Spontaneous worship

We have at least three nature channels in our cable package. One of them shows oddities in creation and as I watch it, I am amazed that the narrators can say these things ‘evolved’ as if there is no designer in such a well-designed universe. Even the simplest mind would wonder how skunks can learn how to stink in order to protect themselves before all their predators kill every skunk.

Tozer tells of realizing that God is a master of geometry and all sorts of art, poetry and music. I look at flowers and other plants and see how He knows tone, color, variety, movement, every principle of design. The stories on those nature channels, despite references to ‘evolution’ put me in awe of our amazing God.

That said, it is also true that sin blinds human eyes. I don’t need to point to anyone else. Every time I get a burr under my saddle, I lose my vision of God. When life goes sideways, or disasters happen, or other people seem bent on doing evil, I begin to struggle with the grace and power of God. Where is it? Have I been duped? After forty-five years of believing in Jesus Christ, is it all a myth?

The Holy Spirit does not leave me in the dark for long. Soon my heart begins to think about the Lord as He has been revealed to me. My fears and doubts vanish as my heart begins again to worship Him and be thankful.

There are two passages of Scripture in the New Testament that are similar. Both speak of results — this is what happens when you do this. The results are the same: singing psalms and hymns from the heart with thankfulness. The causes are different . . .

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:15–21)

The first passage says I need to be richly immersed in the Word of God. The second says that I need to be filled with the Spirit. For both, the results are the same, indicated that there is a great similarity between the causes. That is, being filled with the Spirit has a great deal to do with being filled with God’s Word, but not merely reading or memorizing; the verses say it should dwell in me richly!

Richly is the English version of a Greek adverb that means rich in an identifible, distinctive manner; conceived of in a similar way as something characterized by great material possessions. This is ‘in a large amount’ and visibly apparent, abundant. It is like the creative abundance in the world around us.

My best example of someone in whom the Word of God dwelt richly was a pastor whose conversation include copious portions of the Bible, but he was not ‘preachy’ just so delightfully filled with the Word that he thought of it and used appropriately in most situations. He was a spiritual man with a wonderful capacity to bless other people. As Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)

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Jesus, as much as I’ve read the Bible and studied it, I’m not there yet. So often, the words and stories, the teaching and principles of the Bible are not the first thing that come to mind in life’s situations and events. That may come later, but I’m not bubbling over with it. Keep working on me, please!

Seeing the wonder . . .

Yesterday while scrolling through the channel selections, I found a program about the Hubble telescope. It was mostly videos of galaxies unseen by the naked eye, and I marveled. For me, these scenes confirm the power of Almighty God. They also confirm how insignificant earth and humanity are compared to the rest of what is out there.

Those who create the today’s news, and those who report it, need to take a tour and get a reality check. Some of them are so sure they can change things and make a mark for themselves. These vain ambitions are almost laughable, but mostly sad. Not only do they reveal tremendously inflated egos, they reveal hearts that have no interest in a power higher, wiser and incredibly more powerful than themselves.

This morning, I read this passage and noted all the things God does, particularly the equipping of people who do not know Him in relation to those who think they know everything . . .

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.

“Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’

“Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: ‘Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 45:5–13)

This reminds me of an old hymn with these lines: “Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see; only Thou are holy; there is none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love, and purity.”

What does the eye of sinful man see when gazing at space through the Hubble? I try to remember what I once thought when I looked at the stars before Christ came to me. Some wonder? Some awe? But I did not worship God or even consciously credit Him for the loveliness of the night sky. Now I know the love of God through faith in Christ Jesus and now, when I look at the sky, my heart is fills with worship and with a sense of His presence — both bring joy and peace to my heart. The horrors of today’s news (and yesterday’s) comes into perspective; God is sovereign. I do not understand why He allows some things, nor how He is involved in tragic situations, but I know He made the moon and stars and all that I can see and not see. He is still in charge of His universe, and is mercifully in charge of my life.

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Jesus, God spoke and the universe came into existence. You are the Word of God, involved in that speaking and in this masterful creation. Even more incredible, You became one of us that we might know You and know the great power that is over all things. You are immense, Almighty, yet You graciously and tenderly love and take care of Your children. In my mind, I am so tiny, so nothing, but You know the number of the hairs on my head. Oh Lord, what a wonder You are!

Mirroring the glory of God

The physical world bears witness to the spiritual realm and points also to God. Just as “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1) so do the rest of creation. Color, intricacy, simplicity, unity, interdependence and may other attributes and activities reflect the Creator. Amazingly, even each element can exist in three forms, also mirroring the One Triune God.

Yet these reflections of God pale when it comes to the greatest revelation of our Creator when He became one of us through a young woman named Mary, just as the angel said . . .

“’And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:31–35)

The birth of Jesus was an event that never happened before and will not happen again, at least in the physical realm, but each time a sinner turns to Him in faith, He is born into their life, a spiritual repeat of that amazing reincarnation. As Chambers says, “What was true of the Virgin Mary in the historic introduction of God’s Son into this earth is true in every saint. The Son of God is born into me by the direct act of God; then I as a child of God have to exercise the right of a child, the right of being always face to face with my Father.”

The Incarnation points to the regeneration of sinners, with the born-again experience of each new Christian reflecting the coming of God in birth through Mary. Such reborn sinners become the children of God.

This is utterly amazing, both that the Lord Jesus Christ lives in me, and that I am a child of God with access to the Father. What joy to be in this privileged place; I can freely come before the throne of grace, and also call Him Abba, Father — Abba being the equivalent of ‘Daddy!”

Chambers asks, “Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way?” Then he questions the clamor of life, the way most people have no room for Jesus in their lives and no time for communion with our Creator. One example is in prayer. How do I talk to God, my Father? Is the Son of God is praying in me? Or am I dictating to Him?

This question came up a few weeks ago and has not only changed the way I pray (Who am I to tell God what to do?) but also eased me into a greater simplicity of life. Why fret when my Father is sovereign over all of life? Why fear danger when He is my Protector and Defender? Why run to anything or anyone else when He is my Fortress and my Hiding Place?

There is no point in anxiety about what to do, when to do, or even if I should do it. My Father on the throne and my Savior in my heart are both using the Holy Spirit to minister their united will to me — I know what to do when I need to know it. He communicates in ways that I fully understand. Not only that, this amazing God holds my hand and gives me all I need to follow through.

He did these things for Mary who had neither the physical means nor the spiritual understanding to be the bearer of a child who would save sinners. He came into her innocent naivety and changed her life — and He changes mine, and the lives of thousands who put their faith in Him.

Mary accepted the role God gave her and became the mother of the only perfect Person ever born. That Perfect One now lives in His reborn, adopted children — not so He can be reborn in us, but so we can reflect His perfections — even as the heavens declare His glory.