Worship for Today: Love within fellowship.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 1 Corinthian 16:19-20,

"The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and
Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that
meets at their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet
one another with a holy kiss."

The warmth of fellowship glows as Paul closes his letter to the church
in Corinth. In this letter he has had to take this church to task for
the fracturing of fellowship they were beginning to experience. As
Paul extends personal greetings, though, the intimacy of fellowship is
clearly felt. Aquila and Prisca (Priscilla) greet the members of this
church "warmly". The church that meets at their home (I think the best
place for churches to meet) does so as well. Paul encourages these
believers to greet one another "with a holy kiss", something no longer
practiced in today's church (although the believers were encouraged to
do so no less than five times by both Paul and Peter in the New
Testament.)

There is something very special about the fellowship of believers
within the church. As believers we share a common excitement
concerning what is to come. We also share in a common gratitude for
all that our matchless Savior has done for us. We all share in a
common purpose of furthering the gospel message as the Lord populates
his kingdom. Most of all, however, is that we all share in a mystical
experiential reality that no one else on planet earth does: we are all
indwelt with God's Holy Spirit. We are told that God is love in 1 John
4, and in Paul's letter to the Galatian churches he tells us that the
Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives, one of which being love. We all
share in this love for one another. Paul speaks of the importance of
this love in the thirteenth chapter of this letter. In Jesus' own
prayer, in John 17, he points to this intimacy of fellowship believers
will have for one another and with God, and how this intimacy will
demonstrate to the world that God the Father had sent Jesus into the
world, that they may believe. Read this wonderful part of Jesus
prayer,

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us
so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them
the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in
them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the
world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved
me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world
does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I
have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in
order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself
may be in them."

Only within the fellowship of true believers will this intimacy of
love for one another be found. What a wonderful community to belong
to!

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 is coming for us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10,

"They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

Paul begins this letter to the church in Thessalonica by acknowledging
the wonderful faith they embraced the gospel message with. As Paul
says, this church's faith became known everywhere. As it became known,
others remarked at how these Thessalonian believers turned from their
idol worship "to serve the living and true God." What strikes me this
morning is Paul's comment about the posture of these believers. They
were waiting "for his Son from heaven." Earlier in this letter Paul
mentions that this hope in Jesus Christ inspired their endurance.

We, also, wait for God's Son from heaven. He is coming to planet earth
to bring about an end to this world's current existence. That ending
is characterized as "the coming wrath" that Jesus rescues us from. We
await our deliverance. Where we once had only the wrath that those of
this world are destined for to look forward to, we now have a
wonderful, exciting future! There is something here pending for us
that is so fantastic and wonderful that words simply fail to express
adequately! For believers who hold this anticipation in their hearts,
there is something distinctly "in the air." Something headed our way,
something glorious, fantastic, earth-shaking: our Lord is coming for
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

Worship for Today: God's great love of man.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 144:3,

"O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you
think of him?"

Here is a riveting question that brings out an astonishing truth.
God's love of mankind is inexplicable, boundless, its dimensions
difficult to comprehend. Paul even tells us that to understand the
width, length, height and depth of the love of Christ requires power
and results in us being "filled to the measure of all the fullness of
God." Ephesians 3:17-19. He prayed for this power for his readers.

What is so astonishing about this love of God for man is that man
turned his back on God, rejecting him and going his own way in sin and
rebellion. Although the judgement of God is horrific in its scope and
breadth, he nevertheless expressed an incomprehensible love of mankind
by sending his own Son to die a miserable death to make a way for us
back to him. God's justice will be satisfied and he visited that
justice on his own Son on our behalf that we not experience his
judgement. What a love this is!

"What is man that you care for him?"

I will certainly never comprehend this love of God for us, but I
strive to know of 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: The Lord's enduring love.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 136:1-3,

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever."

The structure of this psalm seems to indicate that it may have been
used as a responsive song. One group would advance the content of the
psalm while the other would answer back with the same refrain for each
of the 26 verses, "His love endures forever." It starts off with a
triple injunction to give thanks to God for his enduring love. The
psalm also ends with a further request for thanksgiving. In these
calls for thanksgiving, God is called the good Lord, the God of gods,
the Lord of lords and the God of heaven. Following the first three
calls for thanksgiving the psalmist directs the attention on why
thanksgiving should be made and what forms the basis for the worship
within the psalm: "to him who alone does great wonders." It is the
wonderful works of God that are in view in this psalm that bring to
mind that "His love endures forever." God's creative acts, his
deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt, providing Israel victory
over her enemies, and his provision for all creation are all recalled
of God's works.

These wonderful works of God are remembered to underscore the great
love of the Lord, and particularly the unchanging nature of that love
the Lord has for those who are his. John reminds us that God is love,
I John 4:8,16. God himself reveals this love in his kindness and mercy
in Exodus 34:6-7, where he reveals himself to Moses as "abounding in
love". He also discloses this in Jeremiah 9:24, where he says that if
anyone were to boast, it should be that he knows the Lord and knows of
his kindness.

What comes through loud and clear in this psalm to me is that as I
acknowledge the wonderful love the Lord has for me, I know I will
never wake one day to hear the Lord ever say, "You know, I know I told
you I love you but I have changed and I'm moving on." Never will those
words be uttered by our Lord to any of us! Where others may forsake
us, our loving Lord never, ever will! Nothing can separate us from the
love of Jesus Christ, Romans 8:31-39. The Lord's great love for us is
ours for all eternity! Here is something all of us can hang our hat
on: the certainty of God's great unchanging love for 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

Worship for Today: The Lord's dwelling place.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 132:3-5,

"I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to
my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the Lord, a
dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

In this psalm of ascents, the psalmist recalls this vow of David.
David said he would take no rest until he found "a dwelling for the
Mighty One of Jacob." What strikes me this morning is that the Lord
himself desires this dwelling with men! In David's day it was
represented in the tabernacle that Moses had originally built for the
Lord, and in David's son's day, Solomon's day, it was represented in
the massive temple he built. David had desired to build a temple for
the Lord but the Lord told him his son would build it.

Today the Lord still desires a dwelling with mankind. His desire is
not to dwell in a tabernacle or a temple of stone and wood, but the
temple of our hearts. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not
know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,
whom you have received from God?" This is an astonishing thing for me
to contemplate. The Lord desires to live within us as his dwelling
place! Where we were once estranged from God and living as his
enemies, he reached out to us through his Son, Jesus Christ, making a
way for us to become members of his family... and he wants to make his
dwelling within 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

Worship for Today: The Lord answers us in our need!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 120:1,

"I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me."

The psalmist calls on the Lord because he dwells Mesheck, "I live
among the tents of Kedar!" We, likewise all live in a hostile place.
This world lives in opposition to God and follows the driving force of
its collective sin nature. In fulfillment of his appetites, mankind
uses and abuses one another, exploiting and taking advantage where
possible. Folks elbow one another out in order to "get theirs." At
times this world can be very difficult and discouraging,

Out of God's wonderful kindness, he sees our plight, our difficulties
and has made himself available to us through prayer. He provides
deliverance from the fate of this lost and fallen world, (an eternity
in a fiery lake of burning sulfur) offering an invitation to all who
will take it. As we await our deliverance he listens to us as we pray
to him, pouring out our heartfelt concerns, our difficulties and our
needs.

For those of us who are willing and capable of "checking in" our
theology at the door when we enter into the Scriptures, we discover
that God does indeed respond to our prayers. He will even change what
he does in response to our prayers. Many folks struggle with the
notion that God responds to our calls for help, intervening where he
might not otherwise. God is not a theology, he is a real person and
relates to us just as a person would. But, what a magnificent person
this is! His storehouse of resources is unlimited, his power
unmatched, his wisdom unapproachable and his love boundless! All these
things he offers us as his children: we call it "God's grace". Woe to
the man that dwells in Mesheck, but how blessed is the man that can
call God his heavenly Father!

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 frightening presence of God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 114:1-8,

1 When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God's sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6 you mountains, that you skipped like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.

I have included the entire psalm here as it speaks to me of an amazing
reality. The Creator steps into his creation and selects a people for
himself. The psalmist points to the creation's trembling when the Lord
led his people out of bondage to make them a nation he would inhabit.
"Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel his dominion." The Lord had
already chosen Abraham, the man of faith, and his offspring for
himself, but when he led them out of Egypt, he set the stage for
Israel's establishment as a nation. Right here on planet earth in the
midst of Satan's territory.

