THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP (PART 24) - PAUL (TRUE WORSHIP BOAST IN CHRIST ALONE!)

When we begin to comprehend all that Christ is to us, like Paul we count "all things loss" in comparison. That attitude will become the foundation of our worship to the LORD, the natural expression of hearts into which "God has sent forth Spirit of His Son."

TRUE WORSHIP DRAWS DISTINCTIONS

How does Paul choose to illustrate the difference between the false teachers and true believers? By their worship

"For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3).

In telling the Philippians "we are the circumcision," Paul did not intend to be arrogant or proud. By highlighting the subject of circumcision, Paul was communicating the truth thattrue believers have the sin and impurity removed from their hearts. Only those with circumcised hearts can give God TRUE WORSHIP. Christians need not be ashamed to draw this kind of distinction between the false and the genuine. Is it wrong to boast about the work God did in your heart? Of course not. We did not circumcise our own hearts; God Himself performed this special work, "the circumcision made without hands."

Paul lists key characteristics of TRUE WORSHIP, worship that comes from a circumcision heart:
First, such worship is offered  in Holy Spirit. TRUE WORSHIPERS do not try to glorify God through the inventions of heir minds, to "create" worship through impressive  ritual pageantry or the arts of audience manipulation.
Second, TRUE WORSHIPERS "rejoice in Christ Jesus" and not in their personal accomplishment or achieved emotional state. Since TRUE WORSHIP rejoices in Christ, we can easily conclude that a worship service should seek to make Christ better known through the exposition of the WORD. At one church you may ecnounter honored traditions and rituals that makes the people feel secure. At another church you may hear inspirational stories and music that makes the congregation feel warm and happy.  Often these worship methods can attract a crowd; but without the WORD of God to make Christ known there will be no TRUE WORSHIP.
Third, Paul stated that TRUE WORSHIP "have no confidence in the flesh." There should be no place in our worship for boasting in our own efforts. Instead we revel and rejoice in the clear working of God, in our lives and in the lives of others, to make us more like the Christ we love.

TRUE WORSHIP COUNTS CHRIST

The "religious worshipers" gloried in religious appearances and fleshy externals. If he had desired to do so, Paul could easily have beaten them at their own game! "I also might have confidence in the flesh," he wrote. "If anyone else thinks that he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so" (Philippians 3:4). As Paul went on to relate, he was "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:5-6).

Since he was circumcised at birth, Paul would have been deemed better than those Jews who were adult converts. He could trace his lineage through Bejamin back to Jacob, the man whom God had given the name Israel (Genesis 32:28).
Before his conversion Paul had been one of the Pharisees, the strictest sect among the Jews. He was zealously against cults that opposed "true religion" that he consented to the death of Christians. "But" Paul concluded, "what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ" (Philippians 3:7). 
TRUE WORSHIP places supreme value in Christ. This supreme regard for Christ requires us to take proper view of our human gains and achievements. Do they help or hinder our worship? We must be honest with ourselves.
Why must we give up our human gains "into God's hand"? Because a proper view of our worldly gains, a view that "counts all things but loss," contributes to a proper assessment of the value of Christ. Nothing in our lives is more valuable than He is. Nothing else in the world means more than our relationship with our Savior. When we value Christ above all else, ourworship will evidence that fact.. We will not need to invent ways to feel worshipful. TRUE WORSHIP will flow naturally from a dedicated heart, a heart guided by the Holy Spirit so that God alone receives the glory.
(An extract from True Worship by David Whitcomb & Mark Ward, Sr)

#TrueWorship #FalseWorship #HolySpirit #Circumcision #WordOfGod

THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP (PART 11): JACOB - TRUE WORSHIP EXPRESSES GREAT FAITH

By faith Jacob, when he was dying,

blessed each of the sons of Joseph, 

and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff

Hebrews 11:21

JACOB WORSHIPED GOD THROUGH FAITH, even with his last breath. His WORSHIP WAS TRUE and  CONSISTENT. When the New Testament writer to the Hebrews was inspired by God to write the chapter we call the "HALL OF FAITH," he penned just one verse to illustrate the FAITH of JACOB. Fittingly, he chose an example from the Patriarch's last days when JACOB by FAITH"blessed both the sons of Joseph; and WORSHIPED" (Hebrews 11:21).
Why was this action significant? Why did it demonstrate such FAITH that, alone among all the deeds of JACOB, this final action is cited by the writer to the Hebrews? Read on.

