Worship for Today: Our God of judgment and mercy!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Revelation 20:11-15,

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

Here the account is given of the "Great White Throne Judgment". What
we know is that all have sinned, Romans 3:23. We come from a fallen
race since Adam and Eve's fall in the garden, and we are all under
condemnation. This judgment is horrific since all who sin will be
"thrown into the lake of fire" to share in the ongoing and eternal
torment of Satan in this "lake of burning sulfur".

The wonderful news is that all who will embrace Jesus Christ in faith
will never see this judgment! As Jesus said, "I tell you the truth,
whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life
and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
What mercy this is!!

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: Just and true are the Lord's ways.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Revelation 15:3-4,

"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."

This song of Moses, sung by believers in heaven, acknowledges
something very important to me given the world we live in today, "Just
and true are your ways, King of the ages."

Today's world seems to be running amuck. The powers that be appear to
be motivated by a less than honorable and honest agenda, justice seems
to have gone awry, that which is good and appropriate has has been
replaced with that which is perverse, unholy and ungodly. Quality of
character has been exchanged for the selfish pursuit of power and
wealth.

There doesn't seem to be an anchor to cling to, any where to hang your
hat for that which is upstanding and right. But I am reminded here
that the Lord God Almighty is coming. He is King of the ages and "just
and true" are his ways. His way is the only way that will be enduring.
As the Lord tarries, providing opportunity for more folks to turn to
him, to join his kingdom, we look forward to, longingly, for that time
when all creation will again be bowing the knee to him. "Who will not
fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are
holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous
acts have been revealed."

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 comes!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Revelation 10:5-7,

"Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised
his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and
ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and
all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, 'There
will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about
to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as
he announced to his servants the prophets.'"

As a herald to the judgment of the seventh trumpet, this mighty angel
declares the coming fulfillment of "the mystery of God". He swears, by
our Creator God, that there will be no more delay.

I am reminded we live in a time when God's forbearance allows the
world to continue on, that more might respond to the gospel of God's
grace. He is giving us all more time to respond to him. But the day of
judgment is coming. It may seem slow to us, but as a massive,
unstoppable freight train, it has already left the station and is
headed our way. Nothing can slow it, nothing can divert it, nothing
can stop it. It is slowly rumbling down the tracks, right for planet
earth and when it makes the last bend, it will suddenly be here. It is
certain, it is absolute and it will be here right on time. There is no
negotiating with it, no treaty can be made with it, it can't be
bargained with - it is simply coming our way! There will be those who
will climb aboard and those who will be crushed under it.

God's massive presence is thundering our way!

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 horrific judgment of God!

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

"As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in
a loud voice: 'Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because
of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!'"

These seven angelic trumpet judgments are horrific. Four of the
judgments have already been called: hail and fire mixed with blood was
"hurled down to the earth" that caused a third of the earth, trees and
grass to be burned up, a blazing mountain was thrown into the sea that
caused a third of the sea to turn to blood and a third of the sea
creatures and ships were destroyed, a blazing star fell on the earth
which caused a third of the waters to become "bitter" with many people
dying because of it and when the forth trumpet sounded a third of the
sun, moon and stars where struck so that a third of the light was
lost. If these were not bad enough, now an eagle expresses how
horrible the next three trumpet blasts will be!

I'll leave the next three to your reading as these trumpet blasts are
called "the three woes". It culminates in a terrifying scene in God's
temple: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple
was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm."
Revelation 11:19. Here comes the judge - and with him is the ark of
his covenant, which held the ten commandments!

The judgments of God are horrific and his justice will be satisfied.
He loves mankind and has provided an escape from condemnation and
judgment by his Son, Jesus Christ taking on the punishment for our
sins. For it to be credited to our account with God, though, we need
to embrace him in faith, to trust in him. Nonetheless, for all who
reject God's invitation of salvation, the inevitable horrific and
terrifying judgment of God awaits. "It is a dreadful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31.

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 119:105-106,

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken
an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws."

The psalmist speaks in these verses of his commitment to the
Scriptures, "Your word", "your righteous laws". He says why he does
so: it is "a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

Life is fraught with life-changing decisions that we are faced with
every day. At times it can be perplexing to know which choice to make.
Add to that our proclivity to sin, to be distracted by our own
deceitful hearts, and we find we need something in life to cling to as
a faithful guide, our psalmist's "lamp". We read in Jeremiah 17:9,
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it?"

