The People Respond

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Joyful  Worship Restored

Ezra 2:64-70

The Message

^64-67 The total count for the congregation was 42,360. That did not include the male and female slaves, which numbered 7,337. There were also 200 male and female singers, and they had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

^68-69 Some of the heads of families, on arriving at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, made Freewill-Offerings toward the rebuilding of The Temple of God on its site. They gave to the building fund as they were able, about 1,100 pounds of gold, about three tons of silver, and 100 priestly robes.

⁷⁰ The priests, Levites, and some of the people lived in Jerusalem. The singers, security guards, and temple support staff found places in their hometowns. All the Israelites found a place to live.

For Reflection

God provided a seventy year Sabbath.  At the end, God's mercy and compassion also provided reconciliation and a new beginning in Jerusalem.  Just as God did for the Israelites He will provide new beginnings for you and I.  As we take excursions away from our faith, God will provide a sabbath time for us to contemplate our predicament.  When we emerge, He will offer his healing hand to make us whole again an we, like they, will respond in Joy and thanksgiving. 

Pray

that when you lose sight of your faith, when you stray from the life God intends for you, when you find only hopelessness and despair that you will turn to God and take His hand of compassion to lift you up and make you whole.  Pray that on that day you will remember to thank God for the salvation you find, living in the hollow of His hand.

Reconciliation is at Hand

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Joyful  Worship Restored

Ezra 1:1-10

The Message

Cyrus King of Persia: “Build The Temple of God!”

1 ^1-4 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the Message of God preached by Jeremiah—God prodded Cyrus king of Persia to make an official announcement throughout his kingdom. He wrote it out as follows:

From Cyrus king of Persia, a Proclamation: God, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also assigned me to build him a Temple of worship in Jerusalem, Judah. Who among you belongs to his people? God be with you! Go to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build The Temple of God, the God of Israel, Jerusalem’s God. Those who stay behind, wherever they happen to live, will support them with silver, gold, tools, and pack animals, along with Freewill-Offerings for The Temple of God in Jerusalem.

^5-6 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone, in fact, God prodded—set out to build The Temple of God in Jerusalem. Their neighbors rallied behind them enthusiastically with silver, gold, tools, pack animals, expensive gifts, and, over and above these, Freewill-Offerings.

^7-10 Also, King Cyrus turned over to them all the vessels and utensils from The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had hauled from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia put Mithredath the treasurer in charge of the transfer; he provided a full inventory for Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah, including the following:

30 gold dishes
1,000 silver dishes
29 silver pans
30 gold bowls
410 duplicate silver bowls
1,000 miscellaneous items.

For Reflection

God influences the world through selected humans who may or may not know they are participating in God's plan.  He places thoughts in our minds, he helps us define the circumstances which we face. He directs our will. 

Pray
that you will respond to God's call.  Pray that you will give in to the Spirit.  Pray to follow God's plan for your life.

God, Active in the History of Human Affairs

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Joyful  Worship Restored

2 Chronicles 36:15-21

The Message

^15-17 God, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent warning messages to them. Out of compassion for both his people and his Temple he wanted to give them every chance possible. But they wouldn’t listen; they poked fun at God’s messengers, despised the message itself, and in general treated the prophets like idiots. God became more and more angry until there was no turning back—God called in Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who came and killed indiscriminately—and right in The Temple itself; it was a ruthless massacre: young men and virgins, the elderly and weak—they were all the same to him.
^18-20 And then he plundered The Temple of everything valuable, cleaned it out completely; he emptied the treasuries of The Temple of God, the treasuries of the king and his officials, and hauled it all, people and possessions, off to Babylon. He burned The Temple of God to the ground, knocked down the wall of Jerusalem, and set fire to all the buildings—everything valuable was burned up. Any survivor was taken prisoner into exile in Babylon and made a slave to Nebuchadnezzar and his family. The exile and slavery lasted until the kingdom of Persia took over.
²¹ This is exactly the message of God that Jeremiah had preached: the desolate land put to an extended sabbath rest, a seventy-year Sabbath rest making up for all the unkept Sabbaths.

