PASSION TO WORSHIP THE KING (PART 6) - DAVID

I Would Rather Be A Doorkeeper

In The House Of My God ...

Psalm 84:10

As we take a page out of King David's intimate journey with God, we wonder why would a king want to be a doorkeeper? As a passionate "God chaser", King David was saying, "No, I've learned something: A doorkeeper at the RIGHT DOOR has more influence in the world than a king on his throne! A doorkeeper in the house of God is a doorkeeper at the gate of Heaven. Now if I can find that opening in Heaven ..."
King David discovered a key that we need to rediscover in our day. He did more than return God's presence to Jerusalem. He did more than display God's glory in an open tent without walls or veil of separation. Somehow he managed to entertain God's presence in his humble tent and keep an open heaven over all Israel for almost 36 years! 

When we open the windows of Heaven through our worship, we also need to post a guard - a doorkeeper - inside the dimension of God (worship) to hold open the windows of Heaven. In David's day, the Levitical worshipers surrounded the Ark of the Covenant with continuous worship and praise. They enjoyed the benefits of a continuous open heaven because somebody stood in the gate and held it open.
A gatekeeper can be anyone who has the responsibility of opening the windows of Heaven to a city, a church or a community. They could be leaders, intercessors, worship leaders, worship musicians, worship singers, and every worshipers. An open heaven refers to the free access of God's presence to man and to the free flow of God's glory to man's dimension.
As a gatekeeper, King David understood the importance of his office. When he penned Psalm 84:10, I feel that he was saying, "I would rather be a doorkeeper at the RIGHT DOOR, because that is the place of real influence." Never underestimate the power of God's presence. If you can be a doorkeeper and open the door of the manifest presence of God to your church and your community, understand that you have been placed in the most influential position in the entire world. Like the Levites of old, we are all called to be a gatekeeper people, the people of His presence. You can literally become a walking doorway to God's presence. People can sense the glory light shinning under the door.
We need people who know how to access His presence and open door for the glory of God to come into our homes, churches, cities, and nations. King David again writes the vision so we can run:

"Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in." (Psalm 24:7 NKJV)Gates don't have heads. It is obvious that we are the gates in this Psalm. If we lift up our heads, what happens? The Hebrew literalization of the phrase is " be opened up you everlasting doors." When we obey this command, the King of glory Himself will come in. What does all this mean? We, as the Church, are literally the gateway for the rest of the world to have an encounter with God. When you stand in the the place of worship, you are literally opening up and swinging wide a spiritual gate, an entrance for the risen Lord. A "modern-day David" named Martin Smith sings a new song based on an ancient theme:

"FLING WIDE YOUR HEAVENLY GATES

PREPARE THE WAY OF THE RISEN LORD!"

If we ever want to move from a visitation of God to a habitation of God, someone has to learn how to open the door to the heavenlies.

(an extract from: God's Favourite House - "If You Build It, He Will Come" - by Tommy Tenney)

BEING A WORSHIPER - PART 1

A Worshiper Is One Who is Intimately Acquainted With And Has A Daily Relationship With God Exhibited Through Obedience - John W. Stevenson

We were created NOT to DO but to BE a worshiper. In order for us to gain greater insight into what it takes to be a worshiper of God, we must use the "Law of First Mentioned," a principle that states the first time a word or idea is mentioned in Scripture is significant, for it sets a foundation and framework for any other time the word is used throughout the Scripture. The first time the word "worship" was used in connection with Abraham offering Isaac (Genesis 22) and it involves Faith, Sacrifice and Obedience.

The life of a worshiper is not without tests, nor without the pressure that comes with living in sinful world. It is God's grace that strengthens us and helps us to walk in victory even in our most challenging times! Let us see other worshipers in the Bible who walk in Faith, Sacrifice and Obedience in order to learn from them:

1) The Three Hebrew Children In The Fiery Furnace
"Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV)

This was a faith-defining moment for these three worshipers. They made it absolutely clear that they would not compromise and maintained their covenant relationship with the God of Israel and refused to bow down and worship anyone other than Him. As worshipers they were confident in their God and His ability to keep them!

At this point it looked like these men would surely die for their beliefs. They were tied up and thrown into the fiery furnace and that's when the miracle happened! These young worshipers were now joined in the fire by the One they worship! That's worshiping God with their lives in Faith, Sacrifice and Obedience ... no instrument and no songs but they encountered the manifest presence of God - "The 4th Man!"

