Our home sat on the south side of a little lake—and I do mean little. The lake was just a few acres in size and was owned and maintained by our neighborhood association. My home office looked out over the lake and as I worked, I could gaze out the window and occasionally daydream.
In the nine years we lived there, I watched countless times as dads brought their children to the lake’s edge and began the process of teaching them how to fish by casting a line into the water. Casting is a skill that does require a little bit of learning. At first, very few are able to throw the baited hook very far out into the water. More often, after a mighty heave, the hook lands right in front of them and sometimes even behind them. Some of the children get frustrated and after a few tries with little or no success, they put the rod down and run do something else. Others keep trying until slowly the skill begins to take shape, and they begin dropping their hooks out into the water where the fish live.
The Bible teaches us that we need to learn a “casting” skill as we grow up in our relationship with Christ.
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).
I have to confess that I struggle with this. I find it difficult to release an anxiety, to put it over on Jesus; I’m better about it than I used to be but I still struggle with it. Does “casting our care on Him” mean that we just erase it from our mind? How can that be? Are we supposed to forget about the sick loved one, or the financial need that is pressing us for a solution? Is the Bible suggesting that we embrace an attitude of irresponsibility? I don’t think that’s what it means at all.
I believe the Bible is telling us to stop carrying the burden alone; put it down; don’t forget about it but stop obsessing about it and feeling that no one else is aware of what you are facing.
In his classic book, God’s Cure for Worry, Guy Mark Pearce tells the following story.
He was out driving on a hot summer day when he came across a woman walking beside the road, carrying a heavy basket. Pearce stopped and offered the woman a ride, which she gratefully accepted. After the lady was seated, Pearce noticed that she continued to hold the heavy basket in her arms.
“Your basket will ride just as well in the bottom of the carriage and you will be much more comfortable,” Pearce told her.
The lady replied, “Thank you, I never thought of that.” The lady then put the basket on the floor of the car and let the car carry both her and the basket.
Pearce continued to talk to the lady and encourage her by telling her that he too had carried loads unnecessarily when he could have put them down. And then he finished with the statement, “If the Lord is willing to carry me, He is willing to carry my worries.”
Casting is putting the whole of your life, not just the troubling issues, but everything in your life, into His care. He is carrying you so why don’t you let Him carry the burden? Go ahead and put it down by putting it over on Him as He has asked us to do.
One final thought: As in fishing, if you are going to do anything meaningful when you cast your line out into the water, you have to bait the hook. My suggestion is that before you try and “cast” that concern, treat it as “bait” and put a hook into it. Remind that troublesome concern what God’s Word has to say about it. Then set the hook by going back and audibly reminding the concern, the “care,” two or three more times, “This is what the Bible says!”…and then quote the promise to it!
When you cast, the hook is what carries the concern away from you!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
GETTING IN GOD'S FACE
“Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth” (Exodus 33:15-16).
Have you ever had someone “get in your face”?
I used this title, a play on words, to get your attention and if you’ve read this far, it worked. Let me explain.
In Exodus 33, God commands Moses to leave the desert of Sinai and head toward the Promised Land. There was a lot going on with the Jews at this point. Not long before, Moses had led the Jewish nation through the Red Sea and out of Egypt. And Moses had just been up on the mountain for an encounter with God that resulted in the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, down in the camp, the people threw a wild party which ended up with their creating an idol, a golden calf. The Jews were partying by mimicking the lifestyle and behavior of the pagan tribes around them, not realizing that copying the unrestrained behavior and idolatry of the pagans brought them into open ridicule in the eyes of their enemies.
Moses came down off the mountain and heard and observed the wild behavior of the twelve tribes. What happened next is what some of my southern friends describe as a “come to Jesus meeting”—Moses was so ticked off by the foolish behavior that he smashed the tablets the Ten Commandments were written on.
Moses quickly brought order back to the encampment and then went before the Lord to make atonement for the sins of the people. This was not a happy revival meeting where singing, dancing and worship prevailed. At least 3000 died by the sword of judgment because of the foolishness of the people.
