helpless to do what would establish for me my own
righteousness. I find that I am completely at the mercy of God's
wonderful, matchless grace! He loves me, he is merciful toward me, his
kindness is expressed to me, not because of anything I have done.
Indeed, I am just incapable within myself! It is God's grace that he
loves me. It is God's grace that he accepts me. It is entirely God's
grace that will present me before him "without fault and with great
joy"!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God saves me from my sin!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 5:1,

"Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and
laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow
them."

This chapter begins with Moses recounting the ten commandments for
Israel. He tells Israel to learn them and be sure to follow them. It
doesn't take much effort to learn them, but to follow them is another
matter. The resulting history of Israel and the actions of all mankind
demonstrate that something is wrong. We are unable to keep this law
even though we have learned it.

When Jesus Christ came to earth, he made some very sobering
observations about the law. In the Sermon on the Mount he explained
that just looking at a woman with lust is a violation of the seventh
command. Hating a brother is a violation of the sixth. What I learn
from Jesus Christ is that the law manifests a problem with my heart. I
am a sinner, a violator of the law and will face the ultimate
consequence of that on judgment day!

As I read the gospels, though, something wonderful is made known! In
Matthew 1:21 Joseph is told to name his baby Jesus, "because he will
save his people from their sins." The Son of God came to save me from
my sin! When Jesus went to stay at Zacchaeus' house, in Luke 19, Jesus
said, "Today salvation has come to this house... For the Son of Man
came to see and to save what was lost." Verses 9-10. How wonderful is
this?! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
What mercy! What love!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 4:23-24,

"Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he
made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of
anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a
consuming fire, a jealous God."

As Moses speaks to the Israelites prior to their entering and taking
the promised land from its inhabitants, he warns them of the trap of
idolatry, a sin that will plague Israel for generations. The writer of
Hebrews quotes this passage in Hebrews 12:29. There the writer of
Hebrews warns his readers to worship God acceptably "with with
reverence and awe." Just how do we engage in this type of worship?

Jesus made an important statement about worship when he spoke to the
Samaritan woman at the well. There, the woman attempted to start a
theological quibble with Jesus about the proper location for the
worship of God. Jesus cut her off by saying that the time had come for
true worshippers to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, the
location was not going to be an issue. He told her that God the Father
sought such worshippers and that worshippers needed to worship God in
spirit and in truth. John 4:21-24.

Today we recognize that all who truly embrace Jesus Christ in faith
are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:9. We are a new creation, 2
Corinthians 5:17, and as such have become spiritually quickened. As we
worship God as his children, we do so in spirit. It is the "truth"
part that Jesus told the Samaritan woman of that seems to me to be
something of vital importance today.

We live in a day where many church schisms and "isms" and cults and
theological persuasions prevail. As one considers where to go to
church it is almost like going to the ice cream store where you can
get 31 flavors, whatever it is that suits you. It seems as though
whatever you want can be found. However, in the midst of all this, the
thought strikes me that the object of our worship has something to say
about how he will be worshipped in a manner pleasing to him. It is not
up to us, but up to him to decide what is acceptable worship. Moses'
direction to the Israelites is very clear here - do not engage in
idolatry! Do not define God as other than what he has revealed
himself to be and do not worship an invention you cling to.

Basing our worship on truth is vital. That is the kind of worship our
God requires. As the writer of Hebrews says, "Worship God acceptably
with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God's judgment is terrifying, horrific and certain!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 3:26b,

"'That is enough,' the Lord said. 'Do not speak to me anymore about
this matter.'"

A careful reading of Numbers 20:1-13, reveals that it was a lack of
Moses' trust in the Lord that earned him the Lord's judgment. Moses
would not be allowed to take the Israelites into the promised land
when he struck the rock that was to provide water. The Lord told him
to speak to the rock but he struck it twice with his staff. In Numbers
20:12, the Lord says to Moses about his action, "Because you did not
trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites,
you will not bring this community into the land I give them." This is
the judgment from the Lord Moses fell under. When he tried to talk to
the Lord about it, the Lord told him to not bring it up again.

Such are the judgments of God. We know that the Lord is patient. His
patience brings about his purposes, "Do you show contempt for the
riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that
God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" Romans 2:4. We also see
that timely repentance (and the reverse) can alter God's intentions,
"If at any time I [the Lord] announce that a nation or kingdom is to
be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned
repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the
disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a
nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil
in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I
had intended to do for it."

However, when the Lord has decreed his final judgment, it becomes a
fixed reality with no possible appeal. The judgment of Moses is an
example of just this. "Do not speak to me anymore about this matter."
The ultimate and certain judgment of God is found at the end of his
patience. As that point is reached, nothing but the certain agenda of
God's judgment will take place. How sobering and horrific is the Great
White Throne Judgment that we are told of in Revelation 20:11-15.
There will be no recourse for those who find themselves facing that
judgment:

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth
and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I
saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books
were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The
dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the
books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged
according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into
the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's
name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire."

