Category Archives: Worship
Purity
‘It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart’. Mark 7:15
People are quick to quote scripture out of context for their own personal gain. Jesus describes this as ‘skillfully sidestepping God’s law in order to hold on to our own tradition’ [Read Mark 7:1-23]. So you find people in an attempt to justify bad habits such as drinking alcohol quoting this scripture because after all Jesus was the one who said It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart’. And sometimes it is people who have been wondering whether to indulge in a sinful craving Read the rest of this entry
Pray To God!
‘Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven!’ Ps.148:1-2.
It is only when Jesus is being lifted up that angels are free to do what they are created to do. ‘We are standing on holy ground. And I know that there are angles all around. Let us praise Jesus now. We are standing in His presence on holy ground’. As the song points out, the object of our worship is not the angels around us but Jesus Himself. It is only the presence of God that can make a place holy. ‘If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High Read the rest of this entry
Worship God!
‘Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, No don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you… who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship God. For the essence of prophecy is to give clear witness for Jesus’ Rev.19:10
‘Worship God. For the essence of prophecy is to give clear witness for Jesus. What the angel was actually saying is that the whole essence of prophecy is to lift up Jesus. The whole essence of all that the angel had shown John, the heart of it, was to lift up Jesus. So an angel of God will not accept worship but will point to the worship of Jesus. ‘Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had Read the rest of this entry
Will You Play The Fool?
‘And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard’ 1 Sam.21:13
David in a bid to escape Saul found himself in danger of loosing his life before Abimelech and he demonstrated hallelujah and got free. Hallelujah means to change behavior suddenly, it means to feign madness. [Read 1 Sam.21:10-15]. It was after this that David wrote Psalm 34. The summary before Psalm 34 reads ‘A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away’. ‘I will bless [barak] the Lord at all times: his praise [tehillah] shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast [halal] in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad’ Ps.34:1-2 [KJV]. A while back, a friend of mine had Read the rest of this entry
Hosanna!
‘… all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!’ Luke 19:37-38
Some of these people had issues, some of them had testimonies, some of them had challenges but they still took off their cloths and shouted ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. The demand on us is to worship regardless of what we are going through because God’s ways are not our ways. You will notice a pattern here; the first group of people to take off their cloths and put it down were the disciples. This is a pattern with God, He will start with leadership, and ommitment always starts with leadership. The disciples by themselves took off Read the rest of this entry
Barak
‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel [barak] before the Lord our maker.’ Ps.95:6 [KJV].
To Barak means to kneel down and to bless God as an act of adoration. Many people have an issue with kneeling down and blessing God in worship. Some people say ‘God sees my heart; He sees that I am kneeling down in my heart’. I don’t disagree with that, I know it can start from the heart. However, let your life flow from the abundance of your heart. If it is so easy for you to kneel in your heart then let it flow into your actions as part of your worship to God. ‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel [barak] before the Lord Read the rest of this entry
Shabach
‘O clap your hands, all ye people; shout [shabach] unto God with the voice of triumph’ Ps.47:1 [KJV].
The word Shabach means to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph. You cannot shabach God quietly. Some people get very uncomfortable when they see people shouting praises to God because it is not civil. When you come into the presence of God, you must put aside being civil Read the rest of this entry
Towdah
‘Offer unto God thanksgiving [towdah]; and pay thy vows unto the most High:’ Ps.50:14 [KJV]
The second word used to express a kind of praise is Towdah. Towdah comes from the same root word as yadah. Towdah literally means an extension of hands in adoration, avowal, or in acceptance. The extension of hands in towdah is very different from that of yadah. With yadah, the hands are
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Yadah
‘Oh that men would praise [yadah] the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!’ Ps.107:15 [KJV].
Our ultimate goal is to live lives that are pleasing to God through Jesus. In studying the culture of the Hebrews and how they expressed praise and worship to God we can learn a lot. Personally, I believe that the most important part of any worship experience is the praise and worship. When you Read the rest of this entry
In Submission
‘So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him’ Matt.7:11
We have to live our daily lives in submission to Christ Jesus. We have to wrestle between the choice to use God as a vending machine and the choice to live our lives in complete submission to Him. And trust that God will not withhold anything good from us. Living daily in submission to Christ – following and trusting him is a decision every Christian has to make. Or are you going to choose to live Read the rest of this entry
