Posts Tagged ‘worship’

Scripture reading for February 2nd: Leviticus 1-3

Do you like spinach?  What about brussel sprouts?  How about Leviticus?  It has lots of strange offerings and laws written in it.  Much of it is foreign to our culture and our way of thinking and it’s sometimes hard to see how it is relevant to our lives today.  But as spinach and brussel sprouts contain essential nutrients for our body’s growth and maintenance, so Leviticus contains some spiritual truths that can nourish our souls!

Leviticus was written by Moses as instructions for the Levites who would serve the Lord in the tabernacle.    They were chosen by God to do the job of caring for the tabernacle and helping the Israelites with worship and prayer.  Moses and Aaron were Levites.  This book details what was required for those who served and how a sinful people must approach God in order to have fellowship with Him.

There were three voluntary offerings that could be brought by an Israelite in order to approach God.  The first was the burnt offering which was to be an animal from the flock or herd.  This animal must be perfect and must be  slaughtered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.  The sons of Aaron were to take blood and sprinkle it on the altar and then arrange the wood and the pieces of the animal on the altar to be burned.  (Leviticus 1:3-8)  All of it was to be burned as an offering to the Lord.

The second offering was the grain offering.  It was to be offered with oil and incense and burned on the altar before the Lord by the priests.  It must be without any yeast or honey and was seasoned with salt.  (Leviticus 2:11-13)  The third offering was the fellowship offering.  This offering was for anyone who just wanted to have fellowship with the Lord.  This was to be an animal without defect, offered in sacrifice.  Here the fat, kidneys, and choice parts were burned and then some of the meat could be eaten in God’s presence in fellowship with Him.

God desires fellowship with each of His people.  We can now approach God through Christ’s blood, which was the final offering needed for us.  (Hebrews 10:19-23)  He is pictured in each of these voluntary offerings as giving his blood (burnt offering) and body (meal offering) so that we might have fellowship with God.

Scripture reading for January 6th: Genesis 12-14

Abram and his nephew Lot were prosperous in the new land God had taken them to. Abram had built an altar to the Lord in Bethel  and began to call upon the Lord. (Genesis 13:3-4) Lot and his herdsmen began to quarrel with Abram’s herdsmen. Abram was a peacemaker and decided they should separate. He gave Lot the choice of where he would settle. Lot had his eyes on the fertile plain and the city of Sodom. Sodom was a wicked city and the men there were sinning greatly in the sight of the Lord. (Genesis 13:13)

After Lot had moved, the Lord spoke to Abram, telling him to lift up his eyes and look in each direction. All that he could see would be given to him and his descendants forever! God reaffirmed that He would make Abram’s offspring as numerous as the dust of the earth. God encouraged Abram to walk through the land and survey it. Abram moved his tent near Hebron and built an altar to the Lord there. (Genesis 13:18) God blessed Abram for his faith and willingness to let God lead him to where he was supposed to be. This is a helpful hint for us in our walk. We can be selfish and reach out to take, or we can more wisely worship the Lord and follow Him!

Some time later, we find some kings attacking Sodom and carrying off Lot and his family, as well as the goods of Sodom.  Abram took his men and went in pursuit.  He recovered all the people plus the goods.  (Genesis 14:16)  As he returned, both the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem), came to meet Abram.  Melchizedek, a priest of the Most High God, met Abram with bread and wine and blessed him.  Abram responded by giving a tithe of everything to this mysterious priest and king.  (Genesis 14:20)

Jesus Christ is said to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, having the power of an endless life!  (Hebrews 7:15-17)  As a priest, Jesus intercedes for us before the throne.   (Romans 8:34)  He served His disciples bread and wine at the Last Supper and told them to do it often in remembrance of Him.  (Matthew 26:26-29)  He is also King of Kings and will reign in the Jerusalem during the millennium!  (Revelation 20:4-5)  Jesus alone is worthy of our worship, tithes, and dedication!

Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ, the object of our worship!  When many people think of worship, they think of singing hymns or spiritual songs.  Some people think of a church service with a choir, instruments, and people following a worship leader.  Some people just want to sit outside on a nice day and enjoy nature.  Whatever your worship ideal, spend time today honoring God in worship.

Psalms is the temple worship book of the Old Testament Jew.  This was compiled over 1000 years of time and represents a variety of authors and different worship styles.  Most is poetry set to music and was accompanied by instruments.  There were several kinds of musical instruments mentioned in the Psalms. The sounding trumpet was to praise the Lord!  There was the harp which King David played.  The lyre was a stringed instrument, similar to the guitar or mandolin. (Psalm 150:3-4) The flute and  resounding cymbals are also mentioned as well as the tambourine.  (Psalm 149:3; 150:5)

During times of worship, people might kneel or bow down.  Sometimes they stood to honor the Lord and His Word.  Sometimes they would raise their hands or clap their hands.  They would sing the Psalms or they might sing a “new song” to the Lord that came from their hearts by the Spirit.  At times, they would dance and shout or sing before the Lord with loud voices and passionate dance.  David was judged to have made a fool of himself by dancing before the Lord!  He vowed that he would get even more undignified than that for the Lord, thus rebuking his embittered wife Michal.  Sometimes they would be still and simple recognize that God was God.  However you want to express your honor and devotion to the Lord will be accepted if it is done in a spirit of humility and true worship.   God is always looking at the heart of the worshiper.  He desires honest worship from a pure heart!

May you have a wonderful life of worship, beginning today!  God is truly worthy of all our worship.  We can lovingly give Him our full attention, devotion and love!  When we worship, we join the hosts of heaven!

In His Glorious Worship,  Pastor John

Dear Friends on the journey,

Greetings!  Are you taking time to rest and reflect on God’s goodness and grace?  Are you attending a service of worship and meeting with others of faith to honor God?  Are you setting an example for your children and grandchildren by living a life of worship with others in a church?  If you are not physically able, God understands, but if you are able, please make every effort to exalt the Lord in community!

God brought His people out of Egypt to worship Him in the manner and place that He chose! (Exodus 7:16) He brought out men, women, and children to worship together! He desires our worship!  Worship puts God in the first place.  Worship is all about God!  So many people today make worship about themselves and their personal preferences.  They want a certain style or type of worship.  They don’t want this or that–maybe drums or instruments.  They don’t want to sing too long or too loud.  They want to stay home and sleep in if they are tired.  They want to come when it suits them and they want to feel good when they leave.  They often say that they can worship alone better than with others, but seldom do!  Besides this, they are being disobedient when they fail to gather with others.

God brought His people out for worship.  They were laden down with blessings.  God was visibly with them.  They were provided with clothes that didn’t wear out, manna from heaven, water from the rock, and not one feeble or sick among them!  (Nehemiah 9:19-21) What did they do?  Complain and grumble!  They even covered their ears when God spoke to them from the mountain!  It is often no different today!  To whom much has been given, much is required!  We know too much and apply too little!  Don’t neglect gathering together today in God’s house with God’s people to worship God! It’s in the New Testament too! Jesus is coming back for those who are eagerly awaiting Him and obediently worshiping!

In His Love, Pastor John

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25