Over my office door I have a sign that reads, PERSPECTIVE. It is a simple reminder that all of life is a gift to me, that I do not have forever on this planet, that some things don’t matter as much as other things, and that in the end my life is being shaped and formed by the Word I believe is the Word of God.

PERSPECTIVE was driven home again to me recently in my reading of the letter of James. In James 4:14 we are told, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” The first time I read that I thought, “Well, that stinks. I’m just a vapor and that’s it?” But I read further and realized that James was telling us that our days are numbered and that we have no guarantee of longevity, and that even if we live a long life, it pales in comparison to all of history and eternity. James tells us, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow” (vs. 14), and we don’t.

So, here’s the deal it seems. We can live in denial concerning our status in the world or we can “draw near to God” knowing that as we do so “he will draw near to [us]. A lot of people choose to leave God out of the loop, and there are people in cemeteries all around the country who didn’t plan on arriving there the day they arrived.

Through James God says to us, Wise up. Gain perspective. Broaden your horizons. Enlarge your outlook. More precisely He says, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (vs. 10). God size reality awaits us if we will slow down, see the big picture, let God be God in our stories, and live with His Sovereign PERSPECTIVE in mind.

“God…gives grace to the humble,” (vs. 6) so submit to Him, draw near to Him, live for Him, and let Him work His works of grace in you. It will be the ride of your life.

It is amazing how the Psalms of the Old Testament so clearly speak to the issues of our lives today. They seem to pray for us, don’t they? They speak for us and moan for us, and complain for us, and cry out to God for us. They give us permission to work out our humanity in the relationship we have with God. They let us be human, in fact, and show us how to be real and honest and transparent before God. In the psalms the human meets up with the Divine, and we see that God is with us in the very stuff of our lives.

Psalm 116 is an example in this. Verse three tells us that the writer had faced many serious issues of life. “The cords of death encompassed and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.” Rather than abandoned God in his suffering and questions, the psalmist “called upon the name of the Lord” (vs. 4). Instead of using his pain as a reason to stand against the reality of God, he took his pain into the very heart of God and proclaimed there, “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate” (vs. 5).

In this, we see that who the Lord is to the psalmist saturates the very heart of what it means for him to live in this world. His testimony is, “I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications” (vs. 1). Life was just as hard for him as it is for everybody, but he lived is life within the life of God.

Where do we live our lives? How influential is God in the very real stuff of our daily living? May God help us to live and move and have our being within His very life. The reality of life in this world may or may not change, but being in a personal and vital relation with God through faith defines life in a fresh new ways for us. It caused the psalmist to say, “Return to your rest, o my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (vs. 7).

The world giggles, if not outright laughs, at the thought of there really being a devil; the apostle Paul didn’t. As a matter of fact, neither did Jesus. After being harassed and “tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1), Jesus finally said to him, “Go Satan!” (Matt. 4:10). Not much giggling in that command.

For Paul the word is clear, “put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Eh. 6:11). The staggering word in that statement is “schemes.” The enemy is at work and his strategy is based on schemes designed to take down those who believe Jesus Christ is Lord.

Never take your Christian life for granted, and never underestimate the capacity of the enemy to implement cunning plans designed to distract you from God. And, remember, the enemy never works from the position of integrity. He could care less about a fair fight. His intent is to win, how he cares not. He will “steal…kill and destroy” (John 10:10), and if need be he will do it from within the costume of a gentle lamb or in the appearance of an angel of light.

In all this remember one thing, however; the devil isn’t lord. Jesus is Lord. Satan is a defeated foe, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves it. The enemy can still work his works and will do so until Jesus comes back for His Church in such a powerful way that every knee will bow and ever tongue confess that He is Lord (See Phil. 2).

So, the word of the Lord to us is “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” Jesus is the conquering King, and in Him we find that we also conquer. The next time the enemy shows up to take you down remind Him that you live in the One who has already taken him down. Remind him that Jesus is Lord; he hates that.

The New Testament vision of God’s presence in the human experience is that he wants His people to live the life of a new creation. The old creation (the natural person apart from God) is about living in the killing, stealing and destroying ways of the thief from hell (see John 10:10). It’s about living below what you are capable of living by the grace of God. The new creation is about life and hope and forgiveness and destiny and future and promise; its about renewal and purpose and meaning. God wants the old creation to lose its grip on us, and for the life of Jesus to set us free to know God fully, and to live in wholeness, with meaning and dignity and ongoing, life-changing transformation in the grace and love of God.

