Look all around you.  Seriously, look around you.  What do you see?  Look at what you have acquired.  Look at what you cherish most.  Look at your family who was given to you to share life with for a while on earth. 

Now, imagine being outside.  What do you see in your own backyard?  What do you see on your way to work each day?  Close your eyes.  Imagine standing on a tall mountain peak.  What do you see?  Close your eyes again.  Imagine being on an island with the beautiful ocean lapping at your toes as the waves push your feet deeper into the warm sand.

Does any of this really belong to us?  The answer is no.  God owns it all. 

The Psalmist reminds us that God owns all we see around us.  We are merely managers (good or bad) of what He has provided for us.  So, do not provoke God!  It will not go well for us.  Trust God, LISTEN to hear His voice above the noisy din of evil provoked crowds who want their own way.  Walk in God’s way.  How do we know God’s way?  His Word tells us all we need to know.  His Holy Spirit helps us to understand and stay focused on His Road to follow.  It’s up to us.  We get to choose.  We must choose wisely.

Come, let us worship the One who owns it all!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 95, The Message

^1-2 Come, let’s shout praises to God,
    raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let’s march into his presence singing praises,
    lifting the rafters with our hymns!

^3-5 And why? Because God is the best,
    High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
    in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean—he owns it!
    His hands sculpted Earth!

^6-7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,
    on your knees before God, who made us!
Oh yes, he’s our God,
    and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

^7-11 Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks:
    “Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising,
As on the day of the Wilderness Test,
    when your ancestors turned and put me to the test.
For forty years they watched me at work among them,
    as over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked!
    ‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes?
    Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’
Exasperated, I exploded,
    ‘They’ll never get where they’re headed,
    never be able to sit down and rest.’”

TRUTH:  God owns it all because He created all and is in all.  Remember this truth.  Worship the One and Only who owns it all.

Proverb 28:9-10, The Message

God has no use for the prayers
    of the people who won’t listen to him.

¹⁰ Lead good people down a wrong path
    and you’ll come to a bad end;
    do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.

WISDOM:  Listen to God.  Follow His Path.  God will not disappoint.

Abba Father,

We cry out today for your wisdom, insight and understanding.  Leaning only to what the crowds shout is not working for anyone. Leaning into what is said by leaders of all kinds is not reliable.  Only what you say, Lord is truth and be counted on for life.  So, open our eyes to Truth.  Open our ears to hear Your Voice above all others.  I am humbly repentant and wholly committed to what you want.  Show us The Way down Your Road.  Teach us as we walk together today and forever.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14

We must repent.  I repent.