 I am officially announcing it to everyone, I am ready for Summer! Man, oh man, do I want to play in the sand and the sun! Many of you know that I love the water. Well, last night, I found myself looking at the monthly calendar in my living room, staring at the crystal clear waters on some white-sand beach. It was there and then that I announced to my wife that I need to get in some water soon. So, today, after we worshipped in the sanctuary of our church, I went to my office to start working. The first thing I did was turn on the worship music, but the second thing I did was open up a YouTube page and started to watch videos of fish. (There are some really good videos out there that even tell you the names of every fish they filmed, showing you some of the most beautiful reefs in the world.)
I’ve said this multiple times before, but I’m gonna repeat myself here anyway… I love the ocean. There is nothing more beautiful to me than the ocean. Some people love the mountains, some love the plains of the Midwest or Africa, some love snow… but I love the ocean. Even the dark, green, muddy waters are beautiful to me. Beaches are great, but it’s what is beyond the sandy shores that I find breath-taking. Sunsets are beautiful, but put me 40 feet below the surface of some turquoise sea and I’ll have more peace than anything else this world can give. Today, as I watched these videos of fish, I was reminded of scripture. Psalm 8 says, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?...” Psalm 95:3-6 says, “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” That is exactly how I feel when I consider the works of His hands. God made it all. Everything my eyes can see was made by God, and the things I find beautiful, He made just for me. Sea turtles, dolphins, manta rays, barracuda, whale sharks… there is nothing more stunningly beautiful that watching life under the waves interacting peacefully. I’ve never seen fear from any creature under the sea, unless they come in contact with us. They live in perfect harmony with God. Job 12:7-10 says, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” In Job 38:16 God asks Job, “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?” God walks the depths of the ocean, my favorite place, and I truly feel Him there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 3 foot deep swimming pool or 80 feet deep channel; just let me sit at the bottom, because I feel God there. Am I trying to convince you to join me? No. I’m simply sharing my favorite experience with you, and I know that you have a favorite place, too. I can’t quite get to mine at the moment, but I hope you can get to yours. I hope that you have a favorite place, and that you know how to get there, that you spend as much time with God while you are there. If it’s just a back road somewhere at 10:00 PM and you just pull over and sit on the hood of your car to stare at the stars, I hope you do it with God. If it’s on your front porch and dusk, and you enjoy feeling the breeze and watching the sun set behind the horizon, I hope you do it with God. Make some time. If your favorite place is your living room, with your kids all around you, make it happen… but make sure you invite God. Because it’s His favorite place, too.
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 A friend and minister friend of mine recently posted on his social media:
“Men who hunger for the word of God are Men who are truly after God’s heart.” Man, I felt that. When I first read it, I got really excited. I love the Word of God, and as many of you know, I quote it all the time. One of my greatest passions in life is to help others fall in love with the Word of God, and I always have this hope that whomever I talk with will desire to feast on the Word. But then, after thinking a little bit on this post, I realized how wrong it really is… bear with me. “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 1 Samuel 13:14 “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:22 You see, David was the man after God’s own heart, but David did not hunger for the Word of God. His hunger was to be close to God, and even more he desired greatly to bless God. David cared about God’s will, especially God’s secret desires. He got so close to God that he discovered God’s secret desire for His people to build Him a permanent dwelling place so they could worship Him 24/7. David went on to hire over 4000 musicians and singers to fill God’s house with worship (like it is in Heaven). That is what made David the man after God’s heart. NOT his love for scripture. I read the Word every day, sometimes for hours. I study it constantly, learning new revelations, seeking new, deeper understanding so that I can apply it better to my life. I am constantly opening my bible while in prayer for God to teach me something new. I don’t try to memorize scriptures, but instead I try to live it out. I want to learn how to be free from my old self, and I am always looking for new insight that will help me, as well as anyone else I meet. I, WE, need to have a deep hunger for the Word of God. It is essential to our Christian walk. But it will not make me a man after God’s heart. Only Worship can do that. The uncomfortable truth is that reading the Word of God guarantees us nothing for salvation. There are many people who read the Word daily that don’t know His voice. I have met atheists, and know of many from other religions that have memorized the entire bible, only to find errors and places where they can disprove Christianity. They have a deep hunger for the Word of God… but definitely don’t have or care about His heart, even denying Jesus completely. So yes, we have to have a deep, passionate hunger for the Word of God. But if you want to have a heart that pursues God, that blesses God, it won’t come from reading the Word. It only comes from Faith- because without faith it is impossible to please God. God wants us to be close to Him, not to follow Him or even to be consumed with obeying Him (as we learned the past few weeks). Isn’t it amazing to know that when Jesus called His twelve disciples He first and foremost anointed them to be with Him? That’s found in Mark 3:14. God just wants us to be with Him. What do we do when we are with God? We worship Him. Everyone who gets close to God (or even His angels) in the Word immediately bow down in worship. So, I hope that after you read this blog, you worship God. While you worship, I hope He encourages you to read your bible… but more than that, my biggest hope is that you simply get as close to God as you can. Be blessed… |
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July 2023
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