A LIVING SACRIFICE

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1 (Amplified Bible)

The term sacrifice is not to be taken lightly. In the Old Testament time, the offering of animals had to be the best, without blemish and probably costly to the owner. And when the animals were being slaughtered, we could hear their cries. Similarly, in hard times as we offer our lives as a living sacrifice (in worship), they may be moments of tears, sorrows and pains. But as the Lord consumes our offerings, we will be transformed. Romans 12:1 tells us that this is our reasonable worship.
The story of the woman who broke the abalaster box (John 12:3, Matthew 26:8-9) was met by the disciples' indignant remarks ... "Why this waste?" Waste means giving more than necessary. To Judas and the disciples the waste of money, time and efforts of worship poured upon the Lord could have been channelled for better use. But if the Lord is worthy, then can it be waste? He worthy to be worshiped, worthy to be served, worthy for me to be in ministry, HE IS WORTHY! Once we see this revelation, what other say about this does not matter anymore.

The Lord said, "Do not trouble her". So let us not be troubled. The Lord's approval upon Mary's action lays the principles of pouring out to Him: that in our service and worship, we need to pour all that we have - our self, upon Him. It is not first of all a question of whether "the poor" (Matthew 26:9) have been helped but a question of whether the Lord has been satisfied.

What does it mean to lay our lives on God's altar? When Abraham obeyed God it means the life of his promised son - Isaac (we know that God provided him a sacrificial lamb for his obedience). But when God did it it means the life of His own beloved Son - Jesus! Death on the cross but eternal life for all who accept Him. That's what being a living sacrifice is all about. Unlike the old sacrifices, this sacrifice lives! It lives a dedicated life, an altar life. It now belongs to our High Priest. Living sacrifices don't live for them themselves. They live for Another. That's our reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Today, let us lavish upon Him without reservation all our worship.

HE IS WORTHY!
TPWC

PRAISE YOU IN THE STORM

Psalm 42:5, 11 & Psalm 43:5 (NIV)
Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise Him,

my Savior and my God.

What is one to do when you are faced with the storms (testings, tribulations, trials) of life? Or when you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4)? The answer of the psalmist sounds as strange as the question: Preach to your soul! Take yourself in the hand, look yourself in the eyes, and preach this message: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? HOPE in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Ps. 42:5,11; 43:5).

What possible HOPE is there? The psalmist, though in lament, is not in despair. He turns his mind from the disease to the cure, from anguish to remembrance, deliberately recalling to mind God’s grace and faithfulness and covenant vow. He forces himself to think of realities other than his own troubles. It is here that we come to the second element in these two psalms:
Psalm 42 : 1- 4 : the psalmist’s spiritual hunger leads to joyful memories of past worship
Psalm 42 : 6 -9 : which leads to remembrance of the Lord and realises that God is still in control, still present in steadfast love and still trustworthy!
Psalm 43 : 1 – 4 : the psalmist turns the questions into prayers, seeking God’s vindication and guidance and thereby replaces his darkness and fear into “the joy of the Lord”.

With this “HOPE” the psalmist can say : “ I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM”!
To be able to Praise God In The Storm, there are 2 key elements that a worshiper must do:

a) HOPE in God - To have HOPE you need the element of FAITH. Hebrews 11:1 says "now FAITH is being sure of what we HOPE for .... and you can confidently do so if your FAITH is rooted in His WORD because FAITH comes by hearing and hearing by His WORD (Romans 10:17). And your focus is in the Lord Who is Your Fortress, Your Hiding Place, Your Refuge .... the Author and Perfector of Your FAITH! (Hebrews 12:2)

b) You make a CHOICE to praise Him - We can read of many instances in the book of Psalm where the psalmists tell his soul to bless the Lord in the midst of their "storms":

* Psalm 7:17 - I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High!
* Psalm 9:1 & 2 - I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High
* Psalm 16:7 - I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
* Psalm 18:49 - Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O lord; I will sing praises to Your name.
* Psalm 30:1 -I will exalt You, O Lord, for You lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
* Psalm 31:7 - I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
* Psalm 34:1 - I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.
* Psalm 52:9 - I will praise You forever for what you have done; in Your name I will hope, for your name is good, I will praise You in the presence of Your saints.
*Psalm 54:6 - I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord for it is good,
*Psalm 59:16 - But I will sing of Your strength in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

I can show you more ... but some of my favourites are found in Psalm 103: 1 & 2 and Psalm 104:1. Here we find king David literally telling his soul - "PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL ...!"

‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’ (Psalm 42:5) When we are ‘down’, we need to address and rebuke our soul (mind, emotions and will). We must command ourselves to put our hope (certain assurance that whatever happens, God is in control) and, despite the difficult situation, still praise Him who is our Saviour and our God. Psalm 42 : 5, 11 & 43:5 (NIV)

Today are you in the midst of a storm? Is your soul cast down? Like to share with you this powerful song "Praise You In The Storm - by Casting Crowns". May you take comfort from Psalm 121:1 - " I lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Keep praising the Lord!
TPWC

WORSHIP IS COSTLY - PART 2

I Will Not Sacrifice To The Lord My God

Burnt Offerings That Cost Me Nothing

2 Samuel 24:24

David could have simply taken Araunah's threshing floor. After all, the offering was for royal purposes, a sacrifice to end a plague on the kingdom. And Araunah offered his property willingly. There was no reason for David to pay for the site other than overriding fact: This was an act of sacrifice!

David understood the central significance of sacrifice. It has to cost something. Worship that is easy to give is neither deep nor meaningful. It may contain the right words and the right actions, but it doesn't indicate anything about the heart of the worshiper.

We have no trouble understanding this principle in our social lives. When we receive a gift that cost the giver a lot, we are deeply grateful. When we receive a gift that was cheaply obtained, we are more casual about our gratitude. Costly gifts mean something to us because they tell us something about the feelings and generosity of the giver. They give us a glimpse into the depth of the giver's love. They reflect the true meaning of giving. Sacrificial worship reflects the true meaning of giving too. God receives gifts like we do: with an understanding that the sacrifice involved usually correlates directly with the love behind it. An act of worship that costs us nothing isn't much of an act of worship. No love is required to give cheap gifts. The God who sees into our hearts knows that better than anyone.

Does your worship cost you anything? Or, more pointedly, does it cost you anything other than a couple of hours on Sunday morning and a small percentage of your paycheck? Those are important gifts to give, but God is looking deeper. He is looking for worship that flows from the heart every day of the week. He is looking for the love behind the gift.

Learn to say with David, "I won't make cheap sacrifices for God." After all, He didn't make cheap sacrifices for us.

An extract from Worship The King - by Chris Tiegreen

Have A Blessed Week - TPWC

WORSHIP IS COSTLY

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard,

an expensive perfume;

she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume.

John 12:3

King David was not a perfect man - in fact he was an adulterer and a murderer, among others. Yet God called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), because David was man who loved God, who discovered many of God's divine principles and obeyed them. This is seen in 2 Samuel 11 where Nathan the prophet confronted David with his sin of adultery with Barsheba. David's immediate response was, "I have sinned against the Lord." (2 Samuel 12:13). God never smiled on or condoned David's sin but He forgave David because David repented. This principle for forgiveness was shown by David himself when he found king Saul sleeping at the entrance of the cave who was seeking to kill him. David merely cut off the skirt of Saul's garment because he saw that it was not for him take vengence but to forgive just as God forgives.

David discovered God's principle of pouring out in 2 Samuel 23:13-17. Here, in response to an uttered wish by King David for water from the well of Bethlehem, three of his mighty warriors broke through the army of the Philistine that surrounded them and obtained that water for him. Yet, instead of drinking it, David poured it out before the Lord, saying , "Is this the blood of men that went in jeopardy of their lives?" He had a legal right to drink that water, but he realized that there was a higher principle involved then just merely drinking it and satisfying himself and his desire, and so he poured it out on the ground before the Lord as an offering.
A similar episode is found in John 12:3, where a young woman poured out an alabater box of precious perfume upon Jesus. It was a posture and an act of a glorious worship seen in the Bible (PROKUNEO - To Kiss, To Kneel Down In Reverence And Adoration). WORSHIP IS VERY COSTLY! - The alabaster box of purest perfume represents part of her entire future. Yet when she poured it upon the Lord, the smell filled the whole house.

What is our motive for going to the house of the Lord? Do we complain, "The Lord did not touch me tonight." Do we go to ask for blessing or to pour out our worship to the King of heaven? There is a difference between going there for Him to please our hearts and going there for us to please His heart. We touch a higher dimension in God when we learn to give up the deepest desires of our hearts and pour them out before the Lord. It does not mean we do not care any more about these desires; in fact we will care more about them than we have ever cared in our lives. But when we touch this principle of pouring out in worship, it will not really matter as long as He receives the glory, and God will accept our offering, turning the barren earth in our hearts into new life.

Abraham knew the meaning of pouring out in worship. When God told him to sacrifice Isaac to Him, Abraham did not bargain but obeyed. He knew God so well that in Genesis 22:5 he could say, " ... I and the lad will go yonder and WORSHIP and come again to you." As a result of his obedience, Abraham met the God of resurrection (Hebrew 11:17-19), and God promised him He would bless him and multiply his seed. Only that which is offered in death will spring forth in resurrection life.

Blessings - TPWC

A SONG IN THE NIGHT

Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.
The LORD who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion!
Psalm 134:1-3 (NKJV)

It is a strange time for adoration to stand in God's house by night, to worship in the depth of sorrow. It is indeed an arduous thing. Yes, and therein lies the blessing; it is the test of perfect faith.