Moses interceded on behalf the nation and God accepted his appeal. God then told Moses to lead the children of Israel to the land where, according to His promise, His Presence would go with them (v. 14) and Moses countered with the appeal of Exodus 33:15-16. Simply put, Moses was saying, “If Your Presence does not go with us, then don’t let us move. We are the people of Your Presence. It is Your Presence that separates us from everyone else on earth.”
How do we understand this appeal of Moses? If God is everywhere, what was Moses asking for and why was he worried?
We know that God is omnipresent, that He is everywhere, and that is not what Moses was talking about. Moses was asking for God’s presence to be evident, tangible. He was asking that the blessing and favor of God rest upon Israel and be seen by those who opposed them.
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word used in Exodus 33:15 for presence (paniym) is the same word used in Psalm 44:3 for face or countenance.
“It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face (paniym), for you loved them.”
Moses knew that without the blessing of the Lord upon the tribes of Israel, they could never possess the Promised Land. The Jews were not the best warriors, nor were they the most numerous, and left to their own devices they could never have taken and subdued Canaan. Moses knew that it was only when the favor and blessing of God rested on Israel that they were distinct, different from all the other peoples on earth, and only then could they be successful and walk in victory.
Today’s American church is a timid church, not ready to go to war! We have lost our boldness in God and have largely lost His favor. The church has been built on the business models of the world, the overdone concept that we need to be more culturally relevant; and, for some, on the misguided idea that God has destined the truly righteous to be successful according to earthly standards. The western church is not living in victory—we talk about it, we try to define it but we are not living in it—except in our dreams!
Am I just another “mad prophet” who is angry at the church, angry at anything that looks like success in the kingdom of God? No, I don’t think so! When I see the church and ministries consumed with strategy, money, success and numbers, and then observe that PRAYER is the least talked-about and least-done thing in the church, I get afraid. I get afraid because I know what is in store for the prayerless, partying, powerless and Presence-less church…disaster lies ahead! The prayerless church is open to plundering by the enemy; the prayerless church will make tragic mistakes; the prayerless church is open to false teaching; the prayerless church is impotent; the prayerless church is not a victorious church! The unrestrained and Presence-less church of today is being openly ridiculed by the secular community.
We need to be in God’s face; that is, we need to have His tangible blessing in our midst. What makes us different is God’s presence, His face shining on us. Only then will we see real victory.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face (paniym) shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 67:1-2, NIV)
It’s time to get in God’s face. Your future depends on it!
Have you ever had someone “get in your face”?
I used this title, a play on words, to get your attention and if you’ve read this far, it worked. Let me explain.
In Exodus 33, God commands Moses to leave the desert of Sinai and head toward the Promised Land. There was a lot going on with the Jews at this point. Not long before, Moses had led the Jewish nation through the Red Sea and out of Egypt. And Moses had just been up on the mountain for an encounter with God that resulted in the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, down in the camp, the people threw a wild party which ended up with their creating an idol, a golden calf. The Jews were partying by mimicking the lifestyle and behavior of the pagan tribes around them, not realizing that copying the unrestrained behavior and idolatry of the pagans brought them into open ridicule in the eyes of their enemies.
Moses came down off the mountain and heard and observed the wild behavior of the twelve tribes. What happened next is what some of my southern friends describe as a “come to Jesus meeting”—Moses was so ticked off by the foolish behavior that he smashed the tablets the Ten Commandments were written on.
Moses quickly brought order back to the encampment and then went before the Lord to make atonement for the sins of the people. This was not a happy revival meeting where singing, dancing and worship prevailed. At least 3000 died by the sword of judgment because of the foolishness of the people.
Moses interceded on behalf the nation and God accepted his appeal. God then told Moses to lead the children of Israel to the land where, according to His promise, His Presence would go with them (v. 14) and Moses countered with the appeal of Exodus 33:15-16. Simply put, Moses was saying, “If Your Presence does not go with us, then don’t let us move. We are the people of Your Presence. It is Your Presence that separates us from everyone else on earth.”
