Journal for Christ: Who are you? Part 1

Don't you hate when you are watching a show and at the end, these words appear, "To be continued"?
Well, this is part 1 of my study on "who are you?" Part 2 tomorrow.

Journal entry from:

February 2, 2016

Worship: Mighty God by Joe Praize & the Soweto Gospel Choir

Oh Lord, my God, Jesus

I’ll speak of you Glory,
I will show forth your beauty
If I dance it won’t be enough,
If I shout it won’t be enough (Repeat)

For you are the great and mighty King
You rule in every nation
On Christ the solid rock,
You are worthy to be praised
You are Alpha and Omega, I worship you today
In you I put my trust, Your name I will extol

Heaven speaks of your glory
And the earth of your beauty
Your love is new every morning
And your faithfulness is ever sure (Repeat)

For you are the great and mighty God
So worthy to be praised
Your beautiful for all situation
You are the joy of the whole world (Repeat)

Yelele, Uyingwele [You are Holy],
Siyakudumisa [I worship You]
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

For you are the great and mighty God
So worthy to be praised
Your beautiful for all situation
You are the joy of the whole world (Repeat)

Jesus, Jesus my Lord, You are the joy of the world…

Video: https://youtu.be/zl62KqAruBo

Witness:

It has been a struggle for over a week now to have a quiet time. Tiredness, time, circumstances have teamed up with Satan to put roadblocks to the time I look forward to the most – time with you, my God and Savior. Today my Shepherd sent me a timely word from Spurgeon encouraging me to seek Him with all my heart and desire. The song I chose today to worship with is a song I have never heard before, but I chose it because it contained a phrase from Psalm 24 – “Mighty God”. I also chose it for the sheer joy exuding from it. Yes, it is a little out of my normal sphere of worship songs and some may object to some portions of the video, but then so did David’s wife object to David’s dancing before the Ark. Some feel this Psalm refers to that very occasion when David brought the Ark from Obed-Edom to Jerusalem.

As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. NIV

Some may object to the whistles and sounds near the end of the song. I choose to see them as outcries of joy!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. KJV

Let me end this portion with the devotional I read today that served as an exhortation and encouragement to me today:

"Tell me . . . where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon."
— Song of Solomon 1:7

These words express the desire of the believer after Christ, and his longing for present communion with Him. Where doest Thou feed Thy flock? In Thy house? I will go, if I may find Thee there. In private prayer? Then I will pray without ceasing. In the Word? Then I will read it diligently. In Thine ordinances? Then I will walk in them with all my heart. Tell me where Thou feedest, for wherever Thou standest as the Shepherd, there will I lie down as a sheep; for none but Thyself can supply my need. I cannot be satisfied to be apart from Thee. My soul hungers and thirsts for the refreshment of Thy presence. "Where dost Thou make Thy flock to rest at noon?" for whether at dawn or at noon, my only rest must be where Thou art and Thy beloved flock. My soul's rest must be a grace-given rest, and can only be found in Thee. Where is the shadow of that rock? Why should I not repose beneath it? "Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" Thou hast companions—why should I not be one? Satan tells me I am unworthy; but I always was unworthy, and yet Thou hast long loved me, and therefore my unworthiness cannot be a bar to my having fellowship with Thee now. It is true I am weak in faith, and prone to fall, but my very feebleness is the reason why I should always be where Thou feedest Thy flock, that I may be strengthened, and preserved in safety beside the still waters. Why should I turn aside? There is no reason why I should, but there are a thousand reasons why I should not, for Jesus beckons me to come. If He withdrew Himself a little, it is but to make me prize His presence more. Now that I am grieved and distressed at being away from Him, He will lead me yet again to that sheltered nook where the lambs of His fold are sheltered from the burning sun.

Song of Solomon 1:7

Day 4

Ps 24:7-10 NIV

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?

The LORD Almighty —

he is the King of glory.

Selah

Ps 24:7-10

7 Open up, ancient gates!

Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

8 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD, strong and mighty;

the LORD, invincible in battle.

9 Open up, ancient gates!

Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

10 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD of Heaven's Armies—

he is the King of glory.

Interlude

Why do the doors need to “lift up their heads”? So “the King of Glory may come in”. Sounds simple enough, but does the God who created all (v. 1) need a door to enter in? Is He not, in a sense already inside? I will come back to this later. I want to explore briefly the question asked in this Psalm – “Who is the King of glory?”. An exhortation twice given- “lift up”. A question twice asked- “Who is [this] King of glory?”. All this leads to answers that will lead to an answer to the question I asked above: Why do the doors need to “lift up their heads”?

The word “who” is a powerful and essential word in the Bible. It is at the beginning of questions that have led to profound answers. Consider Pharaoh’s question:

Ex 5:2

2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I

NIV

Pharaoh learned the answer to that question, but more importantly so did Moses:

Ex 5:22-6:5

Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. NIV

Fast forward to the gospel of John and we hear our Lord being asked by a skeptical crowd, “who are you?”. To which He replied:

John 8:25-29

Jesus replied, "The one I have always claimed to be. I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won't. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful." But they still didn't understand that he was talking about his Father.

So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him."

I will continue with more tomorrow. I am late getting ready for work.

Journal for Christ

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Who are you? Part 1

No comments:

Post a Comment