In the Bible, night often represents times of trials, testings, tribulations, persecutions ... In our modern days we would easily identify some of these "nights" as times of disappointments when friends fail us, unanswered prayers, sicknesses, lost of jobs, depressions or even bereavements ...

The Psalmist in Psalm 77:6 Said "I Call To Remembrance My Song In The Night." A song in the night is always a song of faith. That is why the Bible stresses that God is a God who gives songs in the night. Songs are therapy and are like vitamins that lift the soul and give it courage to make it through the night. In Psalm 42 where there is a struggle with depression the Psalmist says in verse 8, "By day the Lord directs His love; at night His song is with me." In Job 35:1 we read of God as One "Who gives songs in the night."

Did you know that the only record that Jesus ever sing is in Matthew 26:30 and it was at night in a very stressful situation. Jesus is about to earn His title as the Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He was heading for the worst and the last night of His life before the cross. The agony of Gethsemane, the anguish of His betrayal, arrest, and illegal condemnation was His agenda for the night, and He knew it. Yet He joins His disciples in a song. A heart filled with song is better prepared to face sorrow. The thing we need to see here is that Jesus lived as a real life on our level. Real life is like that, and Jesus is singing with His disciples now, and in a matter of minutes he will be facing the cross!

The other record about people singing in the New Testament is Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25. We read, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God." They were in the Philippian's jail and fastened in stocks. Not the best position for singing, nor the best atmosphere, but there they were praising God in song!

As Lifestyle Worshipers there are times we will walk through the "desert places" or "valley of the shadow of death". These are times God will give us a song in the night but we must make a choice to sing - to offer Sacrifice of Praise. A song in the night is always a song of faith that night is sure to give way to the light.

Personally the Lord has given me songs in the night like "As A Deer"- Martin Nystrom, "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord" - Matt Redman ... and many more ... these songs are now more than my favourite songs, nice lyrics or good feels but they are songs that have become personally mine given by the Holy Spirit that have come out of the fiery trials!

Are you in the "fiery furnace" or in the "Lions' den" or in "the valley of the shadow of death"? Let's join the Levites (worshipers) in Psalm 134:1-3 to sing:

Behold, bless the LORD, All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.
The LORD who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion!

Have A Blessed & Victorious Week! - TPWC

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS!

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS.

AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE!

Philippians 4:4

A mindless sense of well being that ignores what is going on around you is not what Paul has in mind when he tells the Philippians to Rejoice In The Lord Always. The letter he writes to them is filled with recognition of difficult circumstances that they are all facing. In the opening words of the letter Paul acknowledges his own situation as a prisoner facing execution. A little later he encourages the Philippians to remain strong in the face of opposition that currently threatens them as well. Yet even in the face of execution, persecution, and suffering, Paul repeatedly calls on them to have JOY, to Rejoice In The Lord.

Firstly let us note that Paul has issued this statement as a command from the Lord. Has God ever issued a command that could not be carried out? Never! The very fact of a divine command proves that obedience is possible. Note further, God not only demands that we rejoice; He demands that we rejoice CEASELESSLY.
So how do we follow this command to Rejoice In The Lord Always, even when things are going horribly wrong? There is a basis for it: Paul does not tell us to rejoice in our circumstances. He tells us to Rejoice In The Lord and he tells us this REPEATEDLY. He even acknowledges that he is repeating himself but says that it is good for us to be reminded again and again to rejoice always. But our rejoicing must be “IN THE LORD”. When our circumstances cause us nothing but grief, disappointments, fears and doubts we can still be glad and strong because our JOY is not based on fluctuating circumstances, but has it's SOURCE in the One Who loves us and is the object of our love

Secondly, Rejoicing is a matter of our CHOICE. There is a great difference between JOY & HAPPINESS. Joy is the realm of the spirit whereas happiness is related to our emotions, feelings and circumstances. When things are going well, we have happiness. It is good to have happiness, but we cannot have it all the time.
To illustrate: If I lost my wallet, I would be very happy when the founder returned it to me. After a few days, I would no longer have the feeling of happiness although my wallet is still with me. What I have actually lost is the feeling of happiness at the time of finding it.

Joy on the other hand, is not dependent on feelings or circumstances. There is only one source of Joy and that is God - God Himself! That is why it is possible to "Rejoice In The Lord Always!" and they are able to do so because "the Lord is near" (Philippians 4:5) - [In His Presence is fullness of JOY (Psalm 16:11)]. You will note that while rejoicing they are also encouraged to submit their petitions and prayers which include the spirit of thanksgiving. (Philippians 4:6) And the resultance is having "the peace of God" (Philippians 4:7) in midst of whatever circumstances.

Beloved, if we but exercise our faith and choice to "rejoice in the Lord", in the midst of our adverse circumstances, these negative feelings of grief, fear, doubt and anger will just melt away!
Therefore, we are able to declare apostle James' message to "count it all joy even when we fall into divers trials or testings" (James 1:2) because it is "The Joy of the Lord" which is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10) that will carry us through.

HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON WHAT HAPPENS. JOY DOES NOT - Oswald Chambers

Have A Joyous and Victories Week
TPWC

WORSHIPERS - A CULTURE OF SINGING

SING TO HIM,

SING PRAISE TO HIM

1 Chronicles 16:9

We have seen in the previous post that OUR GOD SINGS! But are you aware of how many times the Scriptures also urge us to sing?A spoken voice that praises God is wonderful, but it isn't sufficient. A natural conclusion, from the scriptural emphasis on song, is that music was created to bring our voices closer to an accurate reflection of His beauty.

Have you noticed how powerful music can be? It adds weight to the spoken word in movies, on the radio, and even commercials. Most important, it adds beauty to our worship and prompts our hearts to praise God more passionately. The Bible is efficient in it's instructions, it instructs us often to make music to the Lord. And why wouldn't we? If there is anything in this world worth singing about, it's the Lord of glory. He is of highest value in this or any universe. As another psalm so pointedly urges: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6). Songs, as every ear has noticed, have breath. They're living testimonies to the Creator.

Does your praise reflect the importance of song? Musical expertise isn't the issue, and neither is a good voice. The attitude of the heart is the target of the Bible's instructions. David appointed musicians to praise God in the tabernacle, and Paul urged the church to "sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16). we are expected to make melody.

Let your voice produce music for God. Hum. Whistle. Sing - anytime. Regardless of your talent, your heart will soar. And God will be glorified.

An extract from - Worship The King by Chris Tiegreen

Blessings - TPWC

A SINGING GOD

He Will Rejoice Over You With Singing

Zephaniah 3:17

Did you know that God is a singer? Why would that be a surprise? He created us to sing; one would expect that He has some experience at it Himself. Yes, the Lord of all creation sings. That defies our image of the frozen-faced, always-disappointed God of high expectations. Sure, we have failed Him and our love is far too cold for such a lovely Lord. But that's not what the Lord of glory focuses on. When judgement is spent, when He looks at a redeemed soul conforming to the image of Christ, God sings. And not just because He has to. His heart is in it.

That boggles our minds, doesn't it? The God who loves us sing over us. We often think of love as obligatory; He has to love us because of how He made us and redeemed us, but doesn't He doesn't really enjoy it because of how we've failed Him. As we imagine Him, He has a purposeful love but not a passionate one. But that's not the biblical picture of God. Scripture paints Him as highly emotional, deeply grieving over our sin and dancing in celebration over our repentance. In the Bible, God weeps, rejoices, grieves, dances, laughs, gets angry, and celebrates. And He sings!

Imagine the voice! In Revelation, His voice sounds like a trumpet (Revelation 1:10) and waterfall (Revelation 1:15). Can you imagine a voice that exceeds all human instruments and the forces of nature? The volume, the tonality, the quality, the range! And the creativity of the song must be amazing. God-produced music must be astoundingly beautiful. And what's most humbling and amazing is that He sings it over us.

An extract from Worship The King - by Chris Tiegreen In response let us sing back to Him :
- Sing to the Lord, you saints of His; praise His holy name (Ps 30:4)
- Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for for the upright to praise Him (Ps 33:1) - Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy (Ps 33:3)
- Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises (Ps 47:6)
- I will sing of Your strength in the morning, I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. (Ps 59:16)
- I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness known through all generations. (Ps 89:1)
- I will sing of Your love and justice; to You , O Lord, I will sing praise (Ps 101:1)
- I will sing and make music with all my soul (Ps 108:1)

Blessed singing!
TPWC

WHY WE WORSHIP?

All Nations Shall Come

And Worship Before You

Revelation 15:4

Worship is the number one responsibility
of every believer everywhere.

Worship is the highest priority of our Lord.

1) Created To Worship

We were created to worship God from the very beginning. Did you know that worship is not just our praise but also our obedience? When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God they chose not to worship Him. To worship God means to obey, honor, reverence, respect, praise, and give Him all the glory. The first commandment God gave Moses was to worship Him and Him alone (Exodus 20:3-5).

Jesus told us to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:32). This means our heart, soul and mind are to worship God. Romans 12:1 tell us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. This means we worship God with our bodies.

2) Instructed To Worship

Jesus taught His disciples that they should worship even before the present their requests to God: "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (Luke 11:2).
"Hallowed be Your name" is a phrase of worship. We are to magnify God's name and put Him first and high above all earthly things. We need to follow Jesus' example by worshiping the name and character of Yaweh before we make our petitions. Before we ask of Him we should honour Him.

3) Called To Worship

We are also commanded to worship throughout the Epistles: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).

