THE GATEWAY TO WORSHIP

God has two dwellings:

one in heaven, and

the other in a meek

and thankful heart

Izaak Walton

How do we become a lifestyle worshiper? Where is the starting point? Worship begins with saying, "THANK YOU." Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving ..." In other words, GRATITUDE is the gateway to worship. We enter the gates with thanksgiving, then we cross the courts with praise. Hebrews 12:28 says, "Be thankful, and so worship God acceptably." It all starts with saying THANKS.

"Thank you." Two simple words that can be, at times, oh so difficult to say. THANKFULNESS IS A DISCIPLINE. It is a learned BEHAVIOUR. Giving thanks is a way for us to declare the glory of God. It keeps us in a heart-posture of surrender and humility. It reminds us that our lives are in someone else's hands. THANKFULNESS helps us recall God's wonderful acts of mercy and grace, and to recognize that these very acts are born out of His unchanging nature.

God's actions are demonstrations of His character. He does what He does because of Who He is. He saves because He is the Saviour. He creates because He is the Creator. He heals because He is the Healer ... As we thank God for what he does, we soon begin to worship God for Who He is.

The are 137 verses of Scripture about offering thanks to God. THANKFULNESS is important to Him. It should be important to us. Even worship of heaven as described by John in Revelation includes expressions of thanksgiving:
And the twenty-four elders, who were on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give THANKS to you, Lord God Almighty, the One Who is and was, because you have taken Your great power and have begun to reign." (Revelation 11:16)
If worship in heaven includes THANKSGIVING, so should the worship on earth.

So here is a question that we must prayerfully ask ourselves everyday: Are we thankful? Are our hearts full of gratitude or resentment? Gratitude and resentment cannot co-exist. Resentment is indignation toward God. It takes offense at apparent mistreatment. Resentment is the attitude that I did not get what I deserve - that I have somehow been unfairly injured or mistreated.

Resentment is rooted in pride;
it is watered with tears of self-pity;
it bears the fruit of bitterness;
and it scatters seeds of envy.

The resentful heart cannot say thank you for what it has been given, because it can only look at what it does not have. And therefore, the resentful heart cannot be a place of worship, because thanksgiving is the beginning of worship (Psalm 100:4). In order to be a worshiper, we must learn to say thank you. Even in hard times.

Especially in the hard times. If we have truly surrendered our lives to God, then who are we to say anything but thank you for what comes to us from the Father's hand? As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). I have walked with the Lord long enough to know that many things I call "trouble" turn out for my good, and many things I perceived to be "good" have proven otherwise. If we truly believe that "In all things God works for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8:28), then we can say thank you in every joy or sorrow, every success or failure, every gain or loss. It isn't always easy. Sometimes it really is a sacrifice. But it is necessary.

The prophet Jonah, from inside the belly of the fish, said:
"But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes form the Lord." (Jonah 2:9)
Jonah's sacrifice in the midst of his trial was a simple song of thanksgiving. He said thank you before he was set free. But it was not until Joanh said thank you that God brought about his deliverance

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). God's will is that we give thanks in ALL circumstances

In the Gospel of Luke we read an encounter Jesus had with ten lepers (see Luke 17:12-10). Ten men called out to Jesus. Ten men were healed. Only one of them said thank you - and he was a Samaritan, the least likely of the bunch. Did it matter to Jesus? Yes. He asked, "Where are the other nine?" Apparently, there is a 90% chance that we will forget to say thank you. Surely there is something we can be thankful for today - And yet, how much do we take for granted.

Worship begins with two simple words: Thank you.
(An extract from - The Way of a Worshiper by Buddy Owens)
You may wish to see related blog post - January 16 & 23 - A Deeper Gratitude and Goodbye Grumblings)

Be Thankful! (Colossians 3:15)
TPWC

PRAISE HIM - The Victory You Have In God Over Your Enemy

God Wants Us To Be Victors,

Not Victims ... To Overcome,

Not To Be Overwhelmed

William Arthur Ward

Further to my last few blog posts on the power of praise (Silencing The Enemy, The Enemy Has Been Defeated & Praise - Our Weapon In Spiritual Warfare), may these scriptures enlighten and reinforce the position we already have in Christ when we praise Him:

2 Samuel 22:30 - Praise Him when you can overtake an entire troop
2 Chronicles 20:17 - Praise Him when He fights on your behalf
2 Chronicles 20:21 - Praise Him when you can defeat an overwhelming army by praising God
Romans 8:31 - Praise Him when God is for you and no one can stand against you
Psalm 7:6 & 17 - Praise Him when your enemies rage against you
Psalm 27:2 to 5 - Praise Him when your enemies come against you
Psalm 25:19 - Praise Him when your enemies are many and are very cruel
Psalm 38:19 - Praise Him when your enemies are multiplied and very strong
Psalm 69:4 & 30 - Praise Him when your enemies hate you without cause and you are forced to restore what you did not steal
Psalm 102:8 & 12 - Praise Him when your enemies speak against you all day long (see also Psalm 71:10, 15 & 16)
Lamentations 1:21 - Praise Him when your enemies hear of your trouble and rejoice in your suffering
Lamentations 3:52 - Praise Him when your enemies hunt you down without cause (see also Lamentations 3:55-58)
1Samuel 2:1 - Praise Him when you can smile at your enemies because of His salvation
Psalm 18:1 to 3 & 8 - Praise Him when you are delivered from your enemies (see also 2 Samuel 22;1, Psalm 31:15; 59:1)
Psalm 9:1 to3 - Praise Him when your enemies fall and perish at His presence
Psalm 18:3 - Praise Him when you call on the Lord and are saved from your enemies (see also Psalm 3:48-49)
Psalm 23:5 - Praise Him when He prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies
Psalm 25:1 to 2 - Praise Him when He will not allow your enemies to triumph over you
Psalm 27:4 to 6 - Praise Him when He lifts your head above your enemies
Psalm 27:11 - Praise Him when He leads you on a smooth path in the face of your enemies
Psalm 41:2 - Praise Him when He stands against the will of your enemies
Psalm 119:98 - Praise Him when He makes you wiser than your enemies through his Word
Psalm 143:9 - Praise Him when He lifts you and gives you light in the face of your enemies
2 kings 17:39 - Praise Him when he delivers you from the hand of all your enemies
Zephaniah 3:14 to 15 - Praise Him when He turns back your enemies
(an extract from Praise Him by Vivien Hibbert)

