GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
On August 7, 2011, FBC began a new worship service and a new Sunday morning schedule. So far our new traditional service has been well attended and loved by all who attend. I grew up on traditional music and have always loved the deep meanings behind many of our older hymns. One of my favorites is “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” I can remember many times growing up in First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, sitting with my family as we sang that old hymn on Sundays. It is still one of the hymns that speaks to me. We often go to Lamentations for the basis of this hymn, “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness,” (Lam. 3:22-23). Obviously this is where the main theme of the hymn came from but I would like to venture to another passage and make this song relevant in another way.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change”
Malachi 3:6
Malachi wrote the last book of the Old Testament in which he delivered God’s judgment on Israel for their continuing sin and God’s promise that one day in the future, when the Jews repent, Messiah would be revealed and God’s promises would be fulfilled. Next came 400 years of silence with Malachi’s condemnation ringing in their ears. Then in Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist enters on the scene preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The Messiah had come. Now think back to Malachi 3. Malachi 3:6-12 is like a momentary breath of fresh air in the middle of God’s judgment and justice. In spite of Israel’s accusation of injustice in God when He did not act on their behalf and all their rebellion toward Him, Israel’s mere existence was due to the unchanging unwavering character of the Lord: His goodness toward His people and commitment to His promises. God promises His blessings again if they only repent and turn back to Him, “Return to me and I will return to you,” (Malachi 3:7).
Has much changed today? Has God changed? Have we changed? Just take a look at our world today. We still see rebellion toward God all over the world. We still rebel against God in our lives when we sin. We still refuse to follow His perfect plan for our lives. We still sometimes experience the silence of God. God is still saying “Return to me and I will return to you.” God does not change, but we do. God is always waiting for His lost sheep to come back to the flock. God is concerned for you. Just try to imagine a world without God’s mighty hand of protection. But God is not a God who will force us to return to Him. He will allow us to do our own thing and go against Him, but He will be there when we fall and realize we need Him. GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, LORD, UNTO ME!
Aaron Hodges
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Bless Me Indeed…
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you;
The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
I don’t know when Pastor George started it and I don’t know why. But I’m glad he did. What is the “it” I am referring to? At the end of each Sunday morning worship service, Pastor George stands with his hands lifted toward the congregation and offers the Biblical blessing that Moses was instructed to give to the Israelites. There are many in our congregation who will not even think about leaving the worship center until our Pastor has blessed us. I love the next verse in this passage from Numbers, verse 27, that says, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Pastor George is literally putting the name of the Lord on us and thus inviting God’s blessing. There is an old Hebrew word for this that I have heard my seminary President use: “WOW”.
As I think about the blessing of God, I am overwhelmed by how good He is to us. We don’t deserve the His blessing at all, but He blesses us anyway. There are times in our lives we can see the blessing of God all over us. Everything seems to be going our way. Everything is clicking in perfect harmony. Life is just great! Then there are other times when the blessing of God is hard to find. In those difficult times are we out of the will of God or is it something else? We may very well be out of the will of God and He is responding with correction; but there is the possibility the Lord is teaching us something through divinely orchestrated times of difficulty or heartache.
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
So in your dark times don’t jump too quickly to the conclusion they are dark because of your disobedience. Instead, examine your heart to see what the Lord is trying to teach you and how He is trying to bless you.
Bless me indeed!
Aaron Hodges
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you;
The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
I don’t know when Pastor George started it and I don’t know why. But I’m glad he did. What is the “it” I am referring to? At the end of each Sunday morning worship service, Pastor George stands with his hands lifted toward the congregation and offers the Biblical blessing that Moses was instructed to give to the Israelites. There are many in our congregation who will not even think about leaving the worship center until our Pastor has blessed us. I love the next verse in this passage from Numbers, verse 27, that says, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Pastor George is literally putting the name of the Lord on us and thus inviting God’s blessing. There is an old Hebrew word for this that I have heard my seminary President use: “WOW”.
As I think about the blessing of God, I am overwhelmed by how good He is to us. We don’t deserve the His blessing at all, but He blesses us anyway. There are times in our lives we can see the blessing of God all over us. Everything seems to be going our way. Everything is clicking in perfect harmony. Life is just great! Then there are other times when the blessing of God is hard to find. In those difficult times are we out of the will of God or is it something else? We may very well be out of the will of God and He is responding with correction; but there is the possibility the Lord is teaching us something through divinely orchestrated times of difficulty or heartache.
