Day 3 - Week 32 - Reveation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive honor, and glory and power...

We can tell God how worthy He is to receive honor and we can certainly give God honor in the way we live our lives and surrender ourselves to His purpose.

We can tell God how worthy He is to receive glory and we can glorify God in our reflection of His glory---bearing witness to His holiness and perfection through glimpses of those attributes within ourselves when we allow His Spirit to be manifested in our lives.

And we can tell God how worthy He is to receive power...but how can we, mere mortals, give God power?  After all, He is all powerful...we are weak, He is strong.  But if God is worthy to receive power, doesn't there have to be someone willing to give Him power?

And therein may lie the rub...who is truly willing to release their power to God?  God is worthy to receive the power that we perceive to possess and place it entirely in His hands as our life offering. Just as we memorized in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, my dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship."   Releasing our power means completely succumbing to His authority over us.  We will no longer claim any power---He is our King and Sovereign Lord.  That is why it is an act of worship...we lay it down before Him as we bow before Him.

As long as we hold on to the power that we feel is in us, we also hold on to a pridefulness that says, "I can do this...I can make it...I am able."  Where God wants us to be saying, "I can't do this...I can't make it...I am not able...apart from the power of God, my power is nothing.  I am willing to release my pittance of power to the All Powerful One."

So when we say, "You are worthy...You are worthy...I give you honor, glory and power"....realize what you are saying....you can't resist God's authority over your life and claim to give Him the power.  When we give God power, we are giving Him ourselves.

Day 2 - Week 32 - Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

What wonderful words of praise we have before us!  This one should start to just roll off of our tongues fairly quickly...

You are worthy, our Lord and God...

To really praise God, you have to understand how absolutely worthy He is of our praise, and that He alone carries that worth.  No one and nothing else can rival His worthiness in our hearts if we are going to truly praise Him.

We're told in Hebrews that without faith it is impossible to please God.  Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."  Well, if you are not sold out to a good, solid, absolute faith in Him, don't try to force words of praise to Him.  They will ring hollow.  You cannot sincerely sing praises to God without having a heart that is yearning to be completely His, ready to surrender absolutely to His will....for He is worthy.

He is worthy of our lives, of our surrender.  He is worthy of everything that we can offer.  Through Him we have breath and life, and without Him, we are nothing but the dust from which we were created. 

If you are a person of faith, start thinking about the worthiness of God...there is none like Him.  He alone is worthy, and He alone is able to do everything that is necessary to keep this universe in balance.  He spoke it into existence, and His word keeps it going until He says "stop." 

And when that day comes, we will truly see His unveiled worth --- we will see with eyes that have been reborn into eternal vision the majesty and glory that surround Him, and we will finally understand in totality that...

YOU are worthy, our Lord and God!

I can hear it being shouted by the languages of every tribe and every nation...what a glorious time that will be!

Day 1 - Week 32 - Let's add our fourth and final verse of praise!

Some nights does your brain just feel like mush?  That's where I am tonight!  Tired and unable to truly focus in on recitation of our list of great verses....so tonight, I'm not testing myself.  I won't try to type the verses from memory. Instead, I'm just going to "copy and paste" (how's that for being honest!) and allow myself to enjoy all of the gifts, the promises and assurances that we have learned.  I will praise God for what He is doing in me through His word!  And I will rededicate myself to the rigor of memorization tomorrow!  For I do want these verses strongly grounded within my memory....but just for tonight...read through them with me, dwell on the ones that speak loudest to your heart tonight, and thank God for the great gift of His holy word!

The Gift of Scripture (6)

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Joshua 1:8   This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Psalm 119:11  I have treasured Your words in my heart so that I may not sin against You.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6  Listen, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I am giving you today are to be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7  Repeat them to your children, talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 

Hebrews 14:12  The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow.  It is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

The Gift of Prayer (3)

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

And now our last verse to add to this quartet of praises to our King....

Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

He is worthy - He alone is worthy!  Praise His name with me with a joyous smile on your face as you recite this verse!  Thank you for traveling this road with me....let's keep on going!  After Praises come Promises!

Day 7 - Week 31 - Psalm 100:5 "For the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations."

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Faithfulness --- God's faithfulness endures.  Always.  But what about ours?  In Bible studies that I participate in, the book of Hebrews has been a recent focus.  Seems as if God is really trying to impress upon me that while He is eternally and always faithful, He also asks me, as a professed believer in Christ, to be faithful to the course that He has laid out before me.

In Hebrews 3:1, it states, "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.  He was faithful to the One who appointed Him."

"Fix your eyes" means stay faithful...keep pushing forward...don't give up.  We are told multiple times to become imitators of Christ and that we are being transformed into Christ's likeness...well, Christ was faithful "to the One who appointed Him."  If we are becoming transformed, then we should becoming more and more faithful.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if God could say of us that our faithfulness not only endured throughout lives, but was passed down to the future generations of our family...our children, our grandchildren...and those that will come after that we will never know on this earth, but that we pray for even now, that they may be people not only of faith, but of faithfulness.

What's the difference?  To me, faith is belief, it is conviction and it is necessary in our salvation process.  We must have faith that God is God, that His Word is true, and that His promises are valid.  But faithfulness is the onward living out of our faith, the perseverance, the determination in our forward steps not to waiver from our conviction.  To stay true to the course. 

Kay Arthur admonishes us, "The Christian life is not to be lived sloppily or casually, but diligently.....In other words, it means you are to get with it."

A life of faithfulness to God is not one that just plods along getting through each day without purpose.  Diligence implies purpose and fervency...a definite "getting with it"!

God is faithful to us...always...and forever.  When we study that picture of Him, knowing that He is our Father and that as His children we are to grow to be like Him, it should light the fire under us to be nothing less than faithful children to Him.

Lord, keep my path straight and in line with Your will for my life.  Let me be a faithful child of yours---always honoring You as my Father, and living a life of diligence, purpose and absolute gratitude to You for Your most gracious and abundant mercy toward me.  Let my heart overflow with praise to You, for You alone are worthy of all honor, praise and glory!  In Jesus' most holy name ~ Amen!

Day 6 - Week 31- Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

Last week we talked about how great a praise chapter Psalm 100 is --- short, but very sweet words of praise to our Father and acknowledgement of who He is to us.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. 

This week's verse closes the chapter with the reminder God's love and His faithfulness are both qualities that will never change or fade. Isn't it comforting to know that God, our Father, is someone who we can always count on, who will always love us, and who will always be in complete authority. Everything seen and unseen is under His hand of authority.

Life is uncertain - changes can come so unexpectedly - both for the good and the bad. But when those changes come and catch us off guard, we have a God who is ready for us to lean hard into. He welcomes us with open arms to embrace us and comfort us. For He IS good...and He does love us forever and completely...and not only us, but all those who have walked this earth before us and all those who will come after us.

I am thankful tonight for the assurance of God's goodness, for the security of His love, and for the promise of His abiding faithfulness. I praise His name and I thank Him for His abundant blessings.  I can't help but think of Paul's words to the Philippians,

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.