Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Worthy is the Lamb!

 

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 

Revelation 5:12-13

We are now officially in Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday is quickly approaching! We’ll be closing out the series today by considering and practicing adoration of Christ for who He is and the work He did on the cross. Because we’ve spent time over the past few weeks considering our need for a savior, how great the gift of salvation is, and the joy set before us in spending eternity with the LORD, the only logical next step is adoration and praise to Him for these great gifts and who He is.

The Lamb

We have often heard of Jesus being referred to as “the Lamb of God”, meaning that he offered himself as a once and for all sacrifice, in our place so that we could be exempted from the spiritual penalty of our sin, which is separation from God. This substitution was symbolized and foreshadowed in the first Passover, when God “passed over” the homes of Israelites in Egypt. All of those who had demonstrated their trust in Yahweh to save them by sacrificing a lamb were spared.

This offering of self by a god to redeem his worshipers is unheard of in other religions. Every other belief system offers a path of (often ambiguous) achievements to be completed or appeasing sacrifices that must be made to assuage the god or reach the worshiper’s goal (whether that be a form of heaven, ultimate peace, morality or oneness with nature, etc.) Only Yahweh came into humanity and sacrificed Himself to restore our relationship with Him.

Hallelujah, worthy is the Lamb!

Worthy of Praise

In light of what we know about God, the idea that He is praiseworthy makes sense, but I’ll be honest, the idea that He desires our praise and desires to be glorified has not always been a comfortable one to me. We all know people, or maybe are one of those people, who require constant affirmation to feel ok. When we are around someone like this, we see them as lacking a sense of self-worth and rather draining. And because we can sometimes default to seeing God as merely a bigger human with human faults, we might think it rather petty and insecure of him to actually desire to be praised and glorified.

But this idea is quickly uprooted when we consider that God is completely other, completely self-sufficient. In fact, he doesn’t actually need us at all, he is love and contains love within himself, among the three persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

Acts 17: 24-25

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

He doesn’t actually need our praise to be ok, He desires our praise because we need to do it to be ok. Praising God and acknowledging him as our ultimate source is what we were made for and is the most natural response we could have when we begin to see the truth of who He is. 

Worship and praise is not us flattering God, it is merely aligning ourselves with reality and telling the truth about who He is.

As John Piper puts it, “When he does all things “for the praise of his glory” as Ephesians 1 says, he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now, and always will be, for himself. Praise the Lord! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

So in light of all of this, what prevents us from worshiping the LORD?

“In truth, we are never not worshiping. At any given moment, we’re directing our affections, attention, and allegiance either to the one true God or to idols that can never satisfy, comfort, or rescue us. That means I come into every Sunday gathering already worshiping something.”  (from Bob Kauflin in Worship Isn’t About You)

What is blocking us from worshiping with our whole hearts? Distraction with urgent but less important issues? Disappointment at not receiving blessings we’d hoped for? Grief over tragedy we feel God could have prevented? Whatever the cause, let us lay those things at Jesus’s feet, knowing that he is familiar with all our griefs, and lift our hearts to give Him the praise He deserves.

Hallelujah, worthy is the Lamb!

Practice:

Praise through song:

After laying down your distractions and burden’s at the Lord’s feet in prayer, listen and sing along with a worship song that focuses on who the Lord is and what He has done. Some examples include: Your Great Name, How Great Thou Art, Revelation Song

Praise through service:

Ask the Lord to show you someone that is in need of extra His care today. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in being His hands and feet in the world around you.

Thank you for joining me in this series! My hope for all of us is that we head into this week with hearts full of a deep, grounded joy that overflows into celebration as we lift up our praise on Resurrection Sunday!

I would love to hear how this series impacted your celebration this year!

Bonus resources for further reflection:

“But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars. My whole, more general difficulty, about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. (Reflections on the Psalms, 93–95)” __ C.S. Lewis

Worthy is the Lamb Who Was Slain - Look at the Book Lab by John Piper | Duration: 14:34

Holy Forever

By Chris Tomlin, Brian Johnson, Jason Ingram, Jenn Johnson, and Phil Wickham

A thousand generations

Falling down in worship

To sing the song of ages to the Lamb

And all who’ve gone before us

And all who will believe

Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb

Your Name is the highest

Your Name is the greatest
Your Name stands above them all

All thrones and dominions

All powers and positions

Your Name stands above them all

And they angels cry, Holy

All creation cries, Holy

You are lifted high, Holy

Holy forever

If you’ve been forgiven

And if you’ve been redeemed

Sing the song forever to the Lamb

… remaining lyrics

Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Home Sweet Home

 As we prepare our hearts to celebrate our Lord’s conquering of death, hell, and the grave, let’s not only be looking at what he’s saved us from but what he’s preparing for us.

Many Christians live with an impoverished view of heaven and what it will be like. Citing 1 Corinthians 2:9– “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

And they stop there, almost as if to say, we can’t know, so let’s not even try. But the very next verse goes on to say, these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” There are so many places in scripture that give us glimpses of what awaits us on the other side of this life.

Take a moment to picture what you envision heaven being like.

Was it fluffy clouds with golden gates and chubby babies flying around with harps? If so, it’s possible your theology of heaven has been influenced more by comic strips, Renaissance art, and neo-Platonic thought than by what the Bible says about our eternal life with God. Revelation 21 talks about a new heaven and a new earth. It speaks of God coming and dwelling with us here on our new earth. That is our eternal home! Jesus has reversed the curse completely, not just in a purely spiritual and legal sense, but he has reversed the curse for all creation. We are not destined to be disembodied spirits floating around with harps, we are destined to live with God enjoying him on an un-fallen earth— forever!

Back at Christmas-time we sang a wonderful hymn that describes a biblical view of the all-encompassing nature of Christ’s redemptive work in creation so well… Isaac Watts’ Joy to the World reminds us… “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.”

‘Far as the curse is found’ is pretty far, indeed. We can all think of many things that the curse of sin and separation from God has twisted and destroyed. Our current home is so beautiful in spite of its brokenness, but to inhabit an earth unmarred by the curse of sin will undoubtedly be an unending delight.

As we prepare for Easter, we can delight ourselves in looking forward to the joys that are set before us in spending eternity with the Lord in the new heaven and new earth. Here are a few prompts to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, help me be honest with you about my view of heaven.

2. Lord, please open my eyes to see what you’ve revealed in your Word about what life with you for eternity will be like.

3. Lord Jesus, help me see in your Word what will no longer be a concern in heaven.

4. Creator God, Maker of all the wonder and beauty that we see in our world now, help me to look forward to being with you in the place you are preparing for us.

Bonus Bookshelf:

Book: Heaven by Randy Alcorn

*I’ll be re-listening to the audio version of Heaven by Randy Alcorn again as we make our way through this season of preparation. I usually listen to this book yearly to renew my delight and yearning for our everlasting home.

Lyrics: Joy to the World by Isaac Watts

Joy to the world; the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let ev'ry Heart prepare him room,
And Heav'n and nature sing.
Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns,
Let men their Songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.

Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Rhythms of Grace

 As we continue preparing our hearts to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we will take some time this week to consider how our routines or rhythms can help us walk in the wholeness that Christ has won for us.

In the past, creation itself insisted that our ancestors live in a rhythm of work and rest.  In that lifestyle which was bound more closely with the natural world, people were accustomed to seasons of planting, waiting for growth, harvesting, and even dormant seasons. 

  

Modern life, on the other hand, brakes for no one.  It practically force-feeds us a continuous flow of opportunities. If we aren’t ruthless with our calendars, we find ourselves trapped inside impenetrable walls of constant activity. In this frantic pace, we cease to notice the natural cues from the world around us that life is meant to be lived in ebbs and flows. 

Our life with God was never meant to just be one hard, unrelenting drumbeat of service and duty.  Nor was it meant to simply be a soft, melodious, meditative retreat.  The life that Jesus calls us to is a life like the one he modeled for us. A life lived with our God, dwelling with him, inviting him into each moment, whether the day is demanding or restful, through seasons that may be monumental or completely ordinary. We were made for work, we were made for rest, and we were made to delight in the Lord as we walk with him in both.

Believers down through the ages have used a variety of rhythms and disciplines to lift their eyes up from their daily tasks and fix them on Jesus.  While all of the practices below have their uses, you may find some to be particularly helpful in a specific season.  

