God invites us daily to walk with Him, listen to His Voice of wisdom, yield our will to His Goodness for us all because of His great love for us.  Do we honor the invitation to come join Him? Do we run to Him because we trust Him to know what is best for us?  Do we listen, hanging on every word He speaks, as we sit at His Table that He has prepared before us, full of His rich love, mercy, and grace?

We confess there are challenging people in our lives who when we are invited to come to their house, we cringe for it most often does not end well with particular people who want to take advantage of us, crush our spirits, manipulate our thoughts, and break our hearts all for gaining self-worth as being over us to satisfy their need for power and position.  But that is not God.  God is Sovereign for He created all and is in all.  He is not inviting us to push us around; God invites us to His Table to enjoy the riches and treasures that are beyond all this earth has to offer.  God is good. God is love. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  God draws near to those in pursuit of Him!

God invites us into His Presence, His House, with His Goodness with each breath we take. God longs to bless us with all the gifts He knows we need most at just the right time wrapped up with the calm assurances of His love.  Peace is one of those gifts we seek in a world of unrest!  Love and Acceptance with a sense of belonging are priceless, forever gifts from His storehouse of riches that are beyond compare in a world who do not know God so they do not know real love.  Love to the world is act like you love so you can get what you want in return.  Love is used to manipulate. This is not God nor His love. This poor imitations of love sits on the table of the Enemy.  The Enemy invites us daily to his table of all that is not God.

God invites. The Enemy invites.  Who do you choose to accept?

I chose God’s invitation to “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8

The Enemy invites us to a mirage that looks good temporarily but soon fades to death.

But, it’s our choice.

We are cordially invited into the Splendor of His Holy Presence.  Micah, the prophet of God reports that ANYONE who seeks justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with our God is invited.  David sings the same truth with many more verses!  Here are a few of those verses—

Psalm 15, The Message

A psalm of David.

God, who gets invited to dinner at your place?
How do we get on your guest list?

² “Walk straight, act right, tell the truth.

^3-4 “Don’t hurt your friend, don’t blame your neighbor;
        despise the despicable.

⁵ “Keep your word even when it costs you,
    make an honest living, never take a bribe.

“You’ll never get blacklisted
if you live like this.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

An invitation is not fully complete until it is validated with a response. 

What is our RSVP to Jesus who lived to die on a cruel cross for our sins, to pay the debt of our sins in full, once and for all, removing them to be remembered no more? 

What is our answer to “God in the flesh,” Jesus who came and moved into the neighborhood of humanity to demonstrate the deep, abiding love of God? 

What is our response to the God who was, is, and always will be God, the One and Only who resurrected Jesus from death to life in victory, the powerful act of a living God who wants to give us the ultimate gift of ETERNAL LIFE!?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

THIS is God.  God invites us now to believe, confess our sins in Jesus Name, and be saved, reconciled to God, and set free from our sins. God invites to come boldly to His Throne daily, asking for what we need most to live a life worthy of all He has done for us—all for our good and His glory!  God response is to gift us with Help from His Holy Spirit to live in us—a holy relationship with untold benefits!

What an invitation from God who created us!  —How can we refuse Life? 

If you are still stuck on the “requirements” of walking with God, consider the price Jesus paid for our lives once more. Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God willingly allowed his human body to be beaten, spit on, and brutally whipped with cords with metal spikes at the end. He was beaten so badly, He was unrecognizable. He felt the pain as the Son of Man. Jesus then chose to lay down on two planks of wood so the Roman soldiers could nail Him to a cross. 

All the sins of the world were placed upon His bared shoulders for He was the Only One without sin to be the sin sacrifice for our sins.  His cross was painfully pulled with ropes into a high place for all the world to see.  He willing and humbly carried our sins until death removed them. As death loomed, He forgave as He suffered greatly for us. After death, His Body was taken down by those who loved Him.  They wanted to restore His dignity with respect for His Body as they laid Him in a borrowed tomb. 

But God—three days later—completed His Plan to save the world and defeat the foe of destruction. God brought Jesus back to life, scars, and all, to walk among those who had followed Jesus.  Jesus appeared among them with a beautiful gift of God—Peace.

According to the Gospel of John (20:19-21), Jesus’ first words to his disciples upon appearing after the resurrection were, “Peace be with you” (Shalom aleikhem). He repeated this phrase to a terrified, hidden group on resurrection day and later to them, including Thomas, to offer reassurance, calm, and reconciliation.  How beautiful is our Lord who knows our hearts and knows what we need most!

In fact, Jesus appeared to his disciples and others over a 40-day period to prove he was alive, demonstrating a glorified body that could appear in locked rooms. Key appearances included Mary Magdalene at the tomb, the apostles (including Thomas), two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and a group of over 500 people!  He’s alive! He has risen!  Our resurrected King is Our Hope of eternal Life!

God declared Jesus, His Son as King of kings and Lord of lords for His sacrificial act of obedience. (Philippians 2)

God’s promise to believers is that they are firmly grounded on His covenant promises and need not fear.

So, it seems that what God asks of us is a very small price to pay for our loyalty to God who wants the best for us and sent His best to save us!  Jesus our Savior desires to be the Lord of our lives and taught us how to walk humbly with our God.  He has shown us what is required of us for our good and His glory.  Walk a life worthy of our invitation!

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all You have done, are doing, and will do in our lives to help us be more like you and less like us before knowing you.  Thank you for perfectly forgiving our imperfect lives. Thank you for guiding us out of temptations of evil by overcoming evil right before our eyes. Thank you for hearing our prayers with answers of wisdom, insight, and more understanding each day we live for you even though we will never understand it all until we see you face to face.  That’s okay as long as you are in the lead!

In Jesus Name, Amen