Why should the creation tremble before God as he establishes the
nation of Israel? Israel becomes the camp of God and all who are
outside the camp remain in an estranged relationship with him.
Unfortunately for Israel, she will demonstrate that sin within the
heart of any people will destroy the best of opportunities for any
people (as Israel's history will show). Ultimately, it will be the
spiritual offspring of Abraham that will become God's camp (read
Romans 9).

We are told in Scripture that Satan is the ruler of this world. The
world and all who belong to it are in rebellion against God and
estranged from him. The creation exists in a lost and fallen state
outside of the camp of God. For creation to witness those who become
members of God's kingdom is a frightening thing. As some enter in, the
others remain outside. It is a reminder for them that the day of the
Lord is coming and the world and all its people will suffer God's
terrible wrath and anger.

For me, this is a time when I see the world trembling outside the camp
of God. It is manifested in the opposition seen so often today of any
vestige or reminder of God. No God in the schools, no God in the pubic
square, God must be expunged from all things political. The religious
history and heritage of our nation must be scrubbed of any remembrance
of God. Some call it a culture war. Some call it a shift from free
market capitalism and democracy to fascist socialism. I call it for
what I see it, the very same thing the psalmist of Psalm 114 saw. The
world is trembling at the presence of God and attempting to shield
itself from any reminder that he is here within the creation as he
inhabits his people, the church. The world shudders at the thought
that the Lord is headed our way like an unstoppable freight train
rolling down the tracks...

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 justice and kindness.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 109:30-31,

"With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him."

In this psalm of imprecation, where David calls for God's curse on
"wicked and deceitful men" who have turned against him, David finds
his theme of worship. David recognizes it is the needy that the Lord
stands by. The Lord protects those who are hurting, who are unable to
help themselves.

Out of all the character qualities the Creator of all things could
manifest, the Lord's justice and kindness are in full view in this
psalm. These God has revealed to us in two premier passages where he
specifically reveals to us what he is like. The first is in Exodus
34:6-7, where he says, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and
sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the
children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation." The other is Jeremiah 9:24, "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."

Note in both these passages the Lord speaking of his justice and his
kindness. Both are on display in David's psalm here as the Lord, in
his kindness, stands at David's right hand - David here as a helpless
and needy man harassed by wicked and evil men. In the Lord's justice,
David finds solace in the fact that these wicked men will be facing
the Lord's judgment for their mistreatment of David.

Surely our Lord is a lord of both justice and kindness.

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: Life in the resurrection.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 102:11,

"My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass."

As I read this verse, I am reminded this is the real truth to the
matter of this life. We are here for only a short time. When growing
up, life seemed like it would last forever and now that I am older, it
seems like life is just flying by at an incredible rate. It flies by
so fast that at times I wonder how important many of the things are
that I considered important not so long ago. Many things now seem so
temporary, so fleeting. The psalmist makes this statement in the midst
of his lament of his circumstances.

As I consider this psalm, and particularly this verse, I am also
reminded of what lies beyond the grave. The grave is where we are all
headed for, at what feels like an accelerated race. But beyond death
comes the bright morning of resurrection for those of us who know
Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior. God has provided us an
inheritance that is just as certain for us as the grave is. For all
eternity we will enjoy the inheritance of Jesus Christ, God's Son, as
co-heirs with him. In the resurrection there will be no more sorrow,
no more sickness, no more pain and no more death. In the resurrection
there will be true fulfillment in life. Where what we do in this life
is all left behind in too short a life span, life in the resurrection
will be full of meaning and purpose. We will enjoy the fruits of our
labors for all eternity. As David says in Psalm 16:11, we will be
filled with joy in God's presence, we will enjoy eternal pleasures at
his right hand.

What a wonderful certain hope we have in the resurrection, courtesy of
Jesus Christ!

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: Sing to the Lord a new song.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 98:1,

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his
right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."

The psalmist begins this psalm of worship with a call to sing a new
song based on the "marvelous things" the Lord has done. This speaks to
me of the reality that our worship needs to be new and fresh each day.
Yesterday's worship will just not do. Our God has done many wonderful
things over the ages and continues to do wonderful things. These are
always appropriate to meditate on as a theme of worship for each new
day.

