No Other

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 5:6-7 

Sometimes in the simplicity is the profoundness. The Lord is our God and he is to be the only God in our lives. It is important to remember that God is the one who sent his One and only Son to die for us, to save us from our sins, to redeem us, justify us and will one day take us all home to be with him in heaven. 

Reality is not just the way that God, the God of the Bible, sees it to be. Reality is the way that God created it to be, the way that it is. Matter, space and time were all created by God. Scientists, theoretical physicists, and philosophers may conjure up fine sounding arguments, theories and explanations for the world and universe, but, the Lord is God, and there is no other. 

Father, you are the only true God. We praise you and acknowledge you as the LORD, our God who brought us out of sin and into life in Christ Jesus. Praise be to you in us today!

Reality Check List

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: 

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

   and honor and glory and praise!”

Revelation 5:11-12 NIV

Looking from eternity we see the things as not just how they should be, but, as they truly are. Worship in one way is seeing God, by faith, as he really is and resting in that truth. We just need to make sure we are aligned with him in truth. So, I remind myself when reading these verses:

Give God the power over my life.

Remember that all that I have comes from him and is his.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and if I need wisdom, ask.

Strength comes from him. Strength to believe. Strength to act in faith, to act righteously. 

When I do things I do them with his glory in mind and give it to him the glory in the end. 

Praise him for life, salvation and everything else. 

Simplify Your Worship

Revelation 19:9-10

When you think about it, the Sabbath is not a complicated day. We are told to keep it holy and not work (Exodus 20:8-11). Like John in Revelation 19 I think we can get a bit off sometimes and focus our worship on something other than Christ. 

We hold the testimony of Jesus. We worship Jesus because he is God. We don't worship to be heard. We don't worship because we've been good or bad. We worship because Jesus, lived for us, died for us, rose for us and ever lives to intercede for us. 

Can I get an Amen?

Why We Worship

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,

   to receive glory and honor and power, 
for you created all things, 

   and by your will they were created 

   and have their being.”

Revelation 4:9-11 NIV

It's always nice to get a peak into heaven. One of the special aspects of the Revelation of John is that we are shown a little bit of heaven and here we are shown what happens around the throne. It's easy to forget that God's view is eternal and ours is temporal. It is essential that we periodically stop and remember just how awesome the God we serve is. 

He is holy.

He is Almighty.

He is eternal. (See verse 8)

He is our Lord and our God. May our lives bring him glory, honor and may his power be revealed in and through us.

What's awesome, from our perspective, is that the truth is that not only did he create all things by his will and give them being but also:

He create you,

It was by his will you were created,

And by his will you have your being!

Now that's awesome! That's why we praise and will praise God for all eternity...

Baby Jesus, the Mighty One!

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth 
   from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Our God comes and will not be silent;
   a fire devours before him,
   and around him a tempest rages.

Psalms 50:1-3 NIV

Christmas is coming and I love this time of year. It always amazes me that Jesus came as a baby. He came down to earth and lived as one of us. Except without sin. This Jesus who humbled himself and became obedient to the point of dying on the cross for our sins. He is the Mighty One, God, the LORD of the whole earth. He is who we worship, trust and follow. 

Whatever the chaos, drama, or stress the season may bring, the real point is that we remember, celebrate and worship Jesus, who came in the flesh, lived and died for our sins and now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. 

Praise be to the Mighty One, the Lord Jesus Christ!