Tag Archives: worship

NAILED!

Bible Study, ,

NAILED!

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'” John 4:16-20 (NIV).

O-oh! This conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable. How did Jesus know that?

If this woman was to admit her thirst and come clean, she had to open up the cupboard and get all the skeletons out. Jesus didn’t pussyfoot around. He could read her like a book. Why did He expose her, just like that?

First of all, they were alone at the well. There was no-one around to eavesdrop on her private life. Jesus would never have exposed her in front of His disciples. It was not His intention to shame or embarrass her but to open up the lines of communication between her and Him so that He could speak to her heart.

Secondly, as long as she kept secrets, there would be a wall between them. He knew and she knew but, until she knew that He knew, she would not hear Him or receive what He was offering her. He told her that He knew exactly what was going on, not to accuse but to show her that her lifestyle was a symptom of her real thirst. She thought she needed a man to love her but what she really need was to reconnect with the God who loved her unconditionally for who she was.

She did what every person does when faced with having to own up to what they are doing — she became religious. ‘This is scary. You must be a prophet. We Samaritans go to this church, but you Jews insist that your church is the right one. So, which one is the right one?’ A convenient “red herring” to take the heat off her!

However, whether she liked it or not, her interest was aroused. This was not just a casual conversation – small talk at the well while she was getting water; this man was getting very personal and she had to change direction before He embarrassed her even more. Let’s talk religion. That’s safe ground, so she thought.

But her question got Jesus even more fired up. This exchange was going somewhere and He was nudging it on. “‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews.”’  John 4: 21, 22 (NIV).

‘It’s not about where you worship, but who you worship. It’s not about this church or that denomination. It’s about worshipping the Father.’ That must have startled her. Her religion was a hotchpotch of religions, man-made and futile because it was not the truth. Her problem began with a false idea about God. She had no foundation upon which to build her life and so she was doing what Adam did — making her own rules which didn’t work and left her heart empty and thirsty.

Jesus gently took her back to basics. ‘Who are you worshipping? There is only one God and He is your Father, the source of your life. All other gods are products of someone’s imagination, and worthless substitutes for the true God.’ 

She had to learn that God was neither an intrusion nor an add-on to her life but the source and foundation of everything that would provide peace and wholeness. Her life was in tatters because she had no Father to give her identity and stability, no one to worship and honour, to follow and obey and to be the authority in her life. Like a captain-less ship, she was trying to navigate life without knowing who she was, where she was going and who was in charge, and it wasn’t working for her.

Only the Creator knows how His creation should function. Without Him, nothing works. You have to get reconnected. Have you?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

5 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Christian Life, ,

5 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE AND WORSHIP

The life-long process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds brings about a change in our perspective and attitudes. The conviction that Jesus is in charge of our lives produces security, confidence and peace.

Our hearts begin to sing instead of being fearful, anxious and complaining. GRATITUDE for God’s goodness and mercy replaces discontent and becomes a settled attitude that undergirds our responses to life’s ups and downs.

THANKSGIVING becomes the overflow of grateful hearts, but thanksgiving is even more than that. Thanksgiving is the language of faith, the verbal expression of confidence in God. It is one thing to be thankful for what God has done but quite another to give thanks for what He has promised to do.

Thanksgiving before God has responded produces an attitude of expectancy – not expectation. Expectancy is open-ended, giving God freedom to act according to His nature and will. Expectation, on the other hand, nails Him to what we want.

Expectancy frees us to accept joyfully whatever God does in response to His promises. Expectancy reflects our confidence in who God is, and that’s what we look at next.

The meaning of THANKSGIVING in ancient Hebrew thought helps us to understand the role it plays in releasing the power to change us on the inside.

Before the development of modern technology such as GPS positioning and direction-finding, sailors navigated by the stars. The light (shining) of the stars indicated where they were positioned in the heavens.

The Hebrew word “hallelujah “, translated “praise Yah” actually refers to “the shining of a star”.  When we praise the Lord, we focus on the glories of His attributes (His “shining”) which give us direction for our lives.

Put these three together, GRATITUDE, THANKSGIVING and PRAISE, and we have yet another set of powerful kingdom qualities that produce changes in the way we think and act in an environment of sinful and ungodly people.

