MAY 20, 2025 ~ FROM A PASTOR'S HEART

MAY 20 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  HAGGAI 1

The Lord Almighty is His Name! How does one speak of the greatness of God? Who is like the one true and living God? Who are we humans, that He should consider us at all? Have we forgotten that He is holy, righteous, and so far beyond us, that even His Name demands our reverence and worship? God is our Father, but He is also the Lord of Host...God Almighty. We can never approach Him or treat Him casually. We must not lose our sense of reverence for Him that He so rightly deserves. Today's church has become so casual that we have lost a sense of reverence for the Lord. I am talking here of the tendency today to approach Him in a casual manner in worship, in service, and in prayer. It ought to bring us to our knees that He would even consider us, much less accept us as His very own children. Being His children ought not to make us less reverent.

God was specific in the Old Testament as to how His people were to approach Him. He required worship a certain way, and even those who led the worship were required to approach Him the way He demanded. Everything from the clothes they wore, to the songs they sang, to the offerings they brought, and the prayers they offered...were in response to what God had designed and required. Nothing has changed in that respect for us New Testament Christians. Although we don't have the priestly system, nor do we meet God at the Temple, we still only come to Him the way He requires. We come to the Father through His Son, Jesus. To come to Him in Jesus is to come with a sense of reverence and awe for His mighty Name. Jesus, our wonderful Savior, Jesus, the Lord of our lives and King. When we have a proper relationship with the Son, we will have a proper reverence and awe of the Father. God has never stopped being, "The Lord of host"..."God Almighty". When we approach our Heavenly Father may we never do so in an irreverent manner, but always with a sense of awe and wonder, that we might give Him the honor and reverence His holy Name deserves!

Please share your thoughts.