Joining In Praise

October 11, 2022

On this Lord’s Day, we join together in praise of our awesome God.  But it is not us who begin this worship.  No, we will enter the throne room of God, in the spirit, to join with worship that is ongoing—that never ceases—in heaven. 

“And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.’ And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, ‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created.’” (Revelation 4:8-11 NAS95)

Our God is worthy of praise!  He is the creator! He is Holy!  He is the Almighty!  Let us join with these heavenly beings in falling down before the throne to worship Him in reverence and in awe. 

And let us, throughout the week ahead, take time to praise God individually.  His praise should be in our hearts, and also on our lips.  Not only should we praise God in our minds, but we should express our praise to him with our mouths; in prayer, in song, in reminding another of His goodness and glory.  We should do this when life is good and also when life gets hard.  Our God is intrinsically worthy of our praise, no matter what is going on in our lives, and we do not worship Him merely to get something in return.  Yet, God is gracious.  He gives so much in return as we praise Him. In times of turmoil and heartache, if we would praise Him with our hearts and our lips, we will find help.  We will find strength.  We will find a renewed perspective on life.  Praising God will help us to stop wallowing in our own troubles and to fix our eyes on Him.  As we praise Him, we are reminded that He deeply cares for us and that He can handle any problem we may be facing.  What renewed vigor and hope worship brings.  Let us be people of praise in our daily lives and as we gather together as His redeemed people this Lord’s Day.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

The Majesty of the Lord Jesus

December 21, 2021

In the first two chapters of the book of Colossians we receive a stunning view of the glory and majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We get an inspired glimpse of who He is, and who He was from all eternity.  Listen to these splendid words: “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17, NASB).  Nothing has been made, whether visible or invisible, that wasn’t made by and for Jesus Christ.  There is no throne or dominion, whether human or in the spiritual realm, that Jesus Christ is not far above.  Even as you read these words, Jesus Christ is holding together the entire universe by the word of His power.  Should He stop holding it all together, everything we know, everything we can see and can’t see—from the smallest atom to the most distant galaxy—would cease to exist.

And if anything could be more stunning than the amazing majesty and power of our Lord, it is this:  that the creator and sustainer of all things would empty Himself, take on a human body, and give up His life for us.  Jesus, the Eternal One, the All-Powerful One, gave everything so that sinful, undeserving people like you and me can share in His life.  “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:21-22, NASB) Even though we were hostile to God, even though we were living in evil, Christ came to save us.  He came so that we could be holy and without blame in His sight.  The One in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells came so that we would be filled up to His fullness (Colossians 2:9-10, Ephesians 3:19).

Each Lord’s Day, we gather to fall down and worship the One who created all things, who is above all things, and yet who humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross so that we might truly live through Him.  May our souls magnify the Lord and rejoice in God, our Savior.     

— Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin