Worship #5

Continuing with the theme of worship, today I want to look at worship when things go wrong. For most of us worship is very difficult when things are going down hill. But it can be done and we must worship for usually in the time of testing is when we will grow the most. For a great example of this we nee to look at the life of Joesph in Genesis. You will have to read this on your own and can be found in Genesis chapter 37-47. I know that is a good chunk to read but trust me it will be worth your time!



What you will find out when you read those chapters is that Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of adultery, thrown into prison. Wow talk about a rough life. But there is a key thread that runs through all of Joesph's story and it is this:



Genesis 39:3

And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.



Genesis 39:21

But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.



Genesis 39:23

The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.



Genesis 41:16

16 So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”



Genesis 41:39-41

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”





Genesis 45:5

5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.



Genesis 45:8

8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.



God was always with Joesph....in bad times and the good times! We must realize like Joesph did that sometimes the bad is used as a good in the end! God is always at work.



Worship is based on God Himself not on circumstances that change constantly. Remember this verse:



Romans 8:28



28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.



And these verses from Isaiah:



Isaiah 55:8-9





8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.



God is worthy of worship at all times no matter what the circumstances! Give Him worship!



Tom

Worship #4

A little behind today getting my devotion up, better late then never I guess!



In worship there is a war going. That was is satan battling God for worship. We know in the end God will win but right now, satan is wanting us to worship him instead of God and I am sad to say he is winning. We can't say we were not warned of this as Jesus told us the gate was narrow and few will enter it. I pray that you are one of the few!



So let's look at these verse today:



Ephesians 1:3-14



3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.



In these verses we can see what God has done for those who have trusted Christ through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.



First let's look at the Father: V4-6



a. declares us Holy

b. without blame before Him

c. adopted as sons



Second let's look at the Son: v7-12



a. redemption through the shed blood

b. forgiveness

c. inheritance



Third lets' look at the Holy Spirit: v13-14



a. sealed...nothing can unseal what God has sealed!

b. guarantees our inheritance



Now what does Satan give us:



a. lies

b. death

c. tricks

d. pain

e. suffering



Now who deserves worship? God of course!



Why did Father do these things for us?



a. v6- to the praise of the glory of His grace...for our worship



Why did the Son do these things for us?



a. v12- to the praise of His glory...for our worship



Why did the Holy Spirit do these things for us?



a. v14- to the praise of His glory...for our worship



I don't know about you but I know who deserves my worship and is gonna get it....God!!!!



Tom

Chick-fil-a day...Aug. 1

If you value godly family values join me in supporting Chick-fil-a day Aug. 1. I will have to drive a bit but I will to support them and their stand for family values and the Bible. If you haven't heard the LBGT community has tried to slam them for their stand on biblical marriage.

Tom

Worship #3

When think on the worship of God, perhaps we should ask ourselves the same questions as the psalmist when writing this psalm to grasp the awesomeness of God!



Psalm 24:3-4





3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,

Nor sworn deceitfully.



Who can approach God? Nobody!

Who can stand in His holy place? Nobody!

Who has clean hands and a pure heart? Nobody but God!

Who does not lift his soul to what is false? Nobody!

Who does not swear deceitfully? Nobody!



Now enter King Jesus! He ascends on our behalf, He stands when we wilt, He has clean hands when we are filthy, He says nothing but truth while we are full of lies!



Pretty easy to see who deserves worship, huh? Sure isn't me but only my KING!



Tom

Worship #2

Continuing on the thought of worship this morning. We have looked at this verse in the past but when it comes to worshiping this verse is very important so lets look at it again:

Romans 12:1

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Remember yesterday we found out we don't just worship God on Sunday! It is a way of life. Every second of every day! Everything in our life should be done and lived out in worship to God. The verse above says we are living sacrifices. Who have we given our lives in sacrifice to? Jesus! The verse goes onto say this is reasonable, I would have to agree! After all Jesus took my place on that old rugged cross. I am nothing and HE is everything and deserves my worship in all areas of my life.

So my question for all of us this morning is are you living a lifestyle of worship to God? As I thought about this, I determined this is very, very hard to do. We must stay focused. But it can be done.

Take some time to evaluate your lifestyle of worship this morning. Make adjustments if needed!

Tom

Worship #1

I went to camp last week with the youth from church. It was a great week. The theme for the week was worship. Some of the teachings really hit home with me and I want to share them with you this week! So here we go!



Psalm 34:1-3





I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.



We started the week off with these verses! Wow, can we say we do this? We should for God is worthy. There are 3 points I want us to grasp this morning:



1. We are worshipers!



What is worship? It is when we determine something is valuable and we ascribe worth to it. With that definition can you see how easy it can be to worship something other than God? We must be very careful to keep our worship on HIM and not things He has created.



2. We were created to worship God!



Thats right, God created us to worship HIM! Look at this verse:



Colossians 1:16



16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.



For HIM all things were created! Have you ever stopped to think about that fact? You were created for God and to worship Him....wow that is deep!



3. God is worthy of worship!



Genesis 1:1



1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.



Genesis 1:27



27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.



We worship God when we become captivated by who God is and what He has done. Think about that statement. Are you in awe of who God is and what he has done? When we get a little grasp on those two things, worship will flow from our hearts!



Worship begins on the inside, in the heart. Then is becomes visible on the outside as it flows out into all areas of our life. Worship is a lifestyle, not just a once in a while thing!



So this morning think on these things. Worship God for He alone is worthy. Magnify God with your life, all of it!



Tom

Following after other gods.

I have been studying the book of Deuteronomy of late and read this chapter the other day. God takes it very seriously for those who lead astray folks to other gods...check it out:



Deuteronomy 13



1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

12 “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 ‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods”’—which you have not known— 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. 16 And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.



For some reason any time you allow evil such as following false gods, it seems to spread like a disease. That is why God was warning them here not to allow it to get started. To do what was needed to get the evil out! We live in a different day where worship of other gods is allowed here in the USA, but we have seen how evil is spreading like a wild fire right before our eyes. We must do all we can to combat this evil and teach our kids and grandkids and maybe even ourselves about God and His Word and to stand strong against false gods.



Stand strong my brothers and sisters....it is a MUST!



Tom