The old creation says, "You're a loser; give it up.” The new creation says, "You are created in the image of God. Don’t ever give up.

The old creation says, "You're a mess; and you are trapped and imprisoned in a nightmare you created for yourself by the choices you've made. There is no hope. The new creation says, "God is here, and there is help for you beyond the wildest stretches of your imagination. The power of God will set you free and you can fly like an eagle in your life.

The old creation says, “You are Lord. You are the center of the universe. Cheat if you want to, lie if you want to, steal if you want it, gossip if it helps your cause; get what you want when you want it and if you can't get in, inflict pain on anybody who gets in your way. The new creation says, "Deep down inside your heart you know that the enticement of the old creation is leading you down the path to destruction. You know there is a way that seems right, but in the end it leads to death (Prov. 14:12).

Let’s be a people who let the new things of God lead us forward. Let God be God in our midst.

For my Bresee Church family

If we wanted to be about the business of building a great church for God, how would we go about it? You might say, “Well it’s a little late to ask that question now since we are some ninety years into the process?” I ask it anyway because, I believe, it is a question that must be re-asked just about everyday, in these fast paced and ever changing days.

Our church wasn’t organized until 1921 but it was begun in 1919. In 1919 where we are now is best described in the film, Stars Wars. In the opening scene a message scrolls up the screen, “in a galaxy far, far away…” That was Washington Blvd. 1919, and that world no longer exists. Questions asked in 1919 are inappropriate in 2009. The motive behind the questions may be the same, but it doesn’t work to ask 1919 questions in 2009.

So, if we wanted to be about the business of building a great church for God, how would we go about it? I suggest the best approach would be that suggested by Proverbs 3:5-6,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Being the church is about being a people who live for the glory of God. It’s not about us. Its about God’s “marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe!” So it is, we trust in the Lord with all our heart. What God is doing in the world is bigger than us, and we must never simply lean on our own understanding.

Being the church is leaning on God, trusting in Him, and acknowledging Him in every way, shape and form. God speaks 2009 just like He spoke 1919. So, get on board. God will make your paths straight.

God had a word to speak to the people of Israel, and it was a marvelous word. He had delivered them from the clutches of Egypt and was in process of bringing them into their own land. More important than land, however, was the way God wanted to treat His people. He told them that He wanted them to be His “special treasure” (Exodus 19:5). As they responded in faithfulness to His voice and His covenant God would enable them to be to him, “A kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6).

The people had seen God’s deliverance; they had personally experienced how God had “bore” them “on eagles’ wings” (Exod. 29:4) and had brought them to Himself. They were blessed beyond their ability to fully comprehend it. All they had to do was to love God and be faithful to His covenant.

This is the Word of the Lord that comes to us today. As the Church we are a part of God’s “kingdom of priests.” We are God’s holy nation, a nation without borders, comprised of all peoples who have believed in Christ and who, therefore, live in faithfulness to God’s covenant.

And, what does this covenant look like today? It looks like Jesus. In Jesus God has said to people that they are His “special treasure.” We look to Jesus and we know how God wants us to live. We see His love, and we are compelled to love. We see His mercy, and we are compelled to live in mercy. We see His forgiveness, and we are compelled to live among others in a spirit of forgiveness. We look at His life and see what it means for God to be among us, and we know there is no higher calling than to live in the mind and spirit of Jesus.

We look to Jesus and find that we are compelled to “tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord” (Psalm 78:4).

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."

The Church in Jerusalem and Judea was poor by any standard of measurement, and the people of that church was on Paul's heart and mind. As he traveled he asked Christians to give offerings to help meet the needs of the home church, and people responded; even the people of the churches in Macedonia, another group of people who were extremely poor.

The churches of Macedonia had nothing of material things really, but they did have love for God in their hearts. Their love caused them to give to the Jerusalem church with "liberality" ( 2 Cor. 8:2). Paul says that even though they were in "deep poverty" themselves, that they still gave, "according to their ability, and beyond their ability" (2 Cor. 8:3). I don't know how one gives beyond their ability but Paul says they found a way to do it, and "gave of their own accord" (2 Cor. 8:3).

Paul then asks the Corinthian Christians, and us, through them, to have this same kind of mind, this same kind of heart -- a heart of liberality, a heart of generosity, a heart that finds a way. It is a heart profoundly lived out among us in Jesus who, "though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty mighty become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).

