The Lord is Active

January 19, 2025 Background Scripture: Psalm 103 Lesson Passage: Psalm 103:1 -14 I read a report with testimonies of people who recently left the Christian church. The respondents were from various Christian denominations. Each testimony expressed extreme disappointment with some aspect of the congregation, leadership, or the Christian faith in general. In none of those testimonies did I see any suggestion of a spiritual conversion by any of the persons who responded. Absent a spiritual conversion, all that is left of the church is religion. Religion is what people make it to be. A religion can exist and flourish among people without God's involvement. Sooner or later, rational people will become despondent with religion. True worship of God only occurs after spiritual conversion. Only then is it possible to know God. It is in the process of spiritual conversion when God first allows a person to begin to know Him. He might reveal His presence before this through His actions, but the unsaved person will not see the person of God in it. Israel's enemies came to know of God's presence as He defended Israel during her exodus from Egyptian bondage, yet the enemy did not know God. Religion becomes the recourse for the unsaved person who wants to know God through their own effort. Religion can teach a lot about God, or gods. Knowing about God is not sufficient if one is to have a true worship experience. I speak of true worship as an experience that is not restricted to a specific place, day, or time. Worship is not about rules and regulations to be followed. There are always reasons to worship God for the person who has truly been saved from eternal damnation. We praise Him for His ongoing mercy towards us. We praise God for His glory He reveals to us, We praise God for the benefits He provides for us. God provides divine care of us. He feeds us when we are hungry. He heals us from all diseases. We praise God because He is always present with us. Kowing God, not just knowing of Him, awakens a person to His ever-present and active Being. This seems to be the heart of the message conveyed in our Background Scripture. The praises to God that open this psalm seem to lead the psalmist into a spirit of worship. It is the worship where the psalmist starts recounting the many specific blessings that God has already provided. He is the same God that the patriarchs worshiped and extolled. Their experiences with God provide encouragement to their offspring. God's track record with His people is lined with grace and mercy. Truly all have sinned and come short of His glory. Yet, He keeps on blessing those who put their trust in Him. The blessings make it evident that through His mercy He has forgiven our sins—even as He declared that He would. We are but children before our loving God. He claims us as such and shows us pity. We are even taught to call upon Him as our heavenly Father. God never leaves us to wander through this dark and evil world on our own. He lovingly guides and corrects us as only a loving parent would. To be loved in such a way by God, despite our shortcomings, is one of the greatest blessings He provides all the time. This is one of the reasons praising God is continuously in the mouth of His children. We all have reasons to praise Him. The oppressed can look to Him to execute righteousness and justice. We are humbled as we consider that we were formed from the dust of the ground. But our God has elevated us to be His children. He gave the Law to Moses that we might come to know of His holiness. He defeated Israel's enemies that we might come to know of His love for His children. For those who might be considering leaving the church, first examine yourself to see if you have had a spiritual conversion. You will know if you have because you will see that the Lord is active in your life. Robert C. Hudson December 19, 2024