Reading Acts 13 this morning I was impressed again with the phrase “they were ministering to the Lord.”
As a young believer I was reading Psalms and came across the phrase “Bless the Lord”. I stopped. What? Me, bless Him? I knew He could bless me. But me bless Him? Acts 13 is even more unbelievable – they were “ministering” to Him? How do you minister to the all-powerful, transcendent God?
Then I discovered the problem. I was reading one of those new versions. So I got out the trusty old King James to see what those verses really meant. Guess what. They said the same thing – bless the Lord, minister to the Lord. I sat back in my chair astounded. I don’t want to lose that sense of wonder that we, mere specks of dust in the cosmos, can minister to the Creator of it all. What an unbelievable concept. We can please Him. We can “grieve” Him. What we do impacts Him emotionally. Think about that. What you do today makes a difference in the heart of God. Isn’t that unbelievable?!!
(Zeph 3:17, Eph 4:30, Gen 6:6, Is 62:5)
We couldn’t know that if He hadn’t told us in His Word. Obviously He wants us to know that we matter to Him. We matter so much that what we do touches His heart. We can make His day – or grieve Him. So, I have a choice today – and every day. Will I bring a smile to the heart of God today or be a source of sorrow for Him?
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Zephaniah 3:17
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Great blog. I have just recently been pondering this as well. Not even a year ago is when I heard it first. A respected friend who walks with Jesus said to me, I bless you and I bless the Lord for showing you truth… it kind of took me back for a minute. Then I was confused. Then curious. So I started studying that and found similarities to what you have written here.
The Books of Eden, (I know I know, the controversy of it being pseudepigrapha) opened my eyes even more to this. Namely the first book of Adam and Eve. What they did grieved God and he shared in their suffering, all the way to the cross. If you haven’t read them, I recommend them. Controversy aside, they give light and in my opinion, a much clearer picture of our Creator . Love you brother.
Hey Cal
Good to hear from you. I’ll have to check out “The Books of Eden”. I assume they are available on the web. Adam and Eve blogged, right?
Love the statement (or quote) – he shared in their suffering, all the way to the cross.
Powerful way to state it.
I have no problem with the source of the truth. I’m one of those “all truth is God’s truth” guys and He has hidden Truth in some of the most obscure (the root of “obscure” meaning “dark”) places. I just make sure it aligns with the revealed Word that is not obscure.
Blessings, amigo
“We matter so much that what we do touches His heart.” That we Bless him! I remember feeling the same way! and it really does still fill me with the same wonder as it did at first . I LOVE this blog! Im printing this for family devotions. Im going to use that scripture for this week. Many Blessings to you! 🙂
Thanks for letting me know that Sharon. What an encouragement.
We are all one big family 🙂 Amen