Christians ought to be the most generous people on the face of the earth, generous in giving, generous in love, generous in forgiving, generous in worship, generous in mercy, generous like their Savior is generous.

More than what we give is how we give it -- our attitude, our motives, our spirit, our sincerity. Giving patterned after Jesus enables us to be "a fragrance of Christ," the kind of aroma that makes God look good (See 2 Cor. 2:14-16).

We don't know how much the Macedonians gave because that's not important. What we do know is that God had gotten a hold of their lives, and had made all things new for them. What a testimony!

THE POWER OF QUESTIONS

Along time ago I decided it wasn’t my job to make people happy. I don’t mind making people happy, and I do try to be an uplifting and positive influence, but if I don’t make people happy I don’t lose sleep over it.

Rather than making people happy I would rather be a voice that might lead them to think about things. I love to raise questions. I believe great exclamation points can be driven into the soul with a strategic question. And, it is usually a question of some kind that gets us thinking.

Most of us have been told about how powerful the who, what, where, how, when and why questions are. They seem to come up in just about every conversation, sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly.

Sometimes asking the right question is more powerful than what the answer to the question might be. I know in my life I want to know the truth about things, as much truth as I can know, at least. I don’t want to become stagnant; I want to grow. I don’t want to have to guess at answers but to wrestle with all necessary questions in order to get as clear an understanding as possible.

I’d rather know that I’m asking good questions than to be fed information that simply feeds my already existing worldview. Knowledge is freedom; at least internal freedom, which is the most important kind of freedom imaginable. Asking the hard questions, if they are the right questions, will lead to powerful revolutions where the powers that be can’t rest on their laurels or their own self-written press releases, and the powers that aren’t can’t rest in the pity of powerlessness.

Sometimes certain people have spoken right questions into my life and they didn’t make me happy. In fact, they made me mad. And, I love them for it because it is not their job to make me happy. It is their job to love me enough to tell me the truth, and to get me thinking. Do that and you have once again parted the waters of the Red Sea.

Jesus showed up and made all things new for the world. He didn’t die for some; He died for everybody (2 Cor. 5:15). He had you and me on His mind when he entered to the place of suffering, dying, and death. He had you and me on His mind when He rose up from the grave. When He poured out His love, He had you and me on His mind.

So new and powerful is the life of Jesus in those who have come to live in His life that the Bible says they are now “a new creature,” so much so that “the old things passed away, behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). The love of Christ has taken over in their lives and His merciful, holy, wondrous, transforming, and majestic love now controls who they are (2 Cor. 5:14).

Here is a wonderful thing to consider. What God does in a human heart doesn’t isolate people but moves His people to be engaged in the world, sharing the love of God with others. The love of God brings to us “the word of reconciliation” that we in turn share with others (2 Cor. 5:19). We get to tell others about how much Jesus loves them. We get to share with others the transforming work of God’s amazing grace. We get to share with others that they can be reconciled to God, and live above the downward pull of separation from God.

When the love of God controls us the world begins to look differently. It is still the real world with all its issues, but now we see it is a world embraced by grace, and filled with the life of God.
We live because HE lives; it can’t get any better than this.

Everyone lives in the tension of the "already but not yet." Our past brings us into the present, and the future is yet to be written. Today we live between what was and what is to come.

The world we live in today is filled with all the realities of life in a sinful world. All around us we see the evidence of a world that chose against God and His "good and acceptable and perfect will"(Rom. 12:2), and "we groan" (2 Cor. 5:2). In this world life is hard for everyone, even believers. Yet, in this world we look forward to what is ahead. There is hope. In Christ, the future doesn't rest simply upon the foundation of the past. The future rests in the actions of God that led Jesus to the cross and to the resurrection. We move forward within the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead.

Tomorrow looks very good even though we don't know for sure when it will come to us. While "we groan" we also celebrate the fact that while we are here we get to live for God. Who would have thought it? All it means for God to be God comes to us everyday, and He leads His people forward to that day when we will finally "be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8).

Between now and then Jesus calls us be faithful, "to be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9). Realities that lead to groaning could lead us to self-pity, but they don't. Instead they lead us to live in this world in a way that pleases God. And how do we do that? In Galatians chapter five Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."

Go out and make Jesus look good. How? Put your life into His life and be people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You'll surprise others, you'll feel good about yourself, your light for Jesus will shine, and you will be pleasing to God.

I’m in. How about you?

