Worship for Today: The Lord is worthy our undivided worship!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Zephaniah 1:4b-5

 

"I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests- those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molech..."

 

Israel had a problem of remaining true to the Lord. Apparently they paid lip-service to the Lord and yet would turn around and follow another. Due to this they faced God's jealous anger. God has repeatedly told us he is a jealous God. "The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger." Zephaniah 3:8b.

 

To our own peril do we fail to acknowledge the legacy of Israel's history with the Lord. Our God is a jealous God. He was with Israel and he is with the church. In Israel's past they attempted to share their allegiance due only to the Lord with a false god and found themselves on the business end of his judgment. The church has had her challenges with this as well. In Revelation 3:15-16, we read a letter from the Lord himself. In it he says to the church in Laodicea, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Israel acted in the same way and were warned by the Lord, "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.'" Zephaniah 2:12

 

Paul's solemn warning to the church in Corinth is just as important today as when he wrote it, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" 1 Corinthians 10:21-22.

 

Our Savior is due our complete and total love and devotion. He sought us out and paid the penalty for our sins. We are not our own any longer as we have been bought with this price. The Lord is due our undivided worship- he is worthy of every bit 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: Our wrathful God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Zephaniah 1:2-3,

 

"'I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,' declares the Lord. 'I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth', declares the Lord."

 

Idolatry is a pervasive sin these days. Where we don't pull our Buck knives out and carve little statues we place on our mantles to worship, we nevertheless fashion a God who doesn't exist from our imaginations and worship it. Churches are full of people who worship a God other than the one true God who has revealed himself in the pages of Scripture. He has decided to reveal himself in the Scriptures and told us what he is like. This is the God to worship - not the one we think he ought to be.

 

God has told us he is both loving, kind and merciful, as well as judgmental and wrathful. In 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."

 

The writer of Hebrews says, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31. Yes, God loves the world so much he sent his Son to die as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. Woe to the man who passes on God's offer through the gospel! As the Lord tells us later in Zephaniah, "The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger." Zephaniah 3:8.

 

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 Scriptures are God's communication.

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

 

"This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words."

 

When I pick up my Bible to read it, what confidence do I have in what I read of it? Is what I read merely the thoughts of some men who lived millenia ago? What if they were wrong in what they had to say? How do I know what they did say is trustworthy and true? When I read in the Scriptures that all who die in their sin will spend eternity in a fiery lake of burning sulfur, is that really the case? When I read that all I need do is trust in Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation and that I will be a co-heir with Jesus Christ, how can I know it is true?

 

Here in this passage, Paul points to the source of what he had to say. What Paul says, what all of the writers of Scripture had to say was not of human origin. Paul says what they spoke were "words taught by the Spirit". Peter speaks to this issue as well. He placed Paul's writings on the same bookshelf as the rest of the Scriptures when he said, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

 

Peter acknowledged that Paul wrote what he did "with wisdom that God have him." Elsewhere Peter spoke of all the writers of Scripture when he said, "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.

 

The Scriptures are what God has to tell us. They were produced by men, not of their own initiative or interpretation, but as they were "carried along by the Holy Spirit." When I pick up my Bible to read, I have total and complete confidence in what it has to say. It is God's very communication to us. Everything contained within its pages is trustworthy and true. How I thank my God he has chosen to speak 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

Worship for Today: God's indescribable gift!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ephesians 2:3-10,

 

"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

 

Here is a passage that many are very familiar with. It is often looked to in an effort to ensure we have our theology "right". We look to it to learn that becoming a child of God is not something that we can earn. It is a gift given to all who believe. Further, it is used to point to the reality that as God's children, we are God's workmanship created "to do good works" and not sit on our duffs.

 

While all of this is certainly true and appropriate, there is a sweeping dimension to this passage that is breath-taking as we consider God, the One who has done these things for us. Here Paul tells us that it was while we were objects of God's wrath for the sin we pursued in our lives that God acted on our behalf. Paul tells us God is rich in mercy and that it is by his inexplicable kindness toward us that we are saved. It is by the "incomparable riches of his grace" expressed in God's kindness to us that he has given us a place with his Son, Jesus Christ, seating us together with him in the heavenly realms. What a thought to consider! The salvation we enjoy is the gift of God. God has given it to us through his love for us, his "grace" expressed to us. Where many, over the ages have attempted to achieve a good standing with God through their hard efforts, it turns out to be a free gift, availed simply by trusting in God, trusting in the resurrection of Jesus Christ that brings us this indescribable gift!

