Tag: worship

Worship God with your Speech

1 Thess 5 18

Free theme week: Worship
Chapter reading for the day: I Thessalonians 5

The most obvious way people communicate is through speech. Much like thinking,
because we talk so much, and it is such an integral part of our life experience we often
don’t think about what we say. We live in an age where being heard is more important
than the quality and validity of what is being said. When it comes to speech and talking
do you worship God? Is your tongue obedient to Jesus? Jesus often only presents two
options when it comes to examining your life. You’re either on the broad road that leads
to death or you’re on the narrow road that leads to life. You’re either a good tree that
produces good fruit or you’re an evil tree that produces evil fruit. You either serve God
or wealth. You either hear the words of Jesus and don’t act on them or you hear the
words of Jesus and act on them. Ask yourself,  “Do the words I speak honor God and
Jesus or do they not?”
God and Jesus care about what comes out of your mouth. What you say has power and
consequences. Because of this truth the Bible has a lot to say about words and speech
conduct:
“An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will escape
from trouble” – Proverbs 12.13
“The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; the one who opens wide his lips
comes to ruin” – Proverbs 13.2
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” –
Proverbs 18.21
“You brood of vipers, how can you being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth
speaks out of that which fills the heart…But I tell you that every careless word that
people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgement. For by your
words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” – Matthew
12.34,35,36
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good
for edification according to the need of the moment…” – Ephesians 4.29
“There must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks.” – Ephesians 5.4
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” – I
Thessalonians 5.18
“No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we
bless the Lord and Father and with it we curse men…from the same mouth come
blessing and cursing, my brethren, these thing ought not to be this way” – James 3.8-9
We can see that the Bible teaches about speech in different ways. Sometimes the
Bible teaches using wisdom and starts with the point that the tongue is powerful and
wisdom should be used when speaking. Jesus teaches us that what we say we will beheld accountable to. And the Bible teaches about positive and negative speech. We
should abstain from “unwholesome” words that don’t edify or encourage others. This
could be constant negative speaking, sarcasm, curse words, unnecessary criticism, etc.
Whereas we are urged to be grateful in our speech and speak life and uplift others.
Jesus says that out of the heart the mouth speaks. What does your speech say about your
heart condition? Do your words worship God or do your words sound like the world?
God wants all of you including your speech. Glorify God with your words. Speak life and
not death.
-Jacob Rohrer

Worship God with your Mind

Philippians 4 6

Free theme week: Worship

Chapter reading for the day: Philippians 4

 

The mind is incredibly powerful. Because the mind is powerful and directly affects how we live our life and how we think about ourself, setting our mind on God is of paramount importance. If Satan and dark spiritual forces can win over your mind and have you believe their “truth” then they control you. We see this when Jesus was led into the wilderness and then was tempted by Satan. Satan questioned Jesus’ identity twice trying to get Jesus to believe that he was not who God said he was. Satan was attacking the mind of Jesus. But Jesus had a strong mind that was set upon God and his promises and did not fall for Satan attacks. Worshipping God with our mind is essential if we want to stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. Today we’ll look at one way that we can love and worship God with our mind.

The definition of anxiety is a being in a state of apprehension, uneasiness, or nervousness. Anxiety wrecks the mind and bombards it with endless “what if’s”. All of us have experienced anxiety at one time or another. There are many situations that we can become anxious about including our relationship with God. If left unchecked anxiety can consume a person and drastically affect their relationship with God and Jesus. When this happens the person and their mind is living in a state of “non-worship”. In Philippians 4.6-8 God reveals to us the remedy of anxiousness:

“6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests made known to God. 7 And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Philippians 4.6-8 is a call to worship God with our mind. To set our mind on God and Jesus and not dwell or focus on anxiety. Here are some things we learn from this passage:

  1. Let nothing in life give you anxiety
  2. Because we are called to give everything to God in prayer (including anxiety)
  3. The supernatural peace made available to us because of Jesus will guard our heart and mind
  4. We are to set our mind on things that are good, godly, and wholesome.

Notice that Philippians 4 does not say that life will not have anxiety. But when you do have episodes or seasons of anxiety do not let it consume you. Surrender it to God in prayer. When we allow ourselves to be consumed with anxiety and fear we live in a state of non-worship of the mind. But when we obey what God has said we worship God with our mind, it says I will not let [fill in the blank] define me or consume me, I will bring it to God. That is worshipping God with our mind. This is worship that God desires from his people.

-Jacob Rohrer

Worship God with your Body

Col 3 5a

Free Theme Week: Worship

Chapter reading for the day: Colossians 3

There is a particular “truth” that is extremely pervasive in our culture, the news, social media, etc. This “truth” is that you are the sole determiner in what you decide to do with your body and that no one else has the right to tell you what you can or can’t do with it. If you want to tattoo your whole body do it. If you want to fill your body with botox and recreate your image through plastic surgery have at it. If a woman wants to get an abortion, how dare anyone tell her she cannot. If you want to sleep around with different people in the name of finding yourself and wanting non-committal sex, more power to you. We are bombarded with messages everyday about how the individual is the authority of their body. There’s a problem though; this is a lie.

The truth is that humans are not the sole authority over their bodies, God is. The reason he is the authority is because he is the creator of our bodies (Psalm 139) and as disciples of Jesus we are to honor and glorify God and Jesus in our body. We are to subject our bodies to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and use our body for the glory of God and Jesus. Now there are many ways we can do this but for today we will look at two ways in which we can worship God in our body.

  1. Food
  2.   Sex

Food is a particular problem in America. We can eat food whenever we want and eat however much we like. The problem with this is that many Christians, along with Americans, are overweight and unhealthy. God created food to be good and for us to enjoy. The problem is when we indulge too much in food and we hurt our bodies with disease and premature death. The Bible warns against gluttony (Prov. 23.21, Philippians 3.19). When our bodies are slowed down by being overweight, too tired, and fighting disease the ministry God has given us is hindered. The remedy to being in control of food and honoring God with your body is self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5.22-23). Let us pursue self-control when it comes to eating. Let us pursue self-control when it comes to the quantity and quality of the food we eat. When we do this we honor and love God with our body. Your body is for more than just to take pleasure in food it is to worship God and minister to others.

A second way to love and honor God with our body is to obey God in his design of sex. Again God created sex to be good but only within the parameters that he set up. These parameters are the marriage union between a husband and wife. Whether you are married or single, any person can use sex outside of God’s will. Instead of listing activities that fall outside of God’s design for sex, I’ll speak positively to God’s will for sex. It really only comes down to two things:

  1. A husband and wife are to be sexually fidelitous
  2. A single person is to be abstinent in their body and mind until marriage

God states plainly in I Thessalonians 4.3, that his will for his people is to abstain from sexual immorality. Participating in sex the right way results in us loving and worshipping God with our body. As Paul states in his letter to the Corinthians:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” – I Corinthians 6.19-20

-Jacob Rohrer

 

Worship is Not a Song

Romans 12 1 (1)

THEME WEEK BREAK – WORSHIP .  (Next Sunday we will continue with our chapter by chapter New Testament devotions in the book of Romans)

Today’s Reading – Romans 12

The topic for this week’s devotion is one that God has been teaching me about for the last few years. That is the topic of worship. This is an immensely broad topic with many details and facets to it. But don’t worry, given the devotion format of this I will keep it concise, streamlined, and bring out only essential points. With that being said, I pray this will broaden our understanding of worship and convict us to live a more consecrated worshipful life for God and Jesus and live the best life God has for us!

What is worship? From what I read in the Bible and what God has taught me, worship is having the right heart condition that loves him and desires him to be glorified in every aspect of our life. Equally important is the understanding that biblical worship is worship that engages that whole person. This brings me to making a critical point. If you forget everything else or don’t read the rest of these devotions remember this: WORSHIP IS NOT A SONG IT IS A LIFESTYLE. Biblical worship engages the body, mind, heart, and soul. God desires his people to worship him and Jesus with everything they are in every aspect of their existence with the right heart condition motivating it all. This is what I believe biblical worship is.

Two foundational verses that speak to this topic are Deuteronomy 6.5 and Romans 12.1-2 (all bible quotations will come from the NASB) :

Deuteronomy 6.5:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”

Romans 12.1-2:

“Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable, and perfect.”

Take a moment to examine your understanding of worship. Do you think of worship as just a song or prayer? Do you worship God and Jesus with every aspect of your existence? Something I forgot to mention at the beginning was why should this matter at all? God has created us to worship him. Worship is central and essential in a believer’s life and walk. To live the best possible life God has for us in this lifetime is inextricably tied to worship.

-Jacob Rohrer

 

About Jacob: Jacob is an assistant pastor and worship pastor at Lawrenceville church of God. Currently he is engaged and will be getting married this June.

Sing, You Say?

psalm 95 1

We need to talk about singing.

Singing praises and worshipping God is something that we are called to do as Christians. Does that ring a bell?

“O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” -Psalm 95:1

“Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.” -Psalm 100:1

Those are just two of the many verses throughout the Bible that references singing. God wants us to make a joyful noise unto Him!

Sometimes a person may not want to sing because he or she thinks that his or her singing voice is not ideal. Possibly, they may think that they would burst someone’s eardrums if they try to sing. Although in some cases that may be the case, God is not worried about our vocalistic abilities. He just wants us to make a joyful shout to Him!

Singing in front of other people might not be your thing. You may be worried of someone judging your singing. These two reasons do not amount to anything compared to the calling that our Heavenly Father wants us to worship Him. If singing is not your preference think about this: We are within this world. We are sinners. We have to make changes within our lives to obey God’s Word and to live according to what His will is. Therefore we are called to change our ways. We might need to step out of our comfort zone. If you are worried about someone judging your singing abilities, remember who the real judge is. We should not judge others. Our judgment is from God, which Jesus Christ has the authority over. When Jesus Christ returns, we will be judged according to our deeds. If anything, just know that you are doing what God wants you to do! No one should be able to take away that joy!

Find your personal preference of worship music. We, humans, are more willing and open to worship by singing, if we are comfortable with what we are singing. Are you more of a hymn, chorus, or contemporary worship song type of person? Find something that you enjoy and make a joyful noise to the LORD!

Singing is just one form of worship. Ultimately anything we do that glorifies God or is done in honor or love for God is considered worship. Remember that you can love God from anywhere!

Today I encourage you to continue to make joyful noises unto the LORD or begin trying to worship by singing. It’s something we are called to do! Find your preference in worship music, and sing, sing, sing!

-Brenan Dominguez

ON PURPOSE – Worship

Matt 22 37,8

 

The rest of this week we are talking about living life ON PURPOSE – the way God intended.  Choosing God-given targets (not the fake worldly targets that keep popping up in our way), and then pursuing those goals with everything we have – both individually, as well as with the church body.

 

If you took the opportunity to read the passages at the end of yesterday’s post (Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 2:41-47), you read the Great Commandment(s), the Great Commission, and a brief description of the Early Church – great reading for sure.   In Rick Warren’s book, Purpose Driven Church, he recounts the work done at his church to create and live by a great purpose statement.  After much study of God’s Word they boiled it down to this slogan: “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a Great Church.” (p. 103).

 

Today let’s dive into just the first part of the Great Commandment passage.  A Pharisee tested Jesus, asking him what is the greatest commandment?  Jesus replied – quoting Deuteronomy: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt 22:37-38).  And, so living our life to love God should be our first and greatest priority.  What does this look like?  When we love something/someone we revere it and hold it up.  We spend time with what we love.  We seek out ways to honor those people and things we love.  We put up on a pedestal those we love – and in God’s case – he fully deserves this and much more.  We call this WORSHIP!

 

Worship is defined as, “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity”.  I like that the definition includes not just feeling it – but showing it.  Our church worship services ought to be great places for us to be active, engaged, thoughtful, giving, speaking, singing participants in worship.  But, if that is the only time we are worshipping we are falling far short of our God-given purpose of worship.

 

Many examples of worship can be found throughout the book of Psalms.  Go ahead, pick a chapter or two and look for instances of worship – as well as why God is worthy to be worshipped.  Just a few examples are: “I will PRAISE you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will TELL of all your wonders.” (Psalm 9:1), “OFFER right sacrifices…” (Psalm 4:5), “WAIT for the Lord…” (Psalm 27:14).  “I PRAY to you, O LORD” (Psalm 69: 13).  “I will PRAISE God’s name in SONG and GLORIFY him with THANKSGIVING.” (Psalm 69:30).

 

This is all well and fine when we FEEL like praising God – when the sun is shining and we are on top of His world.  But, what about those days when the clouds are out and we are discouraged or feel God is silent or playing hide and seek with us.  Our feelings don’t change the first and greatest commandment – to LOVE God.  Our circumstances don’t change our first and greatest priority – to WORSHIP God.

 

Psalm 13 is a perfect example for us when we are stuck in the cloudy day mentality.  David feels forgotten by God, he is wrestling with dark thoughts and a heavy heart, he feels he has been trampled down by his enemies/life.  Yet, he ends the short Psalm with this: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” (Psalm 13:5-6).   God is worthy of our worship – all the time …. And all the time – God is worthy of our worship.

 

How will you WORSHIP Him today?

 

Blessings,

Marcia Railton

 

Where Do You Worship – Part 2

 

 

romans 12 1.png

In Romans 12:1 we are told to sacrifice our bodies, a living sacrifice. This is our reasonable (or true and proper) “service”. Service is also translated correctly worship. So, a Sunday Service is a time of worship. However, in verse 2 Paul tells us how to do the sacrifice.

romans 12 2 satisfy font

When we change our minds to obey God, leaving worldly things and performing God’s will, it’s worship. So, the place of worship is in our own bodies. Many people have been misled into believing that you must be in a particular place to worship. It’s better said you must be in a particular frame of mind to worship.

-Larry Rankin

 

Where Do You Worship?

WORSHIP

I have been asked many times during my trips if we have to worship in the chapel. Or, which chapel is the right place to worship. The word they use in the Philippines came from the Spanish priests. “Simbahan”. “Simba” means worship and “han” means place. So naturally they assume the building is the place to worship. Read Genesis 22:1-12 and notice in many translations verse 5 says Abraham worshipped on Mount Moriah.

EVERYWHERE (1)

And what did he do there? Sacrifice. This makes us think of sacrifice as worship. In fact what we sacrifice for God is our worship to him. It’s that we should worship God as we love God. With all of our being and available resources.

-Larry Rankin

 

SACRIFICE

True Worship

matt 15 8

Matthew 15

In a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over traditions that the Pharisees held to, Jesus quotes a passage from Isaiah 29: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” (Matthew 15:8,9 NASB) This is critical for understanding what it truly means to worship God our Father. We cannot merely offer “lip-service” to our God, but need to be truly devoted to Him with our whole hearts.

How many times have we gone into church on Sunday morning, sang songs about God and Jesus, listened to a sermon, and then went home as if nothing has really happened? We have all done this at some point, and we pretend like we have truly been worshipping God by doing this; unfortunately, this is not what God desires. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5, we see what God truly wants: “Hear, O Israel! YHWH is our God, YHWH is one! You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Jesus himself quoted this passage when someone asked him what the greatest commandment is in Mark 10:29-30. We can see that God does not just want us to say we love Him; He wants us to honestly have a deep relationship with Him as a father. The challenge for us this week is to not merely go to church because we are expected to go every week; let’s go to church because we honestly want to develop a deeper relationship with our God and His Son, Jesus.

-Talon Paul

Talon Paul is a pastor at the Maple Grove Community Church in Kokomo, IN. He is married to Rebbecca Massie from Ohio, and is originally from Oregon, IL. He has a deep love for God, his church, wrestling, and Pokemon Go.

Responding to the Glory of God

 

Ezekiel 43-44

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Sunday, April 2

How should we respond to God’s glory?

To be able to answer this question, we should know what God’s glory is. A simple definition is His character, holiness, and excellence revealed. It is the essence of God on display.

In today’s passage, we read about Ezekiel experiencing God’s glory in a vision. He hears the voice of the LORD (Yahweh), which sounds like “the roar of rushing waters,” sees the land “radiant with his glory,” and witnesses the glory of Yahweh filling the temple (Ezek. 43:1-6).

You and I will likely never get the opportunity to receive a vision from the Almighty in which we can see His glory in such an amazing fashion. But God has revealed aspects of His character, holiness, and excellence to us in several ways. In these we can experience the glory of God and respond to it.

God has revealed Himself through His creation. This idea is called Natural Revelation. Romans 1:20 says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” When one looks at nature it is difficult, at least for me, to believe that everything seen came about by chance and was not designed by an intelligent being. While Natural Revelation doesn’t tell us much about who God is, it does show a great deal about what He is capable of and how great He is.

God has also revealed Himself through the scriptures. What Natural Revelation leaves out about who God is, the Bible fills in much more. The writers of each book in the Bible were inspired by God through His holy spirit. They rely stories of the wonderful things He has done and inform readers of what He can do, and some even reveal what He will do in the future. The Bible offers a large portrait of the greatness and goodness of God, but doesn’t give a complete picture. Not until we dwell with Him in His kingdom will we experience the full weight of His glory.

God has revealed Himself through His son. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree is an expression often used to illustrate how a son is very much like his father, this could be said of Jesus. But more accurately it would be said that the apple doesn’t fall from the tree at all, it is essentially still part of the tree. Jesus is the exact representation of His father. If we want to get a better picture or understanding of God, the best thing we can do is to simply read the Gospels that tell of Jesus. The character of Christ is the character of God. The attributes Jesus exhibits are the same of his father. The glory of God is seen in His son.

The question still remains, how are we to respond to God’s glory?

I think our response should be twofold.

(1) We should be reverent. God is not like us. He is perfect. He is holy. He has great power. He created the world in which we live and, when we messed it us, had a way to make it right again. So, he deserves to be praised. He is entitled (it is his right) to be worshiped. This reverence we have for God should lead to not just passive adoration, but active glorification. We can stand in church and say God is great, but if we think this to be a great truth, it should move us to give our lives to him and serve him everyday of our lives.

(2) We should be repentant. When I say God is holy this means two things: he is set apart and he is pure. We, as human being who engage in sin, are not pure and we tend to act the same as everyone else, making us not set apart. That being said, we are called to be holy as God is holy. The first step towards holiness is repentance. We must forsake our sin and choose Jesus instead. He is the only one who can make us holy.

As you read our passage for today, as you go outdoors and see the beauty that is nature, and when you read about Jesus in the gospels, think about how you should respond. After all, you’re experiencing God’s glory.

-Joel Fletcher

Joel Fletcher is a former student of ABC. He currently lives in Minnesota with his wonderful wife Stephanie. He likes to read boring non-fiction books, watch boring baseball, and hang out with his NON-BORING wife in his free time. He is planning on teaching a class at FUEL this year (its topic will not be boring).