All of Me - Part B

Your mind matters to God. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Your mind is important. In Romans chapter 12, Paul says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In Hosea chapter 1 verse 6, the Lord says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 2 Peter 3 18, Peter says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let me just say to you, it is okay to think and be a Christian. In fact, it's imperative. How do you spend your time? Are you a workaholic?

Is your family calendar packed? What's on your mind throughout the day? Your everyday activities and thoughts reflect the deepest values of your heart. Connect with Skip Heitzig today as he shares how you can experience a refreshing sense of freedom by surrendering your heart and mind to Christ daily. But first, we want to let you know about a unique opportunity you have to visit the ancient land of the Bible. Skip and his wife, Lenya, are taking a group to Israel in 2022, and you're invited on the journey. Visit places like Nazareth, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Garden Tomb. And that's just a quick look at the trip.

Find out more about the trip at inspirationcruises.com slash c a b q. Now we're in Psalm 100 as we dive into the teaching with Skip Heitzig. Let's suppose that you as a non emotional person are teeing up on a par three. And it's a perfect day. And you swing that club and your your ball goes so straight and so far and you see it hit the green and you watch it with one shot roll into the cup.

Now you've gotten a hole in one. I have a question for you. Do you stand there and fold your arms and go?

How nice. No, you'll you'll be five or six feet off the ground and you'll be shouting and telling everybody. And I've seen some of you at Lobo games when our team scores. There's some emotion that goes on there. There's some excitement that goes on there or or maybe more to the point when one of your sons or daughters at a game scores a point, you get pretty emotional about that.

You know why people do that for those events? Because those things are real to them. And when God is in your midst, if the Lord is real to you, you will engage him on some level of worship. Why is it that Christians think that enthusiasm for the most worthy thing in all of the universe must somehow be carefully contained? God is not too excited about secret admirers.

He likes to be told that you love him. You know, I hate to say this, but some folks are going to even complain when they get to heaven. I think they will. It's going to be too loud for them in heaven. It says they sang a song so loud, Isaiah said, that the doorpost of the temple shook.

In Revelation 5, the song was a loud voice of praise unto the Lord. Some people won't like that. Some people are going to complain because of the lights. Because in heaven we're told that the heavenly Jerusalem has an iridescent shine and that the light of the city comes from the Lamb of God, Jesus himself, and he is compared to shining so brightly it's like the strength of the sun. That's a bright light. Oh, it's too bright.

I don't like that light. And some will complain about the haze. And some will complain about the haze in heaven. The vision that Isaiah saw in chapter 6 says the glorious singing shook the temple to the foundations and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.

That's the evidence of the Shekinah glory of God in that covenant. Worship God joyfully. Make a joyful shout to the Lord. Come before his presence with singing.

That's an appropriate response. Here's the second. Serve God gladly. Serve God gladly. Verse 2, serve the Lord with gladness. So we have glad singing, number one.

Number two, we have glad service. Singing joyfully is great. That's the first response when you're in the presence of the King. But God wants more than fans. God wants followers. Yes, I think we should respond to God on some level of emotion.

But we should also respond with motion. Following up the emotion with the motion of obeying what he says. Serving him.

There's an old saying that says it's not how high you jump, it's how straight you walk once you hit the ground. Okay, it's great to get all excited about the presence of the Lord, but then living and serving out that lifestyle is so important. You see, spiritual maturity isn't measured by glorious singing as much as by glad serving.

Serve the Lord with gladness. Have you ever seen somebody serving the Lord but they moan when they do it? They moan. They're doing it, but they're complaining, they're griping, they're moaning.

It's the worst. It was somebody like this in the New Testament. Her name was Martha. Remember Martha and what's her sister's name? Mary. And she comes to Jesus.

This is in Luke chapter 10. And she complained in her serving. Lord, how come I'm the only one doing the work and you're letting Mary sort of get away with it. I'm the one that's serving.

I'm doing all the work. Mary, you remember, was at the feet of Jesus listening to his voice, listening to his message, worshiping him. And Jesus said to her, Martha, the serving one, the one doing the work, because she wasn't doing it with gladness, but with a moan.

Martha, Martha, you are distracted by much serving. Mary has chosen the better part, the better part, which will not be taken from her. Why did he say that?

Why did he say that? Because worshiping is a lot better than whining. Serve the Lord with gladness.

Now, we have an Old Testament example of somebody who served the Lord while moaning. Can you remember his name? He's a prophet.

That's a clue. He has a book named after him, and it's a very short book. Jonah. When God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, did he go, yes, Lord, joyfully I'll serve you.

I'd love to go and do whatever you want me to do and say whatever you want me to. Did he do that? He went in the opposite direction.

He went on a Princess cruise all the way to Portugal. That's where he wanted to go. Opposite direction.

Nineveh's this way. He went that way. You know why he went that way? You know why he wasn't joyful? He couldn't stand the thought that God would forgive and be merciful to those he hated the most, the Ninevites. He couldn't stand that thought. Well, eventually he went, but he didn't go joyfully. He went under duress.

