Clouds and darkness surround
Him… —Psalm 97:2
{CHAMBERS} “A person who has not been born again by the Spirit of
God will tell you that the teachings of Jesus are simple. But when he is
baptized by the Holy Spirit, he finds that “clouds and darkness surround Him….”
When we come into close contact with the teachings of Jesus Christ we have our
first realization of this. The only possible way to have full understanding of
the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside
us. If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes
off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality
with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in
His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach
to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. […] Jesus
said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John
6:63). […] …. the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by
words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words.”
{ELGIN} Are you familiar with the idiom “Coming with your hat in
your hand”? It means to approach someone
“In a meek or submissive manner. (The removal of one's hat is typically a
gesture of respect.)” Men used to tip
their hat or grab the brim and move it
downward as a show of respect. Standing
before God with our hats in in our hands is comparable to Moses removing his sandals
because He was standing on holy ground. When we come to worship, we may come
just as we are, but we must be careful that we are not prideful in our attitude
toward God thinking He can “take it or leave it”. You are thinking, “I would never do that?” Well, my fear is that many of us refuse to
remove our hats when we stand before God.
Over the past 30 years, there
has been a shift in how people dress on Sunday morning. We no longer wear our “Sunday go to meetin’
clothes”, but whatever we pull out o the closet. If a man wears a suit and tie to church
people think he is going to preach. You
know that God judges the heart of man, not his outward appearance. But very often the outward appearance is a
reflection of the heart. Don’t
misunderstand me. I don’t think Moses had
a suit and tie on when God interrupted his life … he had on work clothes. This is not about clothing. It’s about reverence. In times past, I am certain that many people
came to church “all dolled up”, “dressed to the nines” (I love those old
sayings) with sin in their heart, looking for recognition by men and not
God. What I am concerned about is that
we may have lost our awareness that we have come to worship a Holy God. When we approach Him, on any day, it must be
with an awareness that the only reason we have access to God is because of
Jesus and His sacrifice. (Hebrews 4:13-16)
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from
God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to
whom we must give account. Therefore, since
we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
The next time you pray .. read
the Word of God .. attend a worship service … maybe even take your next breath …
keep this in mind. He is the potter, we
are the clay. We are saved by grace
through faith and not works .. there is nothing we can take credit for. So take off your hat!
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