Worship for Today: Jesus' punishment pays for our sins!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 8:1,

"Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you
may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord
promised on oath to your forefathers."

Moses tells the Israelites that they must be careful to follow every
command of the Lord. A few verses later he says, "Observe the commands
of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him", verse 6.
"Every command". Not some of the commands or the ones they thought
might be important. Or just the ones that insure we don't violate the
local church covenant or keep us acceptable in polite company, but
all! All the commands of the Lord were to be carefully followed. In
chapter six, the command Jesus would later say was the most important
command of all is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5. See
Matthew 22:34-40. How was that to be accomplished? And yet, this is
what Israel was commanded to do. "Follow every command" and be careful
to do it!

Was this a legitimate requirement of the Lord? Of course! They owed
their very existence to their Creator. They owed their very existence
as a people, freed from bondage to their great Redeemer! They owed the
very blessings they were about to receive in the Promised Land as the
recipients of God's matchless grace!

However, as a representation of all people, Israel was utterly unable
to keep the law of God. They made attempts, as in their adoption of
the traditions of the elders, but they were never able to keep the
law. James tells us, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." James 2:10. It
only takes one violation of one law to condemn a man to the lake of
fire. In fact, we are simply born as condemned people.

The wonderful news is that Jesus Christ's death on the cross paid for
each and every sin every person has ever committed. The writer of
Hebrews tells us, "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those
who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:14. John tells us, "He is the
atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the
sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2.

The law has condemned every person ever born to eternal death but the
punishment Jesus Christ took upon himself has paid for every last
breach of the law anyone has ever committed! As is said in Isaiah
53:5, "He [Jesus Christ] was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was
upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." All of this for simply
trusting in him! "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved." What great news!

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: On remembering the Lord.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 6:10-12,

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your
fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large,
flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of
good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards
and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are
satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you
out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

How astonishing! In this passage Moses tells the Israelites that the
very Lord who freed them from slavery in Egypt and will be giving them
all of the wonderful things they are about to receive: cities, houses,
good things, wells, vineyards, and olive groves is to not be
forgotten! How could they forget the Lord who freed them and provided
such wonderful things they didn't toil to provide themselves? And,
yet, Moses is piercingly on target as we read further the history of
Israel, this is exactly what they did! They forgot the Lord who had
provided so much for them!

It isn't just Israel, it is the very characteristic of the sin nature
of all mankind! We tend to shut the Lord out of our awareness, out of
our memory. For me, this is the great need we have for a fear of the
Lord, realizing he is always present.

In announcing the New Covenant, the Lord says he will do a work in our
hearts that will correct this tendency of the human heart, "'This is
the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,'
declares the Lord. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on
their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,
'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them
to the greatest,' declares the Lord." In the resurrection we will no
longer have the tendency to put the Lord out of our minds.

Until then, we have a wonderful activity to aid us in keeping the Lord
in front of us. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, "For I received
from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the
night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he
broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in
remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup,
saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever
you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread
and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

How often should we celebrate the Eucharist? Often! Just as often as
we care to remember our Savior who has given us so much!

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: Trust in Jesus Christ removes the guilt of all sin!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 24:16,

"Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children
put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin."

As Moses provides the laws for Israel God has given, he makes the
point that when it comes time for prosecuting and sentencing the
guilty in the courts of Israel, the guilty alone must pay.
Generational justice is banned. Each, and each alone must pay for
their own sin.

As I consider this it reminds me that each of us stand alone before
our heavenly judge. We are told in Revelation 21:8, "The cowardly, the
unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who
practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be
in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

As it turns out, none of us will need to "inherit" guilt from a family
member as we stand before the judgment seat of God to determine our
eternal destiny. Each one of us have sinned and all of us are due this
eternity in the lake of fire. "All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God..." Romans 3:23.

