Tag Archives: praise

JOYOUS PRAISE IN THE MORNING

Devotion, ,

JOYOUS PRAISE IN THE MORNING


When I open my curtains in the early morning, I catch a glimpse of the first rays of the sun peeping through the tree at the bottom of our garden. Then my mind turns to Matt Redman’s beautiful song, “Ten thousand reasons,” and I begin to sing as I make my bed.

“The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing His song again.
Whatever may pass and whatever may befall me
Let me be singing when the evening comes.”

My heart leaps with joy as I burst into the chorus…

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
O my soul,
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship your holy name.”

The first verse sets the tone for my day – a declaration of trust in the one I worship, that He is God and will order all the circumstances of my day as He pleases.

The second verse directs my thoughts to this God whom I bless and praise in my song.

“You’re rich in love and you’re slow to anger
Your name is great and your heart is kind.
For all your goodness I will keep on singing,
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.”

I have every reason to trust Him for today and tomorrow since my yesterdays are all a testimony to His goodness.

And what of my future? God has written my days in His book and He alone knows when my final day will come. However, like Matt’s song, I have confidence that the song I sang this morning will be my song in eternity…

“And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end is near and my time has come,
Still my soul will sing your praise unending.
Ten thousand years and then forevermore.”

My faith is strong; I have declared my trust in God for another day. I am equipped with a praising heart to face whatever comes with expectation that He is working for my good in all things.

Will you also sing His song in the morning and let its lyrics and melody resound in your mind throughout the day?

PRAYER
Father God, I can give you no greater honour than to sing your song, and to live today in the atmosphere of worship. As Jesus’ disciples confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” so, I, too, confess that there is no one greater than you in whom to believe.

With all my heart I thank you for your great salvation, for your love that surrounds and sustains me in every test and trial, and for your grace that helps me to endure.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and everything that is within me, bless His holy name.

HE DID IT FOR HIMSELF

Bible Study, ,

HE DID IT FOR HIMSELF

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One He loves (Eph. 1: 3-6).

Today I have the pleasure of directing your attention to something Paul wrote that the church has either largely ignored or forgotten. In a popular Christian magazine published in my country, the editor wrote in her editorial, three reasons for needing Jesus: We need forgiveness, we need a friend and we need a future.

This is a typical symptom of the humanistic Jesus and the humanistic gospel that is prevalent in the church today. God the Father and Jesus the Son have been downgraded to those who are here to meet our needs. Although it is true that God does meet our needs, is that the reason He had such a daring plan in sending His Son into the world?

Church groups and denominational and independent evangelists often visit my town, and prepare their arrival by putting up large, brightly coloured posters announcing their campaigns with words such as “Come and get your miracle”! This may be a “seeker-friendly” way to attract people, but is this the message of the gospel?

By the way, I have also noticed how much of Christian “prayer” treats God like a celestial “slot machine”. Drop your prayer into the slot, push the button and out comes the answer – a practice disguised by the words, “I’m believing God for . . .” What happened to the trust, submission and obedience that are the hallmarks of a son or daughter? Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done,” not, “My will be done . . . and I have told you what I want!”

Strangely enough, Paul mentions none of these motives for believing in Jesus in his letter to the Ephesian church. He paints a very different picture for believing in Jesus from the one presented by much of our modern-day evangelism. His outburst of praise flowed from his understanding of God’s heart. Why did God send Jesus? So that we can escape hell and go to heaven? So that God can take away all our problems and give us health and wealth to enjoy this life?

Paul repeatedly incorporated a six-word phrase into his expression of praise, which says it all! God did everything through Christ “to the praise of His glory.” Before Paul’s arrival, Ephesus was a city of paganism, idolatry and witchcraft and the evil practices accompanying these false beliefs. The people worshipped Diana, a many-breasted goddess, through cult prostitution with the priestesses at Diana’s temple.

Paul’s letter to a church in this city is proof enough of the power of the gospel of Jesus to rescue people from the “gates of hell”. Through His power, He changed their lives from idol-worshippers to sons and daughters of the Most High God, whom He had called to be “holy and blameless in His sight.” Wow!

But what did Paul preach? Come to Jesus to have your sins forgiven. He will be your friend and you will have a future in heaven? A thousand times, no! Paul and Peter preached the same message. Paul wrote:

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4: 5-6).

And on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declared:

Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2: 36).

It was God’s plan from the beginning, not just to take us to heaven when we die, but to transform us from rebel sinners into sons and daughters, recreated in the image of our Creator and refashioned into the image of His Son. His plan was that we should reflect His glory by being replicas of His Son on earth.

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed (Rom. 8: 19).

Paul stated with great vehemence to the Galatian church:

But even if we or an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be under God’s curse (Gal. 1: 8).

Dear reader, beware! Do not fall for a gospel that dethrones Jesus. Jesus died in obedience to the Father so that the Father’s mercy (the glory) could forever be put on display. Anything less than that is not the gospel. It is a lie!

Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out . . . for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen (Rom. 11: 33; 36).

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

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                           ebook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

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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.

No Enduring City

Bible Study, , , , ,

NO ENDURING CITY

For we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb. 13: 14-16).

There are some pretty bad things happening in the world around us. Apart from the things that irk us in our own country, what about what goes on in the rest of the world? It is easy for us to become despondent, to complain and to criticise, to judge and condemn and, worse still, to blame God for not doing anything about it.

Our writer says, “Don’t do that. You don’t belong here anyway. This present world with its greed, selfishness and injustice, is not your permanent home. This is your apprenticeship for the real life which is to come.” We forget that our citizenship is in heaven when life is tough and uncomfortable down here. When we keep our sights on where we belong – in the realm of God’s presence and rule, we can be optimistic and full of joy because what lies ahead for us is beyond our imagination.

This gives us reason to be a thankful people. It is not sacrifice in the sense of doing something painful when we offer God praise. It is an act of worship, continually remembering what He has done for us and raising our hearts to Him in gratitude and love for His mercy and goodness. This is the reason for our generosity towards others – God has been infinitely generous to us.

We no longer need to offer the sacrifices of animal flesh and blood to cover sin and to worship God since the blood of Jesus is sufficient for the forgiveness of our sin, once for all. However, that does not mean that we no longer need to offer sacrifices – tokens of our worship and gratitude to God. There are at least five different ways to express our love to Him which constitute our “spiritual” worship.

The writer to the Hebrews mentions two here:

Praise as an act of worship is an expression of our love to God, not only for who He is and what He has already done, but also as our way of trusting Him with our lives for the future. When we focus on God instead of on all the bad things that happen around us and in the world, we take our eyes off this world and fill our vision with the hope towards which we are moving.

Our gratitude to God spills over into acts of kindness towards others. It may not necessarily mean giving away material things. What about people’s need for acceptance and affirmation; expressions of gratitude and appreciation; support and comfort; or kind words instead of criticism? There are a thousand ways in which we can spread love and blessing in a heartless world. This is our way of showing our love to God.

Paul gives us at least two other ways in which we can worship God. In Romans 12:1 he urges us to respond to God’s mercy by giving Him our bodies. He is not talking about being literal sacrifices but “living sacrifices”, allowing Jesus to have complete ownership of everything we think, say and do. As he said elsewhere, “No I but Christ lives in me.”

Being generous with our money and possessions is another way of worshipping the Lord. Paul acknowledge the generosity of the Philippian church towards him for sending him money when he needed it. What was more important, however, was that they were worshipping the Lord by their giving.

I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.  They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God (Phil. 4: 18).

Jesus spoke more about money and things than He did about anything else. Why? Because He knew how big a part money plays in our lives. It either rules us or we rule it. Generosity is the way to break the power money has over us. We are to be generous with our money because God has been generous to us in every way. When He has control of what we own, we are truly free from the crippling love of money.

Above everything else, however, there is a gift God longs for us to give Him. David understood that God was not interested in animal blood. He wanted something far more valuable from us – our submissive and contrite hearts. In the midst of his guilt because of the terrible things he had done when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he said this:

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise (Psa. 51: 16-17).

What is the best offering of all? A heart that is submissive and obedient to God. Without it, all our worship is worthless.

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.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

God’s Chosen People

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GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2: 9-10).

Is Peter giving us a clue to the identity of the people to whom he was writing? In his greeting he did not specify that they were Jewish believers, but he did scatter clues along the way – like a parent setting up a treasure hunt for his child’s birthday party.

They were God’s elect according to His foreknowledge but exiles just like the Israelites of the northern kingdom who were scattered throughout the nations when their land was conquered by the Assyrians and the people sent into exile. Perhaps some of these early believers were descendants of those exiles and they themselves were exiles in their hometowns because of their faith in the Messiah.

They were God’s elect, chosen by God and set apart for Himself.

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession (Deut. 7: 6).

They were to be a royal priesthood. What does that mean?

God chose the nation of Israel to minister to the surrounding nations by ministering to the Lord. It was His intention that they be God’s representative to the nations, bringing the truth about God to them by carrying out His requirements for true worship. Through their praise, their worship and their holy lives, they were to show the ungodly people around them what their God was like.

‘Now if you will obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex. 19: 5-6).

A kingdom of priests? It was God’s intention that the entire nation, under His authority and rule was to minister to the Lord. When they chose to worship a golden calf instead of obeying God’s commands, they forfeited that right. Instead, God chose the Levites, the only tribe that remained loyal to Him, to have the privilege of ministering to Him.

The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute ad assault  (Deut 21: 5).

A holy nation? God chose Abraham and the nation that would come through him to be a blessing to the whole world. They were to be set apart from all other gods to be His special people, to live according to His standards and in obedience to His covenant. Through them God would bring the Messiah to bless all the nations of the world. They were privileged above all the people of the world to know God and to make Him known.

For what purpose did God call Israel to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation?

. . . My people, my chosen, and the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise (Isa. 43:20b- 21).

Those to whom Peter addressed his letter would have understood what he was writing. They were part of those who were not God’s people and they had not received mercy but now, because of their faith in God’s Messiah they were restored and had received mercy to become God’s people again.

Although there may have been Gentiles among Peter’s readers, the implications of what he wrote must have hit home to his Jewish readers. Just like God’s intention for His ancient people, they (and we) were also included in His purpose to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God’s special possession so that they too might also declare God’s praise to the nations who did not know Him.

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.