JACOB ACTED BY FAITH

Ironically, this honored member of the "HALL OF FAITH" bears a name that actually means "supplanter." The name of JACOB literally means "heel catcher," and it describes someone who will snatch you down by the heel if you are not alert. Sadly, JACOB spent most of his years living up to his name and practicing many deceptions. Yet the LORD later changed his name to ISRAEL (Genesis 32:28), which means "GOD PREVAILS." God made the name change after a long process that brought JACOB to a deep trust in Him.
Given the importance of JACOB's new name, it seems odd that the WORD of GOD, as conveyed by the writer to the Hebrews, would list JACOB in the "HALL OF FAITH" under his old name. Perhaps this name is a reminder of God's great work of sanctification in JACOB's life. Thus JACOB serves as an Old Testament example of the same sanctification God  wants us to experience today. We would do well, when we enter into WORSHIP, to remember how far God has brought us since the time we placed our trust in Him for salvation. Maybe JACOB was remembering the same thing as he lay dying; perhaps those thoughts were the cause of his WORSHIP.
Indeed, JACOB had much to think about as he recalled the 147 years of his life (Genesis 47:28). In his first fifty years, JACOB's life was characterized by sinful scheming. During the next eighty years he reaped the evil he had sown. No wonder, then, that when Pharaoh asked JACOB, "How old are you?" the patriarch replied, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years: few  and evil have been the days of the years of my life" (Genesis 47:8-9). At that time, seventeen years before his death, JACOB still had trouble remembering how God had forgiven and blessed him.
As a youth, JACOB deceived his father Isaac and sinned against his brother Esau by taking Esau's birthright. Because of his deed, JACOB was forced to leave his family and flee to a foreign land (Genesis 27:41-28:5). Yet even then, God was working to bring JACOB into a trusting relationship with Himself. Even as JACOB left home, the LORD provided guidance and encouragement through the counsel of his father Isaac. He blessed his son, urged him not to take a heathen wife, and advised JACOB where he should go (Genesis 28:1).
During JACOB's journey, God met him in a dream. The LORD not only confirmed the blessing Isaac had given, but made JACOB an unconditional promise that He will bring JACOB and his descendants back to the land. (Genesis 28:13-15).
JACOB did not throw himself on God's mercy when he heard this promise. But his response to the dream indicates that he was thinking seriously about his relationship with God. "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it," JACOB exclaimed when he awoke. He then piled some stones into an altar, poured oil upon it, and called the place BETHEL, which means "HOUSE OF GOD." Yet JACOB did not trust God completely to provide for His needs, and he continued to put God to test. (Read Genesis 28:20-22)
After JACOB arrived at his destination, God provided him a wife - although ironically, JACOB obtained two wives after enduring the trickery of his uncle (Genesis 29). In the years he lived with Laban, JACOB reaped the consequences of the actions he had sown earlier. . But he also received much blessing from God and learned of His care and mercy during a difficult time. Through difficult circumstances JACOB's FAITH in God grew. When at last he had to face Esau, the brother he had wronged, JACOB anticipated trouble and realized that he might be killed. Yet the night before their meeting, God came again to JACOB.
This time JACOB wrestled with God. In spite of an injured leg, JACOB hung on and said, "I will not let You go, unless You bless me" (Genesis 32:26). He longed for God's blessing more than anything, for he finally trusted God to provide . So the LORD said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called JACOB, but ISRAEL: for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Genesis 32:28). When JACOB received the blessing he had requested, he gave God all the credit: "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30).
God brought JACOB to the end of his rope once again when he was compelled in his old age to make a journey to Egypt. Just as JACOB had once tricked his own father, his own sons had deceived him into believing his favorite son Joseph was dead. Yet now, after many years of grief, his sons had changed their story. Joseph was alive, they said, and ruling Egypt! What? Such a thing was impossible! Yet JACOB learned to trust God even in this strangest of situation. When father and son were reunited, JACOB's first utterance was to credit the promise God had given to preserve his children.
"Then JACOB said to Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession' " (Genesis 48:3-4).
Now at the end of his life, JACOB's trust in God was complete. As the writer to the Hebrews recalls and the Old Testament relates (Genesis 48:5-20), the patriarch gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. They, too were now included in the promise God had given first to Abraham and had confirmed in turn to Isaac and JACOB.
Why did the writer to the Hebrews view JACOB's blessing as so significant? Simply put, IT WAS BECAUSE JACOB ACTED BY FAITH. Consider his situation. Although he had  once lived in the Promised Land, JACOB had been a nomad there. Now his sons and their households were in Egypt, a long way from Canaan. Yet JACOB fully expected that God would someday give the Promised Land to his descendants. Fulfillment of God's promise would have seemed impossible; in fact, it would ultimately take centuries. But JACOB HAD FAITH. He trusted God. He was so certain God fulfill His promise  that he instructed his sons to make sure he would be buried in Canaan (Genesis 47:29-31, 49:29-32).
JACOB saw in advance something that others would see only in hindsight. And it was because of this faith that he could give his LORD TRUE WORSHIP, even with death closing upon him. Thus did the writer to the Hebrews say of JACOB and his forefathers, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them" (Hebrews 11:13).
(an extract from TRUE WORSHIP by David Whitcomb and Mark Ward, Sr.)

THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP - PAUL & SILAS (TRUE WORSHIP STAYS FOCUS EVEN IN HOSTILE CIRCUMSTANCES)

"About midnight Paul and Silas

were praying and singing hymns to God,

and the other prisoners were listening to them."

- Acts 16:25 -

What do you do when your hostile environment seems to get the best of you? If you're like most people, you fight, lament your looses, or just get depressed. Not Paul and Silas. They sat in a dirty Philippian jail in the dark of night singing hymns to God.
The reason they were in jail to begin with was because they were obedient to God. They cast the demon out of the servant girl, but in doing so, they undermined an entire fortune-telling enterprise. Those who had been exploiting the girl's "talent" set them up on false charges - a reaction many people have when loosing money. So Paul and Silas sat in a cell with a song in their hearts.
They could WORSHIP enthusiastically because they realized that their opponents had only seemed to get the best of them. They knew that circumstances can be mis-leading. They understood that the enemy's tactics are superficial sacre tactices. Satan can create all kinds of situational havoc, but he cannot disturb the Spirit within us. If that's where we dwell - if we are immersed in the SPIRIT OF GOD - the difference between a five-star hotel and a Greek jail cell is minimal.
Where do you dwell? If you are easily swayed by your circumstances, your quality of life will be manipulated by the enemy of God. If you live at a deeper level than that, grounded in the WORD OF GOD and filled with HIS SPIRIT, your quality of life  cannot be shaken. Every situation will be an opportunity to WORSHIP, or at least to acknowledge the SOVEREIGNTY of the Father.
This is a crucial principle to grasp if you are going to maintain your sanity in the hostile environment of a fallen world. You cannot live zealously for Jesus while living as a victim of circumstance. You have to read between the lines of your life and recognize both the enemy's surface tactics and the underlying will of God. The spiritual war requires great focus - and the ability to WORSHIP in dark places

THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP - JACOB PART 1 (TRUE WORSHIP EXPRESSES GREAT FAITH)