He went out of duty, and he went after he was dumped on the shore by a great fish. If you're going to serve the Lord at all, please do it with with gladness, not with sadness, not with complaining, not with moaning, but with gladness, with joy. There was a time in church history, oh, it was in the Middle Ages, when it was thought that if you're in the clergy, if you're like me, you should wear all black, all black. That is befitting what clergymen ought to wear, all black, and you ought to be very serious and austere and not smile much for this is serious business. No wonder Oliver Wendell Holmes years later said, I would have entered the ministry except all the preachers I know look and act so much like undertakers.

My apology if you're an undertaker and you have a joyful life. You do not have to be sad in order to be sanctified. You do not have to be gloomy in order to be holy. God wants whatever is done for him to be done with gladness. And that goes for every activity, including our financial giving. Remember what Paul writes, 2 Corinthians 9, let each one of you give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly, nor out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The word in Greek is a hilarious giver. Let me just append that verse a little bit. God loves a cheerful giver. God also loves a cheerful liver.

I don't mean, I don't mean that. I mean, he loves a life that has lived cheerfully for him. Do you know that serving the Lord gladly is great advertising?

There's nothing more infectious and inspiring than genuine joy. Sometime back a newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, found out about a woman who was a cleaning lady at an office complex and she held the job for 40 years. They were interested in any lady doing the same boring, they said, monotonous job for 40 years. So they interviewed her and they asked her point blank, how could you do this? How could you for 40 years do this same boring, monotonous job of cleaning after people?

Here's her answer. I don't get bored. I use cleaning materials that God made. I clean objects that belong to people that God made.

And I make life more comfortable for them. My mop, she said, is the hand of God. How's that for joyful service?

My mop is the hand of God. Two appropriate responses. Worship God joyfully. Serve God gladly.

Here's a third. Love. Love God intelligently.

Love God intelligently. What's the first word in verse three? You can speak to me.

I can have a little interaction here. What's the first word? No.

No. The psalmist says, know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us. And now we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

The word no means what you think it means. It means to perceive something with understanding. In other words, in relating to God, there are certain things he wants us to do. In other words, in relating to God, there are certain things he wants us to know. I believe that Christians should be great thinkers. And I fear that some brain cells are seriously under-exercised. Your mind matters to God.

We just quoted it, but let me quote that one word again. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Your mind is important. In Romans chapter 12, Paul says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In Hosea chapter 1 verse 6, the Lord says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 2 Peter 3 18, Peter says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let me just say to you, it is okay to think and be a Christian. In fact, it's imperative. He wants you to think. I want to engage your mind. I want you to think deeply about spiritual things.

There's no sign in our foyer that says, please check your brains at this door. You're to know. And so we're to love God intelligently.

What exactly are you to know? You're to know his Lordship, first of all. Notice it says, know that the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God.

Can I paraphrase that? He's God and you're not. He's the Lord, let him be that and you're not. Know that the Lord, he is God.

What's the first commandment out of the 10 commandments? I am the Lord, your God. You will have no other gods besides me. There is only one God. There are not two gods. There are not 10 gods. There are not 300,000 gods that you can choose from. There is only one true and living God. And there's only one way to that true and living God and that is through his son, Jesus Christ.

He is the Lord, God. And you and I need him. I love how the eight-year-old prayed in Sunday school something like this, Lord, bless our mommies, daddies, our teachers, our brothers and our sisters and please God, please take care of yourself. Because if anything happens to you, God, we're sunk. Amen. Sweet little prayer but so profound.

We totally depend on you. I know that you are the Lord. I know that you are God and I depend on you. So we're to know his Lordship.

We're also to know his craftsmanship. For Psalm 100 it says, know that the Lord he is God, it is he who made us. You are an act of creation. You are a special creation of God. I've long marveled at the human body. I studied science and the sciences for years and I just marvel at the human body that God created and the first model he created out of nothing.

Ex nihilo, completely out of nothing. I marvel that our brains have 100 billion cells in them all performing complex activities. I marvel that the skin on our body has 2 million tiny sweat glands to regulate temperature no matter where we're at.

I marvel that the heart is such a good pump that it can pump through the arteries and then return through the veins blood traveling I'm told 168 million miles every day. It's a marvel created by God. By the way the first model worked perfectly. God made man upon the earth and didn't go oh I got I better do 2.0 because 1.0 isn't working so well. First model worked perfectly and I'm not here to get into the intricacies of evolution versus creation.

We've done that and on many an occasion but let's just ask a simple question. If evolution works why do moms still have only two hands? Think about that one. Moms know exactly what I'm talking about because by now if evolution worked they'd have like 18 hands.

All that they do and all that they juggle. All that to say this you are not a human accident. You are a divine incident.

You are created by God for a purpose. Know that. Know that. Know his lordship.

Know his craftsmanship and finally know his ownership. He says for we are his people and we are the sheep of his pasture. We are his. We are God's.

Now how is it that we are God's? In two ways. One way if you're not a believer.

