In Isaiah 43:7 the prophet said we are created
for God's glory. How do we bring glory to God? I believe one way we do that is
by worshiping him. We worship God because he is holy, because of who he is not
because of what he has given us.
There
are very many psalms that encourage us to worship God. In psalm 99:5 the psalmist
says: "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is
holy". In Revelation 4:10-11 (KJV) the elders in heaven are constantly
worshiping God, saying: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honour
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are were
created".
The
word used for worship in both the new and old testament is similar in meaning
and scope. The words collectively mean to make oneself low, humble, in
obedience but to lift up, exalt, honor and adore the Lord. From these words we
also see a sense of intimacy in worship; intimacy with our God.
In
John 4:24, the apostle John wrote that: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. This is a heartfelt worship in
integrity and assisted by the Holy Spirit (Phil 3:3) We don't have to be in a
church to worship the Lord, we can do it anytime anywhere; we can do it out
loud or we can do it in silence. Either way worship ushers us into the presence
of the Lord where God can speak to us, change us and minister to us.
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The
bible says that as Christians, Christ lives in us (Gal 2:20) and we are in him.
He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). We have been grafted in to
the vine. Spiritually this means that we are in Christ. As the life of the vine
flows out to its branches, so the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, lives in us
and flows from us.
In
the book of Colossians, we are told that we have been removed from the power of
darkness and placed in to the kingdom of light (Col 1:13). This is God’s
spiritual kingdom of light; we are connected to Jesus and live in his sphere of
influence.
Satan
has been defeated through Christ’s victory at the cross and he (satan) was
stripped of all power and authority in our lives as Christians (Col 2:15).
In
Christ, God sees us as righteous (1Cor 1:30), his sons and daughters (Gal 3:26)
and more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me” (Phil 4:13; KJV).
This
is who we are but we need to walk in it. This requires that we study the word
and find out who we are in Christ; build up our faith so we can stand up to
satan when he comes to question our new life in Christ. Satan is defeated but
he will try to question your relationship with God through people and by sending
you negative thoughts. You must be convinced of who you are so you can stand
firm in your victory in Jesus.
In Hebrews
6:10 we are told: "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour
of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to
the saints and do minister." The apostle Matthew (Matt 25:35-46; KJV) recorded
how Jesus expects us to minister to people, whether it be to the sick, the poor
or those in prison etc. Jesus finished up by saying that whatever we do we do
it unto him. So, when we are showing love or kindness to someone we think we
are doing it for that person but we are actually doing it for Jesus.
Jesus
gave a similar instruction in Matthew 10:42 (see also Mark 9:37-41), where it
says that if we give a cup of cold water to a: "little one", it is as
if we are giving it to Jesus. This lines up with the instructions we get in the
Bible to: "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mark 12:31).
In 1
Corinthians 13:4 the apostle Paul said said that love is kind. In Ephesians
2:10 Paul taught us that we are recreated for good works. In the epistle of the
apostle James we are reminded that faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and
that true religion is taking care of those less fortunate than ourselves (James
1:27).
This
is what love is all about - kindness in action, acting out the love that God
has put inside of us (Rom 5:5). Look for ways to show a little kindness today
and make someone's day.
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book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
“Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King
coming unto the: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass,
and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (Zech 9:9; KJV). At the culmination
of his ministry on the earth, our King of Kings, Jesus, rode triumphant into
Jerusalem, holding the keys to our salvation, death on a cross and resurrection
to life. What power, what victory, what contrasts.
His triumphant entry was not in a chariot of
gold surrounded by warriors but he came sitting on a lowly donkey with his
bewildered disciples around him. He did not come as an earthly conquering king
to destroy the Roman oppression as many expected (John 6:15). He came humbly,
to do his Father's will (John 5:19), and to win back dominion from satan and
all the spiritual forces of darkness (Col 2:15).
This
was a victory in the spirit realm that won forgiveness for us (Col 1:14), restored
authority over satan and all his minions (Luke 10:19), and gave us eternal life
with him (1 John 2:25). Zechariah foresaw it (Zech 9:9), Matthew reported it as
fact (Matt 21:3) and the people rejoiced: "Blessed is he who cometh in the
name of the Lord" (Matt 21:9).
Christ,
humbled to the point of death on a cross (Phil 2:8), won more than any mighty
army of men ever achieved. Let's walk in that victory and authority and impact
our world for good.
Please
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book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
In
Mark 4:35-39 (KJV) we read about how Jesus spoke to a storm, He said:
"Peace, be still" We then learn that immediately there was a:
"great calm". Jesus then reprimanded his disciples for their lack of
faith. Notice that Jesus didn't pray for the storm to stop, he just told it to.
Jesus has authority over nature and we have the same authority as well.
In
Mark 11:14 Jesus spoke to a fig tree and then in verse 23 of that same chapter he
told us that we could speak to a mountain and tell it to move. If we assume
that any obstacle in our lives is a mountain, then according to this verse we
can simply speak to it and it will move. This sounds very simple; however, we
need to speak to our mountains out of a heart of faith because: "out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt 12:34). Even before
Jesus said we can speak to mountains, he said, "have faith in God"
(verse 22) and this is the key.
God
has given faith to all of his people (Rom 12:3). If you don't feel like your
faith is where you would like it to be spend a few minutes each day meditating
on verses to do with faith; this will serve to increase your faith: “So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). As your faith
grows you can step out in faith and see the results, guaranteed!
Please
pass this on. All rights reserved.
Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian
Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible
based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.