Worship The Lord!

Psalm 96 KJV; All of creation worships the Lord.

He Reign In Awesome Wonder

Wolf Point, Keweenaw Peninsula, MI
Praying With Creation Sabbatical

Psalm 93 KJV

The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.

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One of my fondest memories is kayaking on Lake Superior during small craft warnings. The waves were big. Yet, there we were paddling away and enjoying every minute of it. It was an awesome display of God's creative work. 

Along with the movement of the winds and waves came a whole lot of noise from this awesome wonder. But, in the midst of it there came a sound even louder than that. In the midst of us riding those waves came the sound of Pr. Peter singing How Great Thou Art.  And... Pr. Peter can sing!! What a sense of peace being reminding that what we were experiencing was the very hand of God.

Lake Superior, the oceans, all of God's creation can make us stand back in awe. We do need to respect these powerful creations even as we can appreciate and enjoy their beauty and power. They can be very powerful indeed. In fact, they can be very dangerous. But, none is so powerful or enduring as the Creator of it all.

Thank the Lord for the beauty of His creation. Thank the Lord for all that He has done.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Sing His Praise

PSALM 47 KJV

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

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Sing praises to God with a joyful spirit for He is the King of all the earth. He sits on His throne above all princes of the people and He reigns above all of them.  

There are many who would like to control our lives; but, they cannot for we have been freed from bondage by the blood of God's only begotten Son Jesus the Christ.

Thank the Lord and sing praises to Him for He has done a marvelous thing!

God' Peace - Pr. J.

Rejoice And Sing Praises

 PSALM 96 (KJV)

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.

Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

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There is only one God worthy to be praised. All of creation knows this; except maybe humankind. May the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth open all ears to hear; our eyes to see; and our hearts to love and worship Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Voice Of The Lord

Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.

The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Psalm 29 KJV

When the Lord speaks, it is done! Worship the Lord Almighty, the One who can and does all things. Worship and glorify His holy name. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Do What Might Bring Peace

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 

                                                                                          (Titus 2:1-8 KJV)

All I have to say about these verses from Titus is that it would be so nice if this actually happened. I cannot even begin to imagine how peaceful life would be.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Be Kind

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.." 

                                                                                         (Col 3:12-15 KJV)

We are not to be doormats. We are to stand firmly on the truth, which is the Word of God. Jesus, and in the end his disciples, did not back down from the truth. They stood firmly on God's Word and on His promises.

But, neither are we to be bullies asserting our rights over the rights of others. Paul encourages the Colossians to treat one another with compassion and kindness. We are to try to have empathy for others; to, as the saying goes: "walk a mile in the shoes of others." We are to listen to all sides with humility; humbling ourselves so that we do not put our desires over the needs of others, and with empathy so that we can act with compassion and kindness to those who are suffering.

May God reconcile us to Himself and to one another, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Journey

Rocky Pass

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. (Isaiah 35:8 NIV)

Life has its' ups and downs. It can be a wonderful journey or not and sometimes it depends on what day or month or year it is. It also depends on which way we choose to go. Will we choose the Way that Jesus has provided for us or will we choose the way that only the unwise would go? The journey on the Way of Holiness; the Way of Jesus, is the Way to life. Any other way leads to destruction.

May God grant that we should all strive to follow in His Way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Thunderous Voice

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
   worship the Lord in the splendor of his 

   holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is majestic.

                                    Psalm 29:1-4 NIV

I awoke to the sound of powerful thunder over the mighty waters last night. I love to listen to the skies quake and the oceans roar. I love to hear the sound of the thunder; to hear the pounding of the rain upon the roof; to sit in the darkness watching the lightning light up the sky in the darkness of the night.

The sound of thunder in Flagler Beach is not quite like the sound it makes in Michigan. It sounds so much closer to the earth here. It roars like the ocean roars in the midst of a storm. At one point last night it sounded as though maybe the ocean had decided to roar over the land so much that I felt obliged to get up and check to see if the water  was rising and how fast. It is not that it causes me fear. It reminds me that we should all have just a little more fear and respect for the one who has power over all things; even the storms. Storms remind me of the beginning; of how the Spirit of God hovered over the darkness; over the deeps; over the chaos. And, as God spoke with his mighty voice He created all things out of all that darkness and chaos.

I do appreciate a good storm now and then. I enjoy listening to the roar of the water and the thunder. It reminds me of who God is. It reminds me that He is all powerful. He is majestic. Let us all give God the glory due His name!

God's Peace – Pr. J