For Reflection

The author of Chronicles writes a history of God's people from a faith based perspective.  He assigns God's intentions to the affairs of human economics, social order and politics.  God is thus seen as a grand manipulator.  It is hard in our modern age to accept this perspective.  It is hard for us to understand or to accept a God of punishment.

Perhaps punishment is the wrong term.  God's people are so far removed from reconciliation that they need shocked into the error of their ways. Perhaps the author is trying to help God's people understand the obscene acts in defiance of God.   Question:  "Does God punish us, or is it our own folly that leads to undesirable and hopeless ends? 

Pray

that you will strive to be true to the Holy Spirit that resides within you.  Pray that you will abide in God.

Abide in the Core of Your Faith

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Joyful  Worship Restored

Jeremiah 7:30-8:3

The Message

^30-31 “The people of Judah have lived evil lives while I’ve stood by and watched.” God’s Decree. “In deliberate insult to me, they’ve set up their obscene god-images in the very Temple that was built to honor me. They’ve constructed Topheth altars for burning babies in prominent places all through the valley of Ben-hinnom, altars for burning their sons and daughters alive in the fire—a shocking perversion of all that I am and all I command.

^32-34 “But soon, very soon”—God’s Decree!—“the names Topheth and Ben-hinnom will no longer be used. They’ll call the place what it is: Murder Meadow. Corpses will be stacked up in Topheth because there’s no room left to bury them! Corpses abandoned in the open air, fed on by crows and coyotes, who have the run of the place. And I’ll empty both smiles and laughter from the villages of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. No wedding songs, no holiday sounds. Dead silence.”

8 ^1-2 “And when the time comes”—God’s Decree!—“I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people. They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in dog-like devotion. The bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.

³ “Everyone left—all from this evil generation unlucky enough to still be alive in whatever godforsaken place I will have driven them to—will wish they were dead.” Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

 For Reflection

Old Testament lamentations are sometimes difficult.  This one is filled with references to atrocities that I am not sure would ever be interpreted as credible in our modern age.  However, if one makes a list of the things which would be considered most offensive to God in today's world, then, perhaps we could understand the outrage that is referenced in these passages.  The bottom line is that faith as practiced can be undermined and twisted into an unholy comprised faith.  As a result the faith that guides you and which is buried in the rubble of the obscene leaves you dissatisfied and without hope. 

Pray

that you will be so committed to the core of the Christian faith that you will never let the corrupted and disguised false gods seduce you into hopelessness.  Pray that you will listen only to the God-of-the-the-Angel-Armies.

Jesus Lament over Jerusalem

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Joyful  Worship Restored

Genesis 1:1-2

Matthew 23:29-39

The Message

^29-32 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You’re cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.
^33-34 “Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It’s on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.
^35-36 “You can’t squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I’m telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.
^37-39 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God’s news! How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me. And now you’re so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I’m out of here soon. The next time you see me you’ll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He’s come, bringing God’s rule!’”

For Reflection

Christ's criticism of the Jewish organized religion is also valid when aimed at today's institutional Christian church.  As a matter of fact, the evolution of organized Christianity may be characterized by corruption and distortion of the meaning of the Christ event.  Assignations, mass murder, torture, political corruption, abuse of power, wars, were committed in God's name. The Church is not exempt from human failure, corruption and sin.  But, through it all, the true God survives. His mission endures.

The imperfection in organized religion is no reason to blame God or abandon one's faith.  Indeed, it is all the more reason to participate in the evolution to bring about reconciliation in the New Jerusalem and to cut through the fog of the imperfect church and work for justice, freedom; and compassion found only in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 

Pray

for the Church.  Pray for church leaders.  Pray that the church will find ways to resolve conflict that achieve God's sense of justice, compassion and peace. Pray for the church emerging in this new modern age.  Pray that people all over the world will find a sustaining faith in God and in his intentions for human kind.

