"Put away the foreign gods which are among you..."
GENESIS 35:1-15
"To create an environment of wholehearted celebration you must conspicuously articulate and reinforce through words, art, activity, and/or music your values and the meaning behind what you do. You may have heard it said, haste creates waste. The more critical question is “what kind of waste?” The tragedy of haste is that haste creates a fulfillment wasteland. Lack of fulfillment/meaning is the wasteland that causes a toxic corrosion of personal and corporate vitality. Wholehearted celebration and fulfillment stems from the discipline of internalizing Christ's presence and allowing Him to define an individual's effort and group's corporate effort. Haste is the 'form' in Paul's warning against having a "form of Godliness" but denying its power. Contrary to "haste" effort, "disciplined" effort through prayer, pizza parties, conversation, and praise acknowledges and sees that Christ fills every activity with absolute meaning, hope, and joy. The difference between celebrating or not celebrating is in many cases the difference between life or premature death. Psalm 40 asks us to sing a new song. Lamentations tells us that the steadfast love and mercy of God is NEW every morning. Baptize your day in "newness." Lay claim to God's promise that He will make all things new in you and
GENESIS 35:1-15
"To create an environment of wholehearted celebration you must conspicuously articulate and reinforce through words, art, activity, and/or music your values and the meaning behind what you do. You may have heard it said, haste creates waste. The more critical question is “what kind of waste?” The tragedy of haste is that haste creates a fulfillment wasteland. Lack of fulfillment/meaning is the wasteland that causes a toxic corrosion of personal and corporate vitality. Wholehearted celebration and fulfillment stems from the discipline of internalizing Christ's presence and allowing Him to define an individual's effort and group's corporate effort. Haste is the 'form' in Paul's warning against having a "form of Godliness" but denying its power. Contrary to "haste" effort, "disciplined" effort through prayer, pizza parties, conversation, and praise acknowledges and sees that Christ fills every activity with absolute meaning, hope, and joy. The difference between celebrating or not celebrating is in many cases the difference between life or premature death. Psalm 40 asks us to sing a new song. Lamentations tells us that the steadfast love and mercy of God is NEW every morning. Baptize your day in "newness." Lay claim to God's promise that He will make all things new in you and
through you, no matter what your activity, today and every day. Belly yourself up to the bar of grace and see that Jesus was already waiting there for you to serve you His meaning and Life. He is your new song. He is your new and complete mercy this morning. From His bar of grace, he offers you the most sparking, intoxicating, and wildly effervescent wine your lips could ever touch. Fill your effort with His goblet of fiery mercy and CELEBRATE!"
The verse that is paired with this devotional totally rearranged my perspective of this culture point. The Lord declares to the Israelites over and over again in the Old Testament, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [THEREFORE... ] You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:1-17). If we want to understand how to be disciplined in internalizing Christ's presence and allowing Him to define our efforts, we need to make sure that God has the throne of our hearts. To understand that the Lord calls us to put away other gods so that He may fill us with the celebration that we long for, for the life we long for.
Lord I pray that I would posture my heart towards you, that I would remove anything in my heart that is not of you. And would you give me opportunities to bathe in your newness and celebrate. Amen!
The verse that is paired with this devotional totally rearranged my perspective of this culture point. The Lord declares to the Israelites over and over again in the Old Testament, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [THEREFORE... ] You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:1-17). If we want to understand how to be disciplined in internalizing Christ's presence and allowing Him to define our efforts, we need to make sure that God has the throne of our hearts. To understand that the Lord calls us to put away other gods so that He may fill us with the celebration that we long for, for the life we long for.
Lord I pray that I would posture my heart towards you, that I would remove anything in my heart that is not of you. And would you give me opportunities to bathe in your newness and celebrate. Amen!
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