Through the renewing of our minds and the changing of our attitudes, we are developing immunity to the infectiousness of sin all around us. We are also changing the atmosphere in our environment by being spiritual thermostats, not thermometers.

It is important to note here that being grateful and thankful are always a choice because our emotions often interfere with our thinking. Our choices must follow what we believe (the TRUTH), not how we feel. Our feeling will follow our beliefs and will eventually result in peace.

WORSHIP, falling down on our faces in absolute submission before this God whose beauty and glory we have contemplated, is our final destiny.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 NIV

It is this attitude of unquestioning submission to the nature and will of God that enables Him to work unhindered to restore the image of Jesus in us.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

DON’T BE SCARED!

Christian Life,

“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

Worship and holiness were two parts of the Christian life that used to scare me when I was younger. I avoided them as much as I could because I knew that it was impossible for me to be holy, I didn’t know how to worship God and I didn’t know what to do about it.

Only lately, as I have studied God’s Word and learned about holiness, have I discovered that God has taken care of my holiness just as much as He has taken care of my salvation.

What is holiness anyway? Until we understand what it is, it seems like an impossibly high standard to achieve. It isn’t as spooky as we think it is. To be holy means to be set apart from sin to God. The wonderful thing I have learned is that Jesus took care of my holiness at the cross.

“By one sacrifice He (Jesus) has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Heb. 10:14.

He dealt with my sin and made me a new person, clean and holy, when He died for me. As long as I keep responding to His work of purifying my heart from sin and drawing me into fellowship with Himself, He is doing in me what He completed at the cross.

What about worship? Worship is also not as difficult as I thought it was. In fact, Paul gives us a very simple instruction about worship. Worship is much more than coming to church on Sundays and singing worship songs to God. Worship is about doing everything, even the ordinary things like eating and drinking, to God and for Him.

“So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31).

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Col. 3:17).

I have discovered that, if my heart is pure, unmixed with unclean thoughts or actions and not full of idols – things I care about more than God, – I can worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness at any time and anywhere. I can even worship Him when I am doing the things I dislike the most!

I think that’s the test. If I can show my love for God by being thankful and loving Him in my worst moments, perhaps that kind of worship is beautiful to God because it shows that my love for Him is bigger than my circumstances.

 

  

It Is Impossible

Bible Study, , ,

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

The law is only a shadow of the good things to come – not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10: 1-4).

We often think that, because God is God, there is nothing impossible with Him. In one sense it is true, but in another sense, it is not true because God will never contradict His own being. There are many things that are impossible for man to do which God can do, but there are many things that man can do, simply because man in sinful, which God cannot do. Hallelujah!

What can God not do?

1. God cannot lie. He is the embodiment of all truth. What He says, He will carry out, be it for our blessing or for judgment. God’s judgment, even though it is delayed because of His mercy, is just as sure as His promises.

When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But now I will arraign you and set my accusations before you (Psa. 50: 21).

2. God cannot be unfaithful. He is utterly steadfast. He is as sure and immovable as a rock. He is trustworthy and dependable. Unlike humans who are fickle and changeable, God remains steadfastly the same. Unlike the gods who are capricious and unpredictable, God always acts within the framework of His own nature.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself (2 Tim. 2: 13).

3. God cannot reject a repentant sinner. It is His nature to have mercy, and He longs for His wayward sons and daughters to return to Him. He takes no delight in the death of anyone. Jesus gave His life for the sin of the world, not just for the sin of the elect. He issues an open invitation to “whoever”. He assures us:

All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away (John 6: 37).

4. God cannot not love. God is love. The essence of His being is to love. He is true to Himself when He loves. God shows His love by acting. To His wayward people, through the prophet Jeremiah, He declared:

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’ (Jer. 31: 3).

5. God cannot grow weary. God does not need to rest. Though he rested on the seventh day after creation, it was not a rest of weariness but of completion. He rested when His work was done. Jesus rested for three days in the grave because He had completed the work of redemption.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom (Isa. 40: 28).

6. God cannot sleep. He does not need sleep. God is always watching over His work and His word. He keeps watch over His people. Nothing can slip past His vigilance because He is steering His creation towards His desired end.

He will not let your foot slip – for He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep (Psa. 121: 3-4).

