Worship Devotional LXIV
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 3/13/2021.
Worship Devotional for 3/14/21
~ St. Patrick's Day ~
John 10:7-11:
"So Jesus said again, 'I assure you: I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.'"
Last week we sang Psalm 23, and how "The Lord is [our] shepherd; there is nothing [we] lack" (v. 1). Those who believe in the name of Jesus are born again, saved from God's wrath by His grace, and brought into God's fold. With the Lord as our shepherd, there is nothing we lack. He provides us with everything we need and satisfies us with His love. But we have to be honest with ourselves about who we are and what we're doing. If we belong to the kingdom of God, then we don't belong to any kingdom of man or of the world.
1 John 2:15:
"Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him."
Matthew 16:24-27:
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done."
Galatians 6:14-15:
"But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation."
To enter into the fold, we must enter through Christ, who is the door. He is the only way for us to receive and enjoy the everlasting riches of His pastures. And how can anyone who doesn't believe or hold onto His words enter through Him?
John 14:6:
"Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'"
To choose Christ (which only happens because He chose us first) is to choose Him above all else. When we put our faith and hope and trust in Him, there is room for nothing else. You can't put your trust in Jesus and in the world. You can't believe in Him and in something else. He alone is the way and the truth and the life. We who believe in Him are dead to sin and alive in Him, and so with His joy and resolve, we take up our cross and follow Him.
Matthew 13:44-45:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it."
Matthew 6:24:
"No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money."
So what does this mean for how we live our lives? It means that we are devoted to Christ and we do good works by the strength He gives us, according to His will, and for His glory. It means we love Him above all else. It means we forsake worldly pursuits so that we may pursue the things of His kingdom. It means we don't live for ourselves anymore, but for God. We love and serve and bless others because God loved us and because Christ humbled Himself to come and serve and seek and save the lost. We don't trust in wealth — instead we give freely and generously and store up treasure heaven. We don't live in fear or despair — instead we cast our cares on the One who cares for us and pray with faith and hope, trusting in His word and in His greatness and love and truth. We don't accept lies or give ourselves over to foolish living, for we have been reconciled with the One who is true and holy, the God of all wisdom and understanding. In everything we do, we seek to serve and honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We focus on Him and on the things of His kingdom, and not on the things of the world.
Colossians 3:1-4:
"So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."
Colossians 3:17:
"And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
Next week on Wednesday we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. This is in honor of St. Patrick, who was kidnapped when he was 16 years old and taken to Ireland to be a slave. Eventually he escaped back to his homeland, but he heard God calling him to go back to the Irish to preach the gospel. Like the faithful men and women throughout history who we know for doing the work of God, Patrick did not choose worldly pursuits or take the advice of those who urged him to. Instead he answered the call and obeyed God, taking up his cross and following where the Spirit led. Because of this, God used Patrick to bring the light of the gospel to the Irish, resulting in many souls saved. St. Patrick's life is a testimony to the sufficiency of Christ, because he didn't consider it to be of more value than the reward of following Jesus. As we celebrate, let's reflect on the futility of this world and its fleeting pleasures. We can rejoice rather than despair because we have the only thing that gives us hope in the face of death — faith in Jesus Christ.
Here are the songs:
1) All I Have Is Christ by Jordan Kauflin
Death swallows up everything we have in the world. Even the good things we enjoy in this life will end when death comes for us. But if we are in Christ, we have a true hope that is greater, because Jesus has risen from the grave and defeated death forever! Everyone who believes in Him has eternal life. All we really have is Christ. His kingdom is eternal, while all the things of the world will fade away. So praise God, for all we have is Christ, and in Him we have life forever!
2) Be Thou My Vision (with Lord You Are by Shane & Shane)
Jeremiah 9:23-24:
"This is what the Lord says: The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me — that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord's declaration."
What is your vision for your life? Is it based on worldly pursuits and selfish desires? Or is it a vision that doesn't come from you, but from something or someone greater? This hymn is a prayer that God would Himself be our vision, our wisdom, our strength, and our treasure.
This hymn is set to an Irish tune called "Slane," named after a hill in Ireland where it is said that St. Patrick defied the decree of an Irish king that prohibited lighting a fire on a certain day in honor of a pagan idol. Legend has it that Patrick lit a large fire on Slane Hill that day because he refused to honor a false god. It is traditionally thought that the lyrics for Be Thou My Vision come from an Irish poem that was written in honor of St. Patrick, although it is not certain who the author is. The hymn was almost forgotten until the early 1900s, when a university student named Mary Bryne rediscovered and translated the poem. Soon after, an Irish woman named Eleanor Hull set the lyrics to the tune of Slane, and so the modern hymn that we are familiar with was born.
The tag in the Shane & Shane version of this song is from the song "More Precious Than Silver" by Lynn DeShazo. It proclaims that the Lord is worth infinitely more to us than gold or silver or diamonds or anything else that we may desire. Nothing compares to what we have in Christ. This is why He must be our life's vision, because only He can truly satisfy our souls.
3) My Worth Is Not In What I Own by Keith & Kristyn Getty
God proved His love for us by sending His Son to die for us while we were sinners. That God would make a way for us to have eternal life in Him means that we have more worth than we can comprehend. Our worth is not in the things of this world which are fleeting and fading away and only temporary. None of our possessions, wealth, strengths, might, skills, reputations, track records, fame, beauty, youth, knowledge, or wisdom can prove our worth. Only the cross of Christ shows us what we are really worth. And how amazing is it that we have such great worth, and yet are at the same time so unworthy to receive God's love! Let us rejoice in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us anyway, our Redeemer and Treasure, who alone satisfies our souls.
4) Christ Is Enough by Hillsong (with I Have Decided To Follow Jesus)
In Christ we have the one true and everlasting source of joy and life. He is the only One who is truly enough to satisfy our souls and to meet our every need. If we have believed in Him and therefore resolved to follow Him, there is no turning back.
This song draws from the hymn, "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus," which comes from a man in India from the Garo tribe who was killed for his faith along with his whole family. As the story goes, he along with his wife and two sons were brought before the chief of an Indian village. He was told that his sons would be killed with arrows if he did not renounce his faith. His response was, "I have decided to follow Jesus — no turning back." His sons were killed and he was told his wife would be next if he did not renounce his faith. He said, "Though none go with me, still I will follow — no turning back." His wife was killed, and he was told again to renounce his faith or else lose his life. He sang, "The cross before me, the world behind me — no turning back," and was killed. It is said that the chief was moved by what he witnessed and confessed faith in Jesus, and the whole village was saved.
Do we have the same faith as St. Patrick or the Garo martyr or the many others who have given their lives for the gospel? If we do then we will endure the many trials and struggles of this life to the end, no matter what may come against us, and live or die completely for the glory of God. When we lay down our lives and take up our cross, we confess that Christ is enough for us and that it is far more than worth it to give up our lives in this world with its temporary and fading glory in order to take hold of eternal life in God's kingdom and its eternal glory.
Theme(s): The Sufficiency of Christ, Following Jesus, the Cross, Missions
Scripture references:
Psalms 49, 63, 73, 84
Ecclesiastes 1-2
Isaiah 40:6-8
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Matthew 6:19-34, 10:16-39, 13:44-45, 16:24-27, 19:16-30
Luke 12
John 12:25-26
Romans 13:11-14
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Galatians 6:14
Ephesians 2:1-10
Philippians 3
Colossians 1:9-23, 3
Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Peter 1, 4, 5:8-11
1 John 2:15-17, 4:7-19