As a result, the king gave praise to the God of Israel and decreed that from that time on anyone who said anything against Him would be executed “for no other god can save in this way” (Daniel 3:28-29).


2) Daniel In The Lions' Den
As a worshiper, Daniel had enjoyed God’s favor all his life, and when king Darius appointed Daniel as one of 3 administrators to oversee the kingdom he so distinguished himself that king Darius thought to give him sole administrative authority over all the kingdom. This of course made the others jealous and they sought to discredit him, but Daniel was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent (Dan 6:4). Finally they devised a scheme to trap Daniel by making it illegal for him to worship God. They convinced king Darius to make it mandatory for all his subjects to worship him for the next 30 days and anyone caught worshiping anyone else must be thrown into a den of hungry lions (Dan 6:6-9).
Daniel of course remained true to his God and since he made no attempt to hide this, he was caught praying and worshiping God and was thrown into the lions' den. From the original language of Dan 6:16-20 it appears that king Darius believed God was obligated to save Daniel because he was intimately acquainted with and has a daily relationship with God exhibited through obedience.

In Dan 6:23 the word translated trusted means to trust continually. The fact that the lions immediately devoured Daniel’s accusers in the morning proves they had been hungry all night long. This faith became one of the great examples in “The Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11:33).
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:11 (NIV). Faith is trusting what the eye can’t see. The natural eyes see the prowling lion but faith sees Daniel’s angel.


In conclusion, I would like to quote from Ps John W. Stevenson's book - Worshiper By Design: "God does not test us to destroy us, but rather to make us! As worshipers, we must come to expect times when we will be tested. But "those who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits" (Daniel 11:32). In every case, God honours and protects those who are intimately acquainted with and have a daily relationship with Him as exhibited through their obedience to His word. He honours His worshipers!"


Blessings
TPWC

Practicing The Presence Of God - Part 1

"I Make It My Priority
To Presevere In His Holy Presence,
Wherein I Maintain A Simple Attention
And Fond Regard For God"
- Brother Lawrence

Most of us are familiar with - The Practice of the Presence of God: The Original 17th Century Letters and Conversations of Brother Lawrence. (http://www.practicegodspresence.com)
Brother Lawrence (1614 to 1691) was a monk who serve in the monastry's kitchen - today is most commonly remembered for the closeness of his relationship with God, as recorded in this little book. He spent almost all of his adult life in solitude, poverty, and obscurity within the walls of a priory. He was known for profound peace and high commitment to Jesus Christ. He cared not for the worldly status of his tasks, but the motivation behind it. "We can do little things for God," he wrote. "I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." Generations after his death, this book has become one of the most popular Christian books in history. It was often quoted by John Wesley and A.W. Tozer, and today tens of millions of copies are in circulation.

Being in the presence of the Lord could arguably be considered the single most important part of our lives. While in a sense, it is always with us and we cannot live without it, we find ourselves hungering for it more and more.

While God is omnipresent, and His presence is always with us, we continue to long for an encounter with the presence of God. When we talk about experiencing the presence of the Lord, we are talking about the realization of His manifest presence – of perceiving His presence and being conscious of Him.

{Ominipresence describes His being in all places. David speaks of it when he writes, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7). David went on to say, "If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to theplace of dead, you are there. I could ask the darkness I cannot hide from you. (verse 8) This speaks of the Lord's promise to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Though we cannot sense this presence, it doesn't negate His being there. We are just unaware of it.

The second presence Scripture defines as His manifest presence, The word manifest means to bring from the unseen, or unknown into the seen, heard, or known. The manifest presence of the Lord was what Moses passionately desired (Exodus 33:12-33). This is when God reveals Himself not just to our spirits, but it is when our mind and senses become aware of His nearness as well. It is when His knowledge is revealed to our minds. This is the presence Jesus spoke of when He said, "I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) }
{ an extract from - Drawing Near by John Bevere}

God can manifest His presence in various ways. In Scriptures some saw Him, others heard His voice without seeing Him, while others sensed His nearness and immediately knew things they'd never known before because of His revelation. But one thing is certain, when He comes, you know it, you'll sense Him within your inner-most being, and know He is there

Practicing His presence through worship is one of the most valuable things we can do. God has promised that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8) and we will experience His presence in ever increasing measures. The key is to experiencing His manifest presence is that we first draw near to Him ... and He will draw near to us! We determine the level of our relationship with God.

How do we practice the presence of God? - Part 2

Blessings
TPWC