That is the bad news. The good news is that we do not have to stand
before God's judgment seat alone. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty
for all sin ever committed. None of us need face God's judgment alone
with the certainty of an eternity in the lake of fire if we choose to
embrace Jesus Christ in faith! How wonderful our loving Savior died on
that cross that we might have the opportunity to become God's very own
children with the guilt of any and all sin completely removed from us!
He offers this freely to us if we simply place our trust in 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: God's word is important!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 31:24-26,

"After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from
beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the
ark of the covenant of the Lord: 'Take this Book of the Law and place
it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will
remain as a witness against you."

Moses felt it important enough to have the "words of this law", the
word of God, to be written down and placed by the ark of the covenant.
Moses told the priests to read these words to the people on a routine
basis, verse 11. The word of God is important and it is vital to read
it, to know it, to understand it, to memorize it, to meditate on it.

Not everything we hear from the pulpit is consistent with God's word.
Not everything we hear from our believing friends is consistent with
God's word. Not everything we hear on the radio or tv is consistent
with God's word. Not everything we think we know, is consistent with
God's word. How are we to know God's word? We need to read it
continually and regularly. We need to memorize it. We need to meditate
on it. We need to study it.

We are told of the benefits of doing so, "All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We are commanded to
do so, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a
workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the
word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15.

We all "think we know" what the Bible has to say... but how many of us
are really reading, studying, meditating on it? How many of us call
Jesus Christ Lord and then disprove it by ignoring what he has to say?
How many of us have access to the very words of our Creator, words he
wants us to know and think about, and yet we fail to avail ourselves
of them?

Today I thank my God who has provided us words that bring us life! I
Thank him for making those words available to us! Today I thank him
for words that are at work within those of us who believe! "And we
also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God,
which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but
as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who
believe." 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

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: Jesus Christ awaits our safe arrival!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 31:3a,

"The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will
destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of
their land."

Using the Promised Land as a metaphor or type of entering into the
resurrection has major drawbacks. Although many of our hymns use this
picture, if pressed too far, the analogy fails. For although we enter
in to a promise given us as the Israelites did when they crossed the
Jordan, we have no enemies on the other side. Peace and rest are ours
as we cross into the resurrection, not so the Israelites as they
crossed the Jordan to take possession of the land from its
inhabitants.

Nevertheless, as I read of Moses' wonderful promise that the Lord
would cross ahead of the Israelites and destroy their enemies, I can't
help but think of what Jesus Christ has done for us. For those of us
who live in the age of the church, our wonderful Savior has crossed
the dark passage of death ahead of us! He has already destroyed the
enemies of death and Hades by making a place for us at his table!

We don't have to tread an unknown path into darkness, not knowing what
awaits us, what dangers lurk as we face death in this life! The love
of Jesus Christ has prepared the way and he stands, awaiting our save
arrival, "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present
you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to
the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more!
Amen." Jude 24-25.

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 frightful God of judgment!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 32:39-41,

"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to
death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one
can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As
surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand
grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and
repay those who hate me."

In this song the Lord wrote for Moses to teach the people of Israel,
the Lord makes clear he is the one and only God. There is no other.
Not only is he the only God but he is that God which will take
vengeance on his adversaries. Those who hate him will face his awful
judgment.

To have to face the Creator God of the cosmos as an adversary is a
frightful thing. God points out that no one can deliver out of his
hand. Where there is hell to pay, the lake of fire awaits like a
looming, horrific nightmare. Only this nightmare does not end in the
morning, it is experienced for an eternity. In Revelation 21:8 we
read, "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the
sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all
liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is
the second death." This frightful eventuality for all who do not
embrace Jesus Christ in faith is exacerbated by the certainty that the
Lord will be coming for all who are not his. "I saw heaven standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called
Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name
written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a
robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of
heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine
linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with
which to strike down the nations. 'He will rule them with an iron
scepter.' He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God
Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING
OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 19:11-16.