How wonderful the Lord has provided us the Scriptures that function as
that "light for my path." A financial company has a commercial message
these days that purports to provide its clients direction regarding
financial decisions. "Just stay on the green path" is the closing
comment in the dialog. We only thing we need in this life for "a lamp
to my feet" is the word of 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 wonderful and terrifying God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 Peter 2:9,

"The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the
unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their
punishment."

When I read Scripture I look for those things that help me understand
my God. I want to know him, I want to know what he is like. I make
every attempt to leave my preconceived notions at the door when I
enter into its pages - as difficult as that is. As I do so it helps me
understand him better: not the God I want him to be, not the
impression of what I think God would be or should be - but to know the
true God as he is in reality. After all, God is who he is. He isn't
what I make of him and he isn't one kind of God to others and another
to me. As I say, he is who he is, as his being is an objective
reality.

The reason this is important to me is that from what I have been able
to see of God in the Scriptures, I know that his many-splendored
perfections are a glory that is all his own. Any misunderstanding or
misreading of how God reveals himself to be in the pages of Scripture
will only diminish my own excitement and celebration of him. Nothing I
can conceive can hold a candle to God as he really is. All I can do is
expose myself to how God reveals himself to be. I am utterly convinced
that my worship of him will be directly commensurate with how
accurately I understand him from the pages of Scripture.

That being said, as I read what Peter has to say of God in his second
letter, I find God to be both wonderful and frightful. Those who have
responded to his invitation in the gospel in faith are safe in his
hands. Those who are self-seeking, who reject the truth and follow
evil face a horrific certainty. As the writer of Hebrews says, "It is
a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews
10:31.

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 love is faithful!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 100:1-5,

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Joy, worship, gladness, singing, thanksgiving, praise! All these are
appropriate and anticipated because the Lord is our Creator God. As
our Creator God he is good and loving and the wonderful thing about
his goodness and love is that it endures forever! We will never hear
from our loving God that he has had a change of heart and leaves us
behind! His faithfulness will continue forever!

Unfortunately, all too many of us knows what it is like when a spouse
or someone else vey important in our lives walks out on us. Where
others may turn away from us, our God never will. "His faithfulness
continues through all generations!"

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 loves us all!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in James 2:5,

"Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in
the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom
he promised those who love him?"

The world focuses on the wealthy, the attractive, the powerful, the
famous. Those who are not rarely find themselves in the spotlight (for
positive reasons) in our day unless it is due to some unusual
circumstance. But not our God. He focuses on us all. We all are
squarely in that apple of his eye. He loves us all and he simply does
not care about what riches we have, how attractive we are, how
powerful we are or how famous we are. Many folks pray for these kinds
of things but the Lord has something better for us - life in his
kingdom.

James' rhetorical question here reminds me of Paul's observation in 1
Corinthians 1:26-30, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were
called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of
the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world
and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the
things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of
him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

How wonderful our Lord loves us all! Anyone who embraces him in faith
will inherit the kingdom he has promised 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 astonishing love for man!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 86:12-13,

"I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify
your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have
delivered me from the depths of the grave."

How astonishing is the love of God for mankind! He so loved the world
that he sent his Son to die a miserable death on that cross! In Psalm
8:3-4 David asks the burning question, "When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set
in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that
you care for him?" This love of God for man is inexplicable! Yet, how
wonderful it is! How wonderful is this love of God he has lavished on
us that he has made a way for us to become his children. The
resurrection of life is available to all - simply by faith in him!

What else could God have done to express this wonderful love of his 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: What a friend we have in Jesus!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Proverbs 17:17,

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

In John 15:13-15 Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that
he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do
what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does
not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you."

"A friend loves at all times..." and what a friend we have in Jesus
Christ! He is not the type to be a friend today and then be gone
tomorrow. He remains our friend through all that comes in this life
(and in the next!) He will love as only an abiding friend will. I am
reminded of what Paul says in Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your
sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord."

This proverb speaks of a certain kind of friend, a friend that loves
at all times. This is the kind of friend Jesus Christ is!

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, love and refreshment!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Philemon 4-7,

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear
about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I
pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will
have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your
love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother,
have refreshed the hearts of the saints."

