Treasured Truth

As we wrap up our series on worship, Pastor Ford asks the question, “What is this worship we’ve been talking about?” He concludes that worship is all that we are, responding to all God is.

Do you reflect on the grace that God has given you, or do you think that you were just lucky? Today, Pastor Ford asks that poignant question and wants us to realize that God’s grace is constantly evident in our lives and that God doesn’t get the proper praise from us, because we don’t recognize all that He’s done through His grace for us.

When our loved ones who believe in Jesus die, we have sorrow because they are separated from us, but joy because they’re in the presence of the Lord. No more sickness. No more suffering. No more sadness. We thank God that they’re in heaven and not in hell. As we begin a new message, Pastor Ford shares what our biblical response should be when we go through the grieving process.

King David was motivated to praise God because he couldn’t help responding to God’s goodness. Have you considered God’s goodness lately, and has it motivated you to praise Him?

Pastor Ford prompts us to think about why the problems in our lives seem so difficult. Whatever the problems are, they’re difficult because they’re most likely still in our hands, and not in God’s hand. Consider this—have you put your problems in His hand yet?

Pastor Ford reminds us about the exchange that took place between Christ and us. He took our sin and gave us His salvation. He took our sadness and gave us His joy. He took our carnality and gave us His spirituality. And He took our poverty and gave us His wealth.

Today we turn to Isaiah 40, as Pastor Ford describes how God craves our worship. He’ll explain that this passage drives us to worship God, by giving us a glimpse of His glory, so we will be mesmerized by His majesty, blinded by His beauty and humbled by His holiness.

Pastor Ford wants us to realize that if we start telling God, “This is the day that the Lord has made, WE WILL rejoice and be glad”—even in the midst of what we’re going through—then the Bible tells us that God is going to receive our praise and change us from worriers into worshippers.

As we conclude this series from Joshua 1, pastor and author James Ford, Jr. encourages us to not let the little things in our lives keep us from discovering the everything that God has for us. And he explains that one thing God wants us to do in order to be in line with His will is to readily obey His precepts.

If we want peace, Jesus is our peace. If we want righteousness, Jesus is our righteousness. Whatever element of our life, He identifies with it and redeems it in us. So that when God sees us, He does not see our sin, He sees His Son—and that’s definitely something to be joyful about and worship Him for.