April 26, 2010 – Worship, Part 4

We were made to worship…we are made by God for God.  Like Jesus explained to the Woman at the well we are to worship in spirit and in truth.  Worship isn’t a place or just an action it is a lifestyle.

We all know how easy it is to worship God when the feeling is there.

We all know that when we get a revelation of who God is or what He has done in our lives that worship automatically flows out of us.  Its easy to worship then – we are worshipful beings, but if we all now know that we are to worship God with our lives – all the time, in spirit and in truth, for who he is and what he has done what do we do when the feeling isn’t there?  What are we to do when we are hurt or in pain?  When the answer hasn’t come yet?  We all know that dry times come in our spiritual journey – what do we do when he feels far away from us?  When we are confused or worried or stressed?  When we are in the valley – how are we to worship

Ps. 88 says this…1 O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.  2 Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. 3 For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. 4 I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. 5 They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave.  I am forgotten, cut off from your care.  6 You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.  7 Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me.  8 You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them.  I am in a trap with no way of escape.  9 My eyes are blinded by my tears.  Each day I beg for your help, O LORD;  I lift my hands to you for mercy… 13 O LORD, I cry out to you.

How are we to live a life of worship when life sometimes brings us to these places – the valley.  Three things I want you to do to be successful at living a life of worship in every season, including the valley.

#1 – Reach out

Reach out to the Lord? Yes, of course but the first thing that you and I should do when walking through a dark time in our lives is to reach out to someone else.  To find someone else who may be going through a valley and help them through it.  Now we can sit and wait for God to deliver and He will because He is faithful but the whole time God is looking for you to live worship.  The best way to do that is to look for the pain and hurt all around us.  When we get our eyes off of us and our circumstances and reach out to others our freedom comes.  Your freedom is found in bringing other people freedom.

#2 Look up

Ps. 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help

It is important to point out what the Psalmist is really saying – he is looking up because he knows that is where his hope is coming.  There is faith in lifting up his eyes – there is anticipation and expectancy.  I am looking to those hills because that is where the cavalry will arrive, where my reinforcements are coming.  Like Peter while he was walking on water with Jesus as long as his eyes were fixed on Him he was ok – it was when he looked at what he was doing (the storm, the waves, the water, his circumstances) that he got into trouble.  In fixing our eyes on him – 2 things happen – One, he stays big on our display screen and two looking up does is it brings you peace.

Is. 26:3 – You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is focused on you because he trusts in you

#3 – Praise anyway

The children of Israel on more than one occasion where instructed to bring praise to God before the victory even came.  Now that takes some faith.  I mean sometimes, like Jericho, it was the strategy to victory – to bring praise before the answer was ever there.  That is looking to the hills with expectancy.  Begin thanking God for deliverance, the answer, the victory before it arrives.

Reach out, look up, praise anyway,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 19, 2010 – Worship, Part 3

Today as we delve deeper into our understanding of worship and again it starts with the notion that we were created to worship.  When Jesus was talking to the Woman at the well in Samaria the topic of worship came up.  Worshipping when and how and where.  Jesus answered her in Jn. 4 saying that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth that it is so much more than a place or a time or a method.  That is what our discussion is today in regards to worship.

I Cor. 6:19 tell us that we are now the temple and God’s spirit lives on the inside of us.  The temple is us and when we gather together in corporate worship it is like a nuclear worship experience with many temples coming together in worship.  It’s not in a ceremony, or a place and time or even a method but bringing His spirit that is on the inside of us together worshiping in spirit.  And we are fueled by the truth of who He is and what He has done for us in our lives.  Now that is powerful – that is what coming together and worshiping as temples is all about.  The fusion power of worship – that is exciting and it’s alive and it’s powerful.

When you add that understanding to what Jesus was telling the Woman at the well to what it says in Col. 3:17 that whatever you do in word or action – do it as unto the Lord, now we are getting a much bigger picture to what worship truly is. That its not a specific place nor is it a specific action – in whatever you do and where ever you are.

So it be at home – it be in church – it can be while we sing songs – it can be while you are pumping your gas or at the grocery story  or at work or in your car, etc.  You are God’s temple.  His spirit is on the inside of you and when you have the perspective of doing everything as unto the Lord He is glorified.  Value is placed on Him – He is worshiped and worship turns into not a place or an action but a lifestyle.

There is a beautiful word in the Hebrew language and that word is avodah.  Avodah is the Hebrew word for worship.  What is interesting about this word is that avodah not only means worship in Hebrew but it also means to work.  Think of it work and worship meaning the same thing.  The Jews understood what Paul was talking about when he wrote this admonishment to the Colossian church – that whatever you say or do, do it as worship unto the Lord.

