No stealing Gods thunder!

Scripture:

Acts 13"22-2322 The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Observation:

Wow!!! I think it is funny that the Lord didn't strike the people for worshiping man with worship that belonged to him. Instead, he struck the man who took the worship unto himself. 

Application:

When will we ever learn. God is God. He alone is to be worshipped. He alone is to be praised. He alone can receive worship. Over and over in the New Testament, we see people falling down and worshiping Jesus. although he says Get up or rise, he never rebukes them. The times when people see and angle and they fall and worship the angle quickly states don't worship me!

Prayer:

Lord help me to never take your worship. People are people, they will worship what and who they want. I however need to make a choice to receive or divert the worship or glory back to you. I love you Jesus

extravagant vs. nessessary

Scripture:
John 12:1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate[a] with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar[b] of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Observation:
Right, wrong, expensive, costly, Mary did what what she thought was the more extravagant thing she could do. Mary made a decision. "What is the most costly think I could do to show my love for my savior?" She gave all she had of value. The same scripture here says two words that make me cringe because they make me think that this is what I might have been doing at the time of the anointing of Jesus. The two words: "Martha served". Martha was so caught up in doing that she missed the beauty of relationship. Mary's act of anointing Jesus left the entire house filled with a fragrance that all could partake in

Application:
I want to try and stop myself from the steady need to do something. Even something appropriate. I want to be confronted with the extravagant. This scares me to say this, but i want to be willing to offer that which is extravagant to the Savior who is more than worthy of my offering

Prayer:
Lord help me to offer extravagant worship to you. I want my worship to honor you in all I do. I know that there are necessary things to do like Martha thought. But Lord, help me to know the time and place of when to let the necessary fall tot he extravagant. - I love you my Lord

"Want to" vs. "Have to"

Scripture:
2 Chron 35:3 He issued this order to the Levites, who were to teach all Israel and who had been set apart to serve the Lord: “Put the holy Ark in the Temple that was built by Solomon son of David, the king of Israel. You no longer need to carry it back and forth on your shoulders. Now spend your time serving the Lord your God and his people Israel. NLT

Observation:
When we read the OT we need to remember that the cross of Jesus is the filter to look through. IOW: when we see the OT Arc we can look at the NT Presence of the Lord in our lives.
Here we see King Josiah decree to the Priests (in this case the people of God), that they were no longer supposed to "carry the Arc on their shoulders" I believe this is speaking to me about the fact that the religious things I do in hopes to 1. make God happy by my religious duties. and 2. impress people while looking so religious. Here the king says Put it in the temple. this for the People of the Lord in the NT is our hearts. IOW: put the Presence of the Lord back in your heart and with that there do what you were created to do. Love God and people.

Application:
With the presence of the Lord in my heart, I want my obedient act of service to be a "want to" not a "have to". When he remains on my shoulders like the OT arc it becomes a "Have to" not a "want to".

Prayer:
Lord I want to love and serve you because I love you. I want my obedience to be motivated out of love not fear, condemnation, or a "have to". help me my Jesus. I love you

Gods battle plan - True worship

Scripture:
2 Chronicles 20
War with Surrounding Nations 1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[a] declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[b] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[c] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)
3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.
5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. 6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war,[d] plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
13 As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, 14 the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.
25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,[e] and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,[f] which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies. 28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the Lord.

Observation:
insurmountable odds. there was no way the people of the Lord could win. there was no way out. what could they possibly do? The Lord here tells the King three thing to do
1. March out
2. Take your positions
3. Stand still and watch
I find it funny here that there is not one battle strategy given here from the Lord. earlier in the passage the message was given that the battle belonged to the Lord and they need not worry.

Application:
There are times in my life when i want to take up battle stance. Some offencive stance. When I want to stand and fight. I want to fight with persuasive words or old methods. Only to find that I get tired, worn and faithless. I like here the counsil given by the Lord. to march out, take my rightful position and stand and watch. This I can do.

Prayer:
Lord remind me to fight your way. I grow more like you. I love you my Jesus