By faith Jacob, when he was dying,

blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped,

leaning on the top of his staff

Hebrews 11:21

After September 11, 2011, the thought of being in a doomed aircraft became all too real to contemplate. On that horrific day all America was grieved by stories of men and women who called loved ones for a final farewell. Yet amidst the awful devastation, an entire nation took heart from the heroism of a man named Todd Beamer. "Let's roll!" he urged his fellow passengers, leading them in charge against the terrorists who had hijacked their plane. His action saved possibly hundreds of lives on the ground, though he and all others aboard the airplane were lost when it crashed in a remote area.
Experts who investigate air disasters have long known that flight recordings can reveal a wide range of human  emotion. When the black box is recovered and the recording analyzed, voices from the last moments before the impact are often heard shouting vile and profane curses against God and fate. Other voices, however, pray to that same God for deliverance, whether in this life or the next.
How would we react in a similar situation? Although the scenario is almost too horrible to consider, the answer would say much about our relationship with God. It would say much about how we lived our lives in the years preceding our end. We all will face physical death someday. It may come in a traffic intersection, on an operating table, or in our own bed. But the day of our death will come. How will we meet it? What will our last actions and words say about us?

JACOB WORSHIPED GOD THROUGH FAITH, evenwith his last breath. His WORSHIP WAS TRUE and  CONSISTENT. When the New Testatment writer to the Hebrews was inspired by God to write the chapter we call the "HALL OF FAITH," he penned just one verse to illustrate the FAITH of JACOB. Fittingly, he chose an example from the patriach's last days when JACOB by FAITH "blessed both the sons of Joseph; and WORSHIPED" (Hebrews 11:21).
Why was this action significant? Why did it demostrate such FAITH that, alone among all the deeds of JACOB, this final action is cited by the writer to the Hebrews? Read on.

JACOB ACTED BY FAITH

Ironically, this honored member of the "HALL OF FAITH" bears a name that actually means "supplanter." The name of JACOB literally means "heel catcher," and it describes someone who will snatch you down by the heel if you are not alert. Sadly, JACOB spent most of his years living up to his name and practicing many deceptions. Yet the LORD later changed his name to ISRAEL (Genesis 32:28), which means "GOD PREVAILS." God made the name change after a long process that brought JACOB to a deep trust in Him.
Given the importance of JACOB's new name, it seems odd that the WORD of GOD, as conveyed by the writer to the Hebrews, would list JACOB in the "HALL OF FAITH" under his old name. Perhaps this name is a reminder of God's great work of sanctification in JACOB's life. Thus JACOB serves as an Old Testament example of the same sanctification God  wants us to experience today. We would do well, when we enter into WORSHIP, to remember how far God has brought us since the time we placed our trust in Him for salvation. Maybe JACOB was remembering the same thing as he lay dying; perhaps those thoughts were the cause of his WORSHIP.
Indeed, JACOB had much to think about as he recalled the 147 years of his life (Genesis 47:28). In his first fifty years, JACOB's life was characterized by sinful scheming. During the next eighty years he reaped the evil he had sown. No wonder, then, that when Pharaoh asked JACOB, "How old are you?" the patriarch replied, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years: few  and evil have been the days of the years of my life" (Genesis 47:8-9). At that time, seventeen years before his death, JACOB still had trouble remembering how God had forgiven and blessed him.
As a youth, JACOB deceived his father Isaac and sinned against his brother Esau by taking Esau's birthright. Because of his deed, JACOB was forced to leave his family and flee to a foreign land (Genesis 27:41-28:5). Yet even then, God was working to bring JACOB into a trusting relationship with Himself. Even as JACOB left home, the LORD provided guidance and encouragement through the counsel of his father Isaac. He blessed his son, urged him not to take a heathen wife, and advised JACOB where he should go (Genesis 28:1).
During JACOB's journey, God met him in a dream. The LORD not only confirmed the blessing Isaac had given, but made JACOB an uncondtional promise that He will bring JACOB and his descendants back to the land. (Genesis 28:13-15).
JACOB did not throw himself on God's mercy when he heard this promis. But his response to the dream indicates that he was thinking seriously about his relationship with God. "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it," JACOB exclaimed when he awoke. He then piled some stones into an altar, poured oil upon it, and called the place BETHEL, which means "HOUSE OF GOD." Yet JACOB did not trust God completely to provide for His needs, and he continued to put God to test. (Read Genesis 28:20-22)
After JACOB arrived at his destination, God provided him a wife - although ironically, JACOB obtained two wives after enduring the trickery of his uncle (Genesis 29). In the years he lived with Laban, JACOB reaped the consequences of the actions he had sown earlier. . But he also received much blessing from God and learned of His care and mercy during a difficult time. Through difficult circumstances JACOB's FAITH in God grew. When at last he had to face Esau, the brother he had wronged, JACOB anticipated trouble and realized that he might be killed. Yet the night before their meeting, God came again to JACOB.
This time JACOB wrestled with God. In spite of an injured leg, JACOB hung on and said, "I will not let You go, unless You bless me" (Genesis 32:26). He longed for God's blessing more than anything, for he finally trusted God to provide . So the LORD said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called JACOB, but ISRAEL: for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Genesis 32:28). When JACOB received the blessing he had requested, he gave God all the credit: "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30).
God brought JACOB to the end of his rope once again when he was compelled in his old age to make a journey to Egypt. Just as JACOB had once tricked his own father, his own sons had deceived him into believing his favorite son Joseph was dead. Yet now, after many years of grief, his sons had changed their story. Joseph was alive, they said, and ruling Egypt! What? Such a thing was impossibile! Yet JACOB learned to trust God even in this strangest of situation. When father and son were reunited, JACOB's first utterance was to credit the promise God had given to preserve his children.
"Then JACOB said to Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession' " (Genesis 48:3-4).
Now at the end of his life, JACOB's trust in God was complete. As the writer to the Hebrews recalls and the Old Testament relates (Genesis 48:5-20), the patriarch gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, Epharim and Manasseh. They, too were now included in the promise God had given first to Abraham and had confirmed in turn to Isaac and JACOB.
Why did the writer to the Hebrews view JACOB's blessing as so significant? Simply put, IT WAS BECAUSE JACOB ACTED BY FAITH. Consider his situation. Although he had  once lived in the Promised Land, JACOB had been a nomad there. Now his sons and their households were in Egypt, a long way from Canaan. Yet JACOB fully expected that God would someday give the Promised Land to his descendants. Fulfillment of God's promise would have seemed impossible; in fact, it would ultimately take centuries. But JACOB HAD FAITH. He trusted God. He was so certain God fulfill His promise  that he instructed his sons to make sure he would be buried in Canaan (Gensis 47:29-31, 49:29-32).
JACOB saw in advance something thatothers would see only in hindsight. And it was because of this faith that he could give his LORD TRUE WORSHIP, even with death closing upon him. Thus did the writer to the Hebrews say of JACOB and his forefathers, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them" (Hebrews 11:13).
(an extract from TRUE WORSHIP by David Whitcomb and Mark Ward, Sr.)