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 blesses us as his people!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 33:29,

"Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the
Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your
enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high
places."

This blessing for Israel was spoken by Moses just prior to his death.
Within this blessing Moses recognizes the wonderful things that belong
to those who are the people of God. As such, I cannot help but think
of the blessings that are ours as the people who belong to Jesus
Christ.

"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a
people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10. Peter reminds
us that we are the people of God. In the first chapter of this letter
he tells us of our blessings as such, "Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or
fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's
power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed
in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These
have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may
result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
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 1:3-9.

What a blessing is this!

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 breath-taking!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 32:4,

"He [the Lord] is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways
are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."

The Lord gave Moses a song to give to the people. This verse contains
what the Lord has to say about himself.

As we meet people and get to know them we learn that some folks are
this way and some are that. Each person has his own personality and we
know them from that perspective. Some are patient, some are "type A",
some are loving and forgiving and some are somewhat hard-nosed. Some
like sports and some like cooking. Our personalities make up what we
are like.

The Lord has his own personality, and just so the we might know what
he is like he revealed some things of himself. Our Lord is "the Rock".
He is unmovable and unbreakable. He stands solid and strong, come what
may. All of what he does is perfect. He doesn't just "wing it" but all
that he does has a perfection about it, no flaws, no blemishes, no
defects. Our Lord is just. He is fair and doesn't play favorites. He
treats us all the same and his dealings with us are upfront, open and
honest. He is faithful and can be completely counted on to make good
on all he has said. There is no change of heart with him. His promises
are better than gold. God does nothing wrong or improper, he is
upright in all he does.

Our God is big, gracious, loving, just, holy and righteous. His many
splendored perfections radiate a glory that is unapproachable.
Thinking of these things is just breath-taking!

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 speaks 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 31:9,24-26,

"So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests... After
Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning
to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the
covenant of the Lord: 'Take this Book of the Law and place it beside
the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.'"

Moses was the first to pen Scripture. God spoke to Moses, and as he
spoke with him he had some things to say to Israel and the rest of the
world. These words became immortalized as Moses reduced them to
writing. It begins the basis of our Bibles and through the ages others
would add to it. Not just anyone was able to add to the pages of the
sacred library - only those who were recognized as being inspired by
the Holy Spirit to do so.

Because Scripture is that which has come from the mouth of God
himself, it is set apart in a sacred library, distinct from all other
literature. Paul tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed, 2
Timothy 3:16. Peter tells us that Scripture never had it's origin in
the will of man. No one ever decided to write a book of the Bible and
did so. Peter says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy
of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from
God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21.

Imagine that! God decided he had some things to say to us. The Creator
of the cosmos. The one who brought all of the spinning galaxies into
being and set them in motion. The author of life itself has something
to say! How important must be that communication! It sits right there
on my coffee table! It contains that which is of unspeakable
importance as within it are found the thoughts, feelings, intentions
and agenda of God himself! He has revealed himself within it's pages!

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 has a heart of kindness!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 26:13,

"I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to
the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all
you commanded."

Here is the confession the worshipper was to make when he brought in
the third year tithe to the Lord at the celebration of Firstfruits. As
a confession that was to follow the fulfillment of what the Lord
required, it tells us something of the magnificent heart of our
wonderful God. Every third year God required the Israelites to bring
in the first tenth of the blessing the Lord had provided them from the
fruit of the Promised Land. They were to take this offering, and after
having presented it to the priest, distribute it among those who
worked for the Lord full time, the Levites, and the alien, the
fatherless and the widows.

To be sure, the offering of Firstfruits was to be an expression of
rejoicing in "all the good things the Lord your God has given you."
What captures my thoughts this morning is that the distribution of the
offering reflects the Lord's kindness toward those who serve him full
time (and so are unable to provide for themselves as the others in
Israel) and those who are helpless: the alien, orphans and widows. Our
God is kind, who cares for the needs of those who cannot provide for
themselves.

Is it required somewhere that God has to have a kind heart? Of course
not. God is who he is and there is nothing that compels his nature to
be one way or another. What if God showed little regard for the
helpless? The fact that our God has a wonderfully kind heart
demonstrates the nature of his character: our God is loving and kind.

No where is this love and kindness more evident than his sending his
Son, Jesus Christ, to provide a way for helpless people. Lost and
fallen mankind is helpless in the hands of God's horrific judgment.
So, in his kindness, he sent his Son to take our punishment on himself
that we might escape his judgment, have a right standing before him
and enjoy him forever.

"When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,
not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become
heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7.

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 will never leave us nor forsake us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 31:6,

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them [Israel's enemies], for the Lord your God goes with you; he will
never leave you nor forsake you."

There is something very comforting in these words of encouragement
from Moses. As Israel prepares to enter into the Promised Land and
face their enemies, he tells them the Lord will be going with them,
and that he will never leave them nor forsake them.

We have a very similar promise from the Lord. Matthew tells us that
just prior to ascending into heaven Jesus said, "Go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end
of the age." Matthew 28:19-20.

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." What a
wonderful promise! Paul tells us, "He [Jesus Christ] 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." I Corinthians 1:8-9. Our Lord
is with us throughout our lives and is keeping strong right up to the
end. There is no need for any of us who know our Lord to be fearful of
being left behind by him, of not remaining in his love or of being
overcome by the challenges and frustrations of this life.

Our Lord will never leave us nor forsake us! He will keep us strong to the end!

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 multi-dimensional.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 28:63,

"Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in
number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be
uprooted from the land you are entering to possess."

Here is an interesting look into the character and nature of God. For
those who see God as somewhat one-dimensional, e.g. an "angry God" of
the Old Testament or a "God of love" in the New, both sides are on
full display here. Moses says it pleased the Lord to make Israel
prosper and increase in numbers. He also says God will likewise be
pleased to ruin and destroy them if they don't revere him and keep the
law.

Both pleasures are of God... and how interesting he has determined
that which side of his nature the Israelites will see of him are left
to them. They get to decide for themselves. I find two interesting
things out about God in this passage. One is that God has left to man
the certain outcome they will experience based on stipulations he has
designed. The other is that our God is far from one-dimensional. He is
a whole symphony of character traits.

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 has a big heart!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 27:15,

"Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol—a thing
detestable to the Lord, the work of the craftsman's hands—and sets it
up in secret."

As Moses prepares the Israelites to cross the Jordan without him, to
take possession of the land the Lord is giving them, he instructs the
Israelites to have certain tribes stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce
curses. Another group is to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the
people. Of the first group, this curse addressing idolatry, is the
first to be recited by the Levites.

Idolatry is a horrific sin. It is the sin committed when anyone
displaces God in their lives for something else, anything else. Paul
talks about the development of the sin nature as a process that
encompasses idolatry. "For although they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed
to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal
God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and
reptiles." What a terrible indictment of the human race!

Our God that gets displaced in the sin of idolatry is our Creator
himself. Our very existence is due to him alone. Although he has
brought us into being, he gets displaced and replaced. How could the
creature possibly ignore the existence of the One who brought the
creature into existence? It is astonishing, and yet that is the very
nature of things in this lost and fallen world.

What is even more astonishing is that our Creator, in an unfathomable
love, has reached out to the very people that have turned from him in
rebellion and replaced him with their own idols. And, it is not that
he has only reached out to us, but he sent his Son to die a horrible
death to win us back! As said in Isaiah 53:6, "We all, like sheep,
have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

What kind of heart does our God have? A big, big heart!

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: Salvation is due to God's love!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 9:4,

"After the Lord your God has driven them [the Canaanites] out before
you, do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take
possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on
account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to
drive them out before you."