As Paul addresses his friend, Philemon, he makes an observation of
him. It has to do with his faith in Jesus Christ and the love he has
for the saints. Paul prays for him that he would be active in sharing
his faith, so that he might have a full understanding of "every good
thing we have in Christ." Paul goes on to speak of the "great joy and
encouragement" Philemon's love has brought him because of the
refreshment Philemon's love has brought the hearts of the saints.

In this observation I see some things connected. The faith of Philemon
in Jesus Christ brought a love within his heart for "all the saints"
that resulted in the of refreshing the hearts of the saints - and
great joy to the apostle. In the midst of this love of Philemon is
Paul's prayer that he be active in sharing his faith that will bring
him further understanding of the good things we have in Christ.
Faith-love-refreshing/joy-sharing the faith-increased understanding.
These are all strung together with the Holy Spirit behind it all.

Faith results in the Holy Spirit coming into our lives to produce
fruit, among which is love. Love brings refreshing and joy and the
opportunity to share our faith. As this process rolls along, it brings
us further understanding of the wonderful blessings we have in Jesus
Christ. Our faith in Jesus Christ is like a snow ball rolling down
hill. It grows and encompasses more as it rolls along. Here there is
no stale stagnated religion. Here there is no dry theological
bickering to fall into. Here there is no tedious life without meaning,
without joy and without purpose. Here there is no waiting in our pews
for boring sermons to get over so we can get to Sunday dinner. Here we
find love and passion for the things and people of God! Here we find
love and purpose within life - true love and true purpose! Here we
find transformation taking place, growth and vitality!

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: Power, love and self-discipline from God!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 Timothy 1:7,

"God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of
love and of self-discipline."

Paul writes to his disciple Timothy, encouraging him to "fan into
flame the gift of God" given him when Paul had laid hands on him. As
he encourages Timothy, Paul reminds him that God himself has given us
a spirit, not of timidity, but of power, of love, of self-discipline.

When we become children of God we receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus
himself told his disciples to wait until the empowering Holy Spirit
came on them, Acts 1:8, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." This was fulfilled
on that Pentecost and has been with all believers ever since. We
receive a spirit of power when we are born into God's family. Paul
prays for this power for his readers in Ephesians 3:16, "I pray that
out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through
his Spirit in your inner being..."

When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us we begin to see the
evidence of that presence in our lives by fruit the Spirit produces
within us. In Galatians 5:22-23 we read, "The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control." Two of these Paul references in 2
Timothy 1:7 - love and self-discipline.

Real, honest-to-goodness, red-blooded believers in Jesus Christ are
not wimps, pansies or milk-toast types. God's children are
strengthened by God, with power, with love and with self-discipline.
Within ourselves we are nothing, but with God we have a power that no
one else can embrace. How wonderful is our God who does these things
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 church - God's household!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 1 Timothy 3:14-15,

"Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these
instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought
to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth."

Paul provides instructions to Timothy regarding the selection of
individuals to serve in various capacities within the local church. He
has also provided instructions on the worship of God and the need for
prayer. In his call for prayer he points to the transcendent love of
God, "who wants all me to be saved and come to a knowledge of the
truth."

As Paul provides these instructions, he says he does so that the folks
will know how to "conduct themselves in God's household". What Paul
says about this household is what fascinates me this morning. As I
think of my own household, it is what I make of it. As Paul calls the
church "God's household" I am reminded that the church is what God
makes of it. What he has made of it is "the pillar and foundation of
the truth."

In a fascinating participation with redeemed men, God has chosen to
build his church with those who respond to the gospel message, and
since the earliest of days, there have been others who have tried to
make something else of it. I think of those who attempted to bring
law-keeping into the Galatian churches and the false teachers that
John spoke of in his first letter. Many other examples can be cited of
attempted perversions of the church by those who would lead the church
astray.

While it has been easy to be critical (and rightfully so) of these
attempts to pervert God's church, the church is nevertheless his
household and what he makes of it. What he has made of it is "the
pillar and foundation of the truth." It is from within the true church
that the gospel message goes out to the world. It is from within the
true church that the Scriptures have been preserved and taught. It is
from within the true church that the Lord has raised up those who
teach, those who preach, those who evangelize, those who bring the
rest of us to a point of maturity that we be equipped and enabled to
carry on what God is doing in and through his household.

What a magnificent household this is! What a magnificent Lord who has
made the church what she is!

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.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 1 Thessalonians 2:13,

"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."