PRAISE REVOLUTION: AMBASSADORS

The praises we have been called to offer are not simply to be spoken or sung, but the WORD says that we are to make known the wonderful virtues and excellencies of God in the earth. This definitely calls us to more than a duty of singing a few songs on Sunday morning and going home. This verse implies the requirement of a life's worth of action and demostration on our part.

The Greek word for proclaim, is "Exaggello" (Strong's # 1804), which means:

To tell, To make known by praising or celebrating, To celebrate

"Exaggello" comes from two Greek words:

"Ex" meaning: the point where action or motion proceeds; out of.

"Aggelos" meaning: to bring forth tidings; angel or messenger, envoy, one who is sent; to accompany something to a place, to bring to a destination, to attach one's self as an attendant, to lead, to move.

We are called to be God's royal envoys and messengers who have become one with the praises we speak or sing. We have become the message to such a degree that we speak or sing. We have become the message to such a degree that we accompany those praises wherever they are sent. The life and essence of every worshiper, and the gloryof God that is in them, accompanies the praises and establishes God's holy, royal kingdom in that very place. When we praise Him, we are like the heavnly host in Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying "Glory to God in the higest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

The great host of angels accompanied the good news of Jesus' birth and filled the place with praises that resounded throughtout heaven and earth, filling time and eternity. Now we have been called to accompany the message of praise and declare His eternal Kingdom from one end of the earth to the other.

When Jesus came in the flesh, He used angels to accompany the message of His arrival. In these last days, He wants to use His holy, royal priests to accompany the message of His presence in the earth and His return as Conquering King!

Paul also speaks of this principle as He writes to the Corinthians:

"But praise be to God who makes us strong to overcome in Christ, and makes clear through us in every place the value of the knowledge of him." - 2 Corinthians 2:14

Now read this same verse in the New Living Testament:

"But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ's triumpal procession. Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume."

Our praise-filled lives are like a sweet perfume - we affect every place we go and every person we come in contact with. He has commissioned us to accompany the message of praise that we sing and speak. Something of our relationship with Lord and His authority working in and through us affects the atmosphere. We are the royal ambassadors of our King. Through us, and our praises, He unleashes His dominion and makes way for His presence in the earth.

I know that He is able to do all of of this on His own. I realize that all the earth is the Lord's (Psalm 12:1) without our help or permission, but in His infinite wisdom He has directed us to minister on His behalf, and rule with Him in kingdom matters of heaven and earth

As with all royal communiques, the message is more important than the messenger.

(an extract from: Praise Him by Vivien Hibbert)

PRAISE REVOLUTION: A TWO-EDGED SWORD

May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
to carry out the sentence written against them—
this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the LORD

Psalm 149:6-9

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 strong holds" (2 Corinthians 10:9). We 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 them. 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 the air. Spiritual warfare is not a toilsome thing. It is an honor that God has bestowed upon us. 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)

PRAISE REVOLUTION: READ

May My Lips Overflow With Praise,

For You Teach Me Your Decrees

Psalm 119:171

PRAISE will revolutinize your life! There's no doubt about it. It will reorient your thinking, taking your mind off of yourself and placing it firmly on GOD, where it belongs. Rehearsing His mercies will open your eyes to them, and confessing His name as the source behind all your blessings will magnify your blessings enormously. PRAISE is a radical step in a life-changing direction.

The problem many believers have with that is where to start. How do you PRAISE Him? Where do you begin? What if you're discouraged and depressed, and your eyes can hardly see the blessings He's given, much less prompt your mouth to PRAISE Him for them? What if you hardly know Who He is and can barely come up with words to say? The psalmist gives us the answer: Begin in His WORD.

Very practically, here's a good way to learn to PRAISE the Lord. Begin reading. Open your Bible to any page in any section - it doesn't matter where, although Psalms or the New Testament ase good places to start. Begin reading a passage. When you get to a verse that speaks of God's faithfulness, PRAISE Him for His faithfulness. Think of ways He's been faithful to you. When the WORD speaks of His sacrifice or His love or His promises, PRAISE Him for His sacrifice, love or promises. As often as His WORD reveals some aspect of His character or His works, thank Him for that character and those works. Voice your gratitude for the way He is and the things He does. Before long, you will be an endless fountain of PRAISE.

MAN'S CHIEF WORK IS THE PRAISE OF GOD

- AUGUSTINE -

Can you think of a better use for your life than being an endless fountain of PRAISE? God uses such fountains mightily. He changes hearts and redeems souls for just such purposes. You might have always thought that He is focused on your behavior - and certainly He cares about it - but behavior begins in the HEART. PRAISE reorient the HEART. Focus there, and let your fountain flow.
(an extract from Worship The King - by Chris Tiegreen)

Worship - Offer Your Body (Part 2)

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. (Romans 6:13)

Do not make the mistake of thinking that God is only concerned with our spirits. It's true that Jesus said we are to "worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). But there's a context. We worship the God who indwells mortal flesh. We are His temple. And those who carelessly degrade His temple, either through immorality or irreverence, are being careless about their worship. Praising God with physical mouths and then treating our bodies with little concern for our health or morality is gross contradiction - Chris Tiegreen (Worship The King)

Here is a list of Scriptures (certainly not exhaustive, but enough to get you started) that will help you understand God's perspective on how you can offer your body to Him on a daily basis as a SPIRITUAL ACT OF WORSHIP. We will look at what the Bible says about your ears, your eyes, your mouth, and their relationship to your thoughts.