Moses tells the Israelites that what they are about to inherit from
God is not as a result of their own goodness or righteousness. The
wickedness of the Canaanites is what has provided Israel's opportunity
to receive the land promised to Israel's patriarchs.

In a similar way, I have an inheritance that is mine, that is awaiting
me in heaven. The Lord has provided a place for me at his table. As I
finish out my life here on planet earth, I look forward to the
resurrection of life where I will enjoy eternal pleasures at the right
hand of the Lord, Psalm 16:11. I never want to forget that all of
these wonderful blessings the Lord has bestowed on me are not due to
my goodness or my righteousness. On the contrary, I have no past
performance of goodness or righteousness that would be rewarded in
this way. My life is one that should bring the certainty of God's
judgment in the lake of fire. I am a sinner and deserve a sinner's
eternal death.

The inheritance I hold in the kingdom of God has nothing to do with my
goodness. It is entirely due to the astonishing love God has for all
mankind. In his love he sent his Son to die a miserable death that we
might be forgiven our sins. In what we call his grace, he has provided
us all an opportunity to join him at his table through the gospel
message. All we need do is embrace him in faith! What a heart our God
has!

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!

Worship for Today: God has decided that man can choose!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 30:19-20,

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have
set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life,
so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord
your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is
your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to
give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Here Moses calls as his witnesses heaven and earth, that he has warned
Israel, if the Israelites obey the Lord they will inherit the many
blessings the Lord promised them and give them many years in the land.
If not, they will inherit the curses Moses warned them of. It will be
up to the Israelites own choosing. Moses urges them, "Now choose
life...".

Here we see the wonderful interplay between God's decree and mankind's
responsibility before the Lord. Israel has the opportunity to
determine their future. They are told if they obey God they will
receive his blessings. On the other hand, they are told if they don't,
they will receive God's curses. Man gets to choose, but God has
decreed what the stakes are and the criteria upon which the outcome
man receives will be based. Who is in charge here? God. Who gets to
determine the outcome? God has decided to leave that in the hands of
the Israelites.

One time Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great British Baptist preacher
of the nineteenth century, was asked how he reconciled God's
sovereignty with mankind's free will as an apparent contradiction in
theology. His reply was that he never reconciled friends. His point
was the two are not in contradiction at all. God, in his sovereignty,
has decided to endow mankind with the freedom to make choices within
the confines God has set. Those choices mankind makes bring a result
that God himself determines.

To me, this manifests the wonder of God's marvelous interaction with
his creation. He has not created us as automatons within a closed
fatalistic existence where he has pre-scripted all that will happen
himself. He has provided us with the means to live lives that have
purpose and meaning by allowing us to make choices and those choices
have eternal consequences as God himself has determined. This provides
for real opportunity for us to demonstrate our love for our wonderful
Creator and provide the context for which we can truly worship him: we
have a choice to do so!

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 circumcises our hearts!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 30:6,

"The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your
descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all
your soul, and live."

In this chapter Moses speaks of a time when the Lord will circumcise
the Israelites hearts. This will be when the Israelites return to the
Lord and obey him with all their hearts. The Lord will restore their
fortunes, bring them back to the land and circumcise their hearts so
that they may love him with all their hearts and souls and live.

We know what literal circumcision is, but what is this "circumcision"
of the heart? We read of this in Paul's letter to the Romans. "A man
is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely
outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and
circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the
written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."
Romans 2:28-29. Here we learn of a circumcision of our hearts that is
not outward but done in the heart by the Holy Spirit. It stands as
opposed to an outward obedience to keeping the law and as such renders
keeping the law as an external or outward expression moot.

When the new covenant was announced through Jeremiah, the Lord said he
would write the law on the minds and hearts of his people, Jeremiah
31:31-33. The need for this is that we are born into life with a sin
nature. We need a new nature to live lives that are pleasing to God
and so when we become his children he sends the Holy Spirit who
"circumcises" the sin nature of our hearts and begins to produce
spiritual fruit in our lives, See Galatians 5:16-26 for a great
discussion of this by Paul.