Paul speaks of his thankfulness to God for the converts in
Thessalonica. As he talks about the reception of the gospel that took
place in that city, he makes this observation about the Thessalonian
believers: they accepted Paul's message, not as a message of men, but
a message from God himself. The invitation to God's kingdom was a
message they recognized as coming from God and not just Paul and his
team.

What I find fascinating about the way Paul puts it is that he makes
clear the Thessalonian believers considered Paul's words God's own
words. This is how I approach the writings of Paul - they are not the
writings of just a man, they are the words of the Creator of all there
is, God Almighty. And not just Paul's writings but all the writings
designated as inspired by God by being included in the library we call
our Bibles. Peter's viewpoint on how God inspired these writings is
found in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "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."

As I consider that what is in my Bible is from God himself, his
communication to me, I am just astonished that he has lowered himself
to communicate with me. Imagine! Communication from 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 new selves!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Ephesians 4:22-24,

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Here Paul speaks of our "old self", corrupted by its "deceitful
desires" and our "new self", created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. I don't feel Paul is simply using some
license here to embellish his letter when he speaks of our "new self".
We are, in fact, new selves, and what these new selves are is
jaw-dropping: "created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness"! Where our lives have been marked by a sinful nature with
hearts that are deceitful, we have been made new.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul speaks of us becoming a "new creation".
Here in this passage in Ephesians he adds a bit of definition to this
"new creation". It is created "to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness." The fulfillment of this will take place in the
resurrection, but it is to be lived out today. As I think of it, how
awesome 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: God's magnificent heart of love.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Galatians 6:2,

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law
of Christ."

So, what is the law of Christ? John tells us, "This is his command: to
believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another
as he commanded us", 1 John 3:23. Also in 2 John 6 we read, "This is
love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard
from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." Carrying
one another's burdens in love fulfills what the Lord has commanded us.

This speaks to me of the heart of our Lord. We know that God is love,
1 John 4:8,16. God so loved the world that he gave his Son as a
sacrifice of atonement for our sins, John 3:16. From this same heart
of love, he asks us to love one another. God could have asked us to
continue in the commands he had given Israel, but in John 5:3 we read
that God has chosen to give us commands that are not burdensome.
Instead he has given us his Holy Spirit that transforms us from
within, making a new creation of us and the result is we bear fruit
that Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-23. Things like love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.

Carrying one another's burdens fulfills the law of Christ. What God
asks of us tells us something of the magnificence of his wonderful
heart 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

Worship for Today: The fear 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 2 Corinthians 11:13-16,

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as
apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an
angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade
as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions
deserve."

Paul spoke these words about those who were preaching "a Jesus other
than the Jesus we preached", brought "a different spirit from the one
you received" and came with "a different gospel from the one you
accepted". It is not difficult to see, and you don't have to look far,
to know that those who do these things are here among us and very
active these days. Just turn on the television, the radio or visit a
church just around the block from you and there they are. Denying the
deity of Jesus Christ or performing fake miracles or dispensing what
they think passes for the Holy Spirit (whatever it is, there is
nothing "holy" about it) or denying the gospel message of salvation by
faith or simply inventing strange and foreign doctrines and theologies
through a twisting of the Scriptures. These folks were around in
Paul's day and, as nothing has changed, they are around today with
millions following them. The following they garner provides an
appearance of acceptability, they engage in all kinds of "good works",
feeding the children, helping in disasters and all, but make no
mistake about it, "Their end will be what their actions deserve." It
is all, very simply, evil. They have perverted the gospel of Jesus
Christ.

This is what strikes my heart this morning. The writer of Hebrews
tells us that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God, Hebrews 10:31. Where these folks have brought in
multitudes of followers, have filled their ministry's bank accounts,
have taken their message across the nation and to other countries,
they will nevertheless face the wrath of God Almighty. God has chosen
to allow these people to pursue their activities in this life, just as
he did in Paul's day, but their judgment is coming. How frightful is
that? Far be it from any of us to find ourselves on the business end
of God's wrath. Although these folks appear to be doing "the Lord's
work" they will be facing the wrath of his anger and receiving what
their actions deserve.

Whatever happened to the concept of the fear of the Lord? As I watch
these folks and think of what is coming their way, the dominant
thought that comes to my mind is, don't they realize what they are
bringing on themselves? Fame and fortune may be theirs in this life,
but how short sided that is! An eternity is awaiting us all. Paradise
or a fiery lake of burning sulfur...

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