Worship is ministry to the Lord. We can sincerely offer little definition of worship. The Bible gives clear definition and examples of how our praise is to be conducted. Words like "joy" "gladness" "singing" "dancing" "playing instruments" "clapping our hands" "shouting for joy" etc, etc. give rich understanding of all that is appropriate as a means of expression when offering praise.
Worship is a different thing...
Consider the fact that no one can really tell you how to love your wife, or husband. You have to grow in that relationship experientially. There is no manual provided at a wedding ceremony that gives newly wed couples that "how to" on successfully loving a spouse.
Worshipping God is kind of the same. It has to be experiential.
And just like we can understand being created for a marriage relationship... we were created for just the same to be worshippers of God.
I cannot emphasize enough that our purpose for being created is to offer up sacrifices of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks, that ministers to the heart of our loving Father. Jesus emphasized this important element of our purpose by stating that the Father is seeking those who will worship in spirit and truth. Obviously God wants it; therefore, we should be quick to respond by giving that which ultimately pleases Him, rather than seeking our own methods. In the 44th chapter of Ezekiel we find that ministry to the Lord is not to be taken for granted, nor to be regarded as secondary to the value of ministry to people. Ministry to people is vital to the work of the Church, but it is never to be considered our highest priority. When looking at the passages in Ezekiel 44 we see that God punished Israeli priests for profaning the temple by taking away their rights to minister to HIM in their daily duties. This left them only the responsibilities of ministry to people.
Isn't that odd?
God left the priests with the duties of ministry to people. But prohibited them from ministry to HIM.
Most people have the impression that ministry is "all about the people."
Ministry to the Lord is our first priority in this life.
Ministry to people can become as burdensome as a prison sentence when it does not spring from ministry to the Lord first. Ministry to the Lord refreshes and energizes. Let’s take our purpose and calling seriously and enter the house of God with the desire to worship Him first and foremost. After making that our top priority, we will see that ministry to people will flourish as the result of our spending time worshipping Jesus.
Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praise. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Inhabit our praise.
Looking back through the scriptures we can see patterns of worship in the Tabernacle of David where worship was offered in the form of music and song as acceptable sacrifices. David’s heart of worship was that of a man before his time. King David utilized musicians and singers to worship 24/7 before the Lord although there was no mention of singing as a form of sacrifice or worship in the Tabernacle of Moses. Sacrifices of blood and incense were offered regularly, but neither singing nor playing of instruments was used as part of the ritual. The Tabernacle of Moses was still in operation in Shiloh during David’s reign as King, but God’s presence was no longer there. Psalm 78:60 reveals that God “forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent in which He had dwelt among men (and never returned to it again)” vs. 68 ” But He chose the tribe of Judah (Praise), Mt. Zion which He loves (to replace Shiloh as His capitol.)”
But he chose Mt. Zion… the place where David erected his tabernacle as a house of worship. It is no wonder that David was said to be a man after God’s heart. David knew that God was not interested in the sacrificed blood of bulls and goats, not really. Even though God instituted and mandated the required law of shed blood for sins. What God was after all along was a people who understood why a relationship with the King of the Universe should cause them to worship with singing and rejoicing.
God inhabited the praises of His people during the reign of David. And He still does today when we offer the sacrifices of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Drink deeply
JP
But he chose Mt. Zion… the place where David erected his tabernacle as a house of worship. It is no wonder that David was said to be a man after God’s heart. David knew that God was not interested in the sacrificed blood of bulls and goats, not really. Even though God instituted and mandated the required law of shed blood for sins. What God was after all along was a people who understood why a relationship with the King of the Universe should cause them to worship with singing and rejoicing.
God inhabited the praises of His people during the reign of David. And He still does today when we offer the sacrifices of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Drink deeply
JP
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
What is your praise worth?
King David knew the value of worship and had determined that he would never approach the Lord empty-handed. Worship has value. What we now understand about this covenant we have with God through the finished work of Christ is that Jesus, Himself, is the value in our praise. He is the cost. There is nothing for us to bring to the place of worship that is an acceptable offering or sacrifice unto the Lord other than our praise. To offer anything else is to be like Cain and bring a harvest of produce that he had worked so hard to raise, when the sacrifice that God required of him was not garden produce but blood. Although his offering was no doubt of great value, it was not a suitable substitute for what God required. We can offer no substitutes for what God requires. God does require the “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13) from His people and will accept no replacement for it, regardless of what it may cost us.
Jesus gave His life on our behalf. He was the only sacrifice worthy to redeem sinful, broken, fallen, lost people to a right relationship with God. What gives our worship value in God’s presence is the knowledge that we could never have achieved reconciliation on our terms or merit. It was accomplished by God and God alone. Now that we have received the provision of salvation by grace through faith, let us boldly go into the presence of God and offer the required sacrifice of praise with great gratitude because we fully recognize that Jesus has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. If you don’t know what Jesus has saved you from, your praise will have little value. If you are coming into the throne room of the Most High God under the impression that He needs to see you showcase the greatness of your own goodness and works, your praise will speak little of Him, and mostly of yourself, which is why the apostle Paul said, “We are saved by grace through faith, and not of works, lest we should boast.”
Salvation is of the Lord and not of us. Remember what Romans 3 says… “None is righteous… no one seeks God…” We contain no currency within ourselves to purchase any blessing or place of right standing with God. That is why it was done for us while we were still His enemies.
We have no standing in the presence of the Lord without the provision of Jesus’ sacrifice.
We brought nothing into relationship by our efforts. God did it for us, in spite of us. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner our praise of Him will become ignited with the fire of the Holy Spirit. I have nothing to sing about other than His great love. I have nothing to proclaim other than His mercy that is new every morning. I have no other name under heaven to exalt than Jesus. I cannot boast in God’s presence. As the prophet Isaiah said, when seeing a vision of the Lord and was immediately humbled, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”
An angel took a coal from the altar and seared Isaiah’s lips so that his praise could be purified. Like Isaiah, that which our lips offer is not clean. My praise is not pure. My best efforts to offer praise full of truth and zeal is and always will be tainted by my limitations and humanity. However, as the temple worship in Israel laid the pattern in type and shadow of how it is with us today, Jesus, our High Priest, gathers the offerings (sacrifices of praise – the fruit of our lips giving thanks) of the people and offers them to the Father on our behalf. I don’t even have to worry about my praise not being “good enough” or “pure enough” or “passionate enough” for God’s standard, because Jesus receives our offerings of worship as High Priest. Our praise is offered through Him purified, cleansed and perfected for God to receive, spotless and holy. That is part of His continuous ministry as High Priest of our confession. What we offer to God… Jesus is the spokesman.
How can we take anything of ourselves, our works, our rule-keeping, fragmented attempts at law abiding, and lay them at the Throne of God as though they are of value. Our works are as filthy rags. Nothing to brag about. No value. Paul said he considered his flawless practice of Judaism and law keeping as “dung.” Yet we so often insist upon doing it to try and get God’s attention or to feel good about ourselves when a good old-fashioned round of repentance would work much better.
No… we cannot substitute anything that we have done as an offering of praise unto the Lord. God doesn’t want it. He didn’t ask for it. To do so would be no different than Cain offering his hard work in the fields, when God asked for the slaying of an animal.
God lays the parameters and establishes the boundaries.
Give God what He asks for. Is it really that hard?
It can be… if we refuse to see ourselves in the same perspective that God does. But when we see that God has leveled the playing field and called us all sinners, so that He can show mercy upon us all alike… male, female, young, old, church-goers, pagans, gays, straights, blacks, whites, yellow and red, hardened sinners, not so hardened. We’re all the same in God’s eyes and we will all bow our knee to the altogether great love of God. Love that bore our guilt and punishment upon Himself, paid the debt and let us go free.
