worship

worship session, please: party of one.

that's where i am right now. sitting in the Throne Room/condo balcony, while listening to the waves crashing on the shore. i'm reading in Exodus 34.

The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,

“Yahweh! The Lord!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.   

I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.”

v. 6-7

that's how the Lord described himself to Moses.

Have you ever thought about how God could be anything? Anything at all?

He's God, full of power and absolute control.

If he wanted to wipe us all off the face of the earth, He could do it, and He would be justified in doing it. 

If He wanted to have total control over our lives and not let us have any freedom, He could do that because He's God. Who can say that would be wrong?

He could be and do anything. But have you ever sat and marveled at the fact that He chose to be Love?

He chose to be Love.

Our sin angers Him. It saddens Him. It makes His heart hurt. It infuriates Him. He needs to be repaid for the damage we've done; he needs vengeance.

But He doesn't give any of that to His children on earth.

He chose to give all of that to His only begotten Son, so that He could give us Love.

That was His choice.

No one coaxed Him into to, convinced Him it would be a good idea, or even forced Him to do it.

He chose to be Love.

Why?

Because He wants to be with us. He desires relationship.

You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous,

 is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

v. 14



Funny how He says that our relationship with Him is at stake when we start worshipping other gods.

Why?

Because whatever you worship gets value from you, gets your time, your efforts, your attention.

So do your relationships.

Let's just let that settle with you. I was convicted here.

The most cherished and valued relationship I am in should be the one with Jesus, if only because He chose Love. Add to that all the other blessings in my life and the simple fact that He's God, and I come to the conclusion that He deserves my whole life.

sounds like the Gospel to me!

i hope your mondays have gone well!

i love you all!