January 29th, 2022 – Prepare to Meet Your God
Experiencing God Devotional
Exodus 19:11 – “And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
Meeting with God requires preparation. God is awesome and perfectly holy. Barging into His presence unprepared is an affront. When the children of Israel were to meet with Him, God commanded them first to take two full days to prepare. Once the people were ready, however, God spoke to them with thunder and lightning, with fire and smoke and the sound of loud trumpets (Exod. 19:16–25). It was through this encounter that God revealed such marvelous truths as the Ten Commandments, establishing the standard by which God expected His people to live.
You cannot spend day after day in the world without its affecting your mind and will and heart. It doesn’t take long to become disoriented to the ways of God. The world has a dulling effect on your spiritual sensibilities. God established the Sabbath so His people could take an entire day to refocus on Him and His will for them after spending six days in the world.
How do you prepare for your times of worship? What fills your mind the night before? Often the last thing you put into your mind at night is still on your mind the next morning. Genuine worship requires spiritual preparation. Your experiences of worship reflect your spiritual preparation. Prepare yourself now for your next encounter with God.
Blackaby, Richard. Experiencing God Day By Day (p. 30). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Pastor’s Thoughts
“You cannot spend day after day in the world without its affecting your mind and will and heart. It doesn’t take long to become disoriented to the ways of God. The world has a dulling effect on your spiritual sensibilities.”
I can’t amen this enough. I can remember times where I watched tv for a ridiculous amount of time in a row or where I played video games for a long time back to back or times where I spent way to long on social media or just my phone in general. What an effect it would have on my mind.
When we get lost in letting all of our time be consumed by the things of the world then we find ourselves being disconnected from the things of God.
I used to make a habit of coming to God where I was not focused on who I was actually coming to or what I truly was doing. I would just be going through the motions to check boxes off rather than coming to the God who created all things and who sustains all things.
I am much better at coming to God today with a heart of worship rather than a distracted and disconnected mind. I still struggle at times, but I find that the more I spend in the Word of God and in prayer the more connected I am with Him.
Don’t fall in to the trap of being consumed by the things of the world rather than the things of God. It is a slippery and dangerous place to be.
Have a blessed Saturday everyone! Remember to prioritize worshipping Jesus with a church family tomorrow!
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