In Jesus there is a new order of doing things. The new order revolves around the fact that Jesus is about life and living. Many things at work in the world seem to lead to dying, to slavery of some kind, to bondage that is rooted in fear. No so with Jesus. In fact, followers of Jesus are boldly told by the apostle Paul that by coming to Christ and by living in His life they are actually "putting to death the deeds of the body" that lead to slavery and fear and are ushered into a personal relationship with God that invites them to call Him, "Father" (Rom. 8:15).

In that family relationship followers of Jesus discover that they have been "adopted" by God the Father (Rom. 8:15) to such a degree that from that moment on they are to see themselves as "Children of God" (Rom. 8:16). Being a child of God becomes the context in which a new order of doing things is lived out, a context in which slavery finds no home and fear is denied access. The outcome in this new context is described by Paul in the little phrase, "You will live" (Rom. 8:13).

We are called to live in the context of the family of God. In this family we are enabled to say NO to the deeds that lead to death-embracing realities. We are called to say YES to life, life in which we find that we are safe in the arms of God who took the initiative to adopt and did the work necessary for it to happen.

There is a key to how this all works in a person's life, and it is that they are "being led by the Spirit of God" (Rom. 8:14). So, it's not passive belief; it is active responding to the leadership of God. As God's child we are ever moving forward into what God would have us be.

Take God's hand and let Him lead.

Something spectacular happened on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. It is as if God showed up in a blaze glory and touched a people so profoundly and so deeply that the life transforming fires of God were set loose into human history.

The Day of Pentecost models for us in dramatic fashion that what God is doing in the world is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit (See Zechariah 4:6). The activity of God is not discerned at the end of a formula; it is a lived out reality rooted in the amazing life of Jesus Christ in a human being ~~ a living-out energized and empowered by the very life of God’s Spirit.

The Church is the supernatural creation of a Sovereign God who loves the world so very much that He let’s loose in it a community created, shaped, formed, empowered, energized and driven by His very life in that community. A community that tries to be a Spirit-filled community without the Spirit Himself in full control is a community that has no idea what it was created to be.

The Book of Acts reveals to us that without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we are simply an exercise in futility. The work of God demands the presence of God, and the people who do that work must do it in a power that is greater than themselves. God uses people who are yielded to His life, committed to His purposes, open to His ways, filled with His Spirit, and passionate about His will. God is up to something spectacular in this world. It doesn’t end at Acts chapter two; it just gets started there.

Let the Church be the Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled, and Spirit energized community of Almighty God. Let us listen for the voice of God, live in constant expectation of His breaking into the world again in fresh new ways, and let us live faithfully for the God who continually astounds by His Amazing Grace.

In the Christian Faith there is a teaching that says, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (I John 5:11). The apostle John was so convinced of this that of his first letter he says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13).

I am thinking of some words: Life, Eternal, Son, Believe, Know.” These crucial words bring clarity for us about the gift of God, and they remind us that in a world of conflict, confusion, anger, unrest, and violence that God is present. And, not only is God present, God is present with life-giving grace. The very thing we all long for is present in the presence of God among us.

In the Rule of Saint Benedict there is a great question that asks, “Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?” What a probing question and one to which, most likely, everyone on the planet would answer, YES. “Yes, I yearn for life; Yes I desire to see good days.”

For people who have come to know Jesus they would say that the yearning and the desiring have been met in Him. They would say, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”

It occurs to me that eternal life has more to do with quality than it has to do with quantity. The very life of the Sovereign God comes within the life of a very real human being and a quality, growing, developing, becoming relationship ensues, beginning now, and growing even into all eternity.

Embrace what has been given to you by God, become all that God would have you be, and be open to what God longs to do in your life. God has given you eternal life in Jesus, so go out and live it.

The Bible says that God “loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God” (I John 4:10 The Message). God took the initiative and reached out to us with a love that drove Jesus to the cross. God is the One who acted; and, we have been acted upon.

God is love and Love expresses itself. Love cannot remain neutral, cannot stand on the sidelines uninvolved, can disconnect itself from the one it loves. So it is that God astounds the world by showing up in it, showing up so personally, so involved, so dramatically that He dies on a cross.

Today the followers of Jesus are called to love with a love that is pattered after the love of God in Jesus. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:10). It’s not just warm, benevolent, heart-felt feelings for one other, but real love. This kind of love in a person does not come out of human effort alone. In fact, the Bible says, “We love because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). It is the kind of love that loves its enemies, prays for those who persecutes it (Matt. 5:44), and regards others as more important than self (Phil. 2:3).