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
So in your dark times don’t jump too quickly to the conclusion they are dark because of your disobedience. Instead, examine your heart to see what the Lord is trying to teach you and how He is trying to bless you.
Bless me indeed!
Aaron Hodges
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
AND IT WAS GOOD
And It Was Good
God made all sorts of wild animals,
livestock, and small animals,
each able to produce offspring of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25
This week I heard a very interesting word used in a negative way. That word is PRIDE. Proverbs 21:4 calls pride, sin. In Proverbs 8:12, Solomon refers to pride as something that is the opposite of the fear of the Lord. In fact, he says we should hate pride. Pride is defined as “an overly high opinion of oneself; exaggerated self-esteem or arrogance.”
When we first think about pride, we rightfully acknowledge its negative aspect. When it comes to leading in worship, there is no place for arrogance or flaunting ourselves. But is there a positive aspect of pride? I believe there is. In fact, it is that positive aspect that we are singing about in the Call to Worship this Sunday. “I will boast in the Lord my God, I will boast in the One who’s worthy.” Our worth, our value, our pride, comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are ever prideful, it should be in the things of God. For example, I am proud of our worship choir and orchestra. I am proud not because of what I have accomplished or what you have accomplished, but because of your humble attitude and your effort that brings glory to God. What I don’t want is for anyone to be justified in saying we are prideful because of our abilities. If we do, in fact, possess great talents and abilities, we should never forget that those talents and abilities were given to us by the Lord when He created us.
Consistent self-examination is a God-honoring exercise and it is my confession that my heart is full of humility as I approach the ministry of leading in worship. With that said, I believe it is our responsibility to bring our best each and every Sunday. God expects nothing less. This is not pride, but obedience. Let me explain: when I was young, I was told that God had given me the ability to sing. I did everything in my power to develop that gift and not waste it. That’s not pride, but simply being a good steward of what the Lord has given me. When I lead in worship, I am not doing it for show or out of pride, quite the contrary. I am humbly coming before the Lord and offering Him the best gift I can possibly give and laying it at His feet to use as He sees fit.
I pray that none of us will come to worship with a prideful spirit. May we come to worship broken before the Lord, offering to Him everything we are and everything we have. When we come to Him with that type of offering, I know that God looks at it and says, “It is good.”
In Humility,
Aaron Hodges
God made all sorts of wild animals,
livestock, and small animals,
each able to produce offspring of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25
This week I heard a very interesting word used in a negative way. That word is PRIDE. Proverbs 21:4 calls pride, sin. In Proverbs 8:12, Solomon refers to pride as something that is the opposite of the fear of the Lord. In fact, he says we should hate pride. Pride is defined as “an overly high opinion of oneself; exaggerated self-esteem or arrogance.”
When we first think about pride, we rightfully acknowledge its negative aspect. When it comes to leading in worship, there is no place for arrogance or flaunting ourselves. But is there a positive aspect of pride? I believe there is. In fact, it is that positive aspect that we are singing about in the Call to Worship this Sunday. “I will boast in the Lord my God, I will boast in the One who’s worthy.” Our worth, our value, our pride, comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are ever prideful, it should be in the things of God. For example, I am proud of our worship choir and orchestra. I am proud not because of what I have accomplished or what you have accomplished, but because of your humble attitude and your effort that brings glory to God. What I don’t want is for anyone to be justified in saying we are prideful because of our abilities. If we do, in fact, possess great talents and abilities, we should never forget that those talents and abilities were given to us by the Lord when He created us.
Consistent self-examination is a God-honoring exercise and it is my confession that my heart is full of humility as I approach the ministry of leading in worship. With that said, I believe it is our responsibility to bring our best each and every Sunday. God expects nothing less. This is not pride, but obedience. Let me explain: when I was young, I was told that God had given me the ability to sing. I did everything in my power to develop that gift and not waste it. That’s not pride, but simply being a good steward of what the Lord has given me. When I lead in worship, I am not doing it for show or out of pride, quite the contrary. I am humbly coming before the Lord and offering Him the best gift I can possibly give and laying it at His feet to use as He sees fit.
I pray that none of us will come to worship with a prideful spirit. May we come to worship broken before the Lord, offering to Him everything we are and everything we have. When we come to Him with that type of offering, I know that God looks at it and says, “It is good.”
In Humility,
Aaron Hodges
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