A.W. Tozer said God's purpose in sending His Son to die and rise again to sit on His right hand was that "He might restore to us the missing jewel, the jewel of worship: that we might come back and learn to do again that which we were created to do in first place - worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, to spend our time in awesome wonder and adoration of God, feeling and expressing it. We're here to be worshipers first and workers only second." - The Missing Jewel Of The Evangelical Church by A.W.Tozer.

Blessed Week!
TPWC

A NEW SONG

Sing To The Lord A New Song;

Sing To The Lord, All The Earth.

Psalm 96:1

The Psalms are full of exhortations to praise God in song. The one here quoted contains a special challenge. The Lord asks from us a new song. He never wants our praise of Him to become old and stale, or to degenerate into ritual and routine. How can we always be ready with a new song?

In Ephesians 5:18-19 Paul shows us the way: "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (NASB). Praise of the kind that the Lord requires and that Paul describes can come only from a heart supernaturally filled with the Holy Spirit. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is an indispensable prerequisite.

Out of the Spirit's fullness proceed three kinds of praise: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Psalms - are those already recorded for us in the inspired words of Scripture.

Hymns - belongs to the grand, familiar songs of the Church that express our common faith

Spiritual Songs - are not composed in advance. They are given spontaneously by the Holy Spirit. They are truly "New Songs".

Each time we enter God's presence in worship and catch a glimpse of His grace or glory that we have never seen before, the Holy Spirit gives us a new song appropriate to the new revelation. It may be in our own language or in one given by the Spirit. In either case, it is spontaneous response to a fresh revelation of God. Thus our worship always continues to be fresh as God's unfolding revlation of Himself

An extracts from - Through Davi's Psalms by Derek Prince

Have a blessed & victorious week

TPWC

WORSHIP OUR JEALOUS GOD - PART 3

"My people have exchanged their Glory for worthless

idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens and shudder with

great horror,"declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 2:11-12

It's perhaps the strangest of ironies. The nations who worship false gods wouldn't think of adopting another nation's god (verse 11). But Israel, the only nation in that era worshiping the true God, did!

That's what idolatry is: the exchange of God's Glory for something worthless. Whatever takes God's place in out hearts is a travesty of unspeakable proportions. In any kind of worship other than the God-exalting, Christ-honouring kind of passion, we substituted the profane for the holy, the cheap for the priceless, the finite for the infinite, a curse for a blessing, and like Esau of old, our birthright for a bowl of soup. It's a foolish exchange, but we do it all the time.

We worship gadgets, cars, sports, styles, clothes, entertainment, and other wothless junk. We're not sure why. We just know that in the absence of God, we need something else. The problem is that we miscalculated. Our JEALOUS GOD isn't absent. Forsake foolish exchanges. Embrace your Glory.

Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols,

and demolish all their high places.

Numbers 33:52

The high places pointed to one forbidden, nauseating activity: IDOLATRY. They were shrines and altars on hills and mountain-tops designed exclusively for worship of a Canaanite god like the Baals and the Asherim. The high places in Scripture are usually written with contempt, because they were forms of IDOLATRY that was detestable and forbidden by our JEALOUS GOD!

We build high places in our hearts. You can probably identify right away which ones are some of your most persistent. What are your high places? We fall for the seduction of other altars: careers, income, relationships, misused sexuality, highly adored possessions, a purpose and a plan that are not of God's prompting. Our opportunities for high places on which to kneel are nearly limitless. Learn to recognize them. As god instructs, demolish them and turn to Him alone

An extract from Worhip The King - Chris Tiegreen

One of two things is going to happen in the life of a believer: either he is going to be conformed into the image of Jesus by allowing the Word of God that is spoken in the presence of the Lord (worship) to change him, or he is going to conform Jesus into the image of what his heart dictates.
If you go to the MOUNTAIN (worship in spirit & in truth), YOU CHANGE. If you stay at the FOOT (false worship - idolatry), as Aaron did, God's image in you changes - John Bevere (A Heart Ablaze)

WORSHIP GOD!
TPWC

WORSHIP OUR JEALOUS GOD - PART 2

They have been quick to turn away from what I

commanded them and have made themselves

an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

Exodus 32:8

What will distract us from God's demand to worship only Him and provoke His jealousy? IDOLATRY! What is an IDOL? Anything that replaces our worship from our Creator. An idol gives it's creator what they want - the dictates of their own hearts, since they are the ones who create it. It is a very convenient form of worship.

When Moses led the Israelite out of the bondage from Egypt, we saw how God demostrated His Glory through the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, protecting His people with a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night. He even sustained and provided His people with the miracles of manna & quails from heaven.