Two ways if you are. You are his number one by creation. He made you. If he made you you belong to him. You are his work.

That's number one. If you're a believer you're his by another means and that is by redemption. Not just by creation but now by redemption. He paid for you. He paid for you.

He paid the hefty price for you. That's what the anthem is going to be in heaven according to Revelation chapter 5. He says that you have redeemed us saying this to Jesus.

You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe kindred tongue. We belong to him by redemption. So he owns us and ownership implies care.

See it really helps to know this. I belong to him because tomorrow if the bottom drops out of your life you can fall back on this. He owns me.

If you lose your job I'm his. If a disease comes into your life I belong to him. He owns me. Can you say like Paul in Romans 8 for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present or things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He said I'm persuaded. I know that.

I know that. So this is loving God intelligently. Worship him joyfully. Serve him gladly. Love him intelligently. Here's the fourth and we close.

Thank God consistently. Look at the last two verses. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving verse 4 and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations. Now can't you just picture whoever is singing this at the temple inviting the worshippers to come on in. Come through these gates and as you do have a thankful heart. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. There was once a little boy sitting next to his parents in church and a little boy sort of right in the middle of the service like right about now. Well this is toward the end but he was sitting there and he leans to his dad. His dad and mom are there but he says to his dad look dad mom would rather be home cooking dinner. You would rather be out on the golf course.

I would rather be playing football. So why are we here? He asked.

It's a good question to ask. Why are you here? Why are we here?

I suggest that we are here for all four of these responses. To engage in joyful worship. To serve God and his people. To engage our minds and learn of him and to say thank you Lord for your mercies and your goodness. Now you might not feel like doing any of these but you and I are called to do all of these and we're called to thank him and notice the psalmist gives us three reasons to thank him.

Number one he's good. Whether you've had a good week or not is the Lord good? We thank him. Lord thank you because you're good. That's your character.

That's your nature. We thank him because he's merciful. His mercy is everlasting. It'll never run out.

It'll be there tomorrow for you. And finally because he's honest and his truth endures to all generations. So I think we agree that God deserves our thanks. That's why Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5 said in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I know it's more fun to complain.

I know it's more enjoyable to whine but it is more fitting and honorable to God to give him thanks. Have you ever stopped to think about the worst time in American history? The worst generation that Americans ever experienced was the founding of this country.

You're thinking I thought it was this day and age. No no no the very worst time in American history was our pilgrim father settling this country. Because during that time I am told and what I have read that they made about seven times more graves to bury the dead than they built houses to house the living.

The death rate was enormous because of the deprivation and the conditions. Seven times more graves to bury the dead than houses to house the living. And yet it was during that time they felt the necessity to take one day a year and call it Thanksgiving and pause and go thank you Lord. We've made it this far. And eventually our president the very first president George Washington signed that into law. And both houses of Congress agreed. Isn't that a miracle? Probably the first time that ever happened. Both houses of Congress agreed that we ought to thank God for his benefits toward us. That was the worst time of our history. And I know some of us are thinking it's pretty bad now the tax rate's pretty high. You know I read a story of a 92 year old immigrant who came to this country and at 92 years of age sent a check to the president.

This is a couple terms ago. And he expressed deep gratitude for what this country had afforded him. Here's the note. Dear Mr. President here is a check for $35,000 as a gift to say thank you to the United States of America.

Who does that? Yeah I'm just going to give $35,000 extra dollars to the government. Here was an immigrant who knew what it was like in his country and is now in this country and says I never was afforded those kind of abilities to get ahead. Thank you. So let's just take ourselves and put ourselves here. God this act of service that I'm doing is to say thank you. Lord this raised hand is to say thank you. Lord this joyful task that I will perform is just to say thank you. If you had to live your life all over again what would you do differently?

I hope you would say these things. In essence I would say all of me Lord take all of me. What do you give to the God who has everything? He only wants you. But he wants all of you.

And he will not settle for anything less. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series playlist. Now we want to share about a special resource that will help you grow closer to the Lord and stay plugged into his word. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the reevaluation of priorities, life choices, and the path forward. This illuminates the question what do I want out of life? Here's Skip Heitzig with some thoughts on priorities.

Don't we all want the life with a happy ending? A life marked by growth, a life marked by productivity and refreshment, and God's touch of blessing and prosperity and maturity upon it. Here's our special offer for this month for those who support this media outreach. The Daily God book by Skip Heitzig plus playlist, eight CD messages on significant psalms. Start 2022 with Skip's Daily God book and they're both our way of thanking you when you give $35 or more today to help more people connect with God's word. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com. Now here's another playlist sample from Skip. When you pursue him, when you pursue holiness, happiness tags along.

Call 1-800-922-1888 to give or visit connectwithskip.com. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares how you can energize your spiritual life with genuine praise. So be sure to join us. It's biblical to say that God does not want angels worshiped, saints worshiped, preachers worshiped. He says, he doesn't want you to worship yourself. He and he alone is the one to whom praise is directed. And this is such an ongoing theme in scripture, is it not? That's the first commandment, right? Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.