Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt
One morning as I was praying and worshipping the Lord, the Lord clearly spoke to me. What He said to me was a fresh word to my heart. By that I mean that I had never had the thought He was imparting to me before. As I was worshipping Him He spoke to my heart and said, Tim, worship isn’t for my benefit. When the Lord speaks to me He usually doesn’t say a lot. He’ll make a statement and then as I think and pray about what He has said, His words—sometimes scriptures or stories from the Word—will instantly come to mind and I know the Lord is teaching me and revealing more of Himself to me. I’m not ego deprived. That was all I heard. I just began to meditate further and think about what the Lord had spoken. It was if the lights came on.
As I began to think about what the Lord said, I heard more. I heard Him say, I am a worshiper of God and have been since I gave my life to Jesus. I was so thankful for Him saving me that I always wanted to find ways to express my thanks and love to Him. Besides that, the Word of God instructs us to worship the Lord. Psalms 40:4 (NLT) says, “Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.”
The Lord deserves our worship and I’ve never questioned it. Yet now I could see worship in a new light. The Lord said, Tim, worship isn’t for my benefit. The Lord was showing me that worshipping Him was for my benefit not His. It was so easy to see. It’s so true!
Sometimes life seems like more than a plateful. As a man, a husband, a father, a pastor, a son, a brother, a friend, and a Christian, it can sometimes seem like there are so many responsibilities—so many things I should do and do well. I want to be good at every one of these things. I want to be diligent to each of these areas of my life. Because I do, it brings me to this simple truth. Outside of God, I can’t do it. Jesus warned us of that. In John 15:5 (NIV) He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
When I’ve tried to be all these things and do them well, I’ve either failed or felt overwhelmed. God never created us to live outside His grace and strength and help. The grace of God is His supernatural help given to us to do all things He has given us to do, well! He knew we’d feel overwhelmed without Him. He wanted us to lean on and count on Him and His grace. When we’d learn to really focus on the magnitude of our God and upon the covenant we have with Him—when we’d meditate on His love for us that surpasses human understanding, when we’d come to truly believe in His desire and willingness to help us, then we’d lean on Him. Only then will we ask and have faith in His grace to help us. We’d gain strength that would help us look anything in the eye and be able to handle it. When we do, then we’ll feel like the writer of Psalms 46:1-3 (NLT) who rejoiced saying “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”
You have to admit, if we were anywhere near mountains falling into the sea and or caught in the roaring seas, we’d be shaking in our boots. These are the kinds of things that cause instant panic. But the revelation that is being shared is that when God is worshipped and magnified for who He is, His love toward us and His presence within us grows and His grace is manifest as peace and trust. As a revelation of His love grows within us. We see the greatness of His power and love and our problems and feelings of being overwhelmed shrink in the light of His faithfulness. Then we are strengthened to take on the day and the challenges before us a step at a time, knowing His grace is there to help us!
Psalms 95:6-7 (NIV) “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Psalms 34:3 (NKJV) “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