God Makes All Things New

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
The Glorious New Creation

Revelation 21:1-8

The Message

Everything New

21 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.

² I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
^3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
^6-8 Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!”

.

For Reflection

Look toward the New Jerusalem.  Have hope in the promise of the Lord.  Bring God with you into your neighborhood.  Help wipe tears from your neighbor's eyes.  Help them be reconciled to God.  God makes everything new, a fresh start for all. 

Pray

that you will offer life to all whom you encounter.  Pray that all whom you meet will see God in your eyes.  Pray for all the world's people, that they may find the comfort of living in the hollow of God's hand.

New Things Spring Forth

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
The Glorious New Creation

Isaiah 42:1-9

The Message

God’s Servant Will Set Everything Right

42 ^1-4 “Take a good look at my servant.
    I’m backing him to the hilt.
He’s the one I chose,
    and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.
I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life.
    He’ll set everything right among the nations.
He won’t call attention to what he does
    with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt
    and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,
    but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.
He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped
    until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth.
Far-flung ocean islands
    wait expectantly for his teaching.”

The God Who Makes Us Alive with His Own Life

^5-9 God’s Message,
    the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
    laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth’s people,
    makes them alive with his own life:
“I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
    I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
    and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
    opening blind eyes,
    releasing prisoners from dungeons,
    emptying the dark prisons.
I am God. That’s my name.
    I don’t franchise my glory,
    don’t endorse the no-god idols.
Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled.
    I’m announcing the new salvation work.
Before it bursts on the scene,
    I’m telling you all about it.”

For Reflection

Bathed in His spirit, God backs us.  We are his on-site counselors.  We go about called to witness by living right. To what extent is your life a witness to God's love and glory? 

Pray

that you will live up to the challenge God has given you.  Pray for the courage to follow through living righteously.

Sin, Death, Sacrifice, and Salvation

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
The Glorious New Creation

Romans 5:6-14

The Message

^6-8 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
^9-11 Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

The Death-Dealing Sin, the Life-Giving Gift

^12-14 You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.

For Reflection

We know what God has sacrificed.  What do you sacrifice for God?  He wants it all, you know!  He want you to sacrifice you sense of self for a sense of Godliness.   What do you sacrifice for?  Your children?  Your wealth? Your reputation? Your culture?  Think about the ways you sacrifice for the worldly things. 

Pray

that you will give your whole self to God.  Pray that you will substitute God-centered living for self-centered living.

No One Is Righteous

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
The Glorious New Creation

Romans 3:9-20

The Message

We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat

^9-20 So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one,
    nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
    they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
    I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
    They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
    litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
    They never give God the time of day.

This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.

For Reflection

To be a believer is to walk the path toward righteousness.  It doesn't mean believers are righteous.  Whomever thinks that he or she is righteous is badly misinformed or a fool.

In what ways are you complicit in the sins of others? 

Pray

that your mouth is not tinged with poison, that heart break and ruin are not found in the wake of your life. Pray that others will find their way in God.

The Guidance of God

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
The Glorious New Creation

Psalm 19:7-14

The Message

^7-9 The revelation of God is whole
    and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
    and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
    showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
    and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
    down to the nth degree.

¹⁰ God’s Word is better than a diamond,
    better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
    better than red, ripe strawberries.

^11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
    these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

For Reflection

Think about it!  Marvel at its power to transform lives.  Be astonished at its simplicity and awed at its comprehensiveness!  The revelation of God is potent!  His direction will lead to righteousness.  Righteousness will lead to a life lived well in the hollow of God's hand. 

Pray

that you will start each new day afresh.  Pray that your work is God's work.  Pray for the peace in knowing God is at your side.

