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Make An Example Out Of Me

Squeeze Blessing Out Of A Really Bad Day

When you are going through a really difficult season, no matter what its source, simply appealing to God to use you as a example of his grace and mercy for future generations is a great way to squeeze blessing out of what is otherwise a really bad day. Go ahead, ask him to make an example out of you!

Read: Psalm 102 // Focus: Psalm 102:18

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD. — Psalm 102:8

The writer of this psalm is in a bad way—a very bad way. In fact, the title says the author was a man who had been severely “afflicted”. We don’t know the man’s name, nor do we know the specific nature of his affliction, but we do know the depth of his despair since, to a greater or lesser degree, we have all been there at some point in our lives.

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Intentional Blamelessness

Action Steps For A Pure Life

How serious are you about purity? Of course, being blameless before God starts with him. Through Christ’s death you are alive unto righteousness. But here’s the deal: You now have to walk in Christ’s righteousness. That’s right, YOU! You have to walk in it. Nobody can do that for you—not even God. He will help you, but you need to get intentionally blameless!

Read: Psalm 101 // Focus: Psalm 101:2

“I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart.” –Psalm 101:2

As Jack Nicholson famously said to Tom Cruise in the movie,  A Few Good Men, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”, I would said to you, you’re not ready for it either! You’re not tough enough! Sorry, but I’m just being real! My guess is, you’re just not up to it!

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Pre-flight Checklist for Worship

Experiencing Worship At A Higher Level

Most of us wait until we are comfortably situated in the sanctuary, the lights are dimmed and the worship leader gives the downbeat before we begin to worship. That’s too late! That’s a recipe for a less-than-satisfying experience of the greatest activity to which we are called: worshipping in the presence of Almighty God. True worship begins long before we get to church.

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 100 // Focus: Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

The psalmist is speaking of what you do before you get to church. He is talking about how you enter the sanctuary. He is thinking of pre-worship—how you ready your heart in anticipation of meeting the God of all creation as you gather with his people in corporate praise. He is describing your preparation for worship.

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Approaching The Unapproachable

Confident In His Holy Presence

What a thought: God is unapproachable in holiness, yet you have been invited through Jesus to confidently approach his throne of grace where you can hear his voice, experience his power, receive his forgiveness, pour out your heart—and be heard! What other god is like your God!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 99 // Focus: Psalm 99:6

Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them.

Over the course of several palms, the writer has been extolling the majesty and holiness of God—which makes him separate, distinct and higher than other beings. He alone is God—high and exalted, pure in righteousness and justice, beautiful in his majesty and unapproachable in his holiness. The only possible response anyone, either high and low, has in his presence is to tremble before his throne.

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Go Ahead—Dance!

Lose Yourself In The Wonder Of Worship

Wouldn’t it be great to be so in love with Jesus and so overwhelmed by his saving grace and so grateful for his undeserved kindness that you just lost yourself for a season in unfettered worship—and you danced and shouted and jumped for joy in his presence? Pictured is Ashley Brown from Brooklyn, New York serving in Gojo, Ethiopia. Goes to show . . . you can dance anywhere!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 98 // Focus: Psalm 98:4-5

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.

On one of my missions trips to Africa, in a western region of Ethiopia, and I was called upon to preach in one of the thriving churches that are springing up every year there by the hundreds. This is a backwards part of the world, to say the least, but it also seems to be ground zero for a modern day Holy Spirit revival. One of the things I love most about being there is the unfettered praise these people lift to God when they gather as the church to worship.

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Love-Hate Relationships

It is impossible to love God with all your heart, and at the same time mindlessly embrace the values of this fallen world. You are actually called to hate those values. Now keep in mind that it will be risky to hate what is going on in your world. In fact, you will be hated back by the very world you hate, so get comfortable with being uncomfortable. But here’s the deal: If you throw in with God, Psalm 97 promises that he will guard your life, deliver you from trouble, favor you and fill you with joy. That’s an unbeatable outcome for choosing Almighty God over this present world.

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 97 // Focus: Psalm 97:10-11

Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

If you love the Lord, then you’ve got to hate! Hate evil, that is.

