Marshall Mabry – Undignified Worshiper of Jesus Christ – Page 11 – Some worship thoughts for followers of Jesus Christ!

My Yoke Is Easy

On October 28, 2014

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)

Do not worry! Do not be timid! Be anxious for nothing!

We put too much faith in our own strength. Where we place our trust is where our faith will be found. It is no wonder Jesus said many times, “Ye of little faith…”

John Wesley said “And if you serve God, you need be careful for nothing. Therefore take not thought – That is, be not anxiously careful. Beware of worldly cares; for these are as inconsistent with the true service of God as worldly desires. Is not the life more than meat? – And if God give the greater gift, will he deny the smaller? (Matthew 6:25, Luke 12:22.)”

Our Father, Creator of all, gave us life. If His gift of life serves the sole purpose of declaring His glory, will He not provide for that gift? He is Jehovah Jireh! — Our constant provider! He never changes. He does not withold any good thing from those He loves. He is a good, loving, full of grace and mercy. In Him, our souls will find true rest, contentment, peace, and joy.

His yoke is easy.

A Generation of Tech Addicts

By Marshall Mabry

On September 17, 2014

In Praise and Worship

In the midst of all the commotion created by technology, “this cell phone, that tablet, this laptop, that smart TV…,” we have created a culture of tech dependents in mainline USA. Maybe, even a generation tech addicts? The convenience to communicate with one another anywhere at anytime, to have instant access to any information at anytime might leads us into believe that we are smarter and wiser. But are we? I recently went to the beach, where I experienced children laughing and playing, surf pounding, sun shining, music beating, the smell of good food, and the refreshing taste of cold drinks. One might think that this could be a strong definition of leisure, comfort — even paradise! Still, a small group of teenage girls were sun bathing, all within two feet of one another, yet no one was talking to each other, they were individually engaged with their phones.

God’s creation cries out His glory, did you miss it? Are you singing with it? In the stillness you know that He is God, did you miss Him? In the quiet He speaks, did you hear Him? Jesus told Martha that Mary had chose the better thing – the only thing that was needed. (Luke 10:41-42, NIV) “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Mary decided to drop everything, all the busyness and sit at Jesus’ feet to listen to Him teach. Faith comes by hearing. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (Romans 10:17, NLT)

We must be still. We must be quiet to hear God. Too many words lead to sin. “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” (Proverbs 10:19, NLT) Satan wants you to be busy with idols to keep you from worshipping God. Anything that keeps you from being still and praying in Christ, from being thankful in Christ, from rejoicing in Christ takes you from the will of God (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV) “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Our phones, tablets, computers, TV’s are just tools, never let them become idols. When you gather with the saints to worship, to listen to an anointed message don’t be distracted by a reliance on tech. Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” How can you hear, if you are not listening? How can you live, love, and truly worship through all the noise and distractions? You don’t need your phone at God’s dinner table.

Surrender

By Marshall Mabry

On August 11, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Abraham lied. Jacob deceived. Moses doubted. Jeremiah wept. Elijah feared. David murdered. These great men of our faith all had difficult times of weakness and struggle. Who are we? – when we get weary and complain during our struggles? No one is immune to struggle. As Christians, struggles represent our faith being tested. How we lift Christ up through the struggle is the key. All of us have seasons. We tend to hold onto things longer than it is good for us. This lack of surrender is a sign of control issues. Everything good and perfect belongs to God. He freely gave them to us from the beginning. We can only claim our sin and the repercussions of our sin. But even with our sin, God found a way to redeem and save us from ourselves. His name is Jesus! Hallelujah!

Near to God

By Marshall Mabry

On July 20, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Holy Father,
O’ how my hearts longs to draw nearer to You, to know You more, to understand the depth, height, length and width of Your great love. You chose me from the beginning of time. Out of nothing You created me and gave me breath. My life was designed for a purpose in Your story. Though I am just one tiny soul out of hundreds of billions, You know me. You think of me more than the sands of the seas. My thoughts, my words, my actions are already known to You. I can not surprise You with hidden gifts. I can not woo You with laudable songs or incredible works of art. Everything about me is fully known to You. May my heart forever rejoice in You. May my spirit be in constant thankfulness from Your goodness. May I always know You are near.
In Christ I Pray, Amen.

The Gift of the Day

By Marshall Mabry

On June 21, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Each day is God’s gift. Every conscious moment is an opportunity to add to the brilliance and beauty of God’s world.

When God created the heavens and the earth and everything else in them He said that it was “good.” All God’s gifts are good. Everything He does for us is good. He loves us with an everlasting, sacrificial love demonstrated by His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. How we see, hear, feel, touch, and think are our marvelous devices woven into the wonder of our creation. We are valuable to God and He has separated us from the rest of creation. He gave us dominion over all creation. Commanding us to subdue it, care for it, be good stewards over it. He is forever – our faithful provider. He gives and gives and keeps on giving. Regardless of our disobediance, greed, selfishness, He continues to renew His mercy with each day, bringing the rain and the sunlight to feed, encourage and enliven all of us – good and evil. Each new day represents a new opportunity to be refreshed and passionately filled with His Holy Spirit. Giving us power to make His world brighter. Glory to God!

Control and Conformity

By Marshall Mabry

On May 30, 2014

In Praise and Worship

“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.” (NIV)

It is amazing to me that our God uses testing and trials to help conform us into the image of His Son. He could control our circumstances and allow us to live live’s filled with prosperity and joy. He could fill our days with sunshine, butterflies, good food, cool water and green pastures. He could allow us to be filled with uncommon peace in the midst of an angry, cruel and broken world. He could take all our worries and fears away so that we could live freely, dance recklessly, and sing loudly. Finally, He could take away the sting of death and freely give us everlasting life.

Funny thing about controlling our life’s circumstances – in Christ, we never have it. He’s always been in control. He is in control. He will always have control. It’s when we think we are in control we’ve lost our faith. Our choices either give Him control or take us further away from His blessings.

Discipline, Deny Yourself!

By Marshall Mabry

On May 15, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

In American culture, where prosperity is predominantly defined by personal definitions of comfort and leisure, two critical faith pillars are rigorously tested; self-control and perseverance. Without a strong faith foundation it is easy to be lured into the occasional sinful discretion. “Just privately log onto the Internet – temptation and allurement galore!” It is amazing to me that in God’s Word the Holy Spirits’ lists love as its first product and self-control as the last. Could it be that we experience, obtain and produce these “Holy’ fruit in this sequential, biblical order? Making love the easiest to produce and self-control has the hardest to obtain?

Our faith calls us to be in the world, but not of it. Still we make excuses for our continued failings and fall upon God’s grace to wash us clean from our stumbling inequities. We need God’s love, grace and mercy to give us the time and power to develop these fruits of our faith. In addition, we need the joy of the Lord to have the strength to persevere through all trails. It is only through our victories in Christ, through suffering, testing, temptation, and personal sacrifice can we experience the strengthening of these pillars of faith; self-discipline and perseverance.

Fearing Him

By Marshall Mabry

On April 22, 2014

In Praise and Worship

(taken from an earlier devotion in July 2008)

Jesus said “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt. 10:28)

“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell (Luke 12:4-5).

“Fear him” is balanced by “Fear not.” The fear of God is here made a way of overcoming the fear of man. It is a fear rather of what might have been than of what is; it is a fear of what would come were we not in Christ. Without such fear there can be no true love; for love of the Savior is proportioned to one’s horror of that from which man has been saved. (J. Gresham Machen)

I believe that many people do not understand the eternal truth that God has blessed us through fearing Him. Present day Christian theology would have us focus mainly on the love of God. However, “Genuine love for God begins with fear and respect for Him!” He is the Creator of All Things, our consistent provider (Jehovah Jireh), the Holy One, God created and provides for our existence and allows us to live within the bounty of His goodness. He wove us into being before we could conceive thought. All good and perfect things that our senses recognize and experience are from Him. Yet, the world would have us believe that we made Him up as an answer to our unexplained questions about our spiritual destiny. The world does not know Him and will not acknowledge Him because it can not define, describe, envision, or contain the Creator of the Universe.

The fear of God is the compass to obedience and is His purpose for our lives.

Job feared God and shunned evil (1:8) and God called him blameless and upright.

To fear God is to hate evil (Pr. 8:13) and avoid evil (Pr. 16:6).

His people need to fear His awesomeness in order to have direction and eternal purpose for their lives.

On the contrary, those who live selfish, prideful lives have their own sense of direction and purpose. They compromise eternal truth for comfort and fantasy. Satan is the master of deception. He is the prince of the world. Yet, even His demons know God and fear Him.
“There is no fear of God before the eyes of the sinful wicked…” (Ps. 36:1).

