For Lord’s Day, January 19, 2014

Dear Saints,

I have been very blessed recently by listening to and meditating on Michael Card’s song, “Know You in the Now”.  It has come to mind with our sermon texts for the Lord’s Day tomorrow.

Here are some of the lyrics:

We should confess
We lose You in our busyness
We’ve made You in our image
So our faith’s idolatry

Lord, deliver me
Break my heart so I can see
All the ways You dwell in us
That You’re alive in me

Lord I long to see
Your presence in reality
But I don’t know how
Let me know You in the now

I encourage you to watch the live performance of this song through the above link (with a riveting piano hook and excellent support musicians).  May Mr. Card’s music and lyrics move you to want to get through all the nonsense and know your Savior, King Jesus, intimately.  Intimate knowledge of anyone begins in live moments, doesn’t it? May you want to know Jesus like Paul does in Philippians 3:8-14.  Ask Him to help you. He will, as you live out James 4:8. Do so now.

Tomorrow, we have the opportunity to know God in an even more satisfying way as Jehovah (Ex. 15, Rev. 15) and as the God who blesses the diligent, honest laborer with Christian contentment in simply serving Him daily (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:12-13).  We will learn to appreciate Christ in both the big and small moments of walking with Him.

An important part of walking with Jesus, as with any good friend, is to not try and walk ahead of Him.  That’s something I know God is always drilling into me more and more.  I think this temptation to worry about tomorrow as if we’re living in it is why Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily (not weekly) bread “this day” (Matthew 6:11).

I mentioned a while back I had watched an interesting PBS documentary, “My Life As a Turkey”.  The man who raised over a dozen turkeys from egg shell to field and flight had a lesson refrain, learned by interacting with and observing the turkeys for a year: they have an innate, intense ability to live in the present and be in touch with all their surroundings, especially other animals.  I think, in this case, we need to be more like turkeys and endeavor to take God in more and more in our every moment, great and small.  As we’ll see tomorrow, God designed the Psalms for us to sing to do just this and look around and remember to see and know that our Redeemer lives and shall always stand (Job 19:25).

Remember that the Israelites had to be still to move forward with God (Ex. 14).  May you and I be still tonight and know that God will be exalted in all the earth (Psalm 46:10); and so may we rest in Him, our refuge and our strength (vs. 1).  Spend some serious quiet time with Jesus tonight in prayer, reading, and singing of His Word, and expect to be especially blessed as we seek to know Him in the now tonight, tomorrow, and every moment in between. I’m finding this thought to be a lovely one — and peaceful, joyful experience.

Semper Reformanda,

Pastor Grant