How do we understand this appeal of Moses? If God is everywhere, what was Moses asking for and why was he worried?
We know that God is omnipresent, that He is everywhere, and that is not what Moses was talking about. Moses was asking for God’s presence to be evident, tangible. He was asking that the blessing and favor of God rest upon Israel and be seen by those who opposed them.
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word used in Exodus 33:15 for presence (paniym) is the same word used in Psalm 44:3 for face or countenance.
“It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face (paniym), for you loved them.”
Moses knew that without the blessing of the Lord upon the tribes of Israel, they could never possess the Promised Land. The Jews were not the best warriors, nor were they the most numerous, and left to their own devices they could never have taken and subdued Canaan. Moses knew that it was only when the favor and blessing of God rested on Israel that they were distinct, different from all the other peoples on earth, and only then could they be successful and walk in victory.
Today’s American church is a timid church, not ready to go to war! We have lost our boldness in God and have largely lost His favor. The church has been built on the business models of the world, the overdone concept that we need to be more culturally relevant; and, for some, on the misguided idea that God has destined the truly righteous to be successful according to earthly standards. The western church is not living in victory—we talk about it, we try to define it but we are not living in it—except in our dreams!
Am I just another “mad prophet” who is angry at the church, angry at anything that looks like success in the kingdom of God? No, I don’t think so! When I see the church and ministries consumed with strategy, money, success and numbers, and then observe that PRAYER is the least talked-about and least-done thing in the church, I get afraid. I get afraid because I know what is in store for the prayerless, partying, powerless and Presence-less church…disaster lies ahead! The prayerless church is open to plundering by the enemy; the prayerless church will make tragic mistakes; the prayerless church is open to false teaching; the prayerless church is impotent; the prayerless church is not a victorious church! The unrestrained and Presence-less church of today is being openly ridiculed by the secular community.
We need to be in God’s face; that is, we need to have His tangible blessing in our midst. What makes us different is God’s presence, His face shining on us. Only then will we see real victory.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face (paniym) shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 67:1-2, NIV)
It’s time to get in God’s face. Your future depends on it!
Friday, October 16, 2009
THE BEGINNING OF GUIDANCE
The couple was very unhappy. They had joined the staff of a megachurch but soon found the egocentricity of the pastor and his wife very discouraging. The politics, bickering and lack of loyalty among the staff only added to their discomfort. They were asked, “What are you going to do?” and their response was, “We’re not telling anyone on staff, but as soon as we can find another position equal to this or better, we’ll take it and move on.”
A mutual friend invited me to comment on the situation and I stumbled over my words for a minute before I spoke to the issue. “What they are planning to do is not the way of guidance in the Kingdom of God,” I said. I am not saying it doesn’t ever happen that a door will open up and then you make the move, but it is not the pattern of Scripture. The way of the world is to find a new opportunity without telling your boss and then go in and quit. I believe this is what Jesus referred to this as “the way of the Gentiles” and He told His disciples not to proceed in that pathway” (see Matthew 10:5).
I went on, “Especially for people in ministry, it is vital they get their direction from the Lord. If they clearly had a word from the Lord to take this position, then He will be the one to tell them when to leave. Has He spoken to them about this?” My question was greeted with silence.
There is nothing wrong with a good plan but let it be secondary to the direction the Lord gives.
There has to be a place where guidance begins, where it begins to flow in our lives. Far too often we want to know the end result first. We want to see fully where we are going and if the end goal is “good for me.” It is not uncommon for someone to pick up a novel and read the last few pages before starting on page one. That’s human nature.
It is important for us to realize that divine guidance is most often a progressive revelation and, like every process, every procedure, there is a beginning point. Every explosion has a point of detonation that sets the explosive power loose. Where do we find that in guidance?
Genesis 12:1 (see also Hebrews 11:8)
"Now the LORD had said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”
Abraham’s journey began with his act of obedience to the word the Lord had given him and it is the act of obedience that starts the miracle of divine guidance in your life.
This is the first part of God’s promise to Abraham (vv.1-3). The remainder was about what his offspring would become and how God would bless him and protect him. God did not tell Abraham exactly where he was going but He did promise him a progressive revelation, a step-by-step “I will show you.”
I can testify to the validity of this principle. More than once God has spoken to me about making a step that to me seemed, well….difficult to understand! More than once I have argued with the Lord that “just in case You’ve forgotten, I have a family, I have responsibilities. I am a man who works with a well laid-out plan, so tell me what’s in the future if I do this.” God’s response to my brilliant logic was, “Do you trust me?” And He has proven His trustworthiness, over and over. As it was with Abraham, so it will be with us.
In Genesis 24 Abraham is now an old man. He calls his chief servant to him and gives him an assignment. The servant is to go to the country where Abraham was born and find a wife for Isaac. Not a difficult assignment, but where in the world do you start? The chapter recounts the successful trip that ended in the servant bringing back Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife. The testimony of the servant is very revealing about God’s faithfulness to lead His children, and it’s a testimony to the progressive nature of God’s “I will show you.”
“And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren” (Genesis 24:27 KJV).
One of the lessons I first learned when starting to drive is so simple that it’s kind of ridiculous to repeat it. It is easier to correct the direction of a car when it is moving than when it is parked. Simple, right? Just get the car moving, even very slowly, and you can refine the direction it is headed. The very same truth is applicable in how God guides our lives. Do we believe it? Not so much! Instead we rationalize and say, “God, show me where I’m going and I’ll make the move.” How’s that working out for you?
“I, being in the way, the Lord continues to lead me!” (David 10/09, The New Living Amplified Version)
A mutual friend invited me to comment on the situation and I stumbled over my words for a minute before I spoke to the issue. “What they are planning to do is not the way of guidance in the Kingdom of God,” I said. I am not saying it doesn’t ever happen that a door will open up and then you make the move, but it is not the pattern of Scripture. The way of the world is to find a new opportunity without telling your boss and then go in and quit. I believe this is what Jesus referred to this as “the way of the Gentiles” and He told His disciples not to proceed in that pathway” (see Matthew 10:5).
I went on, “Especially for people in ministry, it is vital they get their direction from the Lord. If they clearly had a word from the Lord to take this position, then He will be the one to tell them when to leave. Has He spoken to them about this?” My question was greeted with silence.
There is nothing wrong with a good plan but let it be secondary to the direction the Lord gives.
There has to be a place where guidance begins, where it begins to flow in our lives. Far too often we want to know the end result first. We want to see fully where we are going and if the end goal is “good for me.” It is not uncommon for someone to pick up a novel and read the last few pages before starting on page one. That’s human nature.
It is important for us to realize that divine guidance is most often a progressive revelation and, like every process, every procedure, there is a beginning point. Every explosion has a point of detonation that sets the explosive power loose. Where do we find that in guidance?
Genesis 12:1 (see also Hebrews 11:8)
"Now the LORD had said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”
Abraham’s journey began with his act of obedience to the word the Lord had given him and it is the act of obedience that starts the miracle of divine guidance in your life.
This is the first part of God’s promise to Abraham (vv.1-3). The remainder was about what his offspring would become and how God would bless him and protect him. God did not tell Abraham exactly where he was going but He did promise him a progressive revelation, a step-by-step “I will show you.”
I can testify to the validity of this principle. More than once God has spoken to me about making a step that to me seemed, well….difficult to understand! More than once I have argued with the Lord that “just in case You’ve forgotten, I have a family, I have responsibilities. I am a man who works with a well laid-out plan, so tell me what’s in the future if I do this.” God’s response to my brilliant logic was, “Do you trust me?” And He has proven His trustworthiness, over and over. As it was with Abraham, so it will be with us.