When a person comes to “believe the love which God has for us” (I John 4:16) and begins to live in that love, it shows forth the fact that God has taken up residence in that person’s life. And, when God has taken up residence fear is overcome by His presence, confidence is instilled by His presence, and love becomes a way of living. And, when love becomes a way of living the world can see that God really is an awesome God, worthy of their lives.

In this world, if we are going to err, let's err on the side of God’s outrageous love. It will bring a smile to our Father’s face and it will establish great credibility in our testimony.

The faith we hold so dear expresses itself in one dynamic way – LOVE. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren” (I John 3:14). Faith is active, not passive. We reveal we have faith not by saying we have faith but by living a life of Christ-like love.

I John 3:16 teaches, “We know love by this, that [Jesus] laid down His life for us.” What drove Jesus to the cross? LOVE. What led Him to the ultimate act of self-denial and sacrifice? LOVE. And, we love Him because of it, don’t we? But there’s more. The verse doesn’t stop with what Jesus did for us. It continues by saying, “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Faith isn’t faith until it loves. Faith without the works of love is shallow and, quite frankly, debatable. Faith with Love is a powerful, creative, and imaginative force for God. A few people of faith, expressing that faith through divine love can let loose an influence that has all of heaven behind it.

And, what does it mean to lay down our lives for the brethren? Better yet, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Don’t tell a brother or sister in deep need that you have faith; instead, find a way to reach into her or his life with the resources you have, and show her or him your faith by the act of Christ-like love flowing from your life into them.

Until faith is at work in love it sets, shriveling up on a shelf somewhere, talking a big talk but re-crucifying Jesus by it’s silence and pride, oblivious to the fact that the counsel of God is “Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (I John 3:18).

“Shout…Sing…Say;” three great words about knowing God. “Shout joyfully to God all the earth… Sing the glory of His name… Say to God, “How awesome are Your works” (Psalm 66:1-3).

Four more great words: “Come … See… Bless… Sound. ” The call is, “Come and See the works of God…Bless our God, O peoples, and Sound His praise abroad” (Psalm 66:5 and 8).

What a great way to live: Shout… Sing… Say… Come…See…Bless…Sound.” We don’t have time for petty things; we’ve a God to glorify. We dare not major in minors; we’ve a God on our hands who is “awesome in His deeds” (Ps. 66:5). We don’t have the ego-driven luxury of littleness; we serve the God who “rules by His might forever” (Ps. 66:7).

There is one more word to consider ~~ REJOICE! “Let us rejoice in Him” (Ps. 66:6). No time for diversions or distractions. We’ve got more important things to do ~~ Shout… Sing… Say… Come… See… Bless… Sound… Rejoice.

God is afoot in our world and what God is doing is worthy of our full loyalty, support, and commitment. He is at work and His deeds can only be described as, “awesome” (Ps. 66: 3 and 5). We can fight Him or we can join-up with Him. He has given us that choice. Regardless of our choosing, however, His deeds are still “awesome.”

Let us be named among those who join-up. May we be named among those who shout and sing and say and come and see and bless and sound and rejoice. What is it the old Hymn says:

Rise up, O Church of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of Kings.

Once-in-a-while it is good to revisit our foundation. It is good to build altars where we can return and worship and remember. The apostle John helps us in this process.

In I John 3:5 and 8, John reminds us of just who Jesus is. John says Jesus “appeared in order to take away sins…to destroy the works of the devil.” Who is He? He is the One who meets us at the deepest needs of our lives and destroys the destroyer there.

In I John 3:1 John reminds us of how much we are loved by God and what that love means. He says, ‘See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.” Who are we? We are children of the One true God who destroys the destroyer.

In I John 3:7-8 John reminds us that we can live above the destructive forces of the enemy of our souls by practicing a righteous life in Christ. We don’t have to practice unrighteousness. The One who is righteous lives in us and brings out that kind of life in us.

In I John 3:2-3 John reminds us that we are headed somewhere, and that somewhere is a place where we will be like Jesus because we will see Him just as he is. This approaching date and place is so profound to us that John calls it hope. This hope is so important to who we are and how we live that it becomes a steadying compass that ever reminds us that we’re not home yet, but that the hope we have in Jesus is leading us there.

We are on a magnificent journey of all journeys. The grace of God meets us at every turn, and and at every turn we know the future will be better than the past because it is leading us to a day and time when we will see Jesus face to face. On that day I John 3:2 tells us that “we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Hope you are enjoying the ride.