We serve a big God with a wonderful "god-sized" heart. He has blessed
us with so many things. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on our
behalf, paying the penalty for our sins. He has called all people to
himself through the gospel message which he launched on that day of
Pentecost two millennia ago. He has freed us from sin and the law. He
has sent his Holy Spirit into our hearts as a down payment,
guaranteeing our inheritance in the resurrection of life. He has
accepted us as his very own children, making us co-heirs with his Son.
Jesus Christ is returning one day for those of us who have embraced
him in faith, our standing before him certain.

So many things the Lord has done that there is never a day when our
worship of God cannot be based on something new he has revealed to us
about himself, something we have gained a recent appreciation for in a
new way. Our worship of God should be new, exciting and fresh each and
every day. We will never exhaust the wonderful works and the wonderful
qualities of our God as grounds for new and meaningful worship. "Sing
to the Lord a new song"!

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: What god is so great as our God?

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 77:11,

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your
miracles of long ago."

As Asaph speaks of his distress and of his crying out to the Lord he
tells himself he will appeal to the wonderful things the Lord has
done. As he does so he recalls the Lord's miracles and mighty deeds.
He reflects on the ways of God as holy, displaying his power among the
peoples. He recalls the deliverance of Israel from Egypt with its
attendant miracles, the waters writhing and convulsing, the clouds
pouring water, the resounding of thunder and the lightning flashing.
"Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the
world; the earth trembled and quaked." Verse 18.

As believers today, we have all of these things to reflect on as well
as so much more. When Jesus Christ came as the Son of God, he
performed many miracles. He taught us about being born again and how
much our Heavenly Father loves us. We have his sacrificial death on
the cross to meditate on as an expression of his great love for us. We
have his resurrection and ascension into heaven as events that
authenticate the efficacy of his sacrifice for us and the truthfulness
of all he did and taught us.

As Asaph says in verse 13, "Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so
great as our God?"

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 wondrous messianic King!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 72:11-14,

"All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. For he
will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to
help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy
from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for
precious is their blood in his sight."

Where this psalm starts out as a petition to the Lord from King
Solomon to endow him with justice and righteousness, there is a clear
prophetic shift to the coming messianic King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this psalm Solomon prophetically describes some things about Jesus
Christ when he returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Solomon tells us all the kings and nations of the earth will worship
and serve this King. The cause for this is not due to the military
might of this King but because of his wondrous, great and mighty
deeds. He will judge people with righteousness and justice (the true
kind of justice, not what passes for "justice" today...), verse 2. He
will bring unlimited prosperity that will abound "till the moon is no
more", verses 3 and 7. This King will defend the afflicted, the needy,
those who cry out, those who are helpless, the oppressed, verses 4 and
12-14. This King will rule forever over all, verses 5 and 8. He has a
loving heart that delivers the needy and afflicted, rescuing them from
oppression and violence because they are precious to him, verses
12-14.

As Solomon says, "Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who
alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen."

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: The Lord is our great help and deliverer.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 70:5,

"I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and
my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay."

Although I am sure that most folks become discouraged with themselves
from time to time, most of us don't think too badly of ourselves.
Whenever I share the gospel message with someone and ask the question,
"Would you say you are a good person?", I have yet to encounter anyone
who said they were not. Most say that they try to treat others as they
would want to be treated or they don't disrespect others, they haven't
committed horrible crimes, etc. There is no feeling of impending doom
headed their way - in the form of God's judgment. I attempt to
disabuse them of the ignorance of that certainty by showing them how
they have broken God's law at some point or another.

Where David appealed to the Lord out of some event in his life that
caused him great desperation, his words remind me we are all "poor and
needy". We all need God to come to our aid and to come quickly. Even
if we are wealthy, even if we feel safe and secure. Proverbs 11:4
tells us, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness
delivers from death." We all come into life facing God's judgment of
sin. Through Adam we have all sinned and nothing about our wealth, our
relative security, our health, our station in life, the good things we
may have done will relieve us from that "fiery lake of burning
sulfur", the second death. We need a righteous standing before God on
judgment day.

