This was such an important week in this study. The first two weeks were foundational material to begin to understand what praise really is: A RESPONSE to what we value most, and different ways we can praise God.
It is crucial that Moore now turns to talk about the object of our praise - God. Worship is always God-centered.
I'll admit up front that I need to work on a better balance in my life between viewing God with the reverance and awe he deserves, yet at the same time understanding that his is a personal God who longs to have a relationship with us.
In theological terms, God is transcendent (He is above, beyond, outside, all that He has made); and at the same time God is immanent (God exists is His creation, and he is still actively involved in our lives).
My life has been a roller coaster in terms of how I view God. Growing up I probably had more of a fearful/reverant view of God, thinking he was the great punisher in the sky just waiting for me to mess up. I knew very little of a God who wanted a relationship.
Then in my 20's the pendulum swung about as far back as it could, and I considered God as my buddy (as in the movie Darma), or like the t-shirts "Jesus is my homeboy." I lost almost all reverance, awe and fear of a transendent God.
I now have a better balance of the two views of God. I probably still find it easier to see God as personal rather than the all-powerful (from what I read this is very common for people to err on the side of immanence).
However, I'm working on focusing on God's attributes, and reading books (Tozer's "The Pursuit of God", J.I. Packer's "Knowing God") that help me see the whole picture of God.
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Day One reminded me of Josh Wilson's "3 Minute Song". . .In this song, he describes trying to "fit God between the lines" of a short song, and thereby define exactly who He is. Of course, it's impossible. Moore quotes Romans 11:33, and it really stuck in my mind as I contemplated the study for Monday: "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!"
I liked Moore's reminder that God IS the one, true God, and that we need to learn all we can about Him (studying His word) if we expect to truly worship Him.
In the back of my Bible is a definition I wrote down from some devotion somewhere, sometime while I was on the road. It reads: "Humility: Knowing who God is, knowing who I am, and not getting the two mixed up."
God is God, and me, not so much. I love how Job 38:12 words the "conversation" God has with Job: "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?" It's like God "gently" reminding Job (and us) that we don't run anything down here but our mouths.
And that leads nicely into Day Two's reminder that "Our worship should honor his holy and high position." Placing God in His rightful position of honor is one way of worshiping that I can practice daily.
This week, I was forced to re-examine my relationship and my friendship with God, and make certain that I recognize that He is both sovereign and my closest friend.
"Knowing God" is, to me, an ongoing, dynamic process. I once heard this saying: "If you think you're green, you'll grow...If you think you're ripe, you're already rotten." I pray that I never think I have learned all there is to know about God, so that I may continue to grow in Him.
There are so many great things we could talk about with this study, but my blog would be way too long. So this week I decided to blog about one thing that challenged me, one thing I loved, and one question I had. First, one of the things that is hard for me was back on Day 2 about God's sovereignty. Moore had us read Psalm 33:10 which says that God "frustrates the plans of the peoples." Then to read the excerpt by Elisabeth Elliot, I was extremely humbled by her amazing faith. I think it is easier for me to accept God's sovereignty when it affects other people. I pray that in my own times of testing which I know are inevitable in life that I will remain steadfast, obedient, and willing to praise God for his omnipotence.
One thing I loved (it was hard to choose one) was the quote from DeHaan that said, "Find me a worshiper of God, and I will show you a stable man with his mind in control, ready to meet the present hour with refreshment from above." Man do I want to live like that.
Finally, one thing Moore said left me a little unclear. On Day 3 when he was talking about God's holiness, he said that, "We should never worship God in an unprescribed manner." Maybe this is a dumb question, but can anybody give me an example of what that would be? Is it just doing anything that is not biblical worship such as the manners that Moore wrote about in Week 2?
Thanks everybody! I am really enjoying doing this study and knowing that we are doing it together as a team.
Lisa Bosworth
This week was a tough one for me, beacuse the studies repeatedly challenged me, in several different ways, to do one thing--trust and obey. OK, I know that sounds like two things, but it really isn't because with God, you can't have one without the other. It's a no-brainer to say that you wouldn't obey God if you didn't trust Him. And of course, it takes some work and some time to learn to trust a God you can't actually see--to walk by faith and not by sight. But even when you get to the trust part, obeying is a whole other level of trust. It's one thing to believe you can walk on water if you step out of the boat; it's quite another to actually get up and step out onto the waves.
