Psalm 114:7 calls the earth to "tremble before the Lord," but I fear his words are falling on a lot of deaf ears in our culture. We are rugged individualist and we don't tremble before anything. Our heroes are the stuff of the one-man shows of Batman, Iron Man, and Superman, and our subculture anthem is "I did it my way." We don't do trembling very well. Real men don't tremble; they strut their stuff and they flex their mussels, and beware should you ever get in their way.

Some times God is such an inconvenience. He calls us to a rugged self-understanding that reveals when we are in our toughest disguise, its still a disguise. We think humility is for the weak and meek. God says it is for the strong and determined. Egypt was strong and determined; they didn't have time for trembling. They were too busy being Egypt to bother with God.

So it was that God took those who did tremble before Him and moved them out of bondage, and gave them a future of freedom, a future that called them to know that if they wanted to remain in the place of freedom they needed to live with such a sense of the Holy, such a sense of the otherness of God, such a sense of the sacred that they would never take God too lightly, but tremble before Him in the glorious wonders of worship and faithfulness.

Just this week I heard God referred to as "the man upstairs." No disrespect was intended but to reduce God down to this level doesn't reveal a sense of the Holy, the sacred, the otherness of God.

To tremble is to show deep respect and worshipful recognition. It is to remember who you are and never to forget from whence you come.

People often speak of priorities and of the keeping the main thing the main thing. In a world of countless possibilities the main thing can get lost in maze. Jesus called us to avoid the maze when He said, “See first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Things come and things go but God is that One constant that brings us to abundant living.

What is the ultimate of object of our pursuits? In the spirit of seeking first the kingdom of God, through the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, God said, “Let Him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things.”

It would appear that what God wants of us and of all His people is that we live out the meaning of loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness.” If God delights in these things then so must we delight in these things. It only makes sense that in a sincere and honest seeking of God that we pursue things in which God delights, things like Lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness.

May the passion of our lives be that of pursuing God and living truthfully in that pursuit. Let’s hear the call of Jesus and seek first the kingdom of God. Remember the prayer he taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10)? Not my kingdom and not your kingdom, not even the Church’s kingdom. Let us be caught up in God’s kingdom activity. Let’s draw so close to God we can truthfully say that in His presence we are coming to understand and know Him.

Let us never forget who we are and let us never be distracted by the complications of the maze.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and seek first the kingdom of God.

Henri Nouwen speaks of men and women who live with "an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word [Jesus] and to taste fully God's infinite goodness...."

Nouwen’s words sound a bit like what king David prayed when he opened his heart to God and confessed in Psalm 27:8: "When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O lord, I shall seek."?

God is seeking true worshippers today who long to SEEK HIS FACE. He is looking for people whose ardent desire is to dwell in His presence, to listen to His voice, to look at His beauty, to touch His Son, and taste His infinite goodness. Will you be one of those people?

Did you know God is inviting you to dwell in His presence? Did you know God is inviting you to listen to His voice? Did you know God is inviting you to look at His beauty, to touch His Son Jesus Christ, to be filled with His precious Holy Spirit, and to taste the infinite goodness of God?
God is inviting you! And you will never be more blessed if you will just draw near to Him, seek His face, bask in His presence, look into His eyes, fellowship in His glory, and tell Him how much you love Him.

Hear the Word of the Lord: Psalm 119:10 says, "With all my heart I have sought Thee..." In Amos 5:4 God says, "Seek Me that you may live." In Isaiah 55 God says, "Incline your ear and come to Me....Seek the Lord while He may be found" (verses 3,6). Psalm 95:6 says, "Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." In John 4:23 Jesus shares the very heart of God when He says, "an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers."