Tag: King of Kings

Consider the Following

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, Worship9 Comments
People
People (Photo credit: Viewminder)

1.  My thoughts, my actions, my replies, my joys, my hurts, do they mirror my Jesus or my world?  Next time you see something bad happening, something you react strongly to, consider your response and see if it looks and sounds like Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain Lake
Mountain Lake (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

2.  Despite what political pundits, doomsayers, rebels and rappers say, what do you see when you look at the world?  I’m not a pollyanna.  I don’t believe in the “power of positive thinking.”  But, I do believe in a God who is King of kings and Lord of Lords.  He is not thwarted by bombs or laws.  He remains unchanged despite all human agendas and natural catastrophes.  He does not bow to the greatest leaders of any era or bear the commands of any power in the universe.  But, they do bow to Him.  And He is good.  HE IS GOOD!  His love endures forever.  He can be trusted.  And He has put so many beautiful things here for us.  Do I see them?  Am I even looking for them?

 

 

Cross & Clouds
Cross & Clouds (Photo credit: John H Wright Photo)

3.  When things go wrong, when I fail, when all seems lost, where do you run?  And, I do mean run, move quickly, pursue without a thought for the consequences or repercussions.  We all run somewhere.  Alcohol, romance, pornography, work, music, drugs, church, Jesus, gods, Satan, hate, bitterness, the list goes on.  All places to run to where we demand, we make proclamations, we decide the outcome.  Oh yes, you can run to Jesus with the idea of Him making you feel better.  You can go to church to get your fix of feel good. What we are called to is the cross.  We are told to bring everything, our desires, our hopes and dreams, our failings, our lives and lay them at His feet, lay them at His cross.  “I am crucified with Christ and I know longer live…”  A shout of triumph over all that would hold us, all that would enslave us.  But we seldom go there when we feel lost and defeated.  We rarely look to that serpent lifted up when the poison of this life has entered our veins.  But we can.  We must.

 

 

“Daybreak” by Matthew Hawkins is available at smashwords.com.  Click on this link to learn more and to order:

 

 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/384362

 

 

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Name Above All Names

On By hawkinsm6In Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, WorshipLeave a comment

Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Our worship is directed at someone we are hardly capable of understanding.  Here is a person with the strength, the power to rule the world.  He is capable of annhialating the planet with the force of His word.  Should he command it, our own bodies would cease to function and we would be undone – both physically and mentally.  His presence causes demons to shudder and cry out. 

Yet, in all this, He is the embodiment of love.  He would take a child and bring them into the center of our focus.  He reminds us that to be first you should be last.  He tells us to love our enemies and pray for people that hurt us.  His greatest commands are to love.

Then He turns to laying down our own lives.  Didn’t He save us so that we could live?  Now, He commands us to take up our cross and follow Him.  Not just letting go of what we want and live for but taking up His “mantle” of self-sacrifice, self-abasement, putting ourselves in the place of humility, of peace.

And what does He want from us?  To make us look like Him, act like Him, little pictures of God in the flesh working and squirming and eking out our existence here.  In a world that is certifiably crazy, He wants us to be sane.  He wants us to bring joy.  He wants us to be open and honest.  He wants us to be alive.

He is impossible to follow.  I CAN NOT be like Him for He is perfection and I am so flawed.

Tie me to You, Lord.  Bind me to Your life, Your ways.  You promised and You never break Your promises.