Attractive

^{Titus 2:7-15}

⁷in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, ⁸sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.  ⁹Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, ¹⁰not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. ¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹²instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,¹⁴who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. ¹⁵These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority Let no one disregard you.

This is a great reminder to any follower of Christ as to how we should live our lives. Even more so, as was the subject of Paul’s teaching to Titus, church leaders should live in this way.  The NIV version has this translation for verse 10, “…so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” This is a beautiful way of stating our great commission to tell the world of Christ. We should live in a way that makes Him attractive, because He is!! He delivered us from a life bogged down in sin, diverted from our true purpose, separated from our creator!! What could be more attractive than that? Try a savior who loves us so much that he bothers to know our name, have concern for our daily lives and sits at the right hand or God so that he can plead (intercede) on our behalf. What could be more attractive? For a follower of Christ, nothing.

 

Lord, That I could live in this way, to bring glory and honor to Your name. That I would worship in this way, to bring glory and honor to Your name. That I could die knowing my life brought glory and honor to Your name. Father, examine me this day and bring to light any area that I may surrender to you. Anything that would hinder or push away someone from the glory of who You are and keep anyone from knowing Your love.

 

In Christ,

STS

Scripture Song

While reading in scripture these words lept from the page to my heart:

 

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways

He does great things beyond our understanding

He said “let there be light in the darkness”

He made this light shine in our hearts

 

So we know the Glory of God

That is seen in Your face Jesus

 

We are pressed and perplexed, but not in despair

Persecuted we are not abandoned by You

We fix our eyes on what is not seen

Jesus, be revealed in us

 

Our treasure is with You

Jesus you will raise us up

Our treasure is with You

Jesus risen Lord of all

 

STS

Personality of God

So many times I have been in worship services where I squelched my tears, bound up my feet, steadied my hands, and stiffened my spirit to harness my emotions. However, I can’t help but realize that God is our creator and the one who blessed us with the ability to have Joy, Sorrow, Fear, Reverence and every other emotion we experience. There are numerous places through scripture that detail God’s wrath, anger, blessing, pleasure, love and other emotions. We serve a God that has a full range of emotion and gave us, as we are created in His image, emotions as well. He expresses these emotions differently than we do because He is perfect and does not react emotionally as we do. However, what better way to express our worship to Him than to worship Him with the emotion he gave us.

Yes, we must be careful to be reverent, to approach Him with the honor he deserves. But, as any Father, I believe nothing makes Him smile more than seeing His children laughing, dancing, waiving their hands, crying for joy and calling out our praise to Him in actions and words. To “rejoice with trembling” is a paradox of sorts as it gives you the picture of someone smiling with trepidation. I have come to picture this as a child singing with eyes closed for their parents and peeking to see the look of approval on their face. They sing joyfully and with all their heart hoping to please their parents, imagine yourself in their shoes. You are seeking to bring a smile to your parents face and nothing makes your more happy than to please them. This is similar to us brining praises to our Father in heaven. We come before Him seeking to bring a smile to His face and when he joins with us as we worship nothing makes us happier than to be in His presence.

Being mindful that He is holy and to be reverenced, don’t hold back as I have so many times, worship God with all that he created us to be!

 

 Psalms 2: 10-11  “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.”