Read His Words Before Ours!
John 3:16-21
1 John 4:7-19
Psalm 86:10-17

This last Christmas, I spent a lot of time talking about the meaning of the holiday with my three girls. They learned all about John the Baptist (actually, they call him John the Bathroom, please don’t ask me why because I really have no idea!) and his miraculous birth. They learned about the angel, Gabriel, telling Mary about her impending pregnancy. They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus over and over again, and I really think they grasped the holiness of that precious day as much three toddlers under three can.

But for me, Christmas continues to become more intimate and cherished as my relationship with Jesus deepens. Throughout the entire season, I kept reflecting on the fact that God gave His one and only Son, first as a baby into this human world, and then to death.

I’ve heard my dad preach quite a few messages, but the one forever imprinted on my heart is titled, “It’s Christmas, but Easter’s coming”. He taught about the importance of celebrating Jesus’ birth, but the reason His birth is so incredible is because just 33 years later, God gave that same baby over to death. Then showed His infinite power by bringing Him back to life three days later.

Sisters, if you ever question your value…
If you ever doubt how loved you are by God…
Stop and remember this:
God, the Creator of the world, became what He created (human), for you.

Though He was flawless, wholly perfect, and innocent of all wrong, He took the punishment of sin, which is death, upon Himself because He loves you.

God stopped at nothing, not even death, to bring us salvation.
Nothing would separate us from His love.
Nothing would stop Him from extending the opportunity for eternal life to all of us.

If you don’t know me, I’m a sing-songy person.
I have a song for every moment.
You want a song about brushing teeth?
I’ve got a few to offer.
How about a song about driving in the car or studying for a test?
I’ve got songs for those, too.
Songs about God giving His Son for you and I?
Hundreds.

But as I prayed over, studied for, and thought about this Journey Study for the last eight weeks, only one song kept coming to mind: “How Great Thou Art”.

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in

Pause. Right there.

When we stop to think about the fact that God stopped at nothing for us, I think the magnitude of that thought should cause our breaths to catch a bit.

Maybe your heart beats a little faster?
Maybe not yet?
Then, stop and think of this:
Are you a mama or an auntie?
Is there a precious little one in your life?

Imagine taking your sweet little one into your arms. Set them on your lap and wrap your arms around them. Feel their soft, squishy cheeks against yours; feel their sticky little fingers in your hand. Sense the weight of them leaning against you; breath in the smell of their hair. Focus on the depth of love you have for this wee one and the great life you know they are capable of leading. Think of the incredible moments you’ve had with them, the moments making your heart swell with pride or tender delight. The moments that marked the preciousness of your relationship together.

Now, imagine that child on their deathbed. Imagine them lying in a hospital bed, barely breathing, their skin pale and their face expressionless. Don’t stay here long, but stop and realize the pain you’re feeling. Notice how you’re sick to your stomach and your heart literally hurts. Maybe your breathing grows heavier or your eyes begin to sting.
Maybe you don’t have to imagine this pain at all, because you’ve lived it.
Imagine you could stop this child from experiencing any pain, sickness, or rejection if you wanted to, but you choose not to. 

Hold onto the weight of that feeling and linger there.

Now we’ve glimpsed, ever so slightly, the heart of Father God.

We’ve caught a taste of the pain He felt watching Jesus suffer on earth. When Jesus had a stomach bug or a horrible cold, when He was teased by fellow playmates as a child, and rejected by His own hometown, His own people (Luke 4:16-30) as an adult. Father God watched and ached as Jesus was betrayed by one of His best friends (Luke 22:47-53), beaten so severely He didn’t even look human, denied by another best friend as He walked through the valley of death (Mark 14:66-72), and then nailed to a cross to slowly suffocate and die.

The pain He experienced as a Father is incomprehensible.

But God still gave His one and only Son.
God knew the pain He would experience as Father.
He knew the pain His Son would experience as the agony of sin pressed upon Him.
But that didn’t hold Him back.

Nothing, neither the pain in His own Father heart nor the pain Jesus, as God the Son, would experience, was going to stop the triune godhead from demonstrating His great love for the world or executing His master plan of redemption.

That’s how important you are.

That’s how loved you are.

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died, to take away my sins

Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
​
Sisters?
Easter is coming!

This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. Visit GracefullyTruthful.com for most studies like this one!

Read His Words Before Ours!
Philippians 2:5-11
John 1:14-18
Revelation 5:13

Jesus deserves our worship.
He deserves our praise.

As I worshipped God just last Sunday, He revealed Himself to me in new and intimate ways.
He called me to offer something I wasn’t sure I could offer.
But when I did,
it led to an encounter with God I’ve never quite experienced before.

As I worshiped in song, I sang because I knew the reality of all He’s done for me before.
I sang because I know what He will do for me in the future.
I sang because I have walked through dark valleys, and I know He has never left my side.
Jesus paid it all for me, and because of that, I owe Him my everything.

But what if I wasn’t feeling those things?
What if I’m walking through a valley and I feel incredibly alone?
What if I can’t remember what He’s done for me in the past?

Does He still deserve my worship even then?
Yes.

EVEN THEN Jesus deserves our worship and our praise.
EVEN WHEN we are in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death….
EVEN IF He doesn’t answer our prayers like we want….
He still deserves my worship.

Why?

Why worship God when we don’t feel like it?

Paul shares why Jesus not only deserves our worship,
but will one day receive everyone’s worship.

Philippians 2:6-11 is a hymn written, not necessarily by Paul, but reiterated by him as it was circulated and sung throughout the early church.

Imagine yourself there with me.

A small house, packed with 15-20 bodies. Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, women, men, and children. All declaring the beauty of Christ together as one body!
Voices raise, a simple, repetitive tune takes shape, and truth is preached as hearts are knit together by the incredible beauty of the Lord Jesus!
“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.”

He didn’t need equality with God, because Jesus IS God.
He was God in the beginning and He is God even now.
The divinity has always been His.

“Instead, he emptied himself
By assuming the form of a servant,
Taking on the likeness of humanity.”

Jesus willingly emptied Himself of His exalted position and laid aside His divine privileges to become a human being. A human! And while we are created in His image, we are completely incomparable to God. The humility and love it took to lower Himself from dwelling as God to dwelling with humanity is utterly incomprehensible.

Jesus didn’t just become a human, He came as a servant.

The Lord came down to serve those which ought to be serving Him.

“And when he had come as a man,
He humbled himself by becoming obedient
To the point of death –
Even to death on a cross.”

Jesus Christ, who IS God, humbled Himself enough to become man, then humbled Himself even more to become obedient to all that was required of Him. Though Jesus retained His divinity even as He walked this earth, He didn’t rely on His divine powers to save Him, make His load easier, or remove Himself from the grip of death. No, He WILLINGLY died.

Jesus didn’t die quickly. He didn’t quietly pass away in His sleep. He died a death reserved for foreigners and slaves, a death that was torturous and degrading.

As God of all, He never had to die, but He chose it.

“For this reason God highly exalted Him
And gave Him the name
That is above every name,
So that at the name of Jesus
Every knee will bow -”

Because of Jesus’ great humility, His obedience, and His choosing to die sacrificially, God exalted His name above all names. Salvation is found in His name alone!
His Name holds all authority for all eternity.

“In heaven and on earth
And under the earth
And every tongue will confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord,
To the glory of God the Father.”

When time has ended, and the final battle between God and His archenemy Satan has been won, every knee will bow.

Every angel, every woman, every child, every man, every demon,
all will declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord!

Not all will be saved for eternity, that window will have passed, but all will recognize His rule and reign as King of Kings!

All will sing His praises!

And all of this ultimately brings God glory!

So, my dear sisters, why do we worship even when we don’t feel like it?

EVEN WHEN we doubt God’s goodness?

We worship because Jesus is Lord.

We worship Him EVEN THEN because we will all bow before Him one day,
whether we choose to give our lives to Him now or not.

Let your worship be rooted in the truth of Christ’s character, not your fleeting feelings.
Because the One you worship is LORD of all!
​
If this Sunday you don’t feel like you can worship Him
because of the valley He has walked with you through,
or because of the way He has provided for you,
worship Him simply because HE IS GOD.
He deserves our praise EVEN WHEN.

This Bible study is property of Gracefully Truthful and was first published there as well. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!