Where Honor is Due
I Chronicles 16:29-36 NKJV
[29] Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! [30] Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved. [31] Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” [32] Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it. [33] Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth. [34] Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. [35] And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation; Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.” [36] Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
I Chronicles 16:29-36
A new year, a new start.
Old habits to abandon and new ones to begin.
I have made so many attempts to do better, to be better.
I have put my own wants and desires first, especially as the New Year rolls around and we change out our calendars.
There is one thing that I desire this New Year.
I don’t need a Blessing!
I don’t desire to be healed!
I don’t want prosperity or wealth!
I don’t want anything the world offers with its empty promises.
I don’t think I have ever attempted this before.
I think it scares me.
The only thing that I want this New Year is to know my Lord like I have never attempted to know Him before!
I desire to learn Who He is.
What is He truly like. What does He say about Himself. Why do we have the Hope in Him.
I want to give Him the Glory that’s due to Him!
I want to have a healthier fear of Him.
I want more faith, more trust.
I desire to know and learn all of Him!
His Justice, Mercy, Righteousness.
To see just a glimpse of His Holiness! To understand His unchanging Love and endless Grace. What else should we desire!
I even want to understand His Wrath and Judgement !
Then maybe I can understand why we need Him so desperately!
Then maybe I can have a true unfaltering reverence for Him.
Then maybe I will worship Him in the Beauty of His Holiness as He deserves!
The stars can bring Him Glory by being the brilliant representation of Glorious light, and staying exactly where He appointed them.
If the waters and the waves can be so calming and violent at the same time but still obey His voice to stop at the shore line, then why can’t I desire to do the same!
Even the world as it hangs in perfect suspension can trust to be firmly established and know that though the power of God It shall not be moved or fall!
If we could just totally trust in this same manner.
This is my Resolution!
To give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! But to understand why He is so Good!
To seek His heart so I can know His mercy endures forever.
There is Power in Praise!
It forces us to take the focus off of ourselves.
It is giving God His due Glory!
Overdue Glory.
It’s recognizing His Magnificence!
It’s seeing the splendor of His power and might!
This is a Psalm of King David praising The Lord for just two of His perfect characteristics,
His Goodness and His Love!
They praised Him and Worshiped Him because of the favor He showed to them by triumphs and victories!
But can you give Him the Honor that is due to Him even if the Victory is not given to you?
This is the question!
This is the point!
If we can learn Who He is and NOT just what He does, then we can give Him the Honor He deserves just because of His character, no matter our circumstance.
To actually know who God is, that alone will get you through the trials.
Knowing who God is will give you courage and confidence.
It will give you Spiritual strength.
It will give you assurance because He is Faithful. He is perfect and cannot sin. If He can’t sin then He can’t lie. If He can’t lie then we can trust His Promises!
But what exactly are those promises?
The Father gives out His unconditional, Agape love.
This love endures forever! Even on our worst disobedient day, it will welcome us back. His love restore us.
The more we know Him the less we sin, the less disobedient we become.
Humility, repentance and obedience is the only thing that we have that can be exchanged to receive this Amazing Grace shown through His Amazing Love!
The Father shows both His Goodness and Love through His Son, Jesus!
Oh, to know Him!
Allow Him to gather us to Himself.
Come before Him and sit at His feet. Stand in awe of His Holiness and Majesty!
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Never stop giving thanks, praise, honor and Glory to the King of Glory, Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
Truly seek first the Kingdom. Seek the One that sits on the Throne. Seek His Holiness.
Seek His Righteousness, Grace and Mercy.
Learn to love like He loves!
Let this be the Year that we yearn and purpose to know Who our Holy and Mighty God is!
Pastor Ed