How great is the mercy of God that he sent his Son that we not have to
face this ultimate certain judgment. What a compelling thought to
motivate us to become the best we can at sharing our faith and to take
the time to share the gospel message with others!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord is with us today and is watching over us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 2:7,

"The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He
has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty
years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked
anything."

As I read these words of Moses, I can't help but think of a similar
sentiment we will be reflecting on as we enter into the resurrection.

Living in this life, in a world estranged from God and suffering under
his judgment, living among people dominated by a sin nature with its
expression and inevitable consequence, life here can be daunting and
challenging. Just like a journey though a vast desert. I'm sure there
isn't a soul alive that hasn't experienced hardship, challenge and
discouragement at times. Yet, in the midst of this I am reminded that
those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith will have an
opportunity to look back on our lives here from the standpoint of the
resurrection.

I am quite certain from that perspective we will acknowledge the same
thing that Moses observed. The Lord has blessed us with the work of
our hands. He watched over our journey here in this life. The Lord has
been with us and we have not lacked a thing we have had need of. I am
equally as certain that these things are observable now, if I have my
head screwed on right and am watching...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Faith brings us a right standing with God!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 1:29-31,

"Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them [the Amorites and
Anakites]. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for
you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the
desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father
carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."

In the opening chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses begins his recount of
historical events for this second generation of freed Israelites at
the end of their forty year sojourn in the desert. This takes place
just prior to their crossing the Jordan to take possession of the land
the Lord had promised the patriarchs.

In these verses Moses speaks of the time Israel refused to enter the
promised land just after their exodus from Egypt, an event that
exposed the unfaithfulness of the hearts of the Israelites. It was
Israel's unfaithfulness at this point that earned their forty year
wandering in the wilderness as God's judgment. This unbelieving and
faithless generation would not be allowed into enter into the land
flowing with milk and honey. Only Joshua, Moses' assistant, and Caleb,
who "followed the Lord wholeheartedly" and the children of the
Israelites.

In the midst of their unfaithfulness, Moses, pleading with them,
reminded this first generation of freed Israelites of what the Lord
had done for them. They should have learned by now that the Lord was
with them, it was the Lord who had freed them from Egypt, provided for
them and protected them, "as a father carries his son". Their lack of
faith earned the Lord's judgment against them.

The story of faith has long now been highlighted in the pages of
Scripture up to this point in human history. Beginning in Genesis the
Lord had been communicating that mankind's destiny with him lay in the
crucial, all-important currency of faith. It is faith that will bring
fulfillment of God's blessings and promises to the individual. We read
in Genesis 15:6, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him
as righteousness." This one verse is the vital focus and theme of
Paul's letter we call Romans. There Paul says, "Against all hope,
Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,
just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without
weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was
also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise
of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being
fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is
why 'it was credited to him as righteousness'. The words 'it was
credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to
whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."

As we see, the faith the Lord looks for that brings his promises and
blessing results in choices in the things people do. The things people
do will not bring his blessing, but the faith the Lord requires does
result in lifestyle choices people make. This kind of faith results in
the things people think, do and say.

Faith is what brings us a right standing with God. It is this
requirement of faith, and not the requirement of performance that
God's grace is demonstrated to us. In Romans 4:16, Paul says,
"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and
may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are
of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham."

Performance is a result of faith, not the other way around.
Performance reveals the presence of faith. If my salvation depended on
my performance, I never would have made it into God's family. How
wonderful that God chose to give us a right standing before him on the
basis of faith!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord brings joy to our lives!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 28:7,

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I
am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in
song."

"My heart leaps for joy..."! How many can say that this morning? As I
look at myself, as I look at others, is that what I see? It seems to
me that what the world could use is a big shot of what it is that
causes their hearts to leap for joy! Joy is a word that is almost non
existent these days. It seems to be relegated to Christmas cards and
the carols we sing during that season.

When I have spent time in Scripture is when the prospect is greatest
for my heart to leap for joy. As I encounter the things of the Lord
there, what he is like, what he has done, what the future holds for
those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, these things are
what I find to be a great source of joy. Peter speaks of this very
joy in his first letter. "Though you have not seen him, you love him;
and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving
the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8-9.

How amazing it is that when we make the Lord our strength and shield,
when we trust in him, it has this kind of impact on us. There are a
lot of things that people chase after to find happiness, fulfillment,
pleasure and joy, but I find that it is our Creator himself, the One
who designed us and built us the way we are that brings the greatest
satisfaction, fulfillment, pleasure and joy in life. We read that the
very outcome of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us brings joy and a number
of other wonderful things to our hearts. "The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23a.

Just why would I not want to avail myself of as much of this as I can,
as the Lord has made available to me? How wonderful our Lord is who
brings us joy!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com