 

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 provides all that is needed!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in John 16:7-8,

 

"It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment..."

 

As Jesus tells his disciples about his coming death and ascension into heaven, they are "filled with grief". As an encouragement to them he tells them about how he will send the Holy Spirit when he gets to heaven and about the Holy Spirit's activity in the world. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt. This guilt will be a three-fold conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment.

 

The importance of this cannot be overstated. In John 12:32 Jesus said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Jesus Christ wants all to come to him. He presents himself as the atoning sacrifice of all mankind, "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. Additionally, he sends the Holy Spirit into the world to bring the conviction that all in the world are in need of this atoning sacrifice. Mankind is sinful, lacking righteousness and stands under the judgment of God - facing a lake of fire for all eternity.

 

After all, who would reach out for a life vest unless they were convinced they needed it? So, the Holy Spirit convicts unsaved man of sin, of unsaved man's need of a savior. All that anyone could possibly need to be brought into God's family has been provided by him! What a wonderful God who has gone to great lengths to bring us all into his family!

 

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 by grace!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in John 1:12,

 

"To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

 

Over the years many have worked hard to be good enough to get into heaven. Sensing the sin in their lives, they have sought to establish a right standing with God by living a life "good enough" to earn their place at the table of God. The people of Israel are an example of this. Paul speaks of it in Romans 9 and 10.

 

In Romans 10:1-2 we read, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge." The Israelites kept many laws in their efforts to not sin and establish their righteousness before God. Paul goes on to say, "Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own..." This they did through their oral laws and traditions handed down that had their origin in the law Moses had given them.

 

But the gospel declares our right standing with God is only available through Jesus Christ, embracing him in faith. Paul goes on to say in the Romans 10 passage, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Conforming our lives in an ethical manner will never earn us a place at God's table. Receiving a place at his table is a wonderful gift that we receive as a result of us embracing him in faith. This is why we say salvation is by God's grace. "if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." Romans 11:6.

 

I find this to be a marvelous expression of God's loving, kind and merciful heart: he offers us a place in his family by simply embracing him in faith, trusting 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: Jesus Christ is my advocate.

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

 

"The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good."

 

Here is a very sobering proverb. It speaks to the watchful omnipresence of the Lord, his seeing of all we think, do and say. This is an ever present reality that exists, whether we sense it or not. Paul describes God as "he who searches our hearts", Romans 8:27. This isn't simply a matter of recording data for God. One day all will have to face God and give an account. In 1 Corinthians 4:5 we read, "He [the Lord] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." Also, we read in Hebrews 4:13, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

 

I shudder the thought! As I think over my life, it literally scares the hell out of me to think God has a record of all I have ever thought, felt, said and done! He knows it all, every little bit! Has the realization of that reality troubled me, concerned me? I hang my head!

 

As I read on in the fifteenth chapter of Proverbs, in verse 9, "The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness." Also in verse 26 I read, "The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him." God is pleased with the righteous and displeased with the wicked. My life has plenty to place me in the group he is not happy with.

 

The gospel provides a wonderful solution to this horrible dilemma for me. In Psalm 103:8-12 we read, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

 

How is this possible? The writer of Hebrews observes, "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, "Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God."' First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them' (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:5-10.

 

What could be better? As I stand before our heavenly Father, I will have Jesus Christ at my side. I have an advocate as I stand before the great judge! What mercy, kindness and compassion from the one who has paid the penalty for my sin!

 

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 died for the sins of the whole world!

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

 

"He [Jesus Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

 

Popular theology today claims that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ did not pay for the sins of the whole world, but only for a relatively few people. Of course all those who hold to this view also see themselves within that few. It is often referred to as "limited atonement". They would explain the above verse's reference to the "whole world" as meaning only certain individuals from all parts of the world, as if God got on board with our culture's recent fascination with "diversity". My Bible speaks of something different and frankly, it grieves me when I hear this faulty teaching passed along. Let me explain why.

 

A few years ago a buddy of mine and I went to go bail a third buddy out of jail, for some traffic tickets or whatever. His bail was $150 and so the two of us split it, $75 apiece as our mutual buddy didn't have money to bail himself out. We paid the bail and home we all went. $75 wasn't too painful to help a friend. Now, I don't want to put a price on friendship, but what if the bail had been $750? What if it were $7,500? That is painful. Maybe at that amount he might need to spend some time in jail to consider his transgressions...

 

My point is, the greater the bail I would be willing to pay, the greater expression of love it becomes. The more pain it causes, the greater expression of love the payment is. My Lord died on the cross for my sins. Not for some of my sins but all of my sins. Not only did he die for my sins but he also died for your sins as well. He died for everybody's sins. As the above verse tells us, he died, paying for the sins of the whole world. That is payment for all the sins of all people who have ever lived. This was a very painful payment our Lord made. A payment he made with joy, we are told in Hebrews 12:2. The enormity of this payment speaks to the enormous love our Lord has for us. To pass along faulty teaching that has as its consequence the misperception of the full expression of the love of our Lord is what grieves me. I struggle when anyone attempts to diminish our understanding of the fullness of the love our Lord has for us.

 

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that just because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins, it doesn't provide us automatic entry into his kingdom. He requires we embrace him in faith and trust. What a deal that is! What a bail payment that was! What an expression of love that was… to suffer for all the sins of all people that ever lived! What a 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: The heart of God!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Romans 16:25-27,

 

"Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen."

 

Paul's wonderful doxology at the end of Romans identifies why God is due glory. By the way, doxologies should never be thought of as simply dismissals from church services. Although a wonderful way to end worship, doxologies are best expressed throughout a worship gathering. After all, doxologies are the essence of worship - a statement expressing God's glory. Paul's example in this letter has him expressing doxologies throughout this letter, as in Romans 11:33-36. But, I digress.

 

Paul points to the wonderful and generous heart of our God as cause for glorifying him. It is God who establishes us by his gospel. It is God who works, through his revelation, his prophetic writings, "so that all nations might believe and obey him..." Why does God do this? Earlier in this letter Paul says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. God loves us and has done what needed to be done to provide us a way into his family. It is his desire that all people join him in his kingdom, in his family. As Jesus told Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." God has stipulated that we only trust in him.

 

Surprisingly, many won't. It isn't because God has not provided all we need. As John puts it, "He [Jesus] 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 heart of God is bigger than I could ever comprehend. As Paul told Timothy, God "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 2:4.

 

Sadly, many believers today will not embrace God as he has revealed himself in his fullness, and fail to recognize the full breadth of God's love for all mankind. It minimizes the glory due God for the massive love he has for the lost. It crushes my heart when I hear them attempt to minimize our understanding of the full extent of God's love for all mankind. I find it distressing when I hear folks try to convince the rest of us that Jesus Christ didn't bear the sins of all mankind- only a few. The love of my God is much broader than that, his heart much bigger.

 

I worship God just the way he has presented himself in the pages of Scripture and I exult in his love for all of us! I marvel at the length he has gone to bring us into his family! I am humbled and astonished at the price Jesus was willing to pay, joyfully, to die on that cross for me! Hebrews 12:2. I want to know my God in his fullness, not just a shallow image presented in a dry and dusty theology! God's love is overwhelming and his heart beats for you and for 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 sets us free!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Romans 6:17-18,

 

"Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

 

Atheists exult in their freedom from the shackles of religion. They feel free. Really? In the deception that unbelievers live in they fail to recognize the enslavement of their lives to sin. To begin with, their sinful hearts leave them unable, incapable to embrace the obvious and elementary truth that our Creator exists. They are not free to contemplate the obvious. They are shackled, enslaved by sin.

 

Unbelievers live in a world cursed by God. Sickness, pain and death rule in this world and they are unable to comprehend why that is. They are shackled, enslaved by sin.

 

Unbelievers struggle with their own innate nature that often prompts them to do those things that are self-destructive, unhealthy and damaging, both to themselves and those around them. They are shackled, enslaved by sin.

 

Unbelievers are incapable of embracing the greatest of opportunities afforded to anyone: embrace God in faith and live eternally in the pleasures God gives, Psalm 16:11. They are not free to accept the offer. They are shackled, enslaved by sin.

 

I know of what I speak as this was me before the gospel gripped my heart, when God's love was shared with me by a faithful couple following the Lord. I used to be a slave to sin. Now I have been set free from sin.

 

Paul put it this way to Titus, "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."

 

I used to be a slave to sin. How wonderful the kindness and love of God my Savior that he set me free from my sin and provided me the great hope, the incomparable future of eternal life!

