Category: Worship

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

4/6/2013

2 Kings 6:15-16 says, "When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, Alas my master! What shall we do? He [the man of God] said, Do not be afraid! For those who are with us are more than those who are with them" [ESV]

"Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in it's defence" - Mark Overby

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" - Psalm 46:1 [KJV]

Attending Wolmer's Boys School (the best high school in Jamaica...no debate...lol) was quite an experience for me. There were times when being a Wolmerian brought some negative attention - particularly when there were unresolved disputes between guys at our school and individuals from other boys’ schools. We were always encouraged not to wear our school colours when taking the bus home - that would make us clear targets for anyone from a rival school seeking revenge. As ignorant and crazy as it seems, this was the reality that we faced at the time. One day, as I stood by myself at the bus stop in my maroon and gold, a group of about 4 KC guys jumped out of a vehicle about 70 yards away from where I was standing. They were coming toward me with blood in their eyes and weapons in their hands. I thought to myself: "How could I be so stupid to forget to take off my school colours ?! The odds were piled against me and I pretty much made up my mind to go down swinging. Then...I heard the two most precious words I could hear at that time - "YO SMITTY!" Around the corner came a car full of friends from school who saw what was happening and sped over to my rescue. The KC guys saw them, hopped back in their vehicle and took off. I was safe! Whew :)

There's nothing like the feeling of knowing that someone has your back in a tight situation. Just seeing my schoolmates changed my perspective dramatically. The man of God - Elisha - faced grave danger in 2 Kings 6. The Syrian army was sent to kill him and they encircled the town of Dothan where he was. When his servant saw the Syrian army, he panicked....but Elisha remained calm. Elisha was able in the midst of this desperate situation to see what no one else could see. In verse 17 the Bible says, "Then Elisha prayed and said, O LORD, please open his (the servant's) eyes that he may see. So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha". The story continues: the Syrian army is struck with blindness and Elisha himself leads them away from Dothan straight to Samaria were the King of Israel and his army were waiting. WHAT A MIRACLE!

The question today is: "Am I seeing right?" Can I only see the danger, the concern, the difficulty, the problem? If so, many of us are not seeing the full picture. God is there, in the midst of your situation, making a way where there seems to be no way. Overby's quote above is so pertinent: LOVE PROTECTS! God loves you my friend - if you are a child of God, let this reality change your perspective and give you hope. Allow the words of Psalm 20:7-9 to sink in: "Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; He will answer from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright".

What do you think?

Pastor Andrew Smith

[email protected]

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"WATCH YOUR EYES; WATCH YOUR EYES, WHAT THEY SEE...."

12/1/2011

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"As she (Hannah) kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah was praying in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. Eli said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself?" And Hannah replied, "Oh no, my lord! I am a very unhappy woman. I have drunk no wine or other strong drink, but I have been pouring out my heart to the LORD" - 1 Samuel 1:12-15 [Tanahk]

"Outward acts of piety which do not flow from the new and God-given affections of the heart, which delight to depend on God and seek his glory are only legalism and have no value in honoring God" - John Piper (The Supremacy of God in Preaching - pg. 83)

"A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself" - A.W. Tozer

In Jamaica we have a saying, "Who feels it, knows it" - we use it to express the uniqueness of personal experience and also as a warning that people should not make unfair judgments. Hannah was bearing a problem that many women face today - for one reason or another, she could not bear children. It had caused her to be scorned by other women (cf. 1 Sam. 1:6), and to feel depressed and inferior (vs. 8). In the midst of this, she held fast to her integrity and faith in God: she believed that God could work a miracle for her granting her a son. That being said, she was desperate --- she was fervent: emotions that we can all identify with when we are in great need. She goes to the temple and instead of following the usual form of sacrifice and public proclamation to God through the priest, she prays in the anguish of her soul to God silently. The interesting thing is that the priest, instead of empathizing and encouraging her, made a judgment call that she was drunk - seemingly because she was 'mumbling under her breath'.

Two important lessons:

1. The responsibility of the Christian is to be TRUE TO GOD - God already knows the heart (Ps. 139:1-4).........God already tests the motives (Ps. 26:2). It is never unspiritual to be HONEST. For some of us, it may mean dropping the 'over-dramatics' and being humble and contrite before God. For some of us, it may mean dropping the 'extra-piety' and being real and expressive before God. We must be committed (as Hannah was) to sincere, heart-felt, spirit-led worship of God.

2. Another responsibility of the Christian is to BE CAREFUL NOT TO JUDGE only based on one's own point of reference. Eli made an assumption and because of that he (initially) missed out on an opportunity to bless and encourage Hannah. We do the same thing when we dismiss the work of God in people's lives because it isn't what WE WOULD DO. Whether something is traditional of contemporary......old or new......personal or corporate....we must ask one question: DOES IT MANIFEST THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD? (Gal. 5:22-23) If it passes the "fruit test", then it must be from God.

What do you think?

Pastor Andrew Smith
[email protected]

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THE PURPOSE IN PAIN II

9/19/2011

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Ps. 46:8-11 - "Come...behold the works of the LORD: what desolations He hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder - He burneth the chariot in the fire. BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD: I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE HEATHEN, I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. The Lord of hosts is with us...the God of Jacob is our refuge". Selah (pause and reflect).

