fear of God and faith

For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his majesty.

Job 31:23

This is the statement of a man who truly fears God. Job is making his final defense as friends accuse him of sinning and “earning” his difficult circumstances as punishment from God. In defense, Job asserts he has been a righteous, holy, and just man. He has taken deliberate measures to turn from sins both internally (greed and lust), and externally. He has obeyed the Lord, helped the needy and helpless and defended the vulnerable. He has a solid reputation as a just, caring, and loving man. And he did so because he feared the consequences of sin and worshiped the majesty of God.

In Job’s quick summary, we find motivation for holy living. I too, out of love for the righteousness of Christ now applied to me - a forgiven sinner, should shudder at the thought of God’s judgment on sin. I should worship in respect and awe of my majestic, holy God. Respect and worship — fear of God and faith — all combine in serious trust and obedience to God in Christ.

Worthy are You...

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 4:11

I believe this song that is sung before the throne of God in heaven. The Lord my God is worthy... more than worthy... to receive all glory, honor, and power. He is God. He is the Creator of the universe. By His will all that exists is ruled. By God’s power I am sustained to worship Him for His glory.

Worthy are You, my God. You are glorious. I honor You. I yield to Your power and control over my life. You made me. You control me. I will recognize and surrender to Your Lordship.

In Christ I am re-created to live for Your glory. I will seek to honor You Lord, in all I do. May Jesus be known in my living worship of You. And may all those You have made for Your glory bring praise to You.

One day, I will stand before You, O Lord, singing this song, in this same way, to Your face in wondrous worship. May I sing it now... until then.

Amen

personal work of the Holy Spirit

But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 15:26

The Holy Spirit, sent from the Father, helps us understand, appreciate, obey, and know Jesus. That is what this text means when Jesus said “he will bear witness about me.” Making Jesus known to us is the Holy Spirit’s work. When I am drawn to know and appreciate Jesus, when I feel it deep inside, I know that God’s Spirit is at work in me.

This is an amazing work of God, to have the very Spirit of God Who hovered over all creation at the beginning now intimately at work in my heart! And every thought I have of loving Jesus is a work of God’s Spirit within me. Every moment of gospel clarity is a gift of God by the work of His Holy Spirit.

Father,

I thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit Who testifies to the truth of Your Son in my heart every day. In this way I am intimately aware of the Trinity. Your Spirit shows me Your Son so that I might please my Father in heaven!

Amen

God’s longing to restore

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Hosea 14:1

The prophet Hosea has had a lot of harsh criticisms and pictures of coming judgment delivered to Israel. There are thirteen chapters of it detailed in his writing. But the book ends with a call to repentance. Even in all the coming judgment, God longs to restore His people in mercy.

God promises to heal them of their apostasy and love them, a promise that came true when the Jews returned from exile after the judgment of the captivity. God doesn’t delight in judging sin. He delights in forgiving and healing broken lives (Hosea 14:4-7).

Jesus is the way that I know this today. Jesus forgives and heals broken lives (even my one) with mercy and grace. Jesus restores beauty from ashes and brings joy from sorrow! Jesus is how God loves us freely and forgives our iniquity.

life in Christ

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

John 15:8

Bearing fruit can only come in union with Christ. I can glorify the Father because I am living in the Son. And that is how I prove to be His follower. Disciples are vitally connected to the Master. They are blessed in that relationship, yielding the fruit of further blessing to others.

Jesus is the vine, the source of our life and sustainer of our efforts. We are branches vitally joined to Him (see John 15:4-5). Without the saving life of Christ that lives in us as we are in union with Him, we have no life. It is really then the life of Jesus that lives in Christians.

Lord Jesus,

I am in You. You are my life. I am called to let Your life bear fruit in my life. Keep me close, give me life, help me to show Your life and be Your disciple.

Amen

reaping the whirlwind

For they sow the wind,

and they shall reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 8:7a

The prophet Hosea rebuked Israel who as a nation had abandoned trust in God for their protection, and instead made flimsy, faithless alliances with Assyria and Egypt hoping to hedge their bets with two competing superpowers seeking political solutions to their spiritual problems. Trusting in power politics is sowing the wind. And God promises that it will yield His displeasure and judgment. They sowed the wind. They reaped the whirlwind. Both Assyrian and Egypt eventually decimated the Jews.

Faith trusts God in every aspect of life. And the gospel calls Christians to that kind of faith. Will we trust Christ, or self? Will we believe Jesus, or some competing philosophy like materialism, naturalism, self-reliance, capitalism, socialism, or humanism? Trusting the competition will sow the wind. And it will always reap the tornado of moral and spiritual chaos.

Christians should be so very cautious of any human system of power or provision. We do not trust the work of sinful humanity, be it commercial, institutional, educational, or political. We can only trust God. No social program devised by any politician, philanthropist, or educational leader can outperform the gospel that brings the peace of God that surpasses all understanding in Jesus! All that other stuff is the vacuum of wind... empty, cold, and destructive. God in Christ is strength and power! We can only escape the coming F5 twister in the shelter of Jesus.

Not Alone

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:18

Everywhere I go

I’m not alone;

in Jesus I know

I’m not alone.

He is with me.

He will never forsake me.

He will take me on the journey

to my eternal home.

All the time never orphaned,

and never alone.

Soon He is coming

to take us home

so that in eternal joy

we are never alone.

Jesus is returning.

For this we are yearning.

Until then our journey

is always learning

that we are not alone.

Never orphaned.

Never abandoned.

Never alone.

Coming again

victory to win

to take us home!