Now that kind of love is WORTH something. Recognizing that gives my praise value.
Making Him the object of my thanks is what gives my praise a richness without measure.
Priceless…
Drink deeply.
JP
Jesus gave His life on our behalf. He was the only sacrifice worthy to redeem sinful, broken, fallen, lost people to a right relationship with God. What gives our worship value in God’s presence is the knowledge that we could never have achieved reconciliation on our terms or merit. It was accomplished by God and God alone. Now that we have received the provision of salvation by grace through faith, let us boldly go into the presence of God and offer the required sacrifice of praise with great gratitude because we fully recognize that Jesus has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. If you don’t know what Jesus has saved you from, your praise will have little value. If you are coming into the throne room of the Most High God under the impression that He needs to see you showcase the greatness of your own goodness and works, your praise will speak little of Him, and mostly of yourself, which is why the apostle Paul said, “We are saved by grace through faith, and not of works, lest we should boast.”
Salvation is of the Lord and not of us. Remember what Romans 3 says… “None is righteous… no one seeks God…” We contain no currency within ourselves to purchase any blessing or place of right standing with God. That is why it was done for us while we were still His enemies.
We have no standing in the presence of the Lord without the provision of Jesus’ sacrifice.
We brought nothing into relationship by our efforts. God did it for us, in spite of us. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner our praise of Him will become ignited with the fire of the Holy Spirit. I have nothing to sing about other than His great love. I have nothing to proclaim other than His mercy that is new every morning. I have no other name under heaven to exalt than Jesus. I cannot boast in God’s presence. As the prophet Isaiah said, when seeing a vision of the Lord and was immediately humbled, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”
An angel took a coal from the altar and seared Isaiah’s lips so that his praise could be purified. Like Isaiah, that which our lips offer is not clean. My praise is not pure. My best efforts to offer praise full of truth and zeal is and always will be tainted by my limitations and humanity. However, as the temple worship in Israel laid the pattern in type and shadow of how it is with us today, Jesus, our High Priest, gathers the offerings (sacrifices of praise – the fruit of our lips giving thanks) of the people and offers them to the Father on our behalf. I don’t even have to worry about my praise not being “good enough” or “pure enough” or “passionate enough” for God’s standard, because Jesus receives our offerings of worship as High Priest. Our praise is offered through Him purified, cleansed and perfected for God to receive, spotless and holy. That is part of His continuous ministry as High Priest of our confession. What we offer to God… Jesus is the spokesman.
How can we take anything of ourselves, our works, our rule-keeping, fragmented attempts at law abiding, and lay them at the Throne of God as though they are of value. Our works are as filthy rags. Nothing to brag about. No value. Paul said he considered his flawless practice of Judaism and law keeping as “dung.” Yet we so often insist upon doing it to try and get God’s attention or to feel good about ourselves when a good old-fashioned round of repentance would work much better.
No… we cannot substitute anything that we have done as an offering of praise unto the Lord. God doesn’t want it. He didn’t ask for it. To do so would be no different than Cain offering his hard work in the fields, when God asked for the slaying of an animal.
God lays the parameters and establishes the boundaries.
Give God what He asks for. Is it really that hard?
It can be… if we refuse to see ourselves in the same perspective that God does. But when we see that God has leveled the playing field and called us all sinners, so that He can show mercy upon us all alike… male, female, young, old, church-goers, pagans, gays, straights, blacks, whites, yellow and red, hardened sinners, not so hardened. We’re all the same in God’s eyes and we will all bow our knee to the altogether great love of God. Love that bore our guilt and punishment upon Himself, paid the debt and let us go free.
Now that kind of love is WORTH something. Recognizing that gives my praise value.
Making Him the object of my thanks is what gives my praise a richness without measure.
Priceless…
Drink deeply.
