Psalm 18:46 “The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.”
Years ago when my wife was a
church secretary in Anaheim, California, I remember talking to Pastor Jim
Schibsted and he said something to me that truly touched my heart in ministry
ever since. He told me that the physical components of the church (the
facility, the administration, the worship, the fellowship, the Study groups,
and the Christian outreach) were successfully operating, but felt a deep need
to develop and improve the “spiritual lives” of the members (their personal
relationship with Jesus Christ and their Creator Father God. He saw where “the
rubber hit the road” (us being the tire and God being the foundational asphalt
highway to heaven). He saw that Almighty
God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) was not a component of “the House of the Lord”
or our lives and living here, but the Rock on which that house was to be built.
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who
hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like
a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Years later, I heard a
Pastor Robert Sproul say that what was missing for many of the members of his
church, and every church, was the lack of people experiencing the true “presence” of
the Lord in their Worship and in life. What or who are we worshipping? As still another pastor Tracy
Hearnsberger once told me: “We are not worshipping “worshipping”; we are
worshipping the “risen” Lord Jesus Christ, the “living” God, in His presence.
I realized that these men of God/shepherd of God flock were saying the same
thing in different words. This is what the Psalmist means: Jesus lives and we
are in His very presence! The Lord alone is the solid Rock foundation that we
can stand on with unshakable faith! Christ alone is our salvation, our refuge
and our strength! Let the God of our salvation be exulted! Praise and honor and glory be to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment