created to love Him...

Exodus 33:18 And Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” Show Me Your glory. We sing this phrase in multiple worship songs these days. We cry out for God's glory to fall in a room. What are we asking for, really? I always want to get past the language of Christianese, which the church is full of, and make sure I understand what I'm speaking or singing...like, when we pray for a "hedge of protection" around people. Tim Hawkins, a Christian comedian, has ruined this Christianese phrase for me. A hedge? Really? Is that the best we can pray for is a shrub??? Why not a stone wall or a mountain pass? What if the devil has hedge trimmers?? OH BOY! But, I digress! What is God's glory? AND, I find it interesting that Moses, who witnessed the most of God's amazing wonders in all of the Old Testament, is the one asking this. Hasn't Moses witnessed enough? What more is there? WHAT DID MOSES EXPERIENCE WITH GOD BEFORE ASKING TO SEE HIS GLORY??? *The audible voic...

 "Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is beautiful for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre. SING TO HIM A NEW SONG; play skillfully and shout for joy!"                            ~Psalm 33:1-3 For 33 years while King David ruled over Israel and Judah, he had a tent pitched to house the Ark of the Covenant, which represented God's presence in Israel. It was a place of worship, prayer, repentance, atonement, rejoicing and lamenting. David, being a musician himself, constructed the instruments that were to be used in the tent (1 Chronicles 23:5) by 4,000 musicians from the tribe of Levi. Under the instruction of 3 chief worship leaders (Asaph, Heman and Jeduthan), these musicians were to use these instruments and their voices to prophesy throughout the tent (1 Chronicles 25:1 & 6).  This was David's understanding of worship....

 Our object of worship is, of course, God. He's the Father, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. That is the One who we worship.  The One of whom it says in the Bible that He, "dwells in light unapproachable whom no man can see or has seen or can see and live" (1 Timothy 6:16, Exodus 33:20). It says that God is holy, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent and sovereign and that He has a thousand more sovereign characteristics. Any or all of these should regularly bring us to our knees in humility and awe. When writing about this sovereignty of God, A.W. Tozer says, "I cannot accept with sympathy the ideas that we go to church to soothe ourselves and calm our spirts. We do calm our spirits and there is a soothing effect in worship, but the primary object of church attendance is not to relax - it is to offer worship, which belongs to God."  David sees this God incarnated in Psalm 45 - a figure that is radiantly beautiful, romantic. Some of ...

 I rarely have time to read these days. The moment I sit down the children have radar that goes off in the core of their being telling them to come find me or wake up from their nap. That is THE moment they must have a snack..."Mom's reading??? That must mean I'm hungry!!!" Even the dog thinks that when I sit down, it MUST be because I want to play with her...and here she comes with her stuffed bunny, tail wagging with expectation. SO, I've taken up listening to audio books as an attempt to keep my brain working beyond the level of board books and Disney drama! Although, some of those board books can be pretty profound! This morning I was listening to 1 Kings while making breakfast and going about our morning routines. It was good for me to be reminded of these historical stories, some that I'd forgotten about and felt fresh. As I listened to chapter after chapter, over and over again I heard, "_________ did what was right to the Lord," or "____...