 

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: To appreciate the death of Christ for me!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Romans 5:6-8,

 

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

 

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this..." Jesus Christ coming to die a miserable death on a cross is certainly an incomprehensible expression of love for me, just another sinner. It is so far reaching that the full dimension of God's love is unfathomable to me. I don't think the love of God can be expressed in comparison to mankind, as in "it is greater than the love man is capable of expressing" or something like that. It is of an altogether different order. God is God and we are his creatures. We are made in his image, but we are in no way God. The love God has for us is beyond my ability to conceive.

 

As I reflect on it this morning, I am reminded that God is not just a "bigger" person with a bigger heart. He has a God sized heart and I muse that every aspect of God is simply beyond that which is man. He is transcendent in a way I struggle to understand. Paul says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." 1 Corinthians 1:25. But what about the other aspects of God's character and nature that we know of, that I rarely think of? We know God feels anguish and pain. What is that like within the heart of God? Is it as beyond what human experience is as his love? In Genesis 6:5-6 we read, "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." How big was that pain? Can I even relate to it? If God has such a love in his heart that transcends the greatest love I could muster, how could I even understand the pain, grief and anguish God feels?

 

It is a thought that just stops me in my tracks. As I consider Jesus in Gethsemane, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death", Matthew 26:38, how can I begin to have an appropriate appreciation for that? If his love for me was so strong that he endured the cross with joy, Hebrews 12:2, how can I measure his pain and grief? When the two criminals died on their crosses on either side of Jesus they suffered a miserable and horrific death as Jesus did. But the pain, suffering and misery our Lord endured must have been in measure with how much greater his love is than that was of the two thieves. As I consider it, it brings a whole new appreciation for his suffering and death on that cross for me. Just what manner of God is our God? Simply astonishing!

 

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 Romans 3:21-25a,

 

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."

 

What a passage of Scripture! From God comes our entrance pass into his family! In Proverbs 11:4 we read, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." This is the currency needed to escape God's wrath, his judgment, to gain his forgiveness for the sins we have committed and enter into eternal life. How could there be any better news than this?

 

I note that this "comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." How wonderful is that? Anyone can believe if they choose to do so! It doesn't matter how well I have behaved in this life. It doesn't matter how religious I have been. It doesn't matter how many spiritual exercises I have engaged in, if any at all! It doesn't matter how successful in this life I have been in anything. God asks me to trust in him! To embrace him in faith. To believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

 

What awaits me for this is the breathless inheritance we will all receive as co-heirs with Jesus Christ! I will have a place at the family table of God! I will experience all that God designed us for! No more sickness, no more sorrow, no more death. No more bereaving the separation from those who have passed on! No more sinful nature I struggle with and no more world dominated by a collective sin nature that exploits, abuses and treats unjustly its own! On the contrary, I will be filled with joy in God's very presence, with eternal pleasures at his right hand, Psalm 16:11! No wonder Peter spoke of an inexpressible and glorious joy!

 

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God saved a sinner like me!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,

 

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

 

No matter who we believers are, we come into the kingdom of God as sinners. Paul tells us in Romans 3:23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". This is one of the wonderful things about God that I love. He took me, with all my faults, my shortcomings, my sin. He forgave me of all and brought me into his family. He washed me, sanctified me, justified me, all through the horrific sacrifice Jesus Christ made for me when he died on that cross. All he has asked of me is that I embrace him in faith and trust!

 

While the do-gooders can celebrate their goodness, I exult in my Lord who saved me in my low estate as a sinner!

 

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 wise and just ruler.

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

 

"There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves."

 

What strikes me about this passage are the inappropriate outcomes Solomon points to that take place in this lost and fallen world. Because this world is populated by people with fallen natures who are less than what God intended and designed, its rulers seem incapable of ruling wisely and skillfully. Decisions made and actions taken often result in that which is inappropriate, unjust and unseemly. What else should we expect in a world existing under God's judgment for sin and rebellion?

 

One of the wonderful things we have to look forward to, as believers in Jesus Christ, is his return to planet Earth to rule justly and wisely. In his greeting in Revelation, John says, "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth." Revelation 1:5. Of this ruler John says, "She [the woman of Revelation 12] gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter." Revelation 12:5. Of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, from the sons of Korah, in Psalm 45, is the quoted passage, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

 

This will be a time when the Ruler will rule justly. This will be a time when wise decisions and appropriate decisions are made. This will be a time when one can count on what is just, seemingly and fair taking place. This will be a time we should all be excitedly waiting for!

 

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