Receiving the Word

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Meaningless Worship

Luke 8:9-15

The Message

⁹ His disciples asked, “Why did you tell this story?”
¹⁰ He said, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren’t going to get it:

Their eyes are open but don’t see a thing,
Their ears are open but don’t hear a thing.

^11-12 “This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won’t believe and be saved.

¹³ “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.
¹⁴ “And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.
¹⁵ “But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.

For Reflection

In many ways, in spite of all the study and all that has been written and taught, communication is still mysterious.  How we interpret each other is miraculous.  God designed our brains to interpret not to be hard wired.  The bad news is we sometimes miss the point.  The good news is we have the capacity to get it!  Approach human interaction with a good heart.  Listen to hear. Look to see.  Use God as the Rosetta stone. 

Pray

that you will be open to hear God direct your life.  Pray that you will let God's will direct your interaction with others.  Pray that you will speak for compassion and justice for all of God's people.

Tuning Out God

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Meaningless Worship

Jeremiah 13:1-11

The Message

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

13 ^1-2 God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.

^3-5 Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.
^6-7 Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.
^8-11 God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

For Reflection

Why is that so hard to believe?  People believe they have no choice, but, they do.  Some may even choose alternatives which lead to undesirable choices (the answer to a dilemma is always an undesirable choice).  OK, so it was 1948 and I was lying on the floor in front of the Zenith portable radio listening to the Jack Benny show.  Yes, I remember it clearly!  One always has a choice.

Hear the Benny bit,  "Your Money or Your Life:"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tVzdUczMT0 

Pray

that you will always be lead by God in making all decisions large and small.  Pray for God-centered wisdom.

Refusing to Listen

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Meaningless Worship

Isaiah 58:1-9

The Message

Your Prayers Won’t Get Off the Ground

58 ^1-3 “Shout! A full-throated shout!
    Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives,
    face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
    and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
    law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
    and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
    ‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
    Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’

^3-5 “Well, here’s why:

“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
    You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
    You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
    won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
    and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
    a fast day that I, God, would like?

^6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

For Reflection

How can one claim to be a Christian and not favor and work for justice?  How can one claim God's inheritance and scream to punishment while ignoring compassion?  How can one join in communion, witnessing to other believers and only invite the favored to the table? 

Pray

that you will listen for the opportunities to encourage justice.  Pray that you will substitute compassion for retribution.  Pray that you will prefer to welcome all to your table.

Worshiping Own Achievements

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Meaningless Worship

Isaiah 2:10-17

The Message

Pretentious Egos Brought Down to Earth

¹⁰ Head for the hills,
    hide in the caves
From the terror of God,
    from his dazzling presence.

^11-17 People with a big head are headed for a fall,
    pretentious egos brought down a peg.
It’s God alone at front-and-center
    on the Day we’re talking about,
The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    is matched against all big-talking rivals,
    against all swaggering big names;
Against all giant sequoias
    hugely towering,
    and against the expansive chestnut;
Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,
    against the ranges of Alps and Andes;
Against every soaring skyscraper,
    against all proud obelisks and statues;
Against ocean-going luxury liners,
    against elegant three-masted schooners.
The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,
    the pretentious egos brought down to earth,
Leaving God alone at front-and-center
    on the Day we’re talking about.

For Reflection

It is the curse of success.  After the sacrifice and heavy work is done and one can bask in success, after the awards and the words of praise from admirers, well wishers, wannabes and the jealous, one can become enamored with his or her own success.  Ah, the self-made person!  Seduced by self-fulfillment, and shielded from the reality of his or her triumph!

No one does it alone.  All people have others to thank for their achievement.  Lulled into a false sense of security, one may fool him or her self in thinking that he or she is above consequence.   No one is above consequence.  

Pray

for humility while basking in success.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for God's blessings.  Praise God for all that goes well in your life.

Fruitless Worship

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Meaningless Worship

Isaiah 1:10-17

The Message

¹⁰ “Listen to my Message,
    you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God’s revelation,
    you Gomorrah-schooled people.