Your Ears

How can you offer your ears as a living sacrifice to God? Consider these words of instruction from Scripture:

- The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out. (Proverbs 18:15)

- Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

- Apply your heart to instuction and your ears to words of knowledge. (Proverbs 23:12)

-Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? (Job 12:11)

What do we allow ourselves to listen to? What kind of environment in which faith can be nutured? It is conducive to worship? We spit out foods that offend our sense of taste. What do we do with words that offend our hearing?

Your Eyes

How can you offer your eyes to God as a living sacrifice? Here is what the Bible says:

- I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. (Job 31:1)

- Turn my eyes away from worthless things. (Psalm 119:37)

- I will set before my eyes no vile thing. (Psalm 101:3)

Vile means wicked, peverted, offensive to the senses, disgusting, cheap, degrading. What are we doing with our eyes? What do we allow ourselves to look at?

Your Mouth

How can you offer your mouth as a living sacrifice? Again, let's see what the Bible has to say.

- Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. (Psalm 34:3)

- I said,"I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." (Psalm 39:1)

-What goes into a man's mouth does not make him "unclean," but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him "unclean." (Matthew 15:11)

- Rid yourselves of ... slander and filthy language from your lips. (Colossians 3:8)

- Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. (Proverbs 4:23-24)

Jesus taught us that our lips reveal the content of our hearts. "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). What do your lips reveal about the content of your heart? What are you filling your heart with that overflows from your lips?

David prayed: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. (Psalm 19:14) - May this be our prayers too.

Your Thoughts

I know that your thoughts are not physical parts of your body. But they are inseparable from your body. Your thoughts both reflect and direct what you do with your eyes, your ears, and your mouth.

- In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (Psalm 10:2)

- Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, what ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

- Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.(Colossians 3:2)

- Take captive every thoughts to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

One best ways I have found to take every thought captive to Christ is to develop the habit of turning self-talk into God-talk. You know what self-talk is? It is the silent and secret conversations you have with yourself. Some methods of turning self-talk into God-talk:

- Praying without ceasing

- Listening and singing praises to God

- Reading and meditating on the Word of God

Living sacrifices that offer to God as an act of worship ... "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

(an extract from - The Way of a Worshiper by Buddy Owens)

Blessings

TPWC

WORSHIP IS NOT A SLOW SONG!

Our Worship Is Shaped

Not Only By What We Feel

Or What We Say Or Sing,

But How We Obey

Most of us are familiar with this term : Praise is the fast songs and worship is the slow ones. The word worship, to most believers the first thing that comes to mind is slow songs on a CD, music video, or in a service.

The first time you find worship in Scriptures is in Genesis 22. It reads:
Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship ..." (Genesis 22:5 NIV)

Abraham was not going up yonder to sing a slow song with Isaac. He was going up there to put the most treasured possession in his life to death, simply because God ask him to do it! So as you can see worship is A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE. This explains why God passionately says to His own people who were singing songs to Him:

Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry. (Amos 5:23-24 NLT)

I have been in so many services where the music has been progressive and beautiful, but there was no manifest presence of the Lord. In those situations I usually first search my heart with diligence asking the Holy Spirit, "Have I offended you or sinned?" Most often there is a reassurance deep within my heart that I haven't, so I know the hindrance lies with the people. I will then preach with confidence on the fear of the Lord and obedience. In those atmosphere, almost every time, I witness over 50 percent of the people respond to call of repentance at the end of the message. I then come into the next service with same worship songs and worship team, and almost every time the presence of God manifests wonderfully. Why is that? True worship is a life of OBDIENCE and out of that life will flow songs of worship, which will delight the heart of God, rather than repulse Him as in the above Scripture.

True worship is found at the base level of a human being which is the HEART. The thoughts and intents of the heart reveal the truth of our worship, yet they cannot be discerned outside the Word of God. We are told to guard our heart (Proverbs 4:23) with all diligence, for out of it flow the forces of life. If neglected we can be easily deceived. A heart left to itself outside of the counsel of God's Word and His Spirit is a heart which is deceitful above all else.