(For more details on the items marked with an *, you can dig deeper by reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)

If you need rest

        Matthew 11: 28-30

             Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon                   you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For         my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

-Sabbath rests (sometimes the holiest thing you can do is take a nap)

-Worship through song

-Intentional meditation on small portions of scripture

-Simplicity*

-Solitude*

If you need fruitfulness 

        Matthew 9:37-38

        Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray                 earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

If you find yourself in a season of emptiness, feeling unfruitful, spiritual discipline might mean: 

-Saying yes to helping in a ministry within your community

-Reaching out to someone in need of a friend

-Taking a meal to someone who is sick

Rhythms for all seasons

-Intentional morning (and/or evening) prayer

-Confession*

-Worship*

-Fasting*

-Study*

-Celebration*

One of the most practically useful actions we can take as believers who want to grow in our love for God and love for others is to plan intentional time in our calendars to contemplate our need for God, our need for repentance, and rejoice in the overwhelming blessing that we’ve been forgiven and adopted as God’s children. When we begin to understand how loved we are by our Father, that love will inevitably spill over our own lives and onto those around us.

Jesus calls us to a life like his, one filled with a motley crew of people (Luke 5:30-32), with all the messiness and complication that can bring. A life of seasons, times of great work and ministry (Matthew 9:35-38), regular times of retreating to talk with the Father (Mark 1:35, Luke 6:12, Matthew 14: 23).  Times of fasting (Matthew 6:16-18, Mark 9:29) and times of feasting. And a life always, always filled with prayer.

As we continue preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Ask the Lord to search your heart and your schedule and show you any areas where you have taken on a yoke of responsibility that He did not intend for you to carry.

2. What is one new rhythm that you could weave into your routines or an old one that you could return to? Take some time to ask the Lord what He may be inviting you into as you walk alongside Him.

Bonus Bookshelf

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster

Dwell: Life with God for the World by Barry Jones

Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Raised to Walk in Newness of Life

Raised to Walk in Newness of Life

 Last week we spent some time asking the Lord to show us what he saved us from and to restore in us the joy of His salvation.  I hope that you have a little fresh wind in your sails from spending time with Him!  

If you skipped over that portion at the end of last week, no shade, but right now is a great opportunity to go back and do that. The time you spend with the Lord on the questions at the end will be so much more valuable than the time you spend reading.  

So, what does that joy in our salvation lead to?  Are we meant to stay just the way we are and bide our time making our lives more comfortable until the day we die or Jesus comes back?

Not even close, sister.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

Romans 6:1-4 (ESV)

So, according to the Word, we were saved to walk in newness of life.  That sounds awesome!  Let’s do THAT!  But what does walking in newness of life actually even mean?

While Christ has already paid for our sins —past, present, and future, in His Word, He is clear that His children don’t just accept his gift of salvation, they also repent from the things that break his heart and turn the other way.  And to make that even remotely possible, he sent us the Holy Spirit to break the stranglehold sin has on us and empower his people to live in a new way.  

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” 

Romans 6: 5-6 (ESV)

   

Does this mean that once we are saved, we will never sin again?  Absolutely not.  Even James, the New Testament’s favorite hall-monitoring rule-follower can admit, “we all stumble in many ways. …” (James 3:2a). Repentance is not never slipping up ever again, repentance is laying our failures down at the feet of Jesus each time we fail and asking him to help us turn, to help us go the opposite direction from where sin wants to take us.  

The new life that Christ invites us into is the life of walking with God in His love, not working for God to earn His love.  His finished work on the cross allows us to live FROM our forgiveness, not living to EARN forgiveness. 

You and I have not merely been saved for fire insurance, nor just redeemed to do good works, as great as both of those things are.  But undeservedly and remarkably, our purpose is simply to glorify God and enjoy him forever (thanks for that line, Westminster Shorter Catechism).  This joy, not guilt and shame, is the fuel that allows us to overcome long-held areas of struggle and sin. 

Let’s step into the rest of the week beaming with the joy of our salvation and knowing that we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk with Jesus and live in a brand new way.

As we continue preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, what areas of my heart, mind, and life have I not let you in to make new?  Will you show me those places and begin to heal them?

2. Will you show me chains that you’ve already cut off that I’m still dragging around?

3. Lord, will you help me get in the habit of asking for your help when I go back to dead ways of living and feel stuck?

Next week we will be looking at some rhythms that we can incorporate into our lives that help us to continually lift our eyes up from the daily grind and fix our eyes on Jesus instead.

Can’t wait to meet you there! 

Bonus Bookshelf:

Song | Build my Life

By Pat Barrett

Worthy of every song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, oh, we live for You

Jesus, the Name above every other name

Jesus, the only One who could ever save

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, we live for You

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

Jesus, the Name above every other name

Jesus, the only One who could ever save

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, oh, we live for You

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

And I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

And I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

And I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

And I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon You

Lead me in Your love

Preparing our Hearts for Easter | How Great a Salvation!

Hebrews 12: 1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Most us know the basics of what a Christian life should look like on the outside.  The behaviors and fruits that others should see.  But if you’re like me, some days it just feels like you are trying to squeeeeeeze out that fruit in your own power with very little success.  

Our ‘shoulds’ only get us so far.  Sometimes, on a good day, they may even make it out of the church parking lot.  But the things we delight and find joy in, those things motivate and carry us energetically forward.  

In the Psalms, David asked for God’s help to give him a willing spirit.  

Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

This sounds like a very pious request until our finger drifts up to the opening description of that particular Psalm to find that this request came hot on the heels of his total and complete betrayal and transgression against his loyal soldier Uriah and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.  It seems that David was painfully aware that he had thoroughly caved to his flesh and was in need of God to infuse in him a willing spirit to be able to obey God again. He knew that a willing spirit was rooted in taking joy in our salvation.  

How fresh is the joy of our salvation?

For many of us, we first met Jesus many, many years ago and may not have a very spicy conversion experience.  It can seem hard to take “joy in our salvation”, when, frankly, we don’t really remember being saved from anything.  

In the weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we will spend some time each week remembering what Jesus has saved us from and what he is saving us for.  As we grow in both gratitude for his atonement and excitement for the everlasting life that awaits us, our capacity for joy as we celebrate Easter will blossom.

As we begin preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, please show me what you’ve saved me from, even if I was a child when I started walking with you.

2. Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. (from Ps.139 paraphrase, The Message)

3. Lord, please restore in me the joy of your salvation, tune my ears and eyes to see how you are working in my life and the world around me to redeem all things.

Preparing Our Hearts For Easter | Our Need

 

I’m excited that you’re joining me this year as we enter a season of preparation for celebrating Resurrection Sunday! This 40 day period preceding Easter has been celebrated in many ways throughout history. It is typically a time of prayer, fasting, bible reading, generosity, self-examination and service. It is my hope that this little note each week will be a part of a joyful journey of ascent towards Resurrection Sunday and that we arrive at our Easter celebrations filled with awe and gratitude for the joys set before us because of the work of Christ!

_____________________________

Our Need

At Christmas time, we have extra commercial help in getting excited for “the season”. Months before, stores make sure that we are looking forward to buying their wares for our friends and family (and few little treats for ourselves, if we’re honest). Whether our focus is on the true reason for Christmas or not, exactly zero times have we gotten to Christmas Eve and said, “oh, that was today?!”

Easter, on the other hand, sneaks up on us. If you’re like me, you are rolling in hot to service on Resurrection Sunday realizing that you’ve probably spent more time trying to pick a cute spring outfit from your closet than contemplating the importance of what we are celebrating.

So, what’s the big deal about Easter, anyway? Can’t most of the preparation be tackled with a few clicks to buy outfits, adding some candy and plastic eggs to the grocery order, and/or snagging a brunch reservation? Why are we already talking about this in early March?

We are talking about it now because, if you’re like me, you get to that day and feel so frustrated with yourself for not being overwhelmed with awe and joy at the flabbergasting grace of a God. You know that your heart should be bursting with joy over the One who came to the earth, trampled death, hell and the grave and rose again to gain eternal life for us.

So, here’s the plan, this year we are taking some time to prepare our hearts by really taking a good look at our need, the greatness of salvation, the new life God has purchased for us, the joy set before is in eternity, and his worthiness to be praised.

As we begin preparing our hearts for this season, here are a few questions for us to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with a small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, you know my heart and my thoughts, please search them, you see me when I sleep and when I rise. Lord will show me if there is any offensive way in me that I need to turn from? Will you show me what the first step is in turning away from that sin?

2. Abba Father, will you begin to remind me this week of how you rescue me? Of the many ways and times in which I did not get the consequences my thoughts, attitudes, and actions deserved?

Hopefully this year these weekly notes and prayers will help us to break up the hard ground in hearts that gets beaten down by everyday life and help us fix our eyes on both our profound need for Savior and his astounding plan to rescue us. See you next week!

_______________________________

Easter and the season of Lent that precedes it is “40 days set aside for “grace-ing” not groveling—an intentional season of surveying the wonders of the cross, pondering the depth of our need, culminating in the explosive joy of Easter Sunday” .
   -Scotty Smith | Lent or No Lent | The Gospel Coalition