When they arrived at Mount Sinai, while Moses was on the mountain receiving the law - which began with commandments against worshiping false gods - the recent redeemed people of the covenant were at the foot of God's mountain makng a false god. A tragic story unfold. Aaron and the children of Israel made a molded calf, pointed to it, and said, "Behold Yahweh, the one, true God, brought us out of the land of Egypt." They called this calf the name of the Lord, reducing His glory to the level of the image of a golden calf. They acknowledged that Yahweh saved and delivered them from Egypt; they did not deny His power, however they had reduced His glory

Now, where did the Israelite get the idea of the golden calf from? For 4oo years most of them were exposed to and surrounded by the Egyptian's culture, and Egypt had many objects of worship. The Israelites were delivered from Egypt, which was a type of being born again, but did not know God intimately. They "played church" at the foot of the mountain, which resulted in God's image being reduced to what she had absorbed from his surroundings. Israel was surrounded by society that worshiped golden images of animals and insects. The modern-day church is surounded by a worldly culture that worship SELF, MATERIALISM, SEXUAL PLEASURES .... if we still desire a worldly lifestyle, which is against the flow of God's authority; we can have it by subconsciously serving and worshiping "our jesus" whose will is in accordance with our own desires.

Moses saw that the people were running wild ...

and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

Exodus 32:25

What does God think when His worshipers "run wild" in disobedience and devotion to materialism, greed, religiousity, lust, status and prestige? If worship is first and foremost about His reputation, and we fall away from it so easily - allowing all sorts of rivals to compete with His reputation in our lives - do not His enemies have a right to laugh? ARE WE NOT PROVOKING GOD'S JEALOUSY!

You shall have no other gods before me

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of

anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or

in the water below. You shall not bow down to them;

for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God

Exodus 20:3-6

Do not worship any other god. For the Lord,

Whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:14

From these verses in the scriptures that we learn that WORSHIP BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD DEMANDS IT! DO NOT PROVOKE HIS JEALOUSY! (See also May 17, 2009 post).

Blessings

TPWC

WORSHIP OUR JEALOUS GOD

For you shall worship no other gods,

for the Lord, whose name is JEALOUS,

is a JEALOUS God.

Exodus 34:14

Our God has many names and titles. One of them, however, isn't discussed theses days. You don't hear of it being made into songs, written in calligraphy on wall plaques, or engraved on jewelry. It is "JEALOUSY" But Exodus 34:14 said that's His name!

A few days after his marriage, a gregarious young husband decided to demostrate his love for his bride by taking her out to an elegant restaurant. When they were at the restaurant, a bright, attractive young waitress greeted them. The husband smiled up at the waitress with obvious delight. He noticed her name on her uniform, and used it to engage her in a few moments of spirited coversation before giving her their order for dinner.

As the waitress walked away, the husband turned his eyes back to his wife ...and was startled by the change in her countenance. She looked hurt and grieved.

"Honey," he said, "what's wrong?"

"I saw your eyes lit up when you looked at the waitress. That hurt me!"

He was confused. "Hurt you? Why should that hurt you? I was only trying to be friendly. Hey, that's my nature I'm outgoing. I enjoy people."

What's your take on the above story? To most people - the lady was obviously overly sensitive and probably has a problem with jealousy. JEALOUSY was an issue with the one who had it - and she needed to work it through! But the coupled was in a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP, and in such a union there can be no tolerance of any competing affection. In a wedding ceremony, they both vowed before God that they would cherish each other and love each other with all their hearts.Therefore in the above case, the jealousy was warranted. She was right to be jealous. She wanted his eyes. She wanted his heart - his whole heart. And because of their vows, she had every right to expect these things.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

Exodis 20:5

In order to explore this further we need carefully define what we mean by jealousy? According to J.I. Packer, we see two sorts of jealousy among humans and only one is a vice. The one sense of jealousy which is perhaps most common is expressed in the attitude "I want what you have and I hate you because I haven't got it." This is essentially envy/covetousness and is a violation of the 10th Commandment. Clearly God does not exhibit jealousy in this way. Yet, according to Packer there is another kind of jealousy which he defines as "zeal to protect a love relationship or avenge it when broken." A helpful example of this is the passion a husband exhibits for his wife in order to preserve the faithfulness of this relationship in the midst of a depraved and adulterous world. This is a relationship that is by rights his and he jealousy guards this by taking actions in order to protect it.

If we really understood the jealousy of God - and how pure a jealousy it is - we would avoid sin like a plague. We don't understand it because it's hard to imagine the perfect, pure, radiant God having a burning passion for peole like us. But people like us were designed specifically to house His holy presence, to commune with Him in the intimate depths of our hearts. That's the fundamental purpose of being made in the image of God.

That's why God gives us such graphic images of His jealous love - so we can grasp it. A woman who doesn't know her suitor's love is apt to violate it. So God gives us ample opportunity to know it. We are to be a bride deeply in love, a bride who so adores her Husband that she cannot get enough of His presence.

The key to overcoming a wandering eye is to know how deeply and how purely we are loved by our God. If we truly know His jealousy, we'll never truly provoke it. Our hearts will burn as passionately as His.