^11-12 “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?”
    God’s asking.
“Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
    rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don’t you think I’ve had my fill
    of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
When you come before me,
    whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that—
    all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?

^13-17 “Quit your worship charades.
    I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
    meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
    You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
    while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
    I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
    I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
    people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
    Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
    so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
    Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
    Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
    Go to bat for the defenseless.

For Reflection

When do you not worship God?  When you pray in public so that all who see you and all who hear you will think your are God fearing when in reality you pray for show, you are not worshiping God.  When you join the organization of the church but not in its spiritual foundation, you do not worship God.  When you give lip service to repentance, you do not worship God.  When you assume the robes of piety and hold no scruples in your dealings with others, you do not worship God.  When you commit injustices, you do not worship God.  When you create unrest instead of foster peace, you do not worship God. 

Pray

that your actions and faith are consistent.  Pray that you will work for justice and go to bat for the defenseless.

Teach with Your Life

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Give Thanks

1 Timothy 4:1-5

The Message

Teach with Your Life

4 ^1-5 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

For Reflection

As one moves through life God places people in his or her path to offer opportunities for reconciliation and service so that His kingdom can be realized.  The truth is that most times one never knows whose paths have been manipulated by God.  Few ever know how they have influenced another's life. 

So, believers, follow your faith unerringly.  Do not deviate from obedience and abide in God.  You never know how you will influence another to accept God's offer of reconciliation and peace.  Be ready to allow God's grace to work through you.  Teach with your life! 

Pray

That you will always be aware of how your actions and words carry the nature of God to others.  Pray that your will abide in God's grace and that you will be a conduit for His love.

Coming into God's Presence

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Give Thanks

Psalm 95:1-11

The Message

95 ^1-2 Come, let’s shout praises to God,
    raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let’s march into his presence singing praises,
    lifting the rafters with our hymns!

^3-5 And why? Because God is the best,
    High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
    in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean—he owns it!
    His hands sculpted Earth!

^6-7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,
    on your knees before God, who made us!
Oh yes, he’s our God,
    and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

^7-11 Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks:
    “Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising,
As on the day of the Wilderness Test,
    when your ancestors turned and put me to the test.
For forty years they watched me at work among them,
    as over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked!
    ‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes?
    Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’
Exasperated, I exploded,
    ‘They’ll never get where they’re headed,
    never be able to sit down and rest.’”

For Reflection

It shouldn't be that difficult, but, it seems to be. Because we are immersed in a culture of diverse religious points of view and an ever present pressure to conform to the common practices of our culture, we lose sight of the centrality of God.  Prayers and songs of praise remind us of God's gifts and help us reconfirm our promise to be obedient to only Him. 

Pray

prayers of praise and thanks giving.  Sing songs that remind you of your covenant with God.

Giving Thanks is Good

God's People Worship
The Prophet and Praise
Give Thanks

Psalm 92:1-9

The Message

A Sabbath Song

92 ^1-3 What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks,
    to sing an anthem to you, the High God!
To announce your love each daybreak,
    sing your faithful presence all through the night,
Accompanied by dulcimer and harp,
    the full-bodied music of strings.

^4-9 You made me so happy, God
    I saw your work and I shouted for joy.
How magnificent your work, God!
    How profound your thoughts!
Dullards never notice what you do;
    fools never do get it.
When the wicked popped up like weeds
    and all the evil men and women took over,
You mowed them down,
    finished them off once and for all.
You, God, are High and Eternal.
    Look at your enemies, God!
Look at your enemies—ruined!
    Scattered to the winds, all those hirelings of evil!

For Reflection

If God is an integral part of your life, you might be vulnerable to taking God for granted. How often do you acknowledge that God is the moving force driving your life?  How often do you see God's hand in making the way plain.  How often do you look at the beauty in this world and assign it to God? 

Pray

and sing songs of praise to God.  Pray small one line prayers each day thanking God for His grace and blessings.