Worship for Today: Our God is breath-taking!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God speaks to us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 31:9,24-26,

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our God has a heart of kindness!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord will never leave us nor forsake us!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God is multi-dimensional.

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our God has a big heart!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Salvation is due to God's love!

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

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

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

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

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

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