Jesus- because he's God!

For those of you who pray for me and my family, thank you. We have had a lot going on of late. I was able to go back to work after nearly two months of being out with both gall bladder surgery and a very extensive blood clot in my left arm. The Lord has faithfully taken care of us. Our youngest daughter, Heather, is now engaged to an Apostolic Marine, so we have all the wedding planning to do. My second week back to work (last week), had me running 16 hour days and I am physically ill from the strain of it. So, rather than getting ready for church this morning, I'm sitting in my living room coughing and sneezing and writing this blog. We do covet your prayers!

But, as I thought about how faithful the Lord has been to me and my family, an old song began to ring through my soul. It's called "He'd still been God". You can find the lyrics and hear it here: http://christiansongoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/06/hed-still-been-god.html

You see, many of us, when we think of Jesus, we think of Calvary, or healings, or salvation, or deliverance. We thank him for all he's done and all he's gonna do. We praise him for all his mighty wonders. We exalt him for .... (you fill in the blank). However, I think there's something we tend to overlook.

Jesus is worthy of all praise and glory and honor, not just because of all he's done, but because of who he is.

Jesus IS God!

The old Testament declares it: Isaiah 9:6

Jesus declared it: John 8:56-59, John 14: 6-11

The Apostles declare it: John 1:1,14; Colossians 2: 8-10; Colossians 1:12-19; 1 Timothy 1: 15-17, etc

We should praise him for all he's done. But, we should also praise him for who he is! As the song so beautifully says: "Even if he never did another single miracle, Jesus would've still been God."

He is not a politician to be elected again to represent us because we like his policies. He is not a mystical servant who exists to serve us what we think we need. He is not some cosmic Santa Claus who is supposed to give us all toys to play with.

He is God alone. And we who follow him (indeed, all of creation- even if folks choose not to follow him) are duty and love bound to worship him- for he is God. He is an awesome God, but he is God.

If we love our spouses only for what they can do for us, do we truly love them? No. We love them for who they are. The things they do for us are the icing on the cake. If we love Jesus only for what he does for us, do we love him? No. The wonderful things he does for us are the tip of the iceberg. Let's remember who he truly is and love him for that.

The scriptures declare that: Philippians 2:⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We're ALL gonna bow one day. We may as well do it today from our hearts, rather than then because we're forced to.

So today as we worship him, let's just love him for who he is. He is worthy because he is God.