7. God cannot be unjust. It is His nature to be perfectly just, always. Though people think they can get away with what they do because He seems not to notice or not to care, we can be assured that He will act to bring justice, even after the end of time. There are no favourites with God either.

And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? (Luke 18: 7).

8. God cannot change. Neither time nor age can change God. He is timeless and consistent.

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1: 17).

Therefore, because of who God is, He cannot justify the sinner on the basis of animal blood. Just as it is impossible for God to act outside of who He is, so it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. Sin can only be atoned for by the blood of the sinner – or by the blood of a sinless human whose blood is shed as a substitute for the sinner. Jesus was the perfect substitute for us.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53: 5-6).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 

The Earthly Tabernacle

Bible Study, ,

THE EARTHLY TABERANCLE

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.  A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered Ark of the Covenant, This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail here (Heb. 9:1-5).

Every detail of the earthly tabernacle was symbolic and had meaning. Each part and the arrangement of each part was intended to teach God’s people about Him – His nature, His holiness and His requirements; and about man and sin, the gulf between man and God which could only be breached by blood. Each piece of furniture in the two compartments of the tabernacle was symbolic.

Like the writer’s comment, we cannot discuss every feature of the tabernacle in detail here. Let’s look at the overview.

The tabernacle was a tent, a portable sanctuary which was erected in the centre of the Israelite camp. God wanted them to understand His place among them. His desire was to dwell with His people but He demanded to be in the centre of their lives. Everything they did was to revolve around Him. He wanted to show them how to live lives that worked, in their relationship to Him and to each other.

The tabernacle had several coverings which protected the interior from the elements but also obscured the Israelites’ view of the inside. No one but the priests saw what was inside, and no one but the high priest was allowed access to the Most Holy Place, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

The tent was divided into two unequal rooms, the Holy Place where the priests ministered and the Most Holy Place which was a perfect cube, where the symbolic presence of God resided. The Holy Place was lit by the candelabra called the menorah – a seven-branched oil lamp which the writer did not mention here, which stood on the left side of the Holy Place. The lamp was fed with olive oil and kept burning day and night. The lampstand represented the light of God – the Torah, God’s teaching.

On the opposite side of the Holy Place stood the gold table of sacred bread – twelve loaves baked from the manna God provided, representing the twelve tribes, which were replaced with fresh bread weekly. Just as the lampstand provided light, so the bread provided nourishment and strength for the way. God’s teaching was both light and bread for His people.

The third item of furniture in the Holy Place stood directly in front of the heavily embroidered curtain which covered the entrance to the Most Holy Place. It was a gold-covered altar on which incense was burned, representing the prayers of God’s people which were to be offered to Him as sweet incense. The writer of this letter put the incense altar inside the Most Holy Place. This was unlikely because the priests had to offer incense on it daily, which would have been impossible for them had it been inside the Most Holy Place since they were not permitted into the Holy of Holies.

The inner shrine, the Most Holy Place had no artificial light. It was lit by the Glory – the radiant light of God’s presence that shone above the lid of the gold box called the Ark of the Covenant. The box was made of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold, beaten so thin that it became transparent and reflected like a mirror.

The contents of the box were highly symbolic. The first was the tablets of stone on which were written God’s marriage covenant with His people, the Ten Commandments. The stone tablets were a replacement for the ones Moses smashed in anger when he saw his people worshipping a golden calf. The rod of Aaron which supernaturally budded and bore blossoms and fruit overnight also had a place in the ark. A pot of manna which remained supernaturally fresh, completed the items in the ark.

Each of these had symbolic significance, especially in the relation to the lid of the box which was called “the atonement cover”. The stone tablets represented the people’s rejection of God’s word. They broke the covenant by worshipping an idol. The rod of Aaron represented their rejection of God’s authority. They challenged the leadership God had appointed. Through the budding of the rod, God showed them supernaturally who was in charge. The pot of manna represented their rejection of God’s provision. They rebelled against the manna and were severely disciplined for their complaining.

All three items were inside the box, under the atonement cover upon which the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood every year, symbolising God’s forgiveness of their sin for another year.

However, as beautiful as these symbols were, they were only temporary, and only pictures at best. Animal blood could never atone for the people’s rebellion against God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.