A Nugget from New Life Network
(some excerpts from Future Now)
Scripture for the Day (March 21, 2016)
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3)
The importance and power of worship is not understood today in most of the Christian church in the United States. Some branches of Christianity don’t even allow the instruments of praise and worship that are used in the Bible. The Bible says we perish for the lack of knowledge. That is so true in the area of praise and worship.
I was raised in a denominational church that had a lot of rituals but no worship. We sang out of hymnals and had a choir but there was no worship going on. It was only after I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit that I began to understand and started to participate in true worship. My wife and I have been fortunate enough to have been in some real holy worship sessions where God came and inhabited the place of worship with His presence. Let’s look at what the Bible says happens when we worship Him:
Matthew 8:2-3 says, “And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Luke 24:52-53 says, “And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.”
John 9:38-39 says, “Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him and Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
Acts 16:14 says, “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.”
The common theme in all four of these passages is worship and in each passage something happened because of worship. First passage: A leper came and worshiped Jesus, and Jesus put out His hand and touched him and he was healed. Second passage: They worshipped Him and received great joy. Third passage: They worshiped Him, and Jesus spoke. This seems to be a common theme in the Word of God. People worship and God speaks. Fourth passage: Lydia worshiped God and the Lord opened her heart. The Lord did something for Lydia because she worshiped.
It is important that you are part of a church that worships and not just performs. It needs to be a place where all the gifts of music and the arts are used to worship Him. We recently attended a home going celebration for Janet Rowland, the wife of Doug Rowland. Janet’s daughter Lauren is a ballerina. She danced a dance during that ceremony that was the holiest part of the entire celebration. It had everybody there in tears. She was using her gift to worship Him and honor her mother. God inhabited that place!
Let’s give God something to inhabit!!!
And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. (1 Chronicles 13:8)
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 150)