What I find so wonderful about our Lord is that he doesn't just save
us from his wrathful judgment, but he also changes us from within such
that our lives become pleasing to him. He circumcises our hearts!

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 enables us to know the things of him!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 29:4,

"To this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or
eyes that see or ears that hear."

Here we see that the Lord has withheld from the Israelites a certain
perception of the things of God. As we read the fuller story we see it
is due to the fact they have not appropriately responded to what was
revealed to them earlier by the Lord.This verse brings to my mind that
it is the Lord who enables us to know what we do of him. Our
perception, acuity, sensitivity and understanding of the things of God
all rest with his enabling us to do so. I consider it a great
manifestation of his grace when he gives us those "Oh, so that is what
this means... " moments.

When Jesus was here, before his crucifixion he said "But I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." John 12:32. He
also informed his disciples that, following his death, resurrection
and ascension into heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit to make some
things known to the world, "I will send him [the Counselor - the Holy
Spirit] to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in
regard to sin and righteousness and judgment" John 16:7-8. Here we see
our Lord Jesus Christ telling us he is going to bring a perception of
the things of God to the world. The Holy Spirit energizes and
enlightens the darkness of sinful man's mind to some things of God -
of man's great need to be made right with God. This prepares the way
for the gospel message. Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a
righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith
from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by
faith.'" Romans 1:16-17. Here is a message from God that holds
incredible power, a message he reveals to us as we hear it from those
who carry it!

Those of us who have turned to the Lord through the gospel message
have done so only because the Lord drew us to himself through the Holy
Spirit he sent to us. There is nothing special about us and nothing we
have received from God he hasn't freely given us apart from his
enabling us to receive it - enabling us to see some things of him. All
mankind has an opportunity through this wonderful reach of God to all
mankind that we call his grace!

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: Joy and gladness mark our service to the Lord!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 28:46-48,

"They [the Lord's curses] will be a sign and a wonder to you and your
descendants forever. Because you did not serve the Lord your God
joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and
thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the
Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he
has destroyed you."

Moses warns Israel that if they do not serve the Lord joyfully and
gladly during the times of their prosperity, the Lord would bring
curses upon them. If they don't serve the Lord in this way, they would
wind up serving enemies the Lord sends against them. It seems as if it
would be an easy decision. Serve the Lord joyfully and gladly and
enjoy his blessings or don't serve him joyfully and gladly and serve
their enemies. They will serve someone. Who will it be?

We, likewise have the very same opportunity. As we come into this
world we can choose to serve the Lord or reject him. How do we serve
the Lord? Jesus said, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one
he has sent." John 6:29. As Israel's service to the Lord was to be
marked by joy and gladness, so should ours. Why is it our service
should be an act of joy and gladness? Because of how wonderful God is
and what wonderful things he has done in our behalf! Our level of joy
and gladness is a very obvious barometer of how well we have come to
know our matchless wonderful Savior!

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 redemption is our confession!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 26:7-10a,

"We cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard
our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought
us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great
terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this
place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and
now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O Lord, have given
me."

These verses comprise a part of the confession the worshipper was to
make when he brought his offering of firstfruits to the tabernacle or
temple in Jerusalem. The confession was an acknowledgment that the
worshippers in Jerusalem were from an Aramean father, a wanderer whose
people wound up in Egypt and fell into slavery. Calling out to God, he
freed them from the bondage of slavery and brought them into a land he
promised them. Now, in this land, they bring the firstfruits of the
harvest.

This, of course, is rich with reference to the circumstance of all who
will inherit the resurrection of life. We are of people who wander the
earth and have fallen into the slavery of sinfulness and God's
judgment. God responded to our cry for mercy and sent his Son to lead
us out of this slavery. Having redeemed us from sin and his judgment,
he has promised us "a better country—a heavenly one", Hebrews 11:16.