As you go to the well to get water in the morning worship Him that you are free and the fulfillment that comes in Him that your thirst can be satisfied.  That He is what you are looking for in life and your life has purpose and meaning again.  As you are plowing the ground that you will plant worship Him for the provision of land and seed and the good health and skill He has given you to work.  All of the goodness that He has given to you worship Him for that.  In the quiet times in the morning while you are drinking your coffee worship Him for the blessings in your life.  In the difficult times of life / in the valleys worship Him for the deliverance to come and for His faithfulness.  On the job or at home while you are raising and instructing your kids worship Him for the blessing of family that He has given you.  Value Him, bring glory to Him, worship Him by putting Him first.  In whatever you do in your words or your actions bring glory to God.

Worship Him in spirit and in truth,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 12, 2010 – Worship, Part 2

You were made to worship – you are a worshiper.  That is not a faith statement it is a fact – you are a worshiper.  Some worship God but everybody worships – everybody worships something – all people worship.  We were created to worship – to bring glory to God but if you don’t bring glory to God you will exchange bringing glory to him, the creator, to something else, the created.

A good definition of worship is our response to what we value most.  Worship is saying this person, this thing is what matters most to me so if you want to know what you worship look at what you value the most in your life.

Everybody on earth and everybody throughout time were created by God for God.  Jn. 1:3 says God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  Everybody and everything we see was created by God and then in Eph. 1:5 it says that we are to live for God and the praise and glory of him – for his glory.  That your purpose here in this life is not just to figure out your own path, your own desires, your own achievements in the time you have here you are to bring God glory with your life.  That is your purpose.

So if you were created as a worship and your purpose in life is to worship God alone with your life.  Here are some reasons why we are to worship him and only him.

1 – He is the only one worthy

Rev. 4:11 You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory & honor & power; For You created all things, & by Your will they exist & were created.

2 – All of the good in our life, all of it is good beyond our doing

Rom. 2:4 says that it is the goodness of God leads you to repentance

3 – We worship because all misguided worship in our lives leads to pain

Sometimes we think that pain comes into our lives through failure – breaking and sinning against the 10 commandments brings about pain – but pain doesn’t come into our lives by just choosing negative things but also comes by choosing positive things over valuing God.  By worshipping something that is created versus the creator.  There are a lot of good things that if we value above God and they will bring pain into our lives because as we pursue them and value them and worship them at the end of that trail we will find out that they truly are just a substitute.  Something cheaper than the real thing that we pursued and it only left the void, the emptiness when true satisfaction only comes when we place value where value is due the most.  When we worship with our lives only that which can satisfy – the one who is the only one worthy of it.

Worship is just a response to what we value the most and everything that we do should point to the one who deserves all of our worship.  Our lives are to express worship to the one who has saved us and who has blessed us and to the one who is worthy of our praise.

Lets worship God together with our lives,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

Week 25 Day 1

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 25 Day 1

Introduction…Truth does not restrict investigation. It welcomes the light. The Sadducees and priests were in a difficult position. The people were following Jesus. If they tried to stop Jesus, or if Jesus caused a rebellion from the status quo, the Romans would intervene and these religious leaders would lose their power and prestige. Additionally, they believed and taught there was no resurrection from the dead. Oops, what do we do with Lazarus? Let’s kill him and destroy the evidence and let’s get rid of Jesus too.

Read John 12:9-19 “The mob of the Jews knew that Jesus was there and they came not only because of Jesus, but to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were withdrawing from them because of him and were coming to believe in Jesus. On the next day the great crowd that was coming to the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. They kept up a shout: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, he who the King of Israel!’ Jesus found a young ass and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion. Look! Your King is coming sitting upon an ass’s colt.’ At first the disciples did not realize the significance of these things, but when Jesus was glorified then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him. The crowd who were with him testified that he had called Lazarus from the tomb and had raised him from among the dead. It was because they had heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to each other: ‘You can see that all the steps you have taken have been completely ineffective. See! The whole world has gone off after him!”

Bible Study

• There were 3 compulsory festivals, religious holidays of the Jews…Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. 2-3 million people attended in Jerusalem in those days. The Passover was the the apex of all holidays.
• Word was out that Jesus was coming back to Jerusalem and there was a crowd of followers coming with Him and those in Jerusalem went out to see Him.
  • Some went out to see the man who raised Lazarus from the dead.
  • Some were intent on greeting Jesus as conqueror…shouting “Hosanna”, which means, “save now” and “God save, the King!”
• The shouts of the people came from Psalms 118:25-26, which acknowledged Him as the Messiah. It says, “Save now, I beseech you, O Lord, send now prosperity! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you…”
• The Triumphal Entry of Jesus, as Messiah, into Jerusalem on a colt was prophesied to occur 600 years before in Zechariah 9:9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, your king comes to you, triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt…”
• When a King came riding on a horse, it meant war. However, when on a donkey, it indicated the King came in peace. Here was Jesus, the Price of Peace.
• The threatened authorities could only observe all of this and say, “the whole world is gone after Him!”