JP
Friday, March 20, 2009
Welcome to the New Wine Bar
Greetings... I've thought for the longest time that I should NOT join the millions of those who feel compelled to put their thoughts and ideas online. The idea that my contributions would be buried under vast mountains of cyber sand and gravel without ever being discovered and read by anyone was my essential cause for demotivation. But lately I've had a change of heart. Certainly the Apostle Paul (one of my great heros, along with Luther, Calvin and other great reformers and free-thinkers who impacted history) would have loved the possibilities available through the Internet. The people that could have been reached and touched at the click of a keyboard. Endless...
Not that I think my perspectives, ideas, viewpoints and insights are equal to those as Paul, Calvin, Luther, etc. but heck, you never know until you lay it out there who will be touched or provoked by my offerings until they're given.
With that in mind... I present the "New Wine Bar." I unapologetically use the term "bar" in my blogspot title and affiliate it with things "Christian, spiritual, religious, etc." with a purpose. It is meant to be what it is... a bar... a place where people gather to partake in something they enjoy... a place where conversation is optimum and ideas are welcomed, heard and laid out among friends. A place where people come to DRINK IN the New Wine of Jesus and be filled. Satisfied. Refreshed. If the concept offends you, there are certainly countless other blogs online that are more suitable to your taste. Find them.
The themes that will be reoccuring are LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, FAITH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, JOY, ABUNDANT LIFE, FREEDOM, LIBERTY, SPIRITUAL GIFTS, PRAISE and WORSHIP.
There will be times when the ideas offered will be as simple as a children's Sunday school lesson, others will be as controversial as it can possibly get. Some will certainly find the entries more offensive than my blogspot title. But that's OK.
My grandfather used to love to look at me and quote the Bible saying, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein..." The smile that remained on his face long after quoting that verse always left me knowing that his faith in the God who owns EVERYTHING meant him too... and also me. He never let me forget that. It established hope in my heart and joy in my soul. My future belongs to the Lord who owns everything and reigns over all his creation with great love.
Check back with me now and then... leave me your thoughts and reflections on postings whether you agree or not.
But always remember that Christ is our mediator and common denominator as well.
I will not judge you, who does or doesn't serve the same Lord.
But I will LISTEN to your views. I may respond by agreeing or disagreeing. That is my choice and priviledge.
Together we will drink deep at the New Wine Bar.
JP
Not that I think my perspectives, ideas, viewpoints and insights are equal to those as Paul, Calvin, Luther, etc. but heck, you never know until you lay it out there who will be touched or provoked by my offerings until they're given.
With that in mind... I present the "New Wine Bar." I unapologetically use the term "bar" in my blogspot title and affiliate it with things "Christian, spiritual, religious, etc." with a purpose. It is meant to be what it is... a bar... a place where people gather to partake in something they enjoy... a place where conversation is optimum and ideas are welcomed, heard and laid out among friends. A place where people come to DRINK IN the New Wine of Jesus and be filled. Satisfied. Refreshed. If the concept offends you, there are certainly countless other blogs online that are more suitable to your taste. Find them.
The themes that will be reoccuring are LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, FAITH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, JOY, ABUNDANT LIFE, FREEDOM, LIBERTY, SPIRITUAL GIFTS, PRAISE and WORSHIP.
There will be times when the ideas offered will be as simple as a children's Sunday school lesson, others will be as controversial as it can possibly get. Some will certainly find the entries more offensive than my blogspot title. But that's OK.
My grandfather used to love to look at me and quote the Bible saying, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein..." The smile that remained on his face long after quoting that verse always left me knowing that his faith in the God who owns EVERYTHING meant him too... and also me. He never let me forget that. It established hope in my heart and joy in my soul. My future belongs to the Lord who owns everything and reigns over all his creation with great love.
Check back with me now and then... leave me your thoughts and reflections on postings whether you agree or not.
But always remember that Christ is our mediator and common denominator as well.
I will not judge you, who does or doesn't serve the same Lord.
But I will LISTEN to your views. I may respond by agreeing or disagreeing. That is my choice and priviledge.
Together we will drink deep at the New Wine Bar.
JP
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