You see, it is impossible to love God with all your heart, and at the same time mindlessly embrace the values of this fallen world. You are actually called to hate those values. You see, the very foundation of God’s rule over both the larger universe and the smaller world of your life is righteousness and justice. (Psalm 97:2). In other words, from the center to the circumference of his being, God is holy and fair.

Now tell me, what is there in this present world that is fundamentally holy and thoroughly fair? Not much! For sure, you can find pockets of righteousness and justice here and there, but the prevailing forces of this present world are anything but. Everywhere you look—the media, the courts, the economy, the entertainment industry—most of what you see is unrighteous and unfair.

Now the scary thing is, we are so continually and strategically pounded with the systemic evil of this world that we start to become immune to it. It is highly likely that the daily barrage of unrighteousness and unfairness has brought us to the point of not even seeing it anymore—and if we do see, we’re not even bothered by it. That is scary, sad and wrong!

And that has got to change! It is time to embrace a love-hate relationship with our current situation. We belong to a righteous and just God, whom we are called to wholeheartedly love. But our love for God requires us to wholeheartedly hate this unrighteous and unfair world in which we live for the time being.

So it is high time we change the way we think about our temporary residence. The Apostle Paul’s call for the transformation of our worldview is long overdue. Romans 12:2 says,

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (The Message)

A passionate love-hate relationship is called for. It will be a little risky to hate what is going on in your world. In fact, you will be hated back by the very world you hate—that is understandable—so get comfortable with it. But here’s the deal: God has promised to guard your life, deliver you to a better place (Psalm 97:10), shine his favor upon you and fill your heart with joy (Psalm 97:11) if you throw in with him.

Making Life Work: Love God—hate evil! That’s what I’m going with!

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Don’t Forget–God Is Holy

The venerable C.S. Lewis once said, “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” How true! True holiness is irresistible—plus it is available and attainable, by God’s grace. That is why, as intimidating as it may seem, we ought to make the pursuit of holiness the great business of our lives.

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 96:1-13 // Focus: Psalm 96:9

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

I don’t know that we really “get” the holiness of God. And that’s too bad. We throw that term around a lot—holiness—and we have a sense that his holiness is not to be trifled with, but I don’t think we know how to wrap our minds around the concept of a holy God.

We know God as a loving Father—guiding, providing and protecting. That one’s easier to absorb, at least in theory. We know God as revealed through his Son, Jesus—compassionate, servant-hearted, gentle and caring. We know God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit—empowering, energizing and enabling us to do his bidding. But the holiness of God—do we really know him that way?

The saints of old did. When God passed by Moses in the cleft of the rock, Moses tasted the holiness of God. When Elijah called down fire from heaven on the false prophets, the people saw the holiness of God. When Ananias and Saphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, the church knew the holiness of God. When the Apostle John received his revelation, we are told that he “fell at his feet as though dead.” (Revelation 1:7) The pure in heart were somehow able to partake in the holiness of God without being consumed by it; the impure weren’t so fortunate!

Leland Ryken noted that “for the Puritans, the God-centered life meant making the quest for spiritual and moral holiness the great business of life.” I wish that for you—and for me, too—that holiness would be the great business of our lives; that we could partake in God’s holiness without being consumed by it. Frankly, though, I’m not sure how we can come into that kind of experience—and perhaps I don’t really know what I am asking for. Yet there is something deep within my spirit that cries out to know God in his holiness. I’m guessing that longing is in your heart, too.

How do we posture ourselves for an experience of the holiness of Almighty God? Andrew Murray wrote, “Nothing but the knowledge of God, as the Holy One, will make us holy. And how are we to obtain that knowledge of God, except in the inner chamber, our private place of prayer? It is a thing utterly impossible unless we take time and allow the holiness of God to shine on us.”

Beyond the positional holiness imputed to us at salvation and the empirical holiness of our obedience to Christ, may the Lord grant us  a deeper, transformational revelation of Divine holiness so we can truly worship Almighty God in the splendor of his holiness.

Making Life Work: Offer this simple but sincere prayer to the One who hears and answers prayer: Oh that I may know the beauty of your holiness!