I am a control freak by nature, so surrendering control of my life has been a long and painful process. Keith, I loved what you said that we don't run anything down here but our mouths. I think the hardest thing for me to trust about God is His timing. I believe that something will work out for me according to God's plan, but it's all I can do to keep from reaching over and grabbing hold of the steering wheel. I think the answer for this was brought home to me in Day 2. I know for certain that in my walk with God, I have not focused nearly enough on just how big and awesome and all-powerful He is. Not only is nothing too hard for Him to handle, He is just so huge in every way that there is no way I could ever figure Him out. If there is no way I could ever second-guess His immensely intricate plans for me, how silly would it be for me to NOT surreder my will to His? Passages like the Job dialogue are good reminders of just how in control God is of every little thing. I think we as humans naturally focus on the negative--what's wrong with us or our lives, or more often OTHER people's lives. If we took more time to focus on what ISN'T wrong with the world, I think God would reveal Himself to us in ways we never thought of.
But back to the obedience thing. Day 4 hit it point blank by asking "where do you need to be more obedient?" I don't have any trouble thinking of areas for improvement. The question for me is HOW to become more obedient? As near as I can figure (and I would welcome any insight from any of you) the best way is to keep it simple and keep it small. Listen for God in everything and obey His voice one step at a time. Try not to worry about where He's leading; just put your foot on His footprint. . .one step at a time. . .and trust that He will lead you somewhere good, because He always does. It's usually somewhere totally unexpected, but when you learn to embrace that, it gets easier to surrender control. Control for me means controlling the outcome. I really think that's the heart of it. It starts with wanting things to work out my way, then it mushrooms into controlling the processes to get me to MY desired result. If we trust God with the destination, it makes Him easier to follow on the journey. Not easy, necessarily, but easiER. (to be continued)
(part 2)
And Day 5 drives the point home one more time with obedience through contentment. Contentment isn't just about being happy with what you have now; it also includes not worrying about what's next. I think we sell the concept short if we just make contentment into faking joy about having less than we really want. I think true contentment or satisfaction is being OK with where God's leading you. It is a by-product of faith--trusting that the journey will be safe, even when you can't see the road through the fog. The thing is, you have to keep driving. Faith without obedience (works) is useless, or as James put it, "dead." I was thinking of this today when Pastor Steve was wrapping up his 2-part talk on Samson. At the end, Samson finally turned to God, and God gave Him strength one last time. But did you notice that it wasn't God that brought the temple down on the Philistines? It wasn't enough for Samson to believe that God would give him strength; he actually had to push on the pillars himself. This week, and in the weeks to come, I'll be working on my pillar-pushing. because all the faith in the world doesn't mean squat if I'm just sitting here blogging about God's will and not obeying it.
I want to start by commenting on what you said, Scott, about how to be more obedient. When I had our third child, as some of you may or may not know, I literally almost died, or maybe actually started dying, on an operating table. The Lord spoke to me audibly that day and changed my life dramatically forever. From the very moment, I vowed to Him to make my life more obedient to His word. The way I try to do it is by being in His word daily. It's funny, but it seems to me that the more time I spend reading the bible and listening to pastors preach the word and reading Christian literature, the more the Lord teaches me on how to obey Him in my daily life. Decisions become more clear on how to behave and what exactly He would have me do. Sorry for the long tangent, Scott, but I love this topic, because I truly believe that obedience is the number one identifying factor in a Christian's life as to how we are measuring up to God's standard for us, and it's not easy to do. But the better we know and understand what He would have us do (again, as Keith said, by knowing His word) the more equipped we are to obey Him.
This week was great for me to ponder one specific point, which Brian touched on, which is God's all-high position, and yet knowing He is also my best friend. I could think on this one point for hours. I often spend time in prayer just talking to Him about how it boggles my mind that He created the universe, and every soul walking around on the planet, and every soul that has ever lived or ever will live, and designed the entire structure and function of the body (including organic chemistry), and yet he cares whether or not I am hungry, or have a job, or am happy, or full-filled, or anxious, or laying on an operating table and scared that I'm dying. It seriously blows me away to be in a big city and see thousands of people walking around (I was in Chicago this weekend) and know that He knows every detail of every life and He cares for everyone of those people as much as He cares for me. That simple thought throws me into some serious worship because it puts into perspective for me more who God is and what He has done in the big picture of it all.
This week made me really think and acknowledge not just the things about God that I like to think about for comfort, but the God of Revelation that I absolutely fear as I know that we will someday watch pour out His justice and wrath on this well-deserving planet. And while I fear Him, all my hope rests in Him.
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