I am certain the confession of the Israelites with their firstfruits
offering will mirror what will take place in the resurrection. We will
express our great appreciation and love for God for all he has done
for us in freeing us from our bondage and bringing us to a heavenly
eternity of pleasures at his right hand, Psalm 16:11.

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's conditional response.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 30:1-3,

"When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon
you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses
you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the
Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul
according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God
will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you
again from all the nations where he scattered you."

Moses tells the Israelites that if they choose to follow the idol
worship of the peoples around them, 29:26-28, they will suffer his
judgment and be dispersed among the nations. But that is not the end
of God's care and concern for the Israelites. He says when they have
been scattered and then return to the Lord and obey him with all their
heart and with all their soul he will then restore their fortunes.
Simply put, if they disobeyed God they would suffer his wrath. If they
returned to the Lord they would enjoy his blessing. This brings to
mind Jeremiah 18:7-10, "If at any time I 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."

Some folk's theology will simply not allow for God to respond to the
actions of people. In their minds we live in a closed fatalistic
existence where everything has been pre-scripted by God. Else, they
say, how can God be sovereign? This is not how I read the Scriptures.
As in our passage today, and as the passage in Jeremiah clearly
indicates, our God is much bigger than that. In his great
transcendence he is able to interact with the choices he has allowed
people to make of their own free will. In doing such he has provided
an environment where people can truly choose him. This provides for
true glorification of God. We have the ability to choose to worship
and glorify our God or turn our backs on him as Adam and Eve did in
the garden.

For me, it is not simply that Scripture presents God in this way, I
want God this way. I want to know that it is my own free choice that
he has allowed me to make that has been the cause of my embrace of him
in faith! Why? Not because I am a wonderful person who has made the
wiser choice by choosing him, but because he is the wonderful Lord who
is due all my love, adoration, reverence and worship! It is all about
him and nothing about me.

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 revealed things 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 29:29,

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the
words of this law."

There are things we know and there are things we don't know. In that
God has created all there is from a posture that exists beyond the
limits of time and space, there is undoubtedly much we don't know and
can't know without being told. For me, I know there are some things I
would love to find out and have no way of knowing in this life.
Possibly from the perspective of the resurrection I will gain some
answers to questions I have today that go unanswered here. Beyond
this, I am certain there are all kinds of things I don't know of and I
don't have an inkling about them to raise a question! In other words,
without a doubt, I don't know what it is I don't know. I don't even
know enough to have a question!

But not our God. He knows it all. We call it omniscience. He knows all
there is, he knows the past, he knows even the secret things about us,
he knows the future. From this exalted position he has decided to let
us know some things, things he reveals to us. From this perspective
there are the "secret things" that belong to God and there are the
"things revealed" he has told us of.

We tend to think in terms of prophecy as "future-telling". From a
Scriptural standpoint prophecy is much more that just future-telling.
Prophecy is anything God has to say to us. From the pattern God uses
in Scripture we find that God speaks to a person and that person
passes on what God has to say. We discover that what God has to say is
intentional and purposeful. It is from this understanding of prophecy
that Peter speaks, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21. Imagine
that! God decides he has something to say and says it though a
spokesman of his choice. He wants us to know some things!

What are the things he wants us to know? From our lost and fallen
condition before him, stumbling around in the darkness of a lost
world, limping along under his judgment, he wants us to know we have a
problem. There is a coming judgement called the lake of fire. He wants
us to know if something doesn't happen, our inevitable future leads to
us being cast into it. But, he also wants us to know of his great love
for us, his mercy and his kindness. He wants us to know that he has
sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment for us that we
might have a right standing before him. As Paul quoted Isaiah for the
church in Rome, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!" Romans 10:15.

It is astonishing to me to think that the Creator of all has revealed
things to us! How amazing his words are captured in this book, the
Bible. It sits, right here in front of me! How wonderful he has
communicated to us!

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