There is a difficult, but direct connection between trouble, the sovereignty of God, the glory of God, and the peace of God's people. Could it be that in the design of God, trouble and distress are just instruments that He uses for His ultimate glory? In our minds, that seems contradictory - a GOOD God using BAD things. It is at this point of apparent contradiction that we realize we have a choice to make....can I believe and trust in a God who works all things to the "praise of his glory" EVEN if those things sometimes hurt and confuse us? If you answer "no"...you will forever be restless and confused. If you answer "yes"...you have access to the last part of the verse: this same God "will be with you, the God of Jacob will be your refuge".

A Christian is someone who by faith makes the choice to accept God on His terms....not our own. Can I as an individual....accept the sovereignty of God and exalt Him in the face of trouble? Put Him above all else? That's the challenge. The immediate blessing is that if you believe and trust in God today, you have access to a supernatural peace that passes all understanding; let this guard your heart and mind today [Phil. 4:6-7] no matter what you face.

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to" - Elisabeth Elliot

Pastor Andrew Smith
[email protected]

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"WHAT IS MAN...?" Psalm 8

6/2/2011

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"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)

      "The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have" - Norman Vincent Peale (Methodist minister and author of"The Power of Positive Thinking"). A few years ago, scientists and astronomers discovered in deep space what they have called "The Dark Attractor" - a huge, unknown mass in space that seems to be pulling our galaxy (the Milky Way) and tens of thousands of other galaxies toward itself at a tremendous speed - approximately 14 million miles per hour (mph). In an editorial of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch entitled, "On the Edge of Heaven", there was this timely observation:

      "Scientists themselves seem star-struck by the massiveness of this discovery (The Dark Attractor) and admit that it will only add to their already substantial difficulties in explaining the universe's mysteries. To the poets and psalmists, the mystery is the same as it always has been: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him"

      Often when we study the universe, or listen to the news...even when we read our Bibles, it is easy to try to view the world through the lenses of our own ability and intellect. Every now and then, God has to (in a sense) bring us down to size. The reality is that, when everything is brought to the table, we are simply dust that has been made significant by GOD. Psalm 8 outlines the privilege of human beings: even though created lower in order than the spiritual, angelic beings, we have been crowned with glory and honor by God (v. 5b) - we have received dominion over God's creation (v. 6a, 7-8) - we have been made the stewards of "all things" (v. 6b) - Great position - great worth - great responsibility. And yet, in the same breath, the awesomeness of the created world leads the psalmist to quake and ask in verse 4, "WHAT IS MAN...?"

      Acknowledging our enormous worth in the created order and YET also acknowledging our relative insignificance in the grand scheme - this is the tense and perfect balance of life. Humanity's right response....true response.....only response to your Maker must be HUMILITY. Think about this question: "When was the last time God got more glory from your life than YOU did?"

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are ALL THINGS. To Him be the glory forever. AMEN" - Romans 11:36

Pastor Andrew Smith
[email protected]

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Published by http://www.sheepgazette.com

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THE TORN VEIL

6/1/2011

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      "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity" -Ephesians 2:14-16

       "The veil of the temple was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God" - Elmer TownsIt is easy at times to read the Word of God and to miss out on some significant truths because of familiarity with the text. I've been reading the story of Christ's crucifixion for years and never considered in depth the MIRACLE of the tearing of the veil. In Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45 it is recorded that at the moment Jesus "yielded up his spirit" in death - the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

      The temple veil - the curtain in the temple of God which separated the Holy Place [accessible to ministering priests] and the HOLY OF HOLIES [accessible only once a year to the High Priest making atonement on behalf of the people]. An elaborately woven fabric of 72 twisted plaits of 24 threads, the veil was 60 ft high and 30 feet wide. The size and thickness of the veil make the events occurring at the moment of Jesus' death so much more momentous. Was its rending the result of an earthquake, as some purport? Simply illogical! It marked the beginning of a new era - it marked the opening of a new way of thinking about and relating to God. Here are a few things to consider about this miracle:

1. God resides no longer in buildings made by human hands (cf. Acts 17:24) - the torn veil alludes to a God who cannot be limited in his presence and power. Consider that even as you read this e-mail, God is THERE with you. Does this reality make a difference in how you think about yourself and the people around you today?

2. There is no separation between God and man anymore - whether Jew or Gentile, black or white, male or female....we ALL have access to the presence of God "by a new and living way which he (Jesus) opened for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh" (Hebrews 10:20). The tearing of the veil and the death of Jesus correspond because it is Jesus' sacrifice that has opened the way for man to commune directly with God - no priest, no pastor, no person can commune with God on your behalf...through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you are now invited to come boldly (cf. Hebrews 4:16).

3. There is no basis for division between the people of God - the torn veil represents the end of separation between Jew and Gentile: people who could not find common ground for fellowship. The entire book of Acts is the record of God tearing down the walls of division and creating "in Himself, one new man from two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity"(Eph. 2:16). Do you find it difficult to forgive or love your brother/sister in Christ? Consider that in Jesus Christ, you no longer have any basis to lack genuine love.

      I encourage us to take to heart the MIRACLE OF THE TORN VEIL and to EXALT JESUS CHRIST for the access He has provided for us into the presence of Almighty God. Amen.

Pastor Andrew Smith
[email protected]

1 Comment

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

"WATCH YOUR EYES; WATCH YOUR EYES, WHAT THEY SEE...."

THE PURPOSE IN PAIN II

"WHAT IS MAN...?" Psalm 8

THE TORN VEIL

Pastor Andrew Smith

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