A wise assessment of our struggles will always include this glorious fact: Almighty God fights on behalf of those who hearts are His. When we look at a problem with a sense of defeat, we are not wise to the reality of God's power or His promise. We must always know who holds victory in His hand, and we must never loose heart - Worship The King by Chris Tiegreen

Have a victorious week! (Romans 8:37)
TPWC

PRAISE - Our Weapon In Spiritual Warfare

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 149:6-9 (NKJV)

This particular passage of Scripture shows that praise and spiritual warfare go together. With high praises and the Word of God (a two-edged sword) we have the ability to excute God's vengence, inflict punishment, bind kings, bind nobles and execute judgments.

In spiritual warfare, our enemy is not people. Apostle Paul said that " we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). We must always keep in mind who our enemy is: the devil.

Further, apostle Paul said that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of storng holds" (2 Corinthians 10:9). You cannot fight a spiritual enemy with natural weapons. We must use spiritual weapons of war to combat our spiritual enemy. Praise is one of those weapons. It is a spiritual weapon of war that binds and breaks the powers of darkness.

Psalm 149:7 - Praise can execute God's vengence. God does take vengence, for He said, "Vengence is mine" (Romans 12:19). God wants to settle the score in all matters and give just recompense to whom is due. The primary target of the vengence is the devil.

Psalm 149:8 - We see that our praise will "bind kings with chains and nobles with fetters of iron." Let's first understand who the kings and nobles are that the psalmist is talking about. I believe them to be the principalities and rulers of darkness. They are the wicked demonic kings that have set up rulership and dominion in geographical locations and in people's lives. The Bible says that our praise binds them with chains and fetters of iron. As we praise the Lord, we immobilize the. We cause them to desist and stop whatever maneuvers, plans or strategies they are attempting to carry out.

Psalm 149:9a - Our praise "execute (s) the judgment written." The NIV version states it this way: "to carry out the sentence written against them." The enemy has already been defeated and the church has already won the victory. Let us arise with praise in our mouths, as we execute His judgment upon the powers of hell.

Psalm 149:9b - "This honor have all the saints." What honor is the psalmist talking about? The honor of executing God's judgment and vengence on the powers of air. Spiritual warfare is not a toilsome thing. It is an honor that God has bestowed upon you and me. It is done with joy in our hearts as we celebrate the victory of our Lord.

Now that we know Praise as our Spiritual Weapon, we should now change the way we view what the devil tries to throw across our paths. When we are confronted by the enemy, we have the privilege one more time of showing the devil who we are in Christ and who he is not. We then lift up our hands, raise our voices in song and dance before the Lord as we acknowledge Him as the mighty man of war who is mighty in battle through us!
(an extract from Silencing The Enemy by Robert Gay)
Have a blessed and victorious week! -TPWC

THE ENEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED

If Christ Has Not Been Raised,
Your Faith Is Futile,
You Are Still In Your Sins
1 Corinthians 15:17 (NIV)

The resurrection validates everything we believe in - this includes all our praise and worship to our Lord and King. Without it, the Bible is bold enough to say, our faith is worthless. The resurrection also validates our faith in the redeeming work of our High Priest, Who has taken away our sins. It allows us to live with a sense of risk and adventure, because it makes us part of a new order of creation that ultimately cannot fail - our lives are grounded in Someone who reigns in eternal victory - Chris Tiegreen

NO RESURRECTION, NO CHRISTIANITY! - Michael Ramsey

For Paul, this transformation was more than just another event in salvation history. The resurrection of dead and the transformation of believers to immortality meant:

1) The Final Defeat Of Death

"And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through [the abuse of] the Law" - 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 (Amplified)

THE ENEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED!


Lyric :
The Enemy Has Been Defeated
Death Couldn't Hold You Down
We Gonna Lift Our Voice In Victory
We Gonna Make Your Praises Loud

Shout Unto God With A Voice Of Triumph
Shout Unto God With A Voice Of Praise
Shout Unto God With A Voice Of Triumph
We Lift You Name Up, We Lift Your Name Up

2) A Hymn Of Thanks!

This leads Paul to a moment of praise. For Paul it is very important to remind us that we must give thanks for the greatest gift that could be given: complete victory over death

"But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (Amplified)

3) Final Encouragement

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]" 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Amplified).

It is important for Paul that Christians repond to what the have learned through their everyday actions. The experience of the Corinthians had been anything but firm, unmoveable and abounding n the work of the Lord
Some, like a lot of Christians today, accepted the resurrection as a future reality but not as a present dynamic. They forgot what Paul emphasizes un Ephesians 1:19-20 - that the very power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that is working in those who believe. We can live with that blessing not only in the future physical resurrection but also in the present spiritual one.
SAME POWER THAN CONQUERED THE GRAVE LIVES IN US!


Lyric:
The Same Power That Conquered The Grave
Lives In Me, Lives In Me
Your Love That Rescued The Earth
Lives In Me, Lives In Me

Have A Blessed, Victorious and Glorious Easter!
TPWC