Understanding New Testament Worship…

We all have an idea of what worship is. Some people think that worship is a song, others think its going to church and list goes on and on. None of these ideas on worship are wrong. Worship is so big and diverse I don’t think there is a single word that can describe it fully.
I was at Bible school and the lecturer was speaking on worship. What he taught made sense. Worship must not be confined to just church. If we do then we miss out on the other important facets of worship. There are things that make up worship and that is what I am going to talk about in this post.
The first thing New Testament worship is about, is controlling our flesh which includes our our tongue and temper.
There is a problem if we go to church and “worship” but we are reckless with our words and our temper. It is a problem when you call yourself a worshiper but you cannot control your flesh!
Our worship to God needs to be redefined. It’s not enough to just worship God at church and think that’s enough.

Rom 12:1-3 says

12 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.

² Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

Part of New Testament worship is renewing your mind. You do that by getting the Word of God in you. You are worshiping God when your mind is being renewed with His word.

Another aspect of New Testament worship is being thankful. We are called to live a life of thanksgiving to God and its not once a week or once a month but daily! Are you a thankful person? A thankful person is a worshiper. If you “worship” at church but you are ungrateful then that is called a problem. That is not worship. Look at what 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says:

¹⁶ Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);

¹⁷ Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];

¹⁸ Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

We need to have a holistic view of worship. Its not just about the songs but its about what we think, what we say, how we treat people, if we are self controlled and so on! Its about whats in your heart. God is very interested about whats in your heart. True worship stems from the heart. When your heart is filled with God it is easier to be thankful. It is easy to control your temper. It is easy to stop focusing on yourself and focus on other people.

I have been meditating on this revelation for a bit now. As you know, I will not teach something for the sake of it. It must be something I am applying in my own life. This is high calling we called to.

As I end please understand that it is OK to worship in church but don’t stop there. Realize that worship at church is one aspect that makes up worship and there are a lot more things that complete it. Don’t focus on just one aspect but look at worship as a whole.

Rolain

Is Your Life Balanced?

There needs to be a balance in our lives. A lot of Christians like to get stuck in one truth and that’s all they ever see. Some of us get stuck in prosperity or giving, or faith forgetting the other important things that make up Christianity. We need to strike a balance in our walk. It is not one or the other thing but it is all those things that make us successful.

 At bible school the lecturer made a very interesting observation. He said a lot of Christians pray and pray but don’t praise. He then told a true story about a traveling pastor who was sick. Every where this pastor went he asked people to pray for him but nothing changed. His sickness remained. One day the pastor went before God and asked Him why he was still sick despite the countless prayers being offered for him. God showed him a vision of measuring scales. On one scale was praise and the other was prayer. The scale which was prayer was filled and it far outweighed praise. God then told him that the reason nothing was happening was because there was no praise in his life. The man began praising God everyday and within no time he was healed of his sickness completely!!! That is the power of prayer and praise. The two go hand in hand.

Let me show you this principle in action in scripture. In Acts 16:23-36 we read about Paul and Silas.

In verse 25 up to 26 it reads, “but about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved; and all the doors came open, and everyone’s chains came off.
Notice, they prayed first but only as they praised God did the deliverance come through. A lot of the time we have prayed and prayed but with no answer while God was waiting for us to praise Him! There is power in prayer, no doubt but there is also power in thanksgiving and praise.

For another example we are going to look at 2 Chronicles 20. In verse 2 we read how Jehoshaphat got some disturbing news about a great army coming towards him. In his fear, he prayed to God for help. But notice that he didn’t get his deliverance then. The Lord answered his prayer but he didn’t get his manifestation then.  The manifestation only came when he praised God! The enemy still advanced after he prayed but it is only when he praised that the deliverance came.

It is the same with us. We should pray, we NEED to pray but it should be coupled with praise! Is your life balanced? Is your scale balanced? This is for all of us. I know that my scale is not balanced. My praise and thanksgiving is very low but I want it to increase!

Praise is acting like we have the answer – David Divelbiss

I have been so challenged by this word, I hope you have too. Let us practice praying and praising. Our praise is an act of faith towards God. It is our praise to God that releases our faith! Prayer is powerful, praise is powerful but together you become unstoppable!

God bless

Rolain

 

Thoughts, Beliefs and Words….

I have been going to Bible School and I have been learning a lot but I am the kind of person who doesn’t like gathering information for the sake of it. I understand I am accountable for what I hear and I will be judged for what I do with what I have heard! There needs to be action that follows the revelation I get, and I have been getting a lot of it! So what I have planned to do is share some of the lessons I have learned at Bible School so I don’t forget. I also hope God will speak to you through these lessons. The first point that I got sounds so simple and it is but it is also so profound!

– We talk wrong because we think wrong! If you are thinking right you will have peace and joy and peace. Right thinking comes first.
This is how important right thinking is, If you think right you will believe right and speak right and if you think wrong you will believe wrong and speak wrong! It is that simple!!!!

So with that in mind, what are you thinking about? It has been estimated that we have about  50 000 thoughts a day! If we have so many thoughts a day are they positive or negative?
We need to train ourselves to think right because as we do we will believe right and then speak right!

Action point – This here is the time where I put action to the word. Feel free to take the challenge. Wisdom is not about what you know but about what you do with what you know.
We have been called to renew our mind with the Word of God. The guaranteed way of thinking right is to renew our mind in the word of God.

Will you join me in taking this action step? Let us get deeper into the word. Think about what you think about. Let us allow the word to renew our minds. In the next few days ask God to show you where you have been missing it in the way you think. Let us work on the way we think then when we are done we will move on to another principle.

God bless