In Genesis 24 Abraham is now an old man. He calls his chief servant to him and gives him an assignment. The servant is to go to the country where Abraham was born and find a wife for Isaac. Not a difficult assignment, but where in the world do you start? The chapter recounts the successful trip that ended in the servant bringing back Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife. The testimony of the servant is very revealing about God’s faithfulness to lead His children, and it’s a testimony to the progressive nature of God’s “I will show you.”
“And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren” (Genesis 24:27 KJV).
One of the lessons I first learned when starting to drive is so simple that it’s kind of ridiculous to repeat it. It is easier to correct the direction of a car when it is moving than when it is parked. Simple, right? Just get the car moving, even very slowly, and you can refine the direction it is headed. The very same truth is applicable in how God guides our lives. Do we believe it? Not so much! Instead we rationalize and say, “God, show me where I’m going and I’ll make the move.” How’s that working out for you?
“I, being in the way, the Lord continues to lead me!” (David 10/09, The New Living Amplified Version)
Friday, October 9, 2009
BRINGING HOME THE ARK
One of the more shocking incidents (at least to me) in the Old Testament is found in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13-15. King David was bringing the ark of God back to Jerusalem…and Indiana Jones was not involved (that’s not the shocking part).
The Philistines had captured the ark but they quickly found out that Jehovah was not going to allow it to be added to their motley collection of tribal gods taken in battle. The predicament the Philistines found themselves in was actually quite hilarious. In an attempt to debase Jehovah, the Philistines took the ark into the temple of their chief idol, Dagon, and placed it at the feet of Dagon to indicate its submission and inferiority. The next morning the Philistines found Dagon had fallen prostrate in front of the ark.
The Philistines tried the same thing a second time and when they came back to the temple, they found that not only had Dagon fallen prostrate again but this time its head and hands had broken off. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened to the Philistines because they kidnapped the ark. A plague broke out among them—but not just any plague, it was a plague of hemorrhoids. Now that will get your attention—and this happened long before the discovery of Preparation H.
The embarrassment of Dagon (1 Samuel 5) and the plague was enough. The Philistines decided they had better return the ark before a more severe calamity befell them and in their hurry to get rid of it, they dumped it in one of the outlying villages of Israel.
David was anxious to have the ark back in Jerusalem and at the center of Israel’s worship, and 2 Samuel 6 relates how he and his army went to retrieve it. The ark was considered to be one of the most important items in the tabernacle and it sat in the Holy of Holies, deep inside the portable temple. On the top of the ark was the mercy seat and once a year, the high priest would go in and sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice there. The ark was a symbol of God’s presence, a visible sign that God was dwelling in Israel’s midst.
David and his men prepared a “new cart” for the ark to ride on and the journey back home became one of celebration with singing and music. How fitting! It was shaping up to be a new day in Israel—the ark was coming home and riding in style on a new cart. However, the travelling worship service was interrupted when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and Uzzah, one of the cart drivers, reached out to steady it and without warning was struck dead. A simple helpful gesture—and he was struck dead!
David reacted in anger, frustration and fear. “How can I ever bring the ark home?” he cried, and then had the ark sidetracked to a nearby property.
What does this mean to us? What can we learn from this story?
David was passionate about bringing the visible symbol of God’s presence back to the mainstream of Israel. Not only was the ark a symbol but God’s presence seemed to linger on the ark, as the Philistines and Uzzah had discovered. David’s intention was righteous, but somehow something had gone wrong.
David had cried, “How can I ever bring the ark home?” His frustration and anger was boiling over because it seemed impossible for the nation to ever again experience the presence of God. His dream was dying right before his eyes.
Why had this happened? Why had Uzzah been struck dead? Who was to blame?
The answer is that David and the leadership of Israel were to blame. They did not take the time to find out how the ark was to be transported so they came up with their own idea and built a “new cart” for the ark to ride on. This smacks of pride and arrogance and sounds rather like some today who blithely declare, “We have a better way; we know how to be more relevant and understand what it will take to reach this generation.” And so they build what they declare is a new and better cart.
David’s mistake was that he tried to implement a new methodology when God had already clearly laid out how the ark was to be moved. 1 Chronicles 15:3-15 says that the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the priests, and that was the only way it was to be moved…ever. Here’s how that translates to us: We are the priests of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). Our shoulders represent our worship, our praise, our sacrifice of thanksgiving and are to carry and usher in the presence of the Lord. It is our worship that brings the presence of the Lord, not “the new cart,” not our surroundings nor our programs. It is the praise and worship of God’s people that He responds to. “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in (inhabit) the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, Amplified Bible).
The mistake of David and the leadership of Israel continues to be repeated today. Instead of inquiring of the Lord to see how we should proceed, we get busy building a new cart. After all, we reason, it’s a new day and we should have a new cart! And so with big wheels and boards, we build ourselves a new cart only to find, at the end of the day, that God had a plan all along and we didn’t take time to find it. The mistakes of the past live on.
“Bringing home the ark” means understanding what God wants and making the appropriate changes.
We can “bring home the ark!”
The Philistines had captured the ark but they quickly found out that Jehovah was not going to allow it to be added to their motley collection of tribal gods taken in battle. The predicament the Philistines found themselves in was actually quite hilarious. In an attempt to debase Jehovah, the Philistines took the ark into the temple of their chief idol, Dagon, and placed it at the feet of Dagon to indicate its submission and inferiority. The next morning the Philistines found Dagon had fallen prostrate in front of the ark.
The Philistines tried the same thing a second time and when they came back to the temple, they found that not only had Dagon fallen prostrate again but this time its head and hands had broken off. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened to the Philistines because they kidnapped the ark. A plague broke out among them—but not just any plague, it was a plague of hemorrhoids. Now that will get your attention—and this happened long before the discovery of Preparation H.
The embarrassment of Dagon (1 Samuel 5) and the plague was enough. The Philistines decided they had better return the ark before a more severe calamity befell them and in their hurry to get rid of it, they dumped it in one of the outlying villages of Israel.
David was anxious to have the ark back in Jerusalem and at the center of Israel’s worship, and 2 Samuel 6 relates how he and his army went to retrieve it. The ark was considered to be one of the most important items in the tabernacle and it sat in the Holy of Holies, deep inside the portable temple. On the top of the ark was the mercy seat and once a year, the high priest would go in and sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice there. The ark was a symbol of God’s presence, a visible sign that God was dwelling in Israel’s midst.
David and his men prepared a “new cart” for the ark to ride on and the journey back home became one of celebration with singing and music. How fitting! It was shaping up to be a new day in Israel—the ark was coming home and riding in style on a new cart. However, the travelling worship service was interrupted when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and Uzzah, one of the cart drivers, reached out to steady it and without warning was struck dead. A simple helpful gesture—and he was struck dead!
David reacted in anger, frustration and fear. “How can I ever bring the ark home?” he cried, and then had the ark sidetracked to a nearby property.
What does this mean to us? What can we learn from this story?
David was passionate about bringing the visible symbol of God’s presence back to the mainstream of Israel. Not only was the ark a symbol but God’s presence seemed to linger on the ark, as the Philistines and Uzzah had discovered. David’s intention was righteous, but somehow something had gone wrong.
David had cried, “How can I ever bring the ark home?” His frustration and anger was boiling over because it seemed impossible for the nation to ever again experience the presence of God. His dream was dying right before his eyes.
Why had this happened? Why had Uzzah been struck dead? Who was to blame?
The answer is that David and the leadership of Israel were to blame. They did not take the time to find out how the ark was to be transported so they came up with their own idea and built a “new cart” for the ark to ride on. This smacks of pride and arrogance and sounds rather like some today who blithely declare, “We have a better way; we know how to be more relevant and understand what it will take to reach this generation.” And so they build what they declare is a new and better cart.
David’s mistake was that he tried to implement a new methodology when God had already clearly laid out how the ark was to be moved. 1 Chronicles 15:3-15 says that the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the priests, and that was the only way it was to be moved…ever. Here’s how that translates to us: We are the priests of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). Our shoulders represent our worship, our praise, our sacrifice of thanksgiving and are to carry and usher in the presence of the Lord. It is our worship that brings the presence of the Lord, not “the new cart,” not our surroundings nor our programs. It is the praise and worship of God’s people that He responds to. “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in (inhabit) the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, Amplified Bible).
The mistake of David and the leadership of Israel continues to be repeated today. Instead of inquiring of the Lord to see how we should proceed, we get busy building a new cart. After all, we reason, it’s a new day and we should have a new cart! And so with big wheels and boards, we build ourselves a new cart only to find, at the end of the day, that God had a plan all along and we didn’t take time to find it. The mistakes of the past live on.
“Bringing home the ark” means understanding what God wants and making the appropriate changes.
We can “bring home the ark!”
Friday, October 2, 2009
TRUE WORSHIP
“…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24 NIV).
Many contemporary churches of our day have unwittingly damaged their congregants by not teaching them to worship. When people are not taught the value of worship and how to enter into worship, or when the worship leader doesn’t lead but instead performs, the congregation is left high and dry. (The worship team gets high on their music and the congregation is left spiritually dry.) True worship prepares the heart to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word. Those that are not taught how to enter into worship are left with an empty sense of, “I’m not sure what that was all about,” and they leave church with an appreciation of good music but with much less of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives than they should have.
If you attend a contemporary church, the next time music is being played and a worship team is leading the congregation, look around and see how many people are actually singing and participating in the worship time. Carol and I have visited several contemporary churches in our region and it is my observation that about 75-80 percent of the crowd does not participate during worship. They watch, they listen…and they do nothing else. So little instruction comes from the leaders that most people literally have no idea of how to enter into worship, so they don’t worship and they fail to gain the help and blessing that worship was intended to bring.
True worship is not about style—it’s not about performance—it’s not about how tight the worship band is or how energetic the musicians are. True worship is not Pentecostal or Baptist; it’s not liturgical; it’s not Black gospel. No, true worship is not just one of the above or it may be all of the above. True worship is an act of humility and adoration as we acknowledge who He is, His greatness, and His place in our life.
In ancient times when a subject came into the presence of a monarch, he came humbly and bowed low. The monarch indicated his acceptance and pleasure by stretching forth his hand or scepter. So it is when we come into God’s presence; we come humbly and yet with the confidence of knowing that He has invited us.
We approach God with humility, as we understand we don’t deserve to be there. It is highly inappropriate for us to charge into God’s presence and act as though we are His equals and He should be glad we showed up. We should come boldly, but there is a big difference between being bold and being arrogant. Arrogance finds its genesis in pride—and pride finds its genesis in hell. Boldness is the quiet confidence that says, “I am a child of God and He has invited me to be here.”
True worship is both the gateway to the road of success and the foundation upon which the Word and the Holy Spirit can build in your life. True worship prepares the soil of our hearts to receive the Word of the Lord.
The story in John 4 of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman is remarkable on several counts. First, the fact that a Jewish man was talking to a Samaritan woman was remarkable, as this just did not happen in ancient days. The Jews and the Samaritans disliked each other intensely and Jewish men did not talk to Samaritan women—ever! Second, the accuracy with which Jesus displayed what we would call “the word of knowledge” about the woman’s promiscuous life was noteworthy. Jesus talked openly about her multiple marriages and the fact that the man she was with was not her husband.
In verse 19 the stunned woman says, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:19-20 NIV). She posed a legitimate question from a hungry heart: “Where is the correct place to worship?” Jesus never clearly answered her because that question is a dead-end road—there is no correct place to worship! Instead, Jesus went to the heart of the issue and established the kind of worship that the Father responds to: “…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Wherever God’s people are and wherever worship is done in spirit and in truth is the right place for worship!
