Worship the Lord in the Splendor of His Holiness

Wow. Tonight was great. Our youth group put together a worship service at my church, and we performed tonight. It was awesome; worshiping God with your friends on stage. We had communion and we had banners on the walls that you could write thanks to God for something. We also had pieces of paper to write your sins on that we put on a wooden cross.

At my church people don't really raise their hands or clap very often, so we as a youth group were really trying to stress that raising your hands doesn't make you super religious or something. I like the way a friend puts it."Raising your hands is a form of surrender to God."

I think that the service was a great opportunity to seriously worship God, and I know of many people that enjoyed it :).

God, thanks for the opportunity we had to lead the church in worship tonight. Thanks that everything went smoothly. Lord I pray that we would not just worship you in church, but that our whole lives would be a song, bringing glory to you. Thanks for our great worship team and our talents. Help us to use them for you Lord.

Amen

Psalm 96:9
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Mallory

JOB 31

This is just a quick little post, as it is late. I was reading Job 31 and one verse stuck out to me. It is verse 29.

If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune

or gloated over the trouble that came to him—

Have you ever told on your brother or sister and been glad when they were punished? I have :(. Or is there some one you don't get along with, and you are glad when they mess up or do something wrong? That is what Job is talking about here. Sometimes my heart turns cold and is so concerned in making sure that justice is served, that I forget to love the person that is sinning.

There is something in me that just needs to make sure that person gets in trouble for whatever they were doing wrong. And then when I get in trouble and some one does that to me, I judge them for it, when I did the exact same thing! I'm kind of just rambling on, but this verse reminded me that sometimes I need to check my attitude and say, "You know what? God loves them too. Would I want people to 'rejoice' when I mess up?"

Mallory

JOB 29-30

In this chapter, Job is talking about his life before his troubles started. He had a very successful life. He was wealthy, had a large family, and had a very large farm. Job also was a well-respected leader of the people. The people were glad to hear Job speak. They always agreed with his speeches, until he suffered his great troubles. At that time even Job's friends didn't think his speeches were right. Just think about that for a moment. Think of a couple of your best friends in the whole wide world. They probably trust you and believe you when you tell them things right? Now imagine that they don't believe you anymore; they don't trust you. How would that make you feel? I would probably feel pretty devastated. That is probably something similar to what Job was going through. I can't even imagine how he felt.

Job 29

Job’s Final Defense

1 Job continued his discourse:

² “How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,
³ when his lamp shone on my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!
⁴ Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
⁵ when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
⁶ when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

⁷ “When I went to the gate of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
⁸ the young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet;
⁹ the chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
¹⁰ the voices of the nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
¹¹ Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,
¹² because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist them.
¹³ The one who was dying blessed me;
I made the widow’s heart sing.
¹⁴ I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.
¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy;
I took up the case of the stranger.
¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victims from their teeth.

¹⁸ “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
¹⁹ My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
²⁰ My glory will not fade;
the bow will be ever new in my hand.’

²¹ “People listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.
²² After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears.
²³ They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.
²⁴ When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my face was precious to them.
²⁵ I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;
I dwelt as a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.

In the beginning of chapter 30 Job tells about how no one wants to listen to him talk anymore. In verse 30:1 it says "“But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs."

At the end of chapter 30 Job says "My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing." He is talking about an illness he had. I've never heard of an illness like this, but it sounds pretty intense.

Job is really going through some tough stuff right now. No friends and a terrible illness :(. Reading this sure makes me thankful for my friends and good health.

Mallory

We Should No Longer Be Slaves To Sin

I know it's Wednesday, but I really wanted to talk about youth group that we had this week. I thought that by far it was the most uplifting session we have had so far. It was so cool..... We read from Ephesians 4 and 5 (if I remember correctly). Then we discussed what we as a group could do to improve. After we discussed that for a while, we all prayed about a sin that we have been struggling with. When we finished praying we all got a piece of paper and wrote our sin on it.

While we were having worship we all took turns nailing our piece of paper to a wooded cross. After singing a few songs, we all knelt while our leaders took the sins off the cross and read them out loud. Then some people prayed. It was so cool to sit and listen to kids pray while we were all kneeling on the floor to God. After we finished praying, we went outside and burned our pieces of paper with our sins written on them. We finished the night with a nice meal :).

It overall was quite a moving experience :D. I especially liked the part where we burned the "sins". It was a great reminder that Jesus already paid for all our sins, and that we no longer are slaves to sin. I think that a good way to end this post is with Romans 6:6

Romans 6:6
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

Mallory

Wisdom

I read Job chapter 28 today. It is very special, according to my commentary, because Job finally talks about wisdom. He talks about how precious wisdom is, and that it is more important than silver or gold.

Job 28

Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

¹ There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
² Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
³ Mortals put an end to the darkness;
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.
⁴ Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
⁵ The earth, from which food comes,
is transformed below as by fire;
⁶ lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
⁷ No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
⁸ Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.
⁹ People assault the flinty rock with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
¹⁰ They tunnel through the rock;
their eyes see all its treasures.
¹¹ They search the sources of the rivers
and bring hidden things to light.

¹² But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
¹³ No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, “It is not in me”;
the sea says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
²² Destruction and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
²⁸ And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”

In 1 kings God gave Solomon an abundance of wisdom.

1 Kings 4:29
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

Isn't that amazing?!! I can't even imagine having as much wisdom as Solomon.

So like it says in verse 28, we need to fear God, and refuse to do evil things, and God will give us wisdom :D

Mallory