When we reach out to God in faith, when we place our trust in him, he
comes to us quickly. When we approach him as the truly poor and needy
people we are, he does not delay and becomes our help and deliverer.
He will cloak us with the righteousness of his Son, Jesus Christ. Our
God is so faithful we will all be able to say with David, "This poor
man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his
troubles." Psalm 34:6.

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: All mankind will fear.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 64:9,

"All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder
what he has done."

Life in this world is lived at a distance from God. Since Adam and Eve
were cast out of the garden of Eden, mankind has been estranged from
God. Outside of special and specific circumstances God's existence is
only seen through his handiwork in creation. Even that has been
obscured in mankind's obsession with putting God's existence out of
his mind. Irrational and illogical explanations have been "cooked up"
to explain why what exists does so without its Creator.

Yet God has not left us without word from him. He has sent his
prophets, he revealed himself to us through his Son, Jesus Christ and
has left us the Scriptures so that those of us who seek him can know
him. Nevertheless, many live their lives apart from even recognizing
God's existence let alone having a reverent appreciation for who he is
and what he is like.

This intolerable state of affairs will not last forever. As David
speaks of the wicked, "that noisy crowd of evildoers" he observes that
one day all mankind will fear him. David says, "God will shoot them
with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down." Verse 7. In
Revelation 19:11-16 we read, "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."

On this day "all mankind will fear..."

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 great horrific and terrible day of the Lord.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 46:10,

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the
nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

We live in an age where God has allowed mankind to run rampant in
following his own sin nature. Mankind, having turned his back on God
in sin and rebellion, has gone his own way and has chosen an estranged
relationship with God, having rejected God's rightful place. All of
this has solidified God's judgment of mankind that is yet to come.

That day is coming. The Scriptures speak of the horrible "day of the
Lord." Isaiah 13:9; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:11; Amos 5:18;-20;
Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7, 14; Malachi 4:1,5; Acts 2:20; 1
Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10. That day will be a day of gloom as
the world falls under God's judgment. On that day these words of Psalm
46:10 will be fulfilled. All mankind will be stilled. All mankind will
know that the Lord is God. God will be exalted among the nations and
in the earth. The judgment of God will not leave the earth in its
present configuration as mankind will no longer live in a "bubble",
not knowing, not seeing, not fearing God for who he is.

Woe to the man who is not prepared for the great horrific and terrible
day of 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 brings victory.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 44:6-8,

"I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you
give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In
God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name
forever."

The sons of Korah recognized that it was God who brought victory to
the people of Israel when God blessed them.

In a day where it seems insecurity runs high, remembering where
strength comes from is important. God is the one that makes the
victories possible, both in life and in death. The psalmist here
speaks of God's hand, verse 2, his right hand, his arm, the light of
God's face that brought victory to the ancients of Israel, "for you
loved them." Verse 3.

God loves us in a way we are scarce able to comprehend. In fact, Paul
says that our understanding of that love results in being "filled to
the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:19. So vital is
our understanding of this love of God for us, Paul devoted his life to
praying for this understanding for his readers.

Although we may experience our setbacks in this life, and eventually
face death one day, it is God who brings us safely through to his
presence in a victory that is motivated by his love and carried out by
hand.

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 forgives!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 38:15,

"I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God."

David declares the confidence he has in the Lord. As he pours out his
confession of sin, verse 18, and his guilt, verse 4, he expresses his
confidence that the Lord will respond and come to his aid. He asks the
Lord, "O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. Come
quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior." Verses 21-22.

How many times have I been here! God, in his wonderful grace, comes to
us as we confess our sin and sorrow for disappointing him, ourselves
and others with the things we think, do and say. I am reminded of the
wonderful verse in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness."

Here I find the kindness of God expressed in a way seen no where else.
His patience with me is stunning. Where others may express contempt,
Paul says, "So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do
the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do
you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and
patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward
repentance?"

How wonderful is the grace of God in his forgiveness of sins! How
wonderful is our Savior who has taken the penalty of our sins upon
himself on that horrific cross!

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: There is no one like the Lord!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 35:10,

"Who is like you, O Lord?"

As David muses on the potential of the Lord's action on his behalf
against his enemies, he asks this question. David can see his reaction
to the Lord's response to his plea as being one of worship. He says,
"my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation." As
David asks the question he observes that the Lord reaches down to help
the helpless, the downtrodden. "You rescue the poor from those too
strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them." Verse
10.

This is a wonderful rhetorical question. It brings to my mind Paul's
great doxology at the end of Romans 11, "Oh, the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments,and
his paths beyond tracing out! 'Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or
who has been his counselor?' 'Who has ever given to God, that God
should repay him?' For from him and through him and to him are all
things. To him be the glory forever! Amen."

There is simply no one like 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: From wailing to dancing!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 30:11-12,

"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and
clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever."

David speaks of the joy the Lord had brought him. His source of joy
was that in his desperation he had called out to the Lord, verse 2,
and the Lord responded. David speaks of healing, of being lifted "out
of the depths", of being brought "up from the grave", verses 1-3.
David also speaks of the temporal nature of the Lord's anger, verse 5,
and of how his favor, his grace, lasts a lifetime, of weeping for a
night but rejoicing in the morning.

This psalm speaks to me of a couple of things. One is that the Lord
does answer prayer. Out of even our worst times, the Lord can lift us
up, bring us relief and bless us tremendously, no matter what we face.
David's psalm here is wonderful testimony of just this.

Another theme this psalm stirs in my heart this morning is the joy we
will experience in the resurrection. As we face death as a judgment of
God for sin, one bright morning we will be lifted up from death and
the grave. For those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith,
though we will experience physical death, our bodies will rise in the
bright morning of resurrection when we will celebrate God's wonderful
favor in eternal, abundant life. The joy will be intense.

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 answers prayer.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 6:8-9,

"Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer."

I'm not sure why it is, but a lot of folks these days struggle with
the notion that the Lord responds to us when we pray - when he might
not otherwise. Here David speaks of a time when the Lord responded to
his prayers during an especially difficult time in his life. David
says the Lord accepted his prayer because of his cry for mercy. The
clear implication is that if David had not cried out, the Lord would
not have responded to him.

As I say, some folks have a crazy notion that everything is all
planned out, prescripted in a fatalistic fashion. Otherwise God
wouldn't be the one behind all that happens, that somehow it endangers
our notion of his sovereignty. These folks would tell us that God
planned on David crying out and manipulated him in doing so. My Bible
couldn't be further from this kind of idea. When Jesus taught about
prayer he told us of an unjust judge. You read the story and tell me
what you think:

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should
always pray and not give up. He said: 'In a certain town there was a
judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a
widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me
justice against my adversary." For some time he refused. But finally
he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets
justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"
"And the Lord said, 'Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will
not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him
day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see
that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

If nothing else, Jesus taught us that it is prayer, initiated by us,
that can move God to act on our behalf. God steps into time and space
and responds to our requests! My suggestion is that when we enter into
the pages of Scripture we leave our theology at the door, otherwise
our finite minds just might miss some important things to learn about
our God.

As David found, and as our Lord taught us, God answers prayer on our behalf!

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 expressing itself in love.

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

"In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any
value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love."

As Paul brings his thoughts to a close in this letter of correction
for the Galatian churches he speaks to what makes a difference as to
what believers do. To live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God,
Paul says that circumcision, representing the law, makes no
difference. Whether we get circumcised, whether we conform to the law
has no value to us. The only thing that counts is faith expressing
itself through love.

Here is quite a departure from a lot of theology that gets passed
around these days. Faith isn't something that God manipulates in us.
All mankind has the ability to place trust in something. To live a
life pleasing to God requires man to make a choice - a choice he is
capable of making. Therefore he is responsible before God to make that
choice. Those who embrace Jesus Christ in faith will enter into the
resurrection of life. Those who reject trusting in Jesus Christ will
be cast into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. We all have a choice to
make. If God were to choose for us, we would all be saved. "This is
good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3-4. We know that some
will not choose Jesus Christ and, so, horrifically, a number of people
will be cast into that lake of fire.

Jesus put it this way to Nicodemus, "Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who
does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God." As I say, we all have a choice to make.
God will not choose for us.

The wonderful news is that as we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we
become indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He takes up residence within us and
begins to bring about changes. One of these changes that Paul speaks
of later in this chapter is love. Faith has its expression in love
because faith brings us close to God and God is love. So Paul tells
these believers that the only thing of value they can do is to find
the expression of faith in a life of 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