Kneeling In Worship

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
(Exodus 34:5–8)

To worship is to kneel or prostrate oneself on the ground in recognition of the power, majesty and authority of the object of one’s worship.

Worship is more than just assigning worth; it’s acknowledging that worth is already there.

When we worship God, we are responding to God’s intrinsic majesty and goodness.

That was Moses’ response when God passed by, revealed His glory and proclaimed His name and attributes.

God declared His compassion, grace, mercy, love, patience and faithfulness.

And since God is a God of justice, He also pledged not to leave the guilty unpunished.

The emphasis, though, wasn’t on the Lord’s wrath, power and judgment, but on His love.

When we hear of the goodness, the greatness and the glory of God, worship is our appropriate response.

We bow before Him in awe and appreciation of who He is.

Oh! Let us come now to worship
our Great and Awesome God!

Never Be Shaken

Truly He is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
(Psalm 62:2)

God is our stronghold.

He is our fortress.

We will never be shaken.

We may be persecuted for our faith.

But if we die, we know that we will go to heaven.

We need not be afraid of persecution.

The Lord will be with us in times of need.

He will keep us and help us.

And we will go to heaven when our time has come.

So what do you want to do with your lives?

Let us serve the Lord Jesus Christ together.

Let us reaffirm our faith in God as our only protector who does not allow us to be shaken.

Thank You Lord,
Only in You can I find safety and protection.
You have promised that You will always be with me.

Carrying The Cross

Jesus turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to me;
you do not have in mind the concerns of God,
but merely human concerns.”
(Matthew 16:23)

The third temptation of Jesus was when the devil offered Him the kingdom without the cross.

The devil was saying, ‘Don’t go off and make all those sacrifices, spend nights in agony praying, and end up being tortured by soldiers and dying a horrible death. Just take it all now, from my hand!’

The church often faces the same temptation. The devil offers us power without suffering.

Jesus called Peter ‘Satan’ when he made the same suggestion.

When we mention everything about Christianity but fail to talk about suffering, we are taking away the cross from the Christian life. We are bringing a satanic suggestion.

Anyone who says we can follow Christ but not carry our cross is no better than Satan himself.

Jesus said so. He said it to Satan. He said it to Peter. And this goes to anyone else who dares to think they can be a Christian witness without talking about carrying the cross.

Let us realize that every Christian is required to carry the cross.

Oh Lord, I will no longer try to eliminate the way of the cross from my Christian living. Help me never again attempt to substitute power for suffering.

Bow Down To Me

Genesis 37:1–11

We don’t know why Joseph told his brothers about his dreams.

His motives might be entirely innocent.

But sharing his dreams had disastrous results.

His brothers already hated him because they saw that their father Jacob loved him more than any of them.

Joseph’s dream that implied he would rule over them one day made them even more angry.

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Many of Jesus’ brethren — the Jewish leaders of his time — reacted violently to his claims of lordship too.

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But as with Joseph, God blessed the Gentiles and the Jews through Jesus.

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The children of God will recognize who Jesus is and bow down to him.

A Faithful Steward

Genesis 24:1–67

A steward is one who is commissioned to oversee and execute the affairs of another. The closer a steward is able to represent the mind of their superior, the better they fulfill their role. Therefore, when a steward is on assignment, ideally they have no personal will or agenda; they strive to have the mind and will of their supervisor.

Abraham’s unnamed senior servant was an excellent example of a faithful steward. His mindset was to represent Abraham’s will and interests as faithfully as possible.

We are stewards of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our goal is to have His mind and will.

By looking at Abraham’s servant, we can gain insight into how to be a more faithful steward of God’s purposes.

In His Time

God will surely make all things beautiful in His time!

The Disciples' Prayer

May God use us to make a difference in the lives of Christians
who are persecuted for their faith around the world.

We can reach out to them,
each in our own church and community, and in our own way,
through awareness, through action,
and most of all,
through prayer.

My Brother's Keeper

God intended for us to be social beings —
to love, care for and protect each other.
We need to care for those who cannot care for themselves.
We need to care for the least privileged members of our society.
We are called to do good to all people,
regardless of race, gender or social position.
We are our “brother’s keeper.”