Is it any wonder throughout the scriptures God often describes himself as the faithful husband pursuing a love relationship with his wife (i.e., the people of God). Unfortunately, God's people are not always faithful, but our COVENANT keeping Lord is always faithful.

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love for a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments." (Deut. 7:9)
"He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever— holy and awesome is his name." Psalms 111:9

What a privilege to know that we are His bride. Let us worship with our whole heart this holy, loving, faithfully jealous, covenant keeping God!

Blessings - TPWC

THE DISCIPLINE OF WORSHIP

To The Degree That You Are Willing To Discipline Your Life, God Will Be Able To Accomplish His Desired Plan For You ... To Bring To Pass Those Desires That He Has Placed In Your Heart, And To Bring About Those Things For Which You Are Believing Him. It Doesn't Happen Merely Because God Said It Was Going To Happen. A Lot Depends On You And Me."

The 2nd Flood by Apostle John W. Stevenson

When God shows us something about our lives, He looks for us to obey Him, and such obedience takes discipline. If it has been sometimes since you received a revelation or a vision and God doesn't seem to have done anything about it yet; it is not because He is slothful concerning His word, but because there are things we need to understand more before He starts accomplishing His word. Discipline concerns many areas of our lives. And one very important area for all who are in the worship ministry is the Discipline of Worship, which is touching God where He is.

TRUE WORSHIP DEMANDS THAT WE KEEP OURSELVES SANCTIFIED!
John 4:24 emphasizes that we must worship the Father in spirit and in truth. There is no "try". Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God has been continually wanting to draw us to Himself (James 4:8). Today one of the ways to His holy presence is through praise and worship (Psalm 100:4); but there is no place for sin in His presence! Be it deception or disobedience as it is written in 1 John 4:20, we cannot worship God with anger, bitterness or resentment in our hearts.

TRUE WORSHIP ALSO TOUCHES ALL!
The only recipient of worship must be God. Ezekiel 44:6-14 tells the story of a group of Levites who have gone astray from God by having idols in the lives. Because they did not KEEP THE CHARGE to minister to God, He forbade them from entering into His presence. They could only serve from the outer courts, to their shame. Are there "hidden idols" in our lives? It takes discipline to keep our charge to minister to God.

WORSHIP IS A LIFESTYLE WE MAINTAIN!
Worship as a way of life goes beyond formulas and techniques. It is not a programme or something we do. To maintain a Lifestyle of Worship requires our discipline.

WORSHIP IS IN THE HEART AND NOT IN THE ART!
A.W.Tozer in his book "Whatever Happened To Our Worship" said that "if you cannot worship God in the midst of your responsibilities on Monday, then it is very unlikely you were worshipping on Sunday!"

If you are a worship leader, you cannot lead where you have never been. You cannot be doing on Sunday what you have not been doing all week long - Kent Henry

LIFESTYLE WORSHIPERS
- Begins With A Daily Disciplined Attitute Of A Thankful Heart (The Outer Court) - "In Everything Give Thanks For This Is The Will Of God." (1 Thessalonian 5:18).
- Exercise And Practise Personal Private Praise (The Inner Court) - We Must Learn How To "Put On The Garment Of Praise" (Isaiah 61:3) And To Continually Offer Sacrifice Of Praise (Hebrews 13:15).
- Only Then Can We Experience Continual Communion And Anointing Worshipping The Father (In The Holy Of Holies) In Spirit And In Truth (John 4:24) - TPWC

There is a call - no, a cry - coming from the heart of God and with each passing day it's intensity increases: "Why are you satisfied without My presence; why do you remain distant when you could have intimacy with Me?" - John Bevere

Today the Father is still seeking (yearning, longing) for "true worshipers - who are willing to discipline their lives - to worship Him in SPIRIT and in TRUTH". (John 4: 23 -24). If you are willing to subject your life to the Discipline of Worship, it will revolutionize the course of your life!

A blessed and victorious week!
TPWC

PRIVATE PRAISE

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth"

Psalm 34:1

Thank God for corporate praise when we gather together. It helps us to get among a body of believers as we celebrate and magnify the name of the Lord. There is also a personal private praise which lifestyle worshipers must not neglect. The reason for this is that until we come to the place where we can really enter into that private, personal praise, just between you and the Lord, there are always going to be some hindrances and some holding back when we enter into the corporate praise.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17) and God wants us to get so free that when His Spirit starts moving on us at home, in our kitchen, out in your work place, when commuting or driving down the road in your car, we can just let the spirit of praise flow like rivers of living waters in our surrounding.

The Bible says that God inhabits in our praise (Psalms 22:3). The question is, "If He inhabits in our praise, how far does He inhabits it?" The answer is as far as the sound of your voice goes ... "Glory! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Blessed Be the name of Jesus!" As far as our voice sounds, God is living in those words. For example, when we are in our car praising and worshipping Him, our audible praise fills that car. When the devil gets any where near you; do you know what he gets? "Glory!" If he comes through the window of your car, "Hallelujah!" hits him. When he tries to enter by the door, "Jesus!" knocks him off.

