Away With The Noise

"I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept [them], Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
Amos 5:21-23

Any time I read this passage it strikes within me a need for self examination. It would be so easy to get caught up in the routine of things, and to take for granted that God is pleased with my efforts. Things like going to church, reading my Bible, praying, tithing, etc. But God doesn't want mere routine. Rituals have never been what He desires. Oh, none of the things mentioned are bad things. And when done with proper heart motives I feel certain that they please God. And that is the key...MOTIVE. Why do we do the things we do? Is it just to give us some sense of security? Is it for show? Do we think it will earn us points with God? If we said yes to those things then our efforts are in vain.

Being that this particular passage mentions singing, it reminded me of the many praise teams I've been on over the years. Of those teams, the ones that functioned most efficiently were those whose purpose was to bring glory and honor to God. There were no "stars" on the team. On the other hand, the teams that didn't function well were the ones where someone wanted to steal the glory. Even when serving in areas of ministry we need to be very cautious. We can't let our egos take over and rob what belongs to God.

My heart is to please God. I desire to serve Him, not for what I can get, but to bring Him glory, and to further His kingdom. I know that along the way I may fail (sin) at times. And I do believe that when our motives are wrong, it is just as much a sin as lying, stealing, or any other sin. So what do we do when we sin? Psalms 51:16-17 is a perfect example:

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give [it]; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.

This passage was written after David had sinned against God with Bathsheba. I think you all know the story. David was a man after God's heart, and yet, he still sinned. But he knew what it meant to truly repent. He knew that God wouldn't be pleased with his ritualistic offerings. He wanted brokenness. When we truly realize the incredible sacrifice God made, and the horrific sin He's delivered us from, then we should be overflowing with love and gratitude. We should be seeking to do His will, and to love Him with all that is within us. There's a joke about people saying, "I'll do anything for You, God...just don't send me to Africa." Is that true surrender? Is that what our mindset should be? True passion for God means we're willing to go where He sends...even if it's Africa. And we're willing to be obedient to His word. We walk the walk, not just give idle lip service.

Okay, so I know I've wandered all over the place, but hopefully you got the gist of what I'm trying to express....

~jan~

New Year's Resolutions

Christmas is over. You know what that means, don't you? The end of the year is closing in on us and it's the time that people start making their New Year's resolutions. In the past I haven't been too fond of making resolutions because I knew that it usually resulted in failure, and I wasn't up for feeling more like a failure than I already did. Right about now I am reminded of Philippians 3:13, which says: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." Okay, so I know it's not really talking about resolutions here. Don't want anyone thinking I'm taking scripture out of context. But in a way it's something I need to do regarding my goals for the coming year. I need to forget all the failures, forget the disappointments and just move forward. This year I think I may go ahead and make a list. But I need to be a bit more realistic about what I can accomplish and a little less vague. Many times in the past I wasn't really that specific about what I wanted and I usually set my goals way too high. But I need to remember to challenge myself as well. I need to step out of this comfort zone. Thinking back to my school years (ooh...that's a long time ago) the thing I remember most is that I learned more from those teachers who challenged me. If the work was too easy, I didn't really learn anything. I became bored too easily.

Okay, all that being said, I guess I'll go try to figure out exactly what it is I'd like to accomplish this coming year. Wish me luck...

~jan~

Face to Face

So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Exodus 33:11

Then He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, [I], the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He [is] faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?" Numbers 12:6-8

But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. Deuteronomy 34:10

Each of these verses mentions God speaking to Moses face to face. Now according to Exodus 33:18-23 we know that Moses didn't actually see God face to face, for to see His face would mean death.

And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 33:18-23

Moses got closer to God than others did, and this is what leads me to believe that "face to face" is more of a representation of the intimacy between the two. He was in God's presence and he continually sought to do God's will. Moses, like Abraham, is referred to as a friend. I like that. I don't know about you, but to me the term friend means there was a deep trust. A friend loves without condition. They don't abuse the relationship. Many times over the years I've had those who would call me friend, but who didn't display the traits I wanted in a friend. The only time they ever called was when they wanted something. Any other time they were nowhere to be found. I don't consider those true friends, and based on scripture I can feel confident in saying that God doesn't either.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make here is that if we want to be considered the friend of God, then we need to act like one. We need to communicate with Him, to get to know Him intimately. That means we need to study His Word and to pray. We need to stop seeking His hand and be diligent to seek His face. So many times we only pray when we want something from God. That's not what He desires. Reading the Bible enables us to come to know the nature and character of God, to know who He is. Like a friend, we discover the things that He likes and dislikes. We will talk to Him, but we will also listen. A one sided relationship is not what true friendship is all about. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. He has blessed us far beyond anything we could ever do for Him. Is it really too much to ask for us to spend a little time with Him?

For Starters

Let me just start out by saying that my goal in blogging is always to benefit the reader (and perhaps learn something along the way). Not sure if that will be the case necessarily, but I'm gonna try. I enjoy writing about my family, my beliefs, my pet peeves, or whatever else comes to mind. Hence, the Jan's Thoughts as a title. I love music so that may also be mentioned at times. My family is always kidding me because I make up silly little songs about stupid stuff. But hey, Jacob likes it. Jacob is my youngest grandson and he is the music lover already. He wants to play drums, guitar, mandolin, piano, flute, violin...even now he's tugging at me telling me it's music time. Guess I better go attend to him...or maybe I should say listen to him play me some music.