Scripture:
1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Jeremiah 7:22-24
22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
Luke 15:17-24
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
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I was talking with a friend the other day, and had to confess that there were some things that I felt the Lord was asking of me that I didn’t want to do. Later, driving down the expressway, it’s like I came to myself and said, “Really? You would withhold that? That means more to you than obedience to God’s will, that means more to you than pleasing Him, that means more to you than Him? Really?”
I was convicted of the selfishness of my feelings, and how that self-centered attitude about what I wanted - my comfort, my pleasure – was so disrespectful to and of the One I said was my Lord. In my remorse I prayed something like, “O God, I am so sorry. Thank You for showing me where I was wrong. Please forgive me. You deserve so much more … please help me give my all to You. You can have it all … have Your way, Lord.”
There was static on the car radio (it has issues), so I turned it to another channel. I heard, “walkin’, I’m walkin’” from the song “Walkin’” by Mary, Mary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KjNx9GbIFA&ob=av2el). I thought about the need to “walk circumspectly” – to “walk with the Spirit” so I will not indulge / gratify the flesh.
The next song that played was “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNj9bXKGOiI) and I started to smile then, thinking about how earlier in the day I had been thinking of Luther, his talent, his gift, thanking God for the technology that has preserved the music Luther sang. As the song continued to play, it was as if the Lord was saying that if I wanted to give my all to Him, it would never be too much.
“September” by Earth, Wind and Fire was next on our playlist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S8ZrQG0y6g). I smiled again, remembering that it was in September, 1996, that the Lord allowed me to experience His Presence in a way that shook the very foundations of what I thought I knew about just about everything (one day I guess I’ll finish writing about that and publish it in the blog…)
In the car, I sensed a calming, loving Presence as I thought on these things. I felt that I had been forgiven. As I drove by a church, I was so grateful I stopped, went inside, and expressed my thanksgiving in prayer.
Isaiah 25:1-9 (New International Version, ©2010)
Praise to the LORD
1 LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.
9 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
…and my journey with Him continues…
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