PRAISE HAS TO BE VOCALISED. The Bible says, "My lips shall praise Thee "(Psalms 63:3). If you go around with your mouth shut and not praising God, then God is not in your praise and the devil beats on you. Our praise may be as weak as babes, but it is powerful enough to silence the enemy (Psalms 8:2). There is power in the name of Jesus, that means that that power is released when we speak or sing it. When we begin to speak forth or sing our praises in His name, the spirit inside us begins to rise up and the power of darkness outside of us begins to retreat. Let the Devil hit our praise ten or twenty feet out infront of us. Let them stick their fingers in their ears each time they are near us.

Psalms 34:1 says, " ... His praise shall CONTINUALLY BE IN MY MOUTH." Most people have to stop what they are doing to try to get into praising God, but we need to have this reverse. We need to praise God so much that we have to stop praising in order to do something else.

Psalms 113:3 says, " From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised." King David was a man after God's own heart. He praised God in the morning, he praised Him at noontime and he praised him in the night-time.

Psalms 119:164 David said, Seven times a day I praise Thee." The number seven is perfect and complete. God is looking for worshipers who will choose to PRAISE HIM CONTINUALLY AND ALL DAY.

PRIVATE PRAISE is a powerful experience to live in. It is the key to a victorious and abundant life with Jesus. Let us the first fruits of our day to the Lord in private praise.

TPWC (An extract from Private Praise by Elbert Willis)

Until the practice of praise in private is continuous and free, the practice of corporate praise will be inhibited by fear, self-consciousness and discomfort. The practice in the corporate sense is absolutely indispensable to the maximum worship experience."
Jack R. Taylor - The Hallelujah Factor

WORSHIP BELONGS TO GOD

What are God's demands in His Word regarding Worship?

Do you know that there is a spiritual war going on? It is a war between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of hell. It is a war as to which kingdom gets WORSHIP ... God or Satan? We can see it from Genesis to Revelation ... every event throughout The Ages of the Patriachs, The Bondage in Egypt, The Conquest of Canaan, The Period of the Judges, The History of Israel, The Gospel, The Acts of the Church and The Revelation ... leads to one question: "WHO GETS WORSHIP?"

Exodus 20:3-6
v3 - You shall have no other gods before me
v4 - You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the water below.
v5 - You shall not bow down to them; for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God
Exodus 34:14- Do not worship any other god. for the Lord, Whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.

It is from these verses in the scriptures that we learn that WORSHIP BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD DEMANDS IT!

What is worship? In Hebrew, the word SHACHAH means to kneel and worship. In Greek, the word PROSKUNEO means to go forward to kiss His Hand. In other words, to give EVERYTHING to Him. It is confessing Him as God.

What is the work of the devil? From the account in Genesis of the Garden of Eden, we really cannot discern the devil's purpose. But in Isaiah 14:12-14 we see tthat the devil wants to be like God. Isn't that's what the devil said to Adam and Eve, that they too could be "as gods" when they partook of the forbidden fruit?

As we look into the New Testament, we read in the Gospel of Matthew:-
Matthew 4:8-10
v8 - Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
v9 - "All this I will give you," he said, "If you will bow down and worship me."
v10 - Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'

It is in the third temptation of Jesus that the ultimate goal of the devil was exposed when the enemy finally came out with the confrontation,

"WORSHIP ME!"

When we come to the book of Revelation, we see that God's purpose is worship and Satan's purpose is also worship. From chapter 4 to 19, we learn that the twenty-four elders and four living creatures worship in heaven. But in chapter 13, we see worship of the image of the beast on earth - worship of the beast is the worship of Satan. In chapter 14:7, we see that the eternal Gospel is preached. "Fear God, and give glory to Him, because the hour of his judgement has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

WORSHIP GOD - this is the eternal Gospel! In chapter 21 and 22 we have the new heaven and the new earth. Again we are commanded to worship God (Revelation 22:9)

(An excerpt from the book "Worship God" by Watchman Nee)

Today as we stand in anticipation of His soon return, that same question is being asked: "Who will you worship?" What is our duty as Christians? It is not enough just knowing salvation or serving Him. What is it that will satisfy God? Who will satisfy Him?
We must put worship into everything we do. Do you have difficulites? First worship God, Are you weak and weary? Worship God. we learn in Psalm 8:2 that the praise of a weak child has the power to silence the enemy. Satan fears the worship of God. Worship by the few today is giving God what He will one day have from all. What the world will one day give God, we first give Him. We do not need to wait till the new heaven and new earth to worship.

NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP!

Today the Father is still seeking (searching, yearning) for true worshippers. What is our duty as Christians? Worship God!

Have a victorious week!
TPWC