To worship God in truth is to not only OBEY Him but to DELIGHT in what He asked you to do. It is to speak to Him what is really in HEART, not what you know is the right thing to say. It is not being two-faced with God. I have discovered that when I am gut-honest with the Lord He will draw near. If I'm covering something, it hinders me, and I can't get anywhere in prayer; it becomes an absolute struggle because I'm not connecting with Him. He is seeking those who will draw near in integrity of HEART, not pretense. I sometimes wonder when I observe people in services saying, "Thank you Jesus ... Hallelujah ... glory to God," if they are just repeating "Christian worship lingo," or if they are speaking from the base level of their HEARTS.

Out of a life of true worship, which is OBEDIENCE from the very core of our being, will flow songs of worship. There are men and women in the body of Christ who are gifted to bring forth songs of praise and worship. They are modern day psalmists. Some are living lives of true worship, while others are worldly and sensual. Those who are defiled can still come up with tremendous songs, because of their gifting, yet lack the holy presence of the Lord as they sing; while the pure carry a glorious presence of God as they minister to Him and to His people from their HEARTS.

To worship God in truth is to worship Him from the integrity of our HEARTS. It is to FEAR & REVERENCE Him in the truest sense. The psalmist says:
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord. (Psalm 89:15 NLT)

God is seeking those who will hear His call to a life of worship. Those who heed are those who will walk in His presence. They will know Him intimately as He will manifest Himself to them (John 14:19-21). Only those who truly worship Him know Him. He revals Himself to them as they are His dear friends (see John 14:22-24)

WORSHIP IS A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE TO HIS HEART'S DESIRES!
(an extract from - Drawing Near by John Bevere)

Blessings
TPWC

A DEEPER PRAISE

About Midnight Paul And Silas

Were Praying And Singing Hymns To God,

And The Other Prisoners Were Listening To Them

Acts 16:25

What do we do when our hostile environment seems to get the best of us? If we're like most people, we fight back, lament our losses, or just get depressed. Not Paul and Silas. They sat in a dirty Philippian jail in the dark of night singing hymns to God.

The reason they were in jail to begin with was because they were obedient to God. They cast out the demon out of the servant girl, but in doing so, they undermined an entire fortune-telling enterprise. Those who had been exploiting the girl's "talent" set them up on false charges - a reaction many people have when losing money. So Paul and Silas sat in a cell with a song in their hearts.

They could WORSHIP enthusiatically because they realised that their opponents had only seemed to get the best of them. They knew that circumstances can be misleading. They understood that the enemy's tactics are superficial scare tactics. Satan can create all kinds of situation havoc, but he cannot disturb the Spirit within us. If that's where we dwell - if we are immersed in the SPIRIT OF GOD - the difference between a five star hotel and a Greek jail cell is minimal.

Where do we dwell? If we are easily swayed by our circumstances, our quality of life will be manipulated by the enemy of God. If we live at a DEEPER LEVEL than that, grounded in the WORD OF GOD and filled with HIS SPIRIT, our quality of life cannot be shaken. Every situation will be an opportunity to WORSHIP, or at least to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Father.

This is a crucial principle to grasp if we are going to maintain our sanity in the hostile environment of a fallen world. We cannot live zealously for Jesus while living as a victim of circumstance. We have to read between the lines of our life and recognize both the enemy's surface tactics and the underlying will of God. The spiritual war requires great focus - and the ability to WORSHIP in dark places.
(an extract from Wonder Of The Cross by Chris Tiegreen)

What do we do "whenever we face trials of many kinds?" Or when we are walking through the "valley of the shadow of death?" James 1:2-3 tells us to consider it pure joy and to PERSEVERE. Paul commands us to "Rejoice in the Lord always!" (Philippians 4:4). We cannot do what Paul and Silas do if we have not been living and practising a life of praise and worship DAILY. The level of our praise and worship have to transcend beyond the weekend corporate worship. It must take DEEPER ROOT through our daily private praise (which include offering sacrifice of praise which is the fruit of our lips - Hebrews 13:15)

Midnight (speaks of hard times) loud (prisoners heard them) Praise and Worship are powerful:
- there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of prison were shaken
- immediately all prison doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed
- Jailor and households were saved

TPWC