Made for this! Psalm 145:10-13

Have you ever felt ‘made for something’? I am sure you know the feeling – you start doing something and it just works for you – everything goes well, you enjoy it, and you reach the point that you feel like ‘I was made for this!’. I’ve got two examples for you.

The first one was when I was about 20. You see, I bumped into this girl in church one day…. A friendship grew, and it was pretty obvious very early we were made for one another! Long story short, we have known each other over 16 years now and married over 14, and even more today than 16 years ago I can honestly say ‘we were made for this’.

Vocationally, for me that was almost always working with computers. I just sit down and seem to know what I am doing most of the time. I just ‘click’ with them – that is no doubt a gift from God! From the moment I first got one around 1986 (yes, that long ago), I knew I was made to work with them. (That may well change in the future, but that is a topic for another post already planned…)

Now taking a look at the next part of Psalm 145, I think there is something else we are all made for.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
(Psalm 145:10-13 ESV)

We were made to worship and give glory to God. ‘All your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power…’. Sounds just what a ‘church service’ should be! Sounds also like what a Christian’s life should become – always giving glory to God and telling of His power.

So there is something we are all called to do – give thanks to God for who He is and what He has done.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 ESV)

Road Rage! Psalm 145:8-9

Just about everyone has seen or experienced it. The holy and terrible anger of the offended motorist.

You know the scene. Traffic is bad. There has been an accident 3 miles ahead and all the freeways and side streets are stopped. Everyone is late, it’s mid summer and crazy hot already, and the anger is rising. People start hitting their horns for no reason (like that is going to help move the accident 3 miles away), yelling at cars in front, riding on other peoples tailgates and generally making a scene.

And then someone changes lanes.

The spot that they left is filled instantly with a gleeful (and maybe even giggling) motorist who feels like they just made a mile on the other cars. But woe to that motorist, for someone else feels like they just lost a mile! The hate filled anger, the wrath of the motorist who has been ‘cut off’ is a terrible sight to behold.

How quickly we let our emotions go out of control! Reason goes out the window, and we become creatures of our anger, spitting fireballs at any and all who would dare cross our path…

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
(Psalm 145:8-9 ESV)

Can you imagine what life would be like if God was like some of us in traffic? Not one of us would survive.

Now picture this scene.

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
(Luke 9:51-53; Luke 9:54-56 ESV)

The disciples, now feeling they are no longer on the receiving end of God’s wrath, show their true feelings when they feel like they are righteous and just. Despite Jesus having shown them mercy, they are not yet willing to show that mercy to others. I reminds me of the Queen in Alice in Wonderland…

“Off with her head!”

Rarely do any of us question God’s mercy toward us. We know that we have sinned, we know that we have done the wrong thing – and often continue to do so. But we praise and thank God for His mercy towards us. We praise and thank God that He is ‘slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love‘.

So there are two takeaways from this verse in Psalm 145 today.

Firstly, we are to praise God that He is good, that He is slow to anger, that He does abound in steadfast love to all of creation. We are not just take God for granted by coming before him with our to do and wish list for the day – but to praise Him for His good works. To meditate on the good things He has done for us, the love He has shown us by sending His Son in our place, to suffer and die on a cross, so that we might be right before Him.

And once we learn the mercy that has been shown to us by God, we need to learn to be like Him – and show mercy to others. Don’t be like the disciples who thought ‘we are on God’s side, so it is right to condemn these sinners’, but recognize just as God was slow to anger with us, He is showing His grace to others as well, that they might come to know Him.

So today, meditate on God’s love towards you. On his steadfast love and grace, that gave you the chance to become a child of God. Then take that love and mercy and show it to another. It could be as simple as letting people in front of you on the freeway, or forgiving someone who angers you. Just as with God’s goodness, if we understood how much mercy and love God has for us, we couldn’t help but show it to the rest of the world!

Called to Speak! Psalm 145:4-7

Why is social media so popular with the companies we do business with? Why are they always desperate to maintain a presence on things like Facebook and Twitter? Why do they have competitions now that you have to retweet lines or like products, or even sharing things on your Facebook page to get extra entries?

Because the best way to get the word out about something is through people who like what you have. TV, print and internet advertising might get people interested, but nothing excites people more than hearing from others who have experienced a product or service.

In my house I am known as the Kindle Evangelist – because I think the product is really really good. And I tell everyone who wants to know. Amazon love people like me – because I have used their product and love it! That is worth more to them than thousands of dollars of advertising – because people listen to what their friends have to say!

One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
(Psalm 145:4-7 ESV)

Coming back to our Psalm for the week – how does the Word of God spread? Through people telling others about it. For most people (not all, but most), their first and primary experience with the Word of God was when someone told them about it.

Just this week I had a conversation with someone at work. He’s only a few years out of school – and he knew absolutely nothing of the Gospel. He had really no idea about anything to do with the Bible, about Jesus, or even about history as a whole. He thought all Christians believed the world was 2000 years old, and that as soon as anything was considered ‘science’ we would reject it immediately no matter what. He said he knew he was baptized but doesn’t even know what that means! (A conversation around infant baptism maybe we should move to another day). So in a modern western nation, we have people who have lived their whole lives without any exposure to the Gospel. They know nothing of God, they know nothing of His Mighty Works. All they know is what they learned in school – which in many cases is not much!

So what are we called to do?

The first thing is that we need to be told of the wondrous works of God. The next thing is that we experience them in our own lives – I have experienced God’s hand directly in my life many times, and I could tell you experience after experience where my life was affected!

Next, we need to meditate on these things. We need to truly understand – deep in our hearts – how awesome God really is. Not just as a door to door salesperson who is just looking for their next commission, but as someone who has truly experienced God in our lives and are thankful and for Him! Going back to the Kindle – it is something I have experienced and can speak out of, rather than something I have to do but don’t want to.

And finally, when we truly understand what God has done for us, it is time to share. It becomes our responsibility to share that greatness with the next generation so that they too can experience the forgiveness and grace of our Lord.

Even now in western nations like Australia, America and Europe we can no longer expect that people even know what Church is, apart from the negative societal stereotypes found in modern entertainment (which just make our job harder!). To many of them, they don’t even understand what the joke is anymore, because they don’t know the first thing about God – they don’t even know He exists!

So what do you need to do? Meditate on the awesome things God has done for us – and we will not be able to keep it to ourselves! Instead when the opportunity arises, we will want to share not only who God is, but what He has done for us.

They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

So this week? Share the love and mighty works of God with someone! Just like in yesterdays passage Christianity is not a team sport, don’t leave the work of sharing the Gospel to the ‘professionals’, but let the goodness of God overflow out of your heart and touch others.

I will – Psalm 145:1-3

Have you ever been part of a team? Think of a football team, every player is working towards the same goal – to score more than the other team. The goal is to win, and everyone puts in to ensure that happens! Some people might do more (say, the coach and quarterback), and some will do less, but everyone participates.

Teams are a great thing – until we decide to start running our relationship with God the same way! The pastor is the coach and quarterback, and we are just a defensive runner, who occasionally pops out and does something! How many of us (me included at times), live this way in church? We call ourselves ‘part of the team’, then sit back and let the ‘better players’ do all the work. We justify it because they have all the training, they have the relationship with God, and really, they are paid to do it!

This is not how it should be! Take a read of the start of Psalm 145.

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
(Psalm 145:1-3 ESV)

I will. I will. I will.

Every day, I will.

Our relationship with The Creator of the universe is not like a social club where we all get together and kind of know everyone, and a few people get to talk to the ‘big boss’ themselves. Our relationship is personal, intimate and unique. We are called personally to come before God, as we are. And not only personally, but regularly! Not just once a week, month or year, but with everything we are and everything we do.

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised!

If we could just get into our heads (mine included), some of the greatness of God, it would put the rest of our lives in such stark perspective that we could do nothing but praise Him! We could do nothing but take our every care and concern to Him, as He is the one that will help and guide us through it all.

Over the next few days I want to step through Psalm 145, and see what we find. But today, let’s just remember this.

I will.

Christianity is not a team sport, but a relationship with the Almighty Creator of the universe. Lets come before him every day, forever and ever, and magnify His name.

Straining Forward and Pressing On

When you were a child, did you ever run the ‘wrong way’ on an escalator? You know, your parents are standing idly, being carried up to the next floor, whilst you ran up the ‘down’ escalator to see if you could keep up or beat them? I know I did… If you did make it to the top, it was pretty hard to beat them sometimes!

I think sometimes the Christian life is just like that – running the wrong way on an escalator. The world stands merrily on the downward path, or even walks down to get there faster  - but we are struggling up against not only the general consensus, but the ground as well! If we strain forward – we make a little headway. But even if we stand still our gains are lost in no time, and we are rapidly heading back towards the bottom.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV)

What Paul here is saying is that there is effort on our part to become a more mature and complete person! Even as he was writing what we now read as Scripture, he proclaimed openly that he has never been perfect, that he hasn’t yet reached full maturity. He said quite clearly that even he had to stop looking back on his past (mistakes, failures and successes), and ‘strain’ forward, ‘press on’ toward the goal.

Yes – you are justified by faith alone. But that is only the beginning of the journey.

Do you want to grow to be a more complete, mature Christian? Then it’s going to take some effort, some ‘straining and pressing’ on your part, to get the job done.

That is an encouragement to me also. Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes prayer is tough. Sometimes reading the Bible is tough. Sometimes obedience is tough. But just because things are hard doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do them! Sometimes in these cases we are called to press on – we are called to ‘strain’, to put some personal effort into making sure we do the right thing, so that we can grow.

Remember the escalator. Only when you are pressing forward do you make any progress. Even if you stand still, you will be going backwards, so press on!