Category: God

Posted in bible, God, worship

The Kind of Worship God desires

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve posted recently about the shallow state of the Christian worship these days, and did a lot of posting about Beth Moore. That means that in the last week I’ve immersed in watching, listening, reading and attending events that are shallow in their worship (at best) and are blasphemous because of their casual approach to worship and the Holiness of a God we should fear (at worst). I needed a spiritual shower. So I listened this morning to John MacArthur’s third part of the series called “The Kind of Worship God Desires.” You can go here for a transcript or to download it. The first minute and a half is introduction and the last 4 minutes is an interview. The preaching itself is about 22 minutes. I urge you to take the time to listen/watch. You will be blessed. Then take a peek below as to the kind of  worship some engage in today. The contrast is startling. And that is the point.

After an April snowstorm, one Christian author wrote of intimacy with God through play. “I heard the voice of God speak to my heart: “Come and play.” I love that He said “Come.” Not “Go.” “Come.” That meant He was already there. I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of His silent voice whispering to my spirit that He was smiling. You know, you can tell that kind of thing in the voices of those you really know.”

He had a silent voice, but it whispered. Neat trick. More than that, the writer could detect the tone of voice from the silence: smiling. Even neater trick. Best of all, the writer was on such familiar terms with God that His tone of voice could be detected. If you know Him well enough, you can tell that kind of thing, la di da.

The story continued, “I built a snowman. I used grapes for eyes, and a half-moon shaped sesame snack for the mouth. I didn’t make a nose. I have enough for the both of us. He’s wearing my hat and scarf, and I rather hope he doesn’t get them wet. I let him borrow them because I was coming back inside. I laughed with God. He laughed with me.”

Wow, cool! God is really just an avuncular cheerleader who builds snowmen. He isn’t really the HOLY God whose courts shake with praise and smoke billows out, He is just a guy who hangs out on a sunny day finding sesame snacks to use for snowmen mouth with women who need a break from work.

I love my God because He is Holy. I love Jesus, even thinking of the moment on the Mount of Transfiguration where He revealed His glory and the three apostles with Him fell down terrified. (Mt 17:1-9). I love to think of Him first and foremost this way because it is a continual reminder of our position. Sinner. Yes, mercifully we’re forgiven. Yes, mercifully the sins are forgotten. But mercy was needed because of His holiness. See, we’re back to the most important attribute of God. It was stated three times in the Isaiah 6:3 scene in heaven, and “The Hebrews usually expressed the superlative degree by the repetition of a word.” This means it is a supreme attribute.

This is the Jesus we worship today:
“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (Revelation 1:12-18)

Hallelujah! I prefer this Jesus to the snowman making one. Don’t you? The snowman making God who laughs and plays seems too much like us and not enough like who He really is.

The pastor at Window to the Word wrote in the piece Coming Face to Face with God,

“I had a pastor who is a pastor of a pretty far-out kind of charismatic church. We were having lunch one day and he said, ‘I want to tell you something, I don’t know how you’ll deal with this,’ he said, ‘but sometimes when I’m shaving in the morning Jesus comes in the bathroom, puts His arm around me and talks to me.’ I said, ‘You mean Jesus, the real Jesus appears in a way you can see Him actual…’ ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Do you believe that?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t believe that. But what distresses me is I believe you believe that. I just have one question, do you keep shaving because if you keep shaving, my friend, it wasn’t Jesus.’”

“What happens when a person comes face-to-face with God? Does he casually “keep shaving” and say something like, “So, what’s going, on Big Guy? Hey, high five!” Is that what happens when we come face-to-face with God? Or is what happens in Luke 5:8 more accurate? When Peter recognizes who Jesus is he says, “”Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Blessed are those who are forgiven, who will be able to hear His voice without exploding! Who will be able to see Him as He is without falling dead! He is a holy and a merciful God, and it is Him to whom I cling.
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Posted in bible jesus, end of days, end of days. prophecy, God

Glory be!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Jesus came for God’s glory. (Hebrews 1:3).  Jesus said this over and over. He came for us, of course, to seek and save the lost, but Jesus came to increase God’s glory. God is passionate about His glory, “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8)

God’s glory is increased when He redeems sinful man to Himself. It is the single greatest act of a Holy God. Redeeming. Sinful. Man. THAT is the expression of His highest glory in the most glorious act, and that His Son would incarnate (not just for 33 years, but forever) and live a human life and die a horrendous death, and in between would seek God’s glory at every moment. This is something admirable to ponder.

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Think on the admirable things.

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” This verse is saying that even if we are not missionaries leading thousands to Christ, even if we are not fiery preachers speaking before thousands, even if we are not teachers publishing hundreds of books, we, the small and mundane, should do everything we do for the glory of God. The small tasks, the routine, the everyday, are glorious to Him if performed with Him in mind as the utmost audience. Do all with an awareness that you are doing it for God. And it will be a fragrant aroma unto Him.

“and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:2).

So think on the admirable things:

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Posted in bible, fragrance, God, incense

Do I smell good?

Posted on by elizabethprata
image source

The bible talks about fragrance, smells, ripening, and odors. “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” (Revelation 8:3)

God smells us, like in this verse:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? ” (2 Cor 2:14-16)

I think that’s funny because God doesn’t have a nose, but He can smell. He wanted us to be able to smell, so He formed us with a nose so we could.

I’m intrigued by smells. See, I have no functioning olfactory sense. I cannot smell the world or anything in it. I can’t smell my dinner burning, (which happens a lot) nor the grass when it’s mowed nor a bakery nor my clothes to see if they are dirty nor the food in the fridge to see if it is safe to eat. I can’t smell and I never could. But God can. He can smell me. The unsaved can smell us Christians.

I’m talking metaphorically, of course. But, when you awaken each day and you pray, do you think God will be pleased with your prayers? Are they sweet smelling to Him? Or are they so pale they have no fragrance at all?  Do they have a stench as in Isaiah 3:24 and Amos 4:10?

I’m looking forward to heaven, when I will be able to smell. Won’t that be wonderful, when all the paralyzed will walk, all the deaf will hear, all the blind will see. All the autistic children will speak, all the sick will be healed. There are no handicapped parking spots in heaven! But back to the fragrance.

One of the good, old fashioned preachers in 1904 said, “Every saintly life on earth, is a sweet fragrance unto God; and every sinful life, is a stench in his nostrils. As the rose scents the evening air — so a pure life scatters a sweet Christian influence and a knowledge of God throughout the world. The literal translation of 2 Corinthians 2:14 reads thus: “But thanks be to God, who leads me on from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of Christ, and by me sends forth the knowledge of him, a stream of fragrant incense, throughout the world.” A saintly life diffuses a sweet, heavenly fragrance throughout the world, and brings a knowledge of God and the nature of his salvation to the minds of men. Let me exhort you, therefore, to a pure life — a life full of devotion and reverence to God. You can make your life, by God’s grace, a constant, flowing stream of fragrant incense, whose sweetness will linger long on the air after you have passed to higher realms. So may it be.”
[source Charles Ebert Orr]

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Posted in end time, God, prophecy

He is powerful and loving

Posted on by elizabethprata

Who can understand a power so great the earth trembles at a mere glance, yet is also gentle enough to wipe our tears from our face? THAT is our God. Never forget that.

“He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.” Psalm 104:32

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken” Isaiah 25:8

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

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Posted in end time, God, hail, oklahoma city, prophecy

The language of God: Hail

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Throughout human history (post Fall), there have been “natural disasters.” Insurance companies call these Acts of God.

“An act of God is an uncontrollable event, such as tornadoes, floods, or tsunamis, not caused nor controlled by humans. Insurance companies often limit or exclude coverage for acts of God.” (Source)

How does God get our attention? Through many ways, and one of them is hail. God uses hail to demand attention, it is one of His signature calling cards. It behooves us to return to the Bible to see when and how He uses hail to make His name known.

God has storehouses of hail (Job 38:22). He uses hail as a just warning to those who refuse to acknowledge Him, notably Pharaoh. “Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields–both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.” (Exodus 9:25) Initially awed by God’s power, Pharaoh acknowledged that he had sinned. However when the rain and hail stopped, He sinned again.  God specifically used a massive hailstorm to indicate His power over the earth, and to know that the earth is the LORD’S. Pharaoh did not acknowledge God’s sovereignty.

God uses hail to warn the unrepentant to come back to Him. ” ‘I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind, mildew and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the LORD.” (Haggai 2:17).

He uses hail to render justice upon the wicked. “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.” (Isaiah 28:17). In one example, the LORD hurled hail down onto the Amorites at Azekah, as a vengeance against the wicked (Joshua 10:11)

God plans to use hail again in the future: “The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.” (Revelation 16:18-21)

It is evident that from His storehouses of hail God has used it for a variety of reasons and will use hail for the same reasons again. Job’s verse continues from this “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, “Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?” The ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble’ is also known as the Tribulation, (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:15-22 ) and the Revelation verse is the one that promises another plague of hail, one most especially severe with hailstones weighing a hundred pounds.

Terrible hail storms have always been and will be part of God’s language to an unrepentant and wicked people. Was the hail storm in Oklahoma City and in China His warning to us? Could be. We look to the bible and see such warnings many times over in the past so we would be remiss is we did not at least let the thought into our mind that He may be speaking again right now. Are you listening?

Posted in creator of the universe, end time, God, hubble, prophecy

Ode to Hubble?

Posted on by elizabethprata

In this nicely written article, the scientists behind the Hubble Telescope and the ingenuity of the scientists are extolled. More on the point of the blog entry in a moment, but first, information about the photo from Hubble Site: “This craggy fantasy mountaintop enshrouded by wispy clouds looks like a bizarre landscape from Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” or a Dr. Seuss book, depending on your imagination. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks.  This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The image celebrates the 20th anniversary of Hubble’s launch and deployment into an orbit around Earth.”

“NASA’s best-recognized, longest-lived, and most prolific space observatory zooms past a threshold of 20 years of operation this month. On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle and crew of STS-31 were launched to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope into a low Earth orbit. What followed was one of the most remarkable sagas of the space age. Hubble’s unprecedented capabilities made it one of the most powerful science instruments ever conceived by humans, and certainly the one most embraced by the public. Hubble discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research, from planetary science to cosmology. And, its pictures were unmistakably out of this world.”

“At times Hubble’s starry odyssey played out like a space soap opera, with broken equipment, a bleary-eyed primary mirror, and even a space shuttle rescue/repair mission cancellation. But the ingenuity and dedication of Hubble scientists, engineers, and NASA astronauts have allowed the observatory to rebound time and time again. Its crisp vision continues to challenge scientists with exciting new surprises and to enthrall the public with ever more evocative color images.”

It says in 2 Timothy 3:2 that at the time of the end, “… men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy”. I find it interesting – and sad – that this article extols the virtues of the scientists who made the device that reveals the universe, while failing to boast about the God who created it. The photo shows it’s not an ode to the Hubble Telescope, it is an Ode to God.