Only through the fear of the Lord will we live upright and come to salvation – this is the blessing.

Here are some Old Testament passages about the desirable things that come to those who fear God:
* The Lord confides in those who fear him (Ps. 25:14);
* God’s great goodness is stored up for those who fear Him (Ps. 31:19);
* His eyes are on those who fear him (Ps. 33:18);
* The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and He delivers them (Ps. 34:7);
* His saints are to fear Him—those who fear Him lack nothing (Ps. 34:9);
* Salvation is near those who fear God (Ps. 85:9);
* God has love for those who fear him as high as the heavens are above the earth (Ps. 103:11);
* His love is with those who fear him (Ps. 103:17);
* The Lord has compassion on those who fear him (Ps. 103:13);
* God provides food for those who fear him (Ps. 111:5);
* He will bless those who fear him (Ps. 115:13);
* God fulfills the desires of those who fear him; He hears their cry and saves them (Ps. 145:19);
* He delights in those who fear him (Ps. 147:11);
* His mercy extends to those who fear Him (Lk. 1:50).
* The fear of God adds length to life (Pr. 10:27), is a fountain of life (Pr. 14:27), leads to life (Pr. 19:23), and brings wealth, honor and life when coupled with humility (Pr. 22:4);
* The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pr. 9:10; Mic. 6:9) and knowledge (Pr. 1:7), and is the key to the treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge (Is. 33:6);

(Gen 22:9) When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. {10} Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. {11} But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. {12} “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Obedience to the point of sacrificing what you love most is God’s recognition and acceptance of our fear for Him. God will bless us and our family if we are willing to make this sacrifice as proof of our love for Him. His blessed grace has spared us from the same test of faith as Abraham. We all deserve death and hell. But, God loves us so much that He made His own Son the sacrifice for our iniquities.

As a child of fallen man, we have a natural fear of death. But, give thanks and praise for our Lord’s suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, Jesus made us a child of God. No longer are we to live in fear of physical death, but we are to live in joyful anticipation for His return and our reunion with God. There are no righteous, only the flesh that is born with an evil nature. Only Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, our God was able to make the love sacrifice necessary for our salvation. Only the Lamb of God was worthy!

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens – when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die – then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!

“Everyday I will praise Him!” (Ps. 145)

The Wonder of the Cross

By Marshall Mabry

On April 21, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Heavenly Father,
Let me never forget the wonder of the cross.
May its torment and suffering remind me of my injustices and fallen nature
May it be an ever present truth of the relationship I need with You in order to live in faith with my neighbor
May it always point me to the Truth of Your Word and to Your amazing grace
May it always remind me of Your great love
It is the symbol of the finished work of Your salvation and points to Your resurrection and the hope of my eternity with You.
Who was I – without You? Who am I – without You?
I live in the pages of Your story. You thought of me before the foundations of the world. You created me from the dust – and to the dust I will return when Your breath leaves me.
I was nothing and I am nothing – without You. I can do nothing apart from You.
You did everything in the beginning. You provided a way for the lost to be found, for suffering to be healed, for sadness to find joy. Your unfailing love provides hope for the hopeless. All of Man’s past, even this present moment and eternity all focus on our faith at Your work on the cross.
My mere “Thank you!” pales to contribute to the glory You deserve.
Oh Lord, take my life and may my remaining days sing new songs of praise and shine of the wonder of Your cross to bring you glory.

In Jesus Name, Amen!

Victory in Jesus!

By Marshall Mabry

On April 7, 2014

In Praise and Worship

Holy Father!
Who am I, without you? An outcast, lost from grace, unprotected from your wrath. foreign from Your mercy. I am sick, poor and naked in a world filled with deceit and despair.

Yet, still you love me. You call to me “come home!” You allow the consequences of my bad choices to bring me to a place of utter devastation and ruin. And there, in the pit of my selfish undoing, You allow me to remember Your goodness. You open my eyes to see the beauty in the simple, ordinary things You have always had before me. Each day You faithfully send blessings for a good, prosperous life.

I know with Your Word in my heart I can conquer any temptation. I know with You Holy Spirit in me I can overcome any trap meant to derail me from Your blessings. With You,. I can do anything! I am victorious in every situation and circumstance. For if my God is for me, who can be against me!