God is pure Spirit and the worship that He delights in is spiritual worship, the sacrifice of a humble, contrite, grateful and adoring child. This sincere heart-devotion, whenever and wherever it is found, is the worship that God delights in and accepts. This is true worship!
The word spirit as used here stands in opposition to rites and ceremonies, to external worship. Spiritual worship is the offering of the heart and soul. Truth is speaking of the access which we have been granted through Jesus Christ, who is TRUTH.
It’s time to worship!
Many contemporary churches of our day have unwittingly damaged their congregants by not teaching them to worship. When people are not taught the value of worship and how to enter into worship, or when the worship leader doesn’t lead but instead performs, the congregation is left high and dry. (The worship team gets high on their music and the congregation is left spiritually dry.) True worship prepares the heart to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word. Those that are not taught how to enter into worship are left with an empty sense of, “I’m not sure what that was all about,” and they leave church with an appreciation of good music but with much less of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives than they should have.
If you attend a contemporary church, the next time music is being played and a worship team is leading the congregation, look around and see how many people are actually singing and participating in the worship time. Carol and I have visited several contemporary churches in our region and it is my observation that about 75-80 percent of the crowd does not participate during worship. They watch, they listen…and they do nothing else. So little instruction comes from the leaders that most people literally have no idea of how to enter into worship, so they don’t worship and they fail to gain the help and blessing that worship was intended to bring.
True worship is not about style—it’s not about performance—it’s not about how tight the worship band is or how energetic the musicians are. True worship is not Pentecostal or Baptist; it’s not liturgical; it’s not Black gospel. No, true worship is not just one of the above or it may be all of the above. True worship is an act of humility and adoration as we acknowledge who He is, His greatness, and His place in our life.
In ancient times when a subject came into the presence of a monarch, he came humbly and bowed low. The monarch indicated his acceptance and pleasure by stretching forth his hand or scepter. So it is when we come into God’s presence; we come humbly and yet with the confidence of knowing that He has invited us.
We approach God with humility, as we understand we don’t deserve to be there. It is highly inappropriate for us to charge into God’s presence and act as though we are His equals and He should be glad we showed up. We should come boldly, but there is a big difference between being bold and being arrogant. Arrogance finds its genesis in pride—and pride finds its genesis in hell. Boldness is the quiet confidence that says, “I am a child of God and He has invited me to be here.”
True worship is both the gateway to the road of success and the foundation upon which the Word and the Holy Spirit can build in your life. True worship prepares the soil of our hearts to receive the Word of the Lord.
The story in John 4 of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman is remarkable on several counts. First, the fact that a Jewish man was talking to a Samaritan woman was remarkable, as this just did not happen in ancient days. The Jews and the Samaritans disliked each other intensely and Jewish men did not talk to Samaritan women—ever! Second, the accuracy with which Jesus displayed what we would call “the word of knowledge” about the woman’s promiscuous life was noteworthy. Jesus talked openly about her multiple marriages and the fact that the man she was with was not her husband.
In verse 19 the stunned woman says, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:19-20 NIV). She posed a legitimate question from a hungry heart: “Where is the correct place to worship?” Jesus never clearly answered her because that question is a dead-end road—there is no correct place to worship! Instead, Jesus went to the heart of the issue and established the kind of worship that the Father responds to: “…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Wherever God’s people are and wherever worship is done in spirit and in truth is the right place for worship!
God is pure Spirit and the worship that He delights in is spiritual worship, the sacrifice of a humble, contrite, grateful and adoring child. This sincere heart-devotion, whenever and wherever it is found, is the worship that God delights in and accepts. This is true worship!
The word spirit as used here stands in opposition to rites and ceremonies, to external worship. Spiritual worship is the offering of the heart and soul. Truth is speaking of the access which we have been granted through Jesus Christ, who is TRUTH.
It’s time to worship!
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