Application

• And all of God’s believers say, “Grant it Lord! For this is our prayer that the people, the nations and this world would become the Kingdom of our God. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth and in my life as it is in heaven!” Amen

Tags: Take 10

Week 24 Day 5

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 24 Day 5

Introduction…The Jewish religious leaders were wondering if Jesus would attend the Feast with the intentions to arrest Him. Jesus knew that His time was near and yet without fear was preparing to attend the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. After all this was the plan of God and coming into our world to die sacrificially for our sin, is what Jesus came to accomplish. Hebrews 12:2 gives us insight into these last days, “Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Read John 12:1-8 “Now 6 days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where was whom he raised from the dead. So they make him a meal there and Martha was serving while Lazarus was one of those who reclined at table with him. Now Mary took a pound of very precious genuine spikenard ointment and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the perfume of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who was going to betray him, said: ‘Why was this ointment not sold for 10 pounds and the proceeds given to the poor?’ He said this, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had charge of the money box and pilfered from what was put into it. So Jesus said: ‘Let her observe it now against the day of my burial. The poor you have always with you, but me you have not always.”

Bible Study

• Martha loved, honored and served Jesus with the practical work of her hands in the kitchen and getting things done so as to help the ministry.
  • Work, when done as unto the Lord is in fact, worship. Avodah is the Hebrew word for both work and worship. See Colossians 3:23-24.
  • The Spiritual Gift of Helps is the Spirit given ability to some individuals to serve the Church in any supporting role. See 1 Corinthians 12:28
• Mary loved Jesus in an extravagant way, giving at all costs, humbly and without being self-conscious, she honored Jesus with her dedication and giving.
  • Jesus taught in a parable in Luke 7:40-50 that the person who has been forgiven little, loves little and the one who has been forgiven much, loves much.
• Judas was a traitor. How can someone betray Jesus? Jesus put trust in Judas expecting the best.
  • Judas was the treasurer of the funds and abused that trust by pilfering.
  • Judas was so out of sync with Jesus’ purpose and missed the incredible opportunity of being associated with Jesus.
  • Judas revealed his lost state by not realizing the appropriateness of honoring Jesus by anointing His feet.
  • Judas with a warped mind and embittered spirit criticized Mary instead of glorifying God for the act of worship.
• Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “The poor will never cease out of the land, therefore I command you saying, you shall open wide your hand to your brother to the needy and to the poor in the land.”
  • God’s heart and commandment to His children is to see need, give and help others with what we have
  • It could and should be done, but it was not a reason to not honor and worship Jesus with this gift of love.

Application

• We are the joy that was set before Him. We are the joy that was set before Jesus when He went to the Cross. He went through the suffering and shame because we were hopelessly lost and only Jesus could pay the price we could not pay. The result was Jesus became the bridge bringing God to us and us to God.
• Have you thanked Jesus for dying for your sins today?

What gift of thanks will we bring before Him?

Tags: Take 10

March 29, 2010 – Worship, Part 1

This week starts for many of us the week of Passion.  Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey.  At the time of Palm Sunday all of the miracles and all of the teaching had already taken place – Jesus was a local celebrity.  To the masses in the city I am sure that after 3 years of him performing countless miracles and giving so many memorable sermons – most people knew something about him.  The populous probably had some sort of opinion of Jesus – prophet? miracle worker? rabbi? crazy person? military leader? celebrity? messiah?  Whatever the masses thought in Matt. 21:9 they cheered when Jesus entered the city, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna meaning – save us, save us now.  They were worshiping Jesus asking him to save them, but from what?  It depended on what you thought of him.  Save me from my sickness, save us from the Roman occupiers – kick em out, some did believe – save us from our sin – turn Israel back to God like the prophets of old and maybe even they could have known – save all of mankind that is why we worship you.  They all worshipped Jesus for who they thought he was that day.  So to me Palm Sunday is all about worship – worshipping God, praising him.  And like the people who where actually there on Palm Sunday, worshipping God all depends on what you know of him.

Why do you worship?  Do you worship him because you have this revelation that God sent his son as a sacrifice to pay for something that you couldn’t pay - That he did that out of love – so that you could have a relationship with him?  Do you worship because you know you owed him something and he took it away and gave you something beautiful in return?  Maybe for some – you do know that he saved you.  Maybe you had no hope, no purpose, a hole in your life but you found him and he found you and now there is joy and peace and purpose in your life.  Now you have something to sing about.

We should get the why right but the rest of this series we are going to be talking about the what.  What is worship?  It’s a place, an event – “I am going to go to worship on Sunday.”  Is it 3 songs before a message.  Is it a verb or is it a noun, both or neither.

I Cor. 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  Everything we do should be done in a attitude of worship. So it is not a place or just a song but your life was made for worship – that is why you were created to bring glory to God.  Your whole life, your actions, your interactions and everything you do brings glory to God – it should point toward God and who he is.  To make him famous, to make him look better in and through your life.

So live your life as an act of worship this week,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler