Creativity in Worship Planning

Creativity in worship planning can be a bit more time-consuming and complicated, but it is a worthwhile investment of time. The easiest thing for us to do as worship leaders is to draw from a tried and true list of songs, occasionally throwing in a new song. However, if we have been created in the image of God, He has given us the ability to create. He takes great delight in seeing his children follow in His footsteps, just as we are thrilled when our own children create something, whether it be a priceless work of preschool art, or the performance of an original piece of music.

As writers and worship leaders, we must challenge ourselves to be more creative, and help lead our people to do the same. It might be something as small as changing the service order, creating medleys of favorite worship songs, or utilizing different types of instrumentation on a song. For creativity to flourish in a church, the following attitudes are essential:

1. A willingness to take some risks, knowing that what we do might not be received enthusiastically at first by the congregation.

2. A willingness on the part of the worship team members to just listen sometimes. This might mean they don’t sing or play on every measure of every congregational or choral song on every service.

3. A willingness to put in some extra time to make the music the best it can be. It might mean we have to re-learn an old song in a new way.

4. A willingness to empower budding writers in our congregations to develop their skills, by utilizing their work whenever appropriate.

5. A willingness to discover and welcome new people onto our team, knowing they bring a valuable resource in their own creativity.

6. A willingness to keep learning. Even if we have been involved in worship leadership for a long time, there are always new, creative ways of thinking and doing. We must never stop learning.

Creativity is God-given. What we do with it is up to us. We must ask ourselves, “How can I be used to reflect this incredible attribute of God?” We might just be surprised at how creative we can be when we take the time to allow God’s Spirit to direct and empower us. It will be a blessing both to our Heavenly Father and to our churches.

You Know You’re a Worship Pastor When…

How do you know for sure that you really are a Worship Pastor?  Here’s a sometimes humorous and sometimes serious look at twelve ways to be sure of your calling to lead God’s people in worship.

  When you were called to ministry, you had no idea of the multitude of hats you would wear as a Worship Pastor.  (Some of them may include:  Technical Problem Trouble Shooter, Peacemaker, Calendar Coordinator, Instrument Repair Technician, Set Designer and Builder, Script Writer, Liaison to the Decorating Committee, Video Editor, Music Arranger, and others too numerous to mention, depending upon what is needed at your place of service.)  The blessing that you recall while juggling your responsibilities is that you are never alone, no matter what hat you may be wearing on any given day.  The Lord, your refuge, is with you… in everything that you do in His name and for the sake of the Kingdom.

  Because you are up front and leading God’s people, they really notice (and comment on) what you wear.  Whether you are a skinny jeans and plaid shirt wearing Worship Pastor in a contemporary church, or whether you wear a suit every Sunday leading worship in a more traditional congregation, people do notice.

  When you get together with ministry colleagues who serve in the same vocational ministry calling in their own churches, you love the fellowship time; but the main thing that you want to do together is make music and worship the Lord.

You are very familiar with the initials CCLI, and somewhere in your office is a stack of browser packs from music publishers.*

*  Note:  CCLI is the copyright and licensing service for Christian music, which enables churches to legally project song lyrics onto screens and print them in church bulletins.  Churches must report the songs used, and all of that information is compiled to pay royalties for the usage of songs to composers and publishers.  The information is also compiled into lists of most frequently used songs from different genres, with links to different versions.  These lists can be very helpful for worship pastors.

  Your planning tools for worship include your Bible, prayer, hymn and song books, worship song charts, your anthem and orchestration library, your praise band or rhythm section calendar showing who is in town for a given Sunday, your vocal team list and calendar, your soloist list and current rotation, your worship log of recent services and the songs sung, your choir and orchestra worship personnel responses to calendar queries as to which Sundays they will be gone, responses to that week’s worship team e-mail, information about your Pastor’s sermon series and special ministry emphases, online music resources, your available tech team members list, and information about any special additions to the service such as baptisms or a baby dedication.

  You can rattle off a list of every piece of equipment in your sound and tech booth and who runs each one.  You also know the quirks of each of your worship related computer programs.

  You are called as a Pastor to those who lead in worship and often know the true testimony behind every message in song that is shared.  In this area of your ministry, you are often amazed by the strength and faith of God’s people, undergirded by the everlasting arms of the Faithful One, our Refuge, Helper, Redeemer and Lord..

  Hallway encounters or greetings called out across the parking lot don’t always include a “hello”.  Sometimes they are statements or questions like these:  “Why can’t we sing “Oceans” every week?” or “More southern gospel!”  or “Why don’t you let _____ sing a solo more often?”

  You can spend hours and hours seeking music that is congregationally friendly and will lift up the Lord while engaging the hearts of your people.  You can spend weeks preparing for a specific service through prayer, planning, calendar coordination, recording demos for your team, and rehearsing.  You can spend months working with your groups to move them a step closer to a point of excellence in leading worship that you feel is their calling (such as challenging them to sing from memory with only a confidence monitor and no music in hand).  You can spend years leading your congregation to understand worship and to go deeper in their relationship with and their worship of the Lord.  And yet, on any given Sunday, the “delivery” of the worship message through God’s people and the authentic connection with the Lord during worship are dependent primarily on the commitment level, worship mindset, preparation , and passion of the volunteers who make up your worship team, leading a congregation who may or may not be wholly focused on worship during that time.

  Thou shalt not age (or appear to age), but thou must be wise beyond thy years in order to balance a multitude of preferences with real ministry to the body of Christ, having the goal of providing the opportunity for true worship that ministers to all and gives them an opportunity to give unto the Lord the praise, honor, thanksgiving, and glory due His name.

  With all of the hours that you spend every week living and breathing worship, planning worship, reading articles and blog posts about worship (gotcha!), planning or leading rehearsals to prepare for worship, reading and studying worship scriptures and books about worship, praying about worship, personally spending time in private worship, and preparing detailed order of worship information for your worship team, tech team, and ministry staff… sometimes it’s hard to let go of all of the ministry mentor concerns about what everyone else is doing in their worship leading or tech responsibilities … and just worship.

 You can’t imagine doing anything else and are so thankful for the privilege of being entrusted with the task of leading God’s people in worship and working with all of the wonderful worship ministry team members, who have their own gifting and calling to serve.  It is a joy for you to encounter both the human and the divine in the process of preparation for worship.  During rehearsal, you embrace the human element of needing to practice in order to eliminate error and to interpret the music well, both musically and spiritually.  You also embrace the divine as you pray with your people, love them, work together as unto the Lord, and lead them in sharing messages of profound, eternal truth, knowing that the goal is effectiveness and whole-hearted devotion in communication with the Lord and with His people rather than perfection.  Even on tough days, you know that you have found God’s purpose for your life and are amazed by the blessing of walking with Him through it all.

So, keep on giving it your all, Worship Pastors and Ministers of Music and Worship.  

Your calling is all about worship, and worship is all about giving.

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. ~ Colossians 3:23 – 24

(To inspire you as you worship, work, love others, serve, and continue to lead God’s people, we have added the “giving verses” of worship to the end of this post.  They can also be found as a portion of the text from our blog post entitled, “Worship… It’s all about Giving!”)

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The “Giving Verses” of Worship

When the very living of our lives has become an act of worship, recognizing God’s supremacy and worth in every decision and thought, worship is no longer an action but rather a lifestyle.  It’s a 24 / 7 / 365 … every moment of every day … goal of intentionally expressing God’s glory in all that we do, think, and say.**   In seeking to live out this lifestyle and this heart commitment to the One who has given us His all, we give the only gift that we can give to our Creator and Savior:  the gift of a transformed life that brings Him glory and joy!

1.  Giving God THANKSGIVING and PRAISE!

* Psalm 100:4   “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”

* Psalm 9:1 & 2   “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart: I will tell of all Thy wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exult in Thee, I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.”

2.  Giving God GLORY!

* Psalm 86:12   “With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

3.  Giving God AWE and REVERENCE, acknowledging Him as the Lord and Creator of all.

(In some verses and some translations, “the fear of the Lord”)

* Psalm 111:10   “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

* Psalm 86:9 – 12   “All the nations You have made shall come and bow down before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great, and You do wondrous things; You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; and I will glorify Your name forever.”

4.  Giving God BLESSING.

* Psalm 103:22   “Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

* Psalm 28:6 & 7   “Blessed be the Lord!  for He has heard the voice of my supplications.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”

5.  Giving Him EXALTATION!*

From the www.thefreedictionary.com, here are the applicable definitions:

1. to raise or elevate in rank, position, dignity, etc.

2. to praise highly; glorify; extol

* Psalm 34:3   “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”

*NOTE:  The word ‘exaltation’ sometimes gets confused with ‘exultation’, for which the definition is “to rejoice greatly, be jubilant or triumphant (or, as in triumph.  We rejoice greatly or exult in His triumph.)  — same source

6.  Giving Him SERVICE! 
(giving of our hearts, our time, our gifts, and our lives in serving Him)

* Joshua 24:15   “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Lift up His name!

7.  Giving Him WORSHIP!

True worship rises up from the people of God, who are choosing to intentionally express His infinite worth! **

**(see note at end of post)

You have probably noticed by now that there is some overlap in the various types of giving to the Lord.  For example, in singing praise to God, we can bless His name.  In the worship category of giving, there is overlap with all other types of giving.  All of these ways of giving to the Lord are worship (lifestyle worship) when we are giving with the purpose of bringing glory to God and expressing His infinite worth through giving our best to God in every area of our lives.

* Psalm 29:2   “Honor the LORD for the glory of His name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.”

* John 4:24   “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

8.  We are to SING UNTO HIM!

* Psalm 5:11   “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.”

* Psalm 30:4   “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.”

* Psalm 59:16 & 17   “I will sing of Thy power; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.”  

9.  Giving Him TITHES and OFFERINGS!

* Malachi 3:10   “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

* Exodus 35:29   “The children of Israel brought a voluntary offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart prompted them to bring for all manner of work, which Jehovah, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.”

10.  Giving Him HONOR!

* Revelation 4:11   “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

* Proverbs 3:9   “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income.”

11.  Giving Him LOVE!

The words of Jesus Himself in Mark 12:30   “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

* Psalm 31:23   “Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

* Joshua 22:5   “But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

* Psalm 116:1   “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.”

Give Him your heart

12.  Giving Him OUR WHOLE HEART AND LIFE!

* Psalm 86:9 – 12    “All the nations You have made shall come and bow down before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great, and You do wondrous things; You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; and I will glorify Your name forever.”

* Colossians 1:10   “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

* Psalm 56:13   “For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.”

* Mark 8:35   “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”

* Romans 12:1 – 2  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

For us, giving these to God (honor, blessing, exaltation, thanksgiving, praise, glory, awe and reverence, love, honor, service, tithes and offerings, songs, and all that we are in life and in our hearts) is our gift of worship and devotion to Him.
Giving is about worship, and worship is all about giving.

“Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”‘   Psalm 96:6 – 9

GOD HAS GIVEN HIS ALL… and continues to give in every moment of time.

May we follow His example.

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**Here is a link to John Piper’s devotion where this definition of worship, paraphrased here, can be found:  http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/bodies-breakfast-and-the-marriage-bed

The wording of the original definition (directly quoted) in the first paragraph of this devotion is as follows:

“Worship” is the term we use to cover all the acts of the heart and mind and body that intentionally express the infinite worth of God. This is what we were created for, as God says in Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory…” That means that we were all created for the purpose of expressing the infinite worth of God’s glory. We were created to worship.”

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This post was written by C. Boyd.

For other posts on worship, view our category called “Worship with Wonder” at https://worshipsounds.wordpress.com/category/worship-with-wonder/

We also have a page entitled “Lifestyle Worship”  at this link:  http://wwwworshipsounds.wordpress.com/lifestyle-worship

The titles of additional pages related to worship ministry (on topics such as creative worship ideas, worship planning and preparation, and avoiding burnout in ministry) can be found in the header on our home page at the bottom of the scenic photo.

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Do you know Jesus?

The decision to ask Jesus to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior is the best decision you could ever make!  The one true God is ready to give you forgiveness and eternal life as soon as you understand your need for Him and believe on the name of His only Son, Jesus, for your salvation.  Here’s a blog page link to help you find the answers to your questions about Jesus.  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

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Every day, I will praise You

Every day I will praise You, Lord.

David, the Psalmist, makes this commitment in Psalm 145… daily praise, and even forever praise.  (verse 2)

Even though David was well aware that some days are tougher than steel and colder than ice.  Even though he knew that pain is real and piercing and that loss is inevitable and wrenching, and that there are moments when it’s all you can do just to breathe, David chose to say, “Yes!” to praise.

WHY?
Why choose to praise when there are days that we want to shout, with every fiber of our being, “No!  Oh, please, no… Lord, no.” ???

Read on, and look for David’s reasons (and for your reasons, too) in Psalm 145.  Then, let us think about this together.

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.^[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.^[c]
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

So, what are the reasons that David gives for his daily praise?

1.  The Lord is great.
He is great… far beyond our understanding.   (So, when we don’t understand… He is still great.)

“His greatness no one can fathom.” (3b)

2.  The Lord is worthy of praise.
A fact is a fact… no matter how we are feeling.  He is worthy.  Period.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise” (3a)

3.  The Lord has done incredible, mighty, awesome, wonderful things.
His creation and His recreation of our hearts and lives give us a glimpse, but we cannot begin to fathom all that the Lord has done.

⁴ One generation commends Your works to another;
they tell of Your mighty acts.

…and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.^{[ 5 b ]}

⁶ They tell of the power of Your awesome works—
and I will proclaim Your great deeds.

4.  The Lord is majestic in His splendor.
We cannot even imagine the majesty of the Lord.

Take all of the most beautiful, awesome, and wondrous things and places you have ever seen…
take the vastness of space…
take the intricate and amazing work in a creature as tiny as an ant…
take the most majestic, sparkling, costly royal splendor that mankind has ever been able to produce (with the minds that He created)…

All of that, together, is a part of His creative and majestic creation (which is also a revelation of who He is).

But all of it together,
from the microscopic to the humongous beyond belief,
and from the wonder of all living things to the beauty of every kind of ecosystem…

reveals only a fraction of His majesty.

⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.

5.  The Lord is powerful.
If His works are powerful, how much moreso is He!  He made them.  They are just His creation, but He is the source of their power.

⁶ They tell of the power of Your awesome works—

6.  The Lord is abundantly good.
Everything good comes from His hand.  He made everything and pronouced it “good” because His original Creation, before mankind brought sin, reflected the goodness of its Creator.  He is good in every way that it is possible to be good.  His goodness is cause for celebration!  His is not a false goodness.  It is not pretense.  It is righteous goodness.  He does not show preference.  He is good to ALL.

⁷ They celebrate Your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

⁹ The Lord is good to all;
 He has compassion on all He has made.

7.  The Lord is righteous.
     He is not merely good… He is holy and righteous.  He will ultimately make everything right.  His goodness goes beyond what we know as goodness, because it is righteous.  It is totally pure… in love… in motivation.  There is no darkness in Him at all.  His righteousness produces joy. 

^7b and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and faithful in all he does.

8.  The character of the Lord is tender toward us.

    a.  He is gracious
Full of grace, flowing continually out of His abundantly gracious character (who He is), God gives His grace without expecting us to earn or deserve it.  He gives His grace because He is gracious.

     b.  He is compassionate.
His compassion goes far beyond just caring about us.  His compassion motivated Him to give Himself completely in the person of Christ.  Compassion is caring that is deep enough to motivate a profound expression of love.

     c.  He is slow to anger.
The Lord is patient with us… much moreso than we are with one another, and even with our own loved ones.  Although He is deeply grieved by our every hurt and loss (compassionate), He remains patient with mankind, desiring to give us continued opportunity to turn to Him for salvation.

    d.  He is rich in love.
The love of the Lord is vast and immeasureable.  If the earth is His footstool and everything belongs to Him as Creator, He is certainly rich… but it is the limitless stores of his wealth of love that He longs for us to know.

How far would His love go?
From Heaven… to earth… to the cross… to death… and even to hell,
all to gain the victory for us over sin, hell, and death.

His love took our most hideous weakness and ugliness and enveloped it in the strength and everlasting power of His pure holiness, removing the stinking graveclothes of our sin and clothing us with His own righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The Lord is good to all;
 He has compassion on all He has made.

9.  His Kingdom is glorious and everlasting.
In order to have a Kingdom, one must be a King.  But His is not just any Kingdom, and He is not just any King.  He is the King of Kings, and His Kingdom is everlasting.  He can never be de-throned because He is the Lord of all, even of those who do not acknowledge Him.

¹⁰ All your works praise You, Lord;
  Your faithful people extol You.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of Your kingdom
and speak of Your might,
¹² so that all people may know of Your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures through all generations.

10.  The Lord is trustworthy and faithful.
        He is good, so we can trust Him.  He is a keeper of promises.  He does not give up or quit.  He is faithful to keep His word, to remain unchanging, to finish all of the good works that He has begun, and to someday make everything right.

The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises
and faithful in all He does.^{[ 13 c ]} 

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and faithful in all He does.

11. The Lord is our Sustainer and the Giver of all good things.
Without the sustaining presence of the Lord in all of Creation, the needs of every living thing would not be met.

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

12.  The Lord is our helper and our Savior.
He helps us get up when we fall and even holds us as we are falling.  He lifts up those who are bowed beneath a heavy load and brings joy to hearts that have been humbled or broken.  He is near.  He is with us.  He hears us when we call on Him in truth.  He fulfills our desires.  He hears our cries.  He saves us.  He watches over us.  He will someday remove us from the very presence of evil.  He is our loving and caring Shepherd.

¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.

¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
to all who call on Him in truth.

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
  He hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy.

  The Lord is close by, waiting for us to understand that we need Him and come into agreement with the truth about who He is and who we are. Then, when we see our need for Him and cry out, He knows that knowing Him, having His forgiveness, and living in fellowship with Him have become Him the desires of our heart. He hears our cry, and He saves us (when we have asked Him to come into our lives as Savior and Lord).

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David’s conclustion, in light of who God is,
is that he must commit himself to daily and eternal praise.

David begins the Psalm with this commitment and ends the Psalm with a restatement of his personal commitment to daily and eternal praise.

This is the final verse of Psalm 145:

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

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The notes on Bible Gateway about Psalm 145 tell us this interesting bit of information.  “This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which (including verse 13b) begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.” 

This fact tells me that David was also communicating the fact that the Lord is the Alpha and Omega, worthy of praise from the beginning of time and throughout eternity, meeting all of our needs and sharing His love with all of mankind, keeping His promises and fulfilling His Kingdom with both awesome power and gracious, loving tenderness.

May every day become a day of praise.

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This post was written by Cynthia Boyd, with the inspiration of Psalm 145.
The NIV Scripture text was copied from Bible Gateway

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+145

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Do you know someone who is looking for answers?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page. We hope that it has been helpful to you. If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”. The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions. Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”: http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.

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The Victor’s Crown

Olive is a spiritual encourager who sees through ‘Jesus eyes’.  She knows the deep things of the soul and recognizes the work of God in the lives of others.  When she invests the time in you to share a message of encouragement, it means something; because Olive sees and feels and loves beyond the surface… to the deepest longings of the redeemed heart.  She knows that we all want to make a difference, to matter, and to exchange the totality of all that we have been given in this temporal life for something of eternal significance… in the the lives and hearts of others, in the very heart of God, and for His Kingdom.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,
just as in fact you are doing.”
I Thessalonians 5:11

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

When Olive is sharing a message of encouragement, she looks into your face and your eyes.  The topic might be something she has seen or the Lord has revealed to her concerning your parenting, ministry, or life.  Even so, the message that I’ve received from her every time is the same.  She is telling you, “I see… and He sees… Jesus in you.  I want you to know… and He wants you to know… that what you do in Him matters… that it makes a difference for the Kingdom… that God is using what you are giving back to Him to do more than you know or could imagine.  I want you to know… and He wants you to know… that there is eternity in these moments… eternity in surrender and obedience… eternity in every little sacrifice… eternity in His Spirit leaking out through you.”

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“When he (Barnabas) arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,
he was glad and encouraged them (Christians at Antioch) all
to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”
Acts 11:23

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

As Olive is encouraging, she also sees how you receive the message in the very depths of your heart.  Her Jesus eyes have looked beyond my blurry eyed ‘thank yous’ to the vulnerability and doubt inside.  She knows, without my ever saying so, that I never think it is enough or that I am enough.  She knows that I am hard on myself, because my eyes somehow give me away.  She continues encouraging, seeking to get the message across through the fog created by the fear of being less… the fear of insignificance…. to the very core of my being.  Olive pours the oil of encouragement over and into all the fractures of imperfection that I fear will be my legacy, and somehow God’s Spirit anoints the beautiful brokenness… the weakness that can only be perfected in His strength… with the message He is giving through Olive:  “I see… He sees… and it all matters.”

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“You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
You encourage them, and You listen to their cry.”
Psalm 10:17

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Last night, the Lord used Olive to encourage me once again, but this time I want to share it…

because this message is for you, too!

“He sees… and it all matters!”

You see, during last Sunday’s worship service at our church, our worship ministry team shared the message of the song, “Victor’s Crown” (written by Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, and Kari Jobe).  This was far more than just singing a song during church.  Our Adult Choir, Orchestra, Praise Team, Rhythm Section, and Tech Team all worked together to share the message that Jesus has overcome the world through the testimony of the song, with His glory as the cry of our hearts.  In addition, there was a visual representation of this message of Christ’s majesty, supremacy, sovereignty, and glory.  Our student dance team, young ladies who are learning to use dance, movement, and sign language in worship and praise for God’s glory, had prepared to share the message through meaningful choreographed movement.  Finally, at the end of the song, an oversized crown representing the majesty and glory of the King of Kings was carried to the front of the Worship Center and placed upon a pedestal as the words, “You wear the Victor’s crown… Jesus, you have overcome the world!” were being sung.  The media on our screens had also been designed to convey the message of the song, and countless hours had been invested by everyone who had been involved in the rehearsal and preparation (not only for this message but for all of the worship service as a whole, that Sunday… and every Sunday).  Our shared motivation was and is to glorify the Lord and to encourage God’s people as He speaks to each heart through the messages that are spoken, sung, danced, projected, and displayed in every manner possible.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory
and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”
I Chronicles 29:11

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

During the preparation for sharing the song, “Victor’s Crown”, I had the privilege of making something special… the oversized crown representing the glory and sovereignty of our  King of Kings, Jesus.  It was a joy for me to take some hours from each day over a couple of weeks and use that time to make His “Victor’s Crown”.  I am not an artist or a seamstress, but I had made a Presentation Crown once before, at our former church.  It’s a major project that also involves a lot of thought and prayer.  Everything about the crown had meaning for me, like the red jewels representing the blood of Christ, visible from every angle and from the top of the crown to the bottom.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Jude 1:25

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

When I made a Presentation Crown several years ago, there was a longer period of time to complete the project, so I was able to put the supplies away after every work session.  No one had seen the crown in progress at that church.  This time, however, there was more time pressure.  It was necessary to keep my project table set up and do some of the work when others were around, once even singing during part of a choir rehearsal as I worked.  Olive was one of the people who had observed the process.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God.”
I Corinthians 10:31

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

So, what Olive came to tell me before choir rehearsal (on the Wednesday night after “Victor’s Crown” was shared during worship) was that it all mattered.  She shared the fact that she had spoken to others who had been profoundly moved as God’s Spirit spoke to their hearts through the message that they heard and witnessed and deeply felt.  This time, however, Olive was determined to impress upon me that, “all of those hours and days and weeks (spent making the crown)… for a five minute song,” had made a Kingdom difference to her and to others, repeating those words about the time frame more than once.  The fact that she recognized the investment of time in creating as compared to the brevity of the time for that investment to have made an impact seemed to concern Olive; because she wanted me to know again… “I see… He sees… and it all matters.”

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“But we do see Jesus,
who was made lower than the angels for a little while,
now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death,
so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
Hebrews 2:9

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

I thanked Olive and assured her that the amount of time invested in making the crown for the brief presentation didn’t bother me at all, because I’m used to that.  Although the crown was seen for only a few measures of music near the end of “Victor’s Crown”, and then throughout the hymn that followed {“Crown Him (Lord of All)”), I know how God can use words, music, media, and any other kind of expression to touch hearts, often in just a moment.  So many times, my own heart has been touched, my faith strenghthened, my hope restored, and my soul inspired by what has been shared by others and by our worship ministry team.  I know that God can purify and amplify our imperfect efforts with His own righteousness.  I remember many really incredible spiritual moments from years and even decades ago.  The eternal significance of anything we do is only a result of His sanctifying presence working through us.  He is the One who makes it matter.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“All this is for your benefit,
so that the grace that is reaching more and more people
may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”
II Corinthians 4:15

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

Even as Olive was speaking to me, I couldn’t help thinking that as choir practice began in a few moments, time would be given by everyone present (including Olive) which would be longer than the time spent eventually sharing the music we would be learning.  In worship ministry, it’s all about preparation and time invested in order to bring glory to God… and how He is transforming our lives from the inside out through that process.  All of the worship team members invest lots of time into every brief worship service, but none of us count that time as lost.  It also occured to me that this is how my husband (and all Worship Ministers) spends his work time… in preparation and helping others to prepare.  Investing countless hours into preparation for one worship service is nothing new when it is your calling, ministry, and life’s work.

And you, in the service you are doing in Christ’s name and in seeking to live your life for His glory… are also investing time in ways that don’t always allow you to see an immediate result.  This kind of investment in lives and in service is so much more than a time clock of minutes served.  It’s all about our relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the foundational love and mercy of our God, which give us the purpose and the motivation for every minute… every hour… every lifetime.

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“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one
who speaks the very words of God.
If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,
so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
I Peter 4:11

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

So, for worship ministry team members… and for every Christian…

for every parent, every neighbor and friend,

everyone who is striving

to make an eternal difference in this life,

the work of the Kingdom is all about the investment

of minutes and hours,

days, weeks, and months,

years and decades,

and lifetimes…

 in prayer, preparation, relationships, and work,

investing in people, in serving the Lord,

in surrender and in obedience,

and using all that we have been given

through the mercies and love of God in Christ

with the help of His Holy Spirit

to bring Him glory.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work
and the love which you showed for His sake in serving the saints,
as you still do.”  
~Hebrews 6:10

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

What a blessing it is to be part of God’s Kingdom ministry in this life…

for all the moments, big and small, during which God is at work in the lives of His people…

 moments of service and help,

       moments of love demonstrated,

                 moments of grace manifested,

                          moments of holy reverence,

                                  moments of joyful praise,

                                           moments of hope realized,

                                                      moments of profound meaning,

                                                              moments of mercy,

                                                                      moments of sweet fellowship,

                                                                              and of encouragement given…

                                                                                       and received.

And, when blessings are hard to see, in the moments when the answers to prayer have not come as we had wanted, when obedience simply means waiting on the Lord and seeking Him with a broken heart… when God is still at work in ways that we have not yet been able to understand, we are blessed by His sustaining love and presence.  Still, every moment matters.  Not a single moment of grief will be wasted.  He will redeem it all… every teardrop.

So, whether you are spending you time wiping little noses, reading Bible stories, and keeping up with school for your children, working in or outside of your home, helping others through volunteering, or doing all of those things…

❤  He sees your heart and your work for others.  ❤

No matter how you serve through your church, whether you are teaching, singing, or greeting visitors…

❤  He sees how you love His bride, the church.  ❤

When you are studying in Seminary to prepare for a life calling or caring for a loved one who is ill,

❤  He sees your ministry.  ❤

When a large part of your energy goes to the temporal, mundane tasks that never stay done
or you wonder if your efforts, both large and small, are in vain,

❤  He sees your faithfulness.  ❤

When you struggle with the pain and grief of this life and cry out to Him in the rawness of your need,

❤ He sees your stubborn faith and your hope in Him.  ❤

When you mess up… and you know it.

❤He sees your brokenness and answers with His mercy.  ❤

Whatever your age or station in life…

when you are living to bring glory to the Lord, working and loving and serving as to the Lord,

❤ He sees you, and it all matters!  ❤

In this life, we are simply giving back what we have been given,  Because Christ sacrificed and gave His all, investing His life in us, we can now invest our lives in His Kingdom.  It’s so amazing that God allows us to particpate in His work and ministry, with the help of His Holy Spirit, in ways that will have meaning even in eternity, always for His glory.

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

And, beyond all that…

you and I can look forward to

eternity in the presence of God

at the feet of Jesus.

In the company of the saints, we will be

free from sin and sorrow;

free from pain and death;

and living in a place beyond anything we could ever imagine.

There, we will fully know even as we are known,

and we will experience in full measure

the vast, immeasureable, eternal,

pure, holy, and victorious

love of God

* ❤ * ❤ * ❤

Know this, child of God:

In every moment of time,

for now, and for eternity…

He does see.

And, yes, it all matters.

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* ❤ * ❤ * ❤ *

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory
and the exact representation of His being,
sustaining all things by His powerful word.
After He had provided purification for sins,
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Hebrews 1:3

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VICTORS CROWN (official video)
Written by: Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, Kari Jobe

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 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

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  ❤ Thank you, Olive, for being an encourager, for your love for the Lord, ❤
and for your desire to worship and serve Him.

You’ve helped me to think of God’s work in our lives in new ways.

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DO YOU KNOW JESUS?
The decision to ask Jesus to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior is the best decision you could ever make! The one true God is ready to give you forgiveness and eternal life as soon as you understand your need for Him and believe on the name of His only Son, Jesus, for your salvation. Here’s a blog page link to help you find the answers to your questions about Jesus.

http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

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The missing piece…What Every Christian Should Know About Worship

SOMETHING IS MISSING…

What is the missing piece of the puzzle?

Many Christians try to do what they know they need to do in order to grow as a Christian and become more like Jesus. We read our Bibles, we pray, we attend church, we sing songs of worship, and we try to be a witness for Christ through the way we live our lives as well as by what we say. Some Christians even take responsibility for sharing the good news about Jesus when the opportunity arises. Sadly, for many Christians, there is still a nagging feeling that something is missing. My personal belief, based upon years of learning from scripture, from the writings and teachings of others (through books, sermons, articles, and conferences), and from my own experience, is that true worship is the missing piece.

KEY A:  RELATIONSHIP  THROUGH  WORSHIP
True worship connects us to the very heart of God like nothing else can.

Jesus said to the woman at the well that God is Spirit and that all who truly worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)  Jesus named only two requirements for authentic worship, and yet there are many Christians who don’t feel that they really understand what it means to worship.  Others may not have spent much time thinking about worship but would admit that their corporate worship experiences seem to be lacking in some way and that their personal worship time is practically non-existant. 

Remember that Jesus could have spoken to the woman at the well about anything, and yet He chose to talk about worship.  Certainly, acts of service and devotion are vitally important.  So is sharing the gospel, as well as other critical elements of the Christian life, such as discipleship, fellowship with other believers, Biblical knowledge, and prayer,  And yet, Jesus chose to talk about worship   His conversation with the Samaritan woman was life changing for her.  She was confronted with the truth about who she was.  She initially recognized that Jesus must somehow be very closely related to God since He knew everything about her, and she ultimately realized that she was seeing God Himself in the form of a man.  The woman’s response to these revelations of truth (who Jesus/God is and who she was) revealed the change that had occured in her life as a result of her encounter with Christ.  She, who had been such an outcast that she ceme to the well alone at a time when no one else would be there, suddenly wanted to tell everyone what had just happened to her.  She wanted to run into town to tell them about the man she had met and what He said.  She was full of joy and excitement.  She had recognized her need, seen the fulfillment of that need in Christ, said “yes!” in her heart, and was ready to share the news!  That’s what true worship does.  It changes us, empowers us, fills us with wonder and joy, and makes us want to share what (and Who!) we have known and experienced with others.  When we see God for Who He really is, the transformation that occurs as a result of that encounter with the living God is a part of why worship is so important for me, for you, and for every Christian.

Here are some truths about worship and some practical helps for understanding your role as a worshipper.

Key B:   UNDERSTANDING  WORSHIP  BEGINS
WITH  UNDERSTANDING  WHO  GOD  REALLY  IS.
Worship is not some mystical activity that only people who have a Doctorate in Theology can understand.  God is revealed to us through His presence, through the Holy Spirit, through His word, and through the blessings and even challenges of life when we are looiking for His hand at work.

Simply stated, our lives, our thoughts, and the attitudes of our hearts matter to God. If we are going to seek to live a life that uplifts and blesses the lives of others and honors our Creator God through purity of purpose and a legacy of lasting (eternal) impact on the world, God knows that we must first be in right relationship with Him. He longs for us to know Him as He knows us. After we have come into relationship with God by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, this is where worship comes into the picture. When we begin to understand who God really is and catch a vision of His infinite love and mercy, our reasonable response to this revelation of truth is…worship.

Remember that God does not desire our worship so that he can become great. He is already great. He does not need to be elected as “Supreme Ruler of the Universe” by all of humanity. He is already the supreme ruler of the universe. God does not desire empty accolades or flowery speeches of devotion. He desires relationship with us.

KEY C:  THE MINDSET OF WORSHIP
We are never closer to the heart of God than when we

* see ourselves and our need for God

at the same time that we

* see who He is (our all-sufficient Creator, Savior, and Sustainer)

and then respond in true worship.

Worship God in Spirit and Truth

KEY D:  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  WORSHIP

1. JESUS  SAID  THAT  WE  MUST  WORSHIP  “IN  SPIRIT”.
How can that happen?

What do we need in order for relationship with God to happen so that we can worship God in Spirit? First, we need a bridge of salvation from God to man so that we can accept His provision for our spiritual need and allow Him to begin to work in our hearts, minds, and souls. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior allows God to begin the process of making us holy so that one day we can dwell with Him (without making Heaven unholy). If we are going to be in relationship with Him while still on earth and in the process of becoming like Christ, we must be given spiritual understanding and spiritual life. To accomplish this, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live within us when we come to know Him. Even a child can understand that Jesus gave His life in order to pay the penalty for our sin. It doesn’t take a college degree to grasp the fact that our salvation is the beginning of a process of becoming like Christ so that we may one day dwell with God in a holy place where none of the consequences of sin can exist. However, we must move on from that beginning point of salvation to learning and growing in the deeper spiritual truths, including our understanding of worship, which we can do with the help of God’s spirit, who leads us into all truth when we are seeking more.

So, God has done the initial work of making our salvation and relationship with Him possible. He has done the important work of helping us to grow in Christ through the indwelling of His Spirit, and He has also done the work of fulfilling the first requirement of true worship through the indwelling.  We can worship God “in Spirit” when we have the Spirit of God living within us after accepting Christ as our Savior (as long as we don’t allow sin or the concerns of the world to drown out the still, small voice of God’s spirit).  Remember what Jesus said.  God is Spirit, and when we worship Him “in Spirit”, we are connecting spiritually in a unique way.  Father God who sustains us and who has provided a a way of salvation throught Jesus, God the Son, responds to the Spirit of God within us.

2. JESUS  SAID  THAT  WE  MUST  WORSHIP  “IN  TRUTH”.
True worship comes with surrender and getting real.

What about the “in truth” requirement for worship?  What does that mean?

First, as we come to an understanding of who God is and His characteristics as the Creator and Lord of all, at some point we learn that God knows all and that He looks upon our hearts. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us more intimately than anyone else ever could. He knows our fears, our failures, our sorrows, our sin, our hopes, our loves, and our priorities. He knows what we worship. Our job is to get real with Him.  We must come to realize that faking spiritual life or pretending to surrender to God or acting the part of a genuine worshipper will never be enough for true relationship with Him.

If we say that we worship God and yet devote most of our energy and thoughts to something else (even to all of the busy-ness of serving God that we sometimes allow to become a substitute for knowing and worshipping Him), God knows it. He does not want us to have divided hearts, and He longs for us to be spared the eventual pain that comes with focusing our lives too much on temporary pleasures or things or human relationships without seeking Him first. Since He knows our hearts and fully understands our spiritual struggles, it does no good to try to fool God with a “show” of worship. He is not fooled. We are only fooling ourselves, and we are falling into the trap of settling for less of God than He wants to give.

All to Jesus I surrender…

Secondly, we need to realize what God’s true nature is in relation to us, His children.  Jesus said that God is a giver who desires to give good gifts to His children. (Matthew 7:11)  We can never out-give God, and yet we try to hold part of ourselves back from relationship to Him, thinking that we don’t want to lose our identity. However, it is only when we are able to let go and give ourselves fully to God that He can show us what abundant life means.  He can then show us our true identity in Him (who He made us to be).  When we begin to understand the revelation of what God will do through us as we surrender to Him, we can begin the process of fully becoming every part of the whole of our true identity.  This is why Jesus said that He that tries to keep his life will lose it. While we won’t lose our salvation if we never fully surrender to God, we will lose the eternal impact that our lives were meant to have. We will lose the fullest meaning and purpose that our lives could have had. We will also lose out on abundant life.

Thirdly, we have to get real.  It is only when we are willing to be real and honest with God (and even tell Him about our struggles to surrender fully to Him) that He can begin to work with the truth that we have accepted about ourselves and begin to teach us the joys of a life that is being transformed from the inside out. When we trust God with the truth (that He already knows) and come to Him with real desire to move forward in becoming like Christ, even though we know that we have a long way to go in that journey, that desire to bring God glory with our lives by becoming more like Christ is true worship. Our lives become the intentional expression of our desire to bring God glory through recognizing His infinite worth.* We then choose to allow God to fill us with His spiritual life as we continually surrender our mess to Him. That process is living Romans 12:1-2, our reasonable service of worship. That is living in an authentic relationship with God, worshipping Him in truth, as we continue to give Him our mess and allow Him to make our lives a message of God’s glory through a transformed life.

Romans 12

New International Version (NIV)

A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

KEY E:  GOD  AND  JESUS  LEAD  THE  WAY  IN  SACRIFICIAL  GIVING

Remember these truths:

God is not asking us to do anything that He himself has not already done! 
He gave Himself. 

At a time when we were all takers, He gave.
We continue to take, and He continues to give.

Only true worship breaks the “cycle of taking” in our lives,
As we seek to give Him glory in all of life through living a life of worship.

Restating and expanding upon Key E:
When we worship God, we become part of an endless (eternal) cycle of giving which God began, which He continues in every moment, which He will continue throughout eternity, and of which He is always a part.  (even when we are not in giving mode)

(i)  God began the giving.

1 Peter 1:20
“He (Jesus) was chosen (as our Redeemer, whose live would be given for all) before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

John 3;16 (NLT)  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

(ii)  God continues to give in every moment of time.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  – James 1:17
(Note that God’s nature is that of a giver and that He does not change!)

22The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”…  – Lamentations 3:22 – 24

(iii)  God will continue giving throughout all eternity.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  – I Corinthians 2:9

“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”  – Revelation 21:23

(iv)  God is always a part of an eternal cycle of giving. 

“If you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  – Matthew 7:11 (WNT)

Therefore…

Key F:  WORSHIP  IS  ABOUT  GIVING  OURSELVES  TO  A  LOVING  GOD  WHO  HAS  GIVEN  HIMSELF  FOR  US  AND  WILL  CONTINUE  TO  GIVE  THROUGHOUT  ALL  OF  ETERNITY.

Many people don’t realize that the pervasive attitude of consumerism in society has leached into our mindsets about worship.  If we view worship as something that should be done only on Sundays and only during a corporate worship service, we have not understood the concept of lifestyle worship (worshiping God through the way that we live our lives by seeking to give Him glory in all that we do and all that we are becoming).  If we view worship from the standpoint of how much we are “getting out of it”, then we misunderstand worship completely.  Worship is not about the occasional obligatory 25 minutes of singing that some just endure during a church worship service.  Worship is also not about consuming a commodity.  It is not a cheeseburger or a steak.  It is not about your musical preferences or mine.  It is not about seeing and being seen.  Worship is not something that we do in order to check all of the spiritual boxes.

Instead, worship can become our natural state of being as we learn more and more about our merciful God, our victorious Savior, and our ever-present guide and helper, God’s indwelling and holy Spirit (then choosing to respond to all that He is with all that we are).

THE  KEY  TRUTH:  Worship is about giving.

Giving in daily life…

Lift up His name!

If we understand that worship is about giving, we can choose to live with an attitude of true worship (though none of us can accomplish it perfectly in this life).  We can seek to continually express God’s infinite worth* through living in such a way that every part of our lives ultimately brings Him glory.  This is something that we cannot do in our own strength.  In order to continue the process of becoming like Christ as we seek to live a live that brings God glory, we need God’s help in many ways.  He gives us guidance and strength through His word, through His presence, and through dwelling within us in Spirit.  Even as we are sseking to give worship to God through living “as unto the Lord and not unto men”,  He continues to give! 

Living in an attitude of worship, presenting our selves unto the Lord as a living sacrifice, is our “reasonable service of worship”.  (Romans 12:1 & 2) 

To state this truth in another way.  because of all that God has done, is continuing to do, and will do throughout all of eternity, we choose moment by moment to live in such a way that our lives bring glory to God, even in the small, everyday things.

“Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men.”  –  Colossians 3:23  (Weymouth New Testament)

“And serve them with all your soul in love, as unto our Lord and not as unto men,”  – Ephesians 6:7  (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  – I Corinthians 10:31  NASB

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  – Colossians 3:17

“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”  I Peter 4:11

Giving in times of corporate worship…

Worship from the heart

If we understand that worship is about giving, then we can come to a corporate worship service with a heart that is ready to give!  Whether things in our lives seem to be going well or whether we are struggling or dealing with many trials, the fact remains that both a private worship time and times of corporate worship are about giving.  Even when the cares of life are weighing us down, we can be honest in prayer and tell God that we are feeling drained and exhausted and worn to a frazzle.  He already knows everything we are facing and everything we are feeling anyway, so we are simply coming into agreement with the truth when we admit our status before Him.  Then, we can choose to give the sacrifice of praise by making a symbolic mental, emotional, and spiritual exchange.  We give our burdens to God and exchange the spirit of heaviness that had been pressing the life right out of us for that lovely garment of praise.

When we lift up the Lord, He lifts us up, too!  We can never out-give God because He is constantly giving more and more.  There will always be an infinite number of reasons to praise Him.  When we come into a time of corporate worship ready to give the Lord praise, honor, exaltation, blessing, surrender, our lives and hearts, our focus, our struggles, our longings, and our raw need for God and for all that He is to be reflected in our lives, He will meet us right where we are and complete the cirlcle of giving (of which He is always a part).

WHAT  ARE  WE  SUPPOSED  TO  GIVE?

1.  We are to give God THANKSGIVING and PRAISE!

* Psalm 100:4   ”Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”

* Psalm 9:1 & 2   “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart: I will tell of all Thy wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exult in Thee, I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.”

2.  We are to give God GLORY!

(or, glorify Him)

* Psalm 86:12   “With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

3.  We are to give God AWE and REVERENCE, acknowledging Him as the Lord and Creator of all.

(In some verses and some translations, “the fear of the Lord”)

* Psalm 111:10   “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

* Psalm 86:9 – 12   “All the nations You have made shall come and bow down before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great, and You do wondrous things; You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; and I will glorify Your name forever.”

4.  We are to give God BLESSING.  (Bless the Lord, bless the name of the Lord)

* Psalm 103:22   ”Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

* Psalm 28:6 & 7   “Blessed be the Lord!  for He has heard the voice of my supplications.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”

5.  We are to give Him EXALTATION!*  (or exalt Him, exalt His name)

From the www.thefreedictionary.com, here are the applicable definitions:

1. to raise or elevate in rank, position, dignity, etc.

2. to praise highly; glorify; extol

* Psalm 34:3   “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”

*NOTE:  The word ‘exaltation’ sometimes gets confused with ‘exultation’, for which the definition is “to rejoice greatly, be jubilant or triumphant (or, as in triumph.  We rejoice greatly in His triumph.)  — same source

6.  We are to give Him SERVICE!
(giving of our hearts, our time, our gifts, and our lives in serving Him)

* Joshua 24:15   ”If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

7.  We are to give Him WORSHIP!
True worship rises up from the people of God, who are choosing to intentionally express His infinite worth! **

**(see note at end of post)

You have probably noticed by now that there is some overlap in the various types of giving to the Lord.  For example, in singing praise to God, we can bless His name.  In the worship category of giving, there is overlap with all other types of giving.  All of these ways of giving to the Lord are worship (lifestyle worship) when we are giving with the purpose of bringing glory to God and expressing His infinite worth through giving our best to God in every area of our lives.

* Psalm 29:2   ”Honor the LORD for the glory of His name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.”

* Phillippians 3:3   “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

8.  We are to give Him our songs (SING UNTO HIM)!

* Psalm 5:11   ”But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.”

* Psalm 30:4   “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.”

* Psalm 59:16 & 17   “I will sing of Thy power; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for God is my defense , and the God of my mercy.”   Psalm 59:16 & 17“I will sing of Thy power; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for God is my defense , and the God of my mercy.”

9.  We are to give Him TITHES and OFFERINGS!

* Malachi 3:10   “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

* Exodus 35:29  “The children of Israel brought a voluntary offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart prompted them to bring for all manner of work, which Jehovah, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.”

10.  We are to give Him HONOR!

* Revelation 4:11   “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

* Proverbs 3:9   “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income.”

Just as we would honor a guest in our home by seeking to serve our best meal and prepare diligently so that all will be able to enjoy the best time of fellowship, we choose to give unto the Lord the best of all that we are and all that we have for His honor.   We honor the Lord by giving, just as He has chosen to honor us by seeking fellowship with us and reaching out to us through the gift of His very best.

11.  We are to give Him LOVE!

The words of Jesus Himself in Mark 12:30   “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

* Psalm 31:23   “Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

* Joshua 22:5   “But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

* Psalm 116:1   “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.”

12.  We are to give Him OUR WHOLE HEART AND LIFE!

* I Chronicles 28:9   “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

* Mark 8:35   “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”

The Final KEY TRUTH:

 THERE  IS  NO  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  CORPORATE  WORSHIP  WITH  GOD’S  PEOPLE.

It is wonderful to have a personal understanding of worship that aligns with what scripture teaches, and it is vitally important that every Christian also begins to follow through and move forward from having knowledge about worship to actually putting into practice the truths that we have learned.  In other words, each of us must begin to view ourselves as not only a child of God, servant of God, and disciple of Christ but also as a worshipper.  The Bible tells us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Through worship, we are seeking more than just answered prayers and strength or comfort.  We are actually seeking to bless the heart of God with our own desire to give Him glory.  In choosing to live all of life with an attitude of worship, we are seeking to choose in every moment to do, say, and think in a God-honoring way.  Again, we will fall short, but our effort and our heart for God will not escape His notice.  He will meet with us in those moments of focused worship, and He will bless our efforts to bring Him glory through living in an attitude of worship.

Personal worship and living a lifestyle of worship are wonderful and essential to the life of every growing Christian, but those two elements of growth as a worshipper are not enough without regular corporate worship times with your church family.  Times of worship with the body of Christ are essential for the body and for the individuals who make up the body.  Here is what the Bible says about our need for corporate worship:

“We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.”  – Hebrews 10:25 (God’s Word translation)

Seeing the scripture within the context of other verses, consider the application for such a time as this:

A Call to Persevere
…23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.…

Restated:  In order to persevere in our faith, we must not waver in our commitment to be a part of the body of Christ and to worship with the body of Christ.  We must hold on with all of our might to the certain hope we have been given, recognizing God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises.  We must encourage one another and work together to love each other within the church fellowship and to demonstrate the love of Christ to the world.  We must serve together, doing what is good in helping others both inside and outside of the church, in the name of Jesus.  We must learn and grow spiritually through the process of study and sharing testimonies of God’s faithfulness and proclamation of the Word.

And, we should remember that all of these things (corporate worship and all of the loving, serving, discipleship, and fellowship through the body) that can only be done by continuing to meet, worship, fellowship, and serve together as a body become even more important as time moves closer and closer to the return of Christ.

You and I cannot be who we need to be as Christians if we forsake meeting togther. 

If we are going to live in a way that honors and reverences the blood of Christ which sanctifies us, the passage goes on to say, we must demonstrate our love and commitment to the Lord through loving His body, the church, and meeting together with other believers for the primary purpose of worship and for discipleship, fellowship, outreach / missions, and service.  Verse 26 even refers back to the mention of forsaking meeting together and calls such practice “deliberate sin’, going on to talk about God’s judgement for those who have “spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the convenant, and outraged the Spirit of Grace” (vs. 29).  God does not take it lightly when those who know Him (and whom Jesus died to save) reject His body, the church.

Remember that we (Christians who make up the body of Christ) are all in the process of growing to be more Christlike, and we are all in different stages of spiritual growth.  Sometimes other Christians will disappoint or even hurt us.  We need to extend the same grace that we have been given to our fellow believers.  They may not have yet reached the point of conviction about something that they have done or are doing that is wrong or has been hurtful (sometimes unintentionally) to the body.  However, we can choose to demonstrate the love of Christ and the grace and mercy of God to them, knowing that love always hopes, always believes, and always trusts.  You may not be able to trust an individual, but you can trust the God who is at work in your heart and in theirs.

We are a family of brothers and sisters in Christ, and the same principles of forgiveness, moving forward, and talking through problems that you follow with your own family must also be followed with your spiritual family.  This is one of the ways that we encourage one another to good works (one of the reasons given for not forsaking the assembling together of God’s family).  Forgiveness and reconciliation, resulting in spiritual growth for both parties and in greater harmony within the body, are good works!   Don’t allow your “right” to nurse a grudge or hang on to a hurt or misunderstanding to cause you to sin against the blood of Christ.

Remember, there is no substitute for worshipping together with other believers.

May God bless you as you seek to worship Him both personally and corporately, living a life that brings Him glory and discovering that relating to God as a 24/7 worshipper is the missing piece that you have longed to find.

Colossians 1:10   “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

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* John Piper’s definition of worship. paraphrased.
This definition is found in the devotion titled  ”Bodies, Breakfast, and the Marriage Bed”  and subtitled  “A Meditation on Daily Worship”.
You can read the complete devotion at this link:  http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/bodies-breakfast-and-the-marriage-bed

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This post was written by Cynthia A. Boyd

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You may want to read some of our other posts and pages about worship:

OUR OTHER POSTS ABOUT WORSHIP: (Our pages, like the one on Lifestyle Worship, have titles that are always visible on the blog header.  Our posts are categorized, and all of the posts on worship can be found in our category called “Worship…with Wonder!”

Music is a gift…Worship the Giver!

Worship:  Definitions and Quotations

Worship…it’s all about Giving!

Worship in the New Testament

Understanding Worship

Worship is Joy!

Worship Planning and Preparation

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For further reading, here is a link to an article called,

“What is Worship?
A Survey of Scripture”

http://www.gci.org/God/worship

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Do you know someone who is looking for answers?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.

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Psalm 100: A Prescription for Praise!

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.”

~   Psalm 100 (all verses, 1 – 5)

I love Psalm 100!

These 5 short verses are a prescription for a life of thanksgiving and praise!

Within these verses, we find the “why” of praise.

Why do we praise God?

* 1 *  Because He is good  (verse 5)

* 2 *  Because His mercy is everlasting   (verse 5 ~ some translations use “steadfast love”)

* 3 *  Because His truth endures to all generations   (v. 5 ~ some versions say “faithfulness”)

* 4 *  Because we are His people   (v. 3)

* 5 *  Because He is like a Shepherd to us   (v. 3 ~ He cares for our needs since we are the sheep of His pasture.)

* 6 *  Because the pasture is His   (v. 3 ~ We dwell within His creation, another provision.)

* 7 *  Because He is God   (v.3)

* 8 *  Because He made us   (v. 3)

* 9 *  Because anything we have as far as abilities and gifts (anything good within us) came from Him  (v. 3 ~ We didn’t make ourselves.)

* 10 *  Because He allows us to come into His presence   (v. 4 ~ We can enter His gates, His courts.)

* 11 *  Because He wants to be in relationship and fellowship with us, He gives us the keys to His presence.   (v. 4 He tells us that thanksgiving and praise are the outer and inner gateways to communion with Him.)

* 12 *  Because He wants us to be glad and to be joyful, to have hearts that sing.   (v. 1 & 2 ~ He even wants to hear and share in our joy!)

Did you see those 12 reasons for praise in the 5 verses of Psalm 100 before?  I have read this Psalm hundreds of times in the 35 years since I became a Christian, but I don’t think I saw all of the reasons for praise until I started looking for them.

Isn’t it amazing that our God is so good that we can find 12 reasons for praising Him in only 5 short verses of scripture.  He is amazing!  THAT’S WHY WE PRAISE HIM!

The Lord is great, He is Sovereign, He is personal, He is a loving and caring Shepherd, He claims us as His own, He wants us to know Him, He is a God of truth, He is merciful (FULL of mercy), He is a giver, He is generous (desiring our joy!), He has our best interests at heart, and He is powerful.

He is God.

Knowing the 5 verses of Psalm 100 can be a lifelong reminder of the reasons to praise Him. There’s something else in these verses as well. We not only have the “why” of praise in Psalm 100. We also have the “how”.

So, how are we to praise the Lord?

* with a joyful noise (v. 1)
* with glad hearts as we serve Him (v. 2)
* with singing (v. 2)
* with the reverent recognition of who He is (v. 3)
* with thanksgiving (v. 4)
* with blessing for His name (v. 4)
* with knowledge that praise is the password to His presence (v. 4)
* with the desire to go deeper in seeking and knowing Him (also v. 4, drawing near as we come into his courts)

Finally, we find that remembering the how and why of praise found in Psalm 100 can help us to live in fellowship with the Lord as we continually look for more reasons to give Him praise and seek to live our lives for His glory.  

There are many benefits to living a life of praise, because praise is good medicine!

Unlike prescriptions for medication, praise has no harmful side effects. The benefits of praise are spiritual, emotional, mental, and even physical.

Here are 10 of the benefits of praise:

* Praise focuses our attention on the eternal and causes us to let go of our earthly concerns for a while.

* Praise reminds us why we love and trust our great God. It reminds us who He is.

* Praise helps us to remember that God’s salvation goes beyond meeting our greatest need (for Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior) to meeting our everyday needs through all of the ways that God shepherds and cares for us and helps us to grow in grace.

* When we praise the Lord specifically for all that He is and all that He has done, we are confronted with God’s sovereignty, Jesus’ glory as the only begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit’s comfort and guidance.

* Praise brings peace to our hearts because it reminds us that He is our peace.

* Praise makes us glad as we remember that He is the joy of every longing heart.

* Praise gives us eternal perspective and helps us hold on to faith in God, even when things don’t seem to make sense.

* Praise allows God to meet us where we are and minister to us at the point of our deepest need.

* Praise takes our eyes off of ourselves and focuses them on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

* Praise allows us to give something of eternal value to the Giver of all things. We can give something of eternal value only because God invested Himself in us when He chose to die for us. He can redeem us through the power of His great love and make us into eternal beings who will see His glory and become worthy of His presence through the shedding of His own blood. He gives value to our weakest effort. His strength is perfected in our human weakness. As we praise Him, we recognize and affirm His infinite worth and supreme glory as the God of all creation. He, in turn, lifts us up with the knowledge that He cares for us and values our lives, our souls, and even our human efforts to live in such a way that our lives bring Him glory.

With results like that, this prescription for praise should be administered daily!

See the information below about our most often read blog post, 31 Days of Praise, to give you a full month of praise scripture devotions.

Below, you will find a memorization helper photo for Psalm 100.  Print it in whatever size works for you, and use it as a memory aide to help you learn the 5 incredible verses of Psalm 100.

Use this scripture memory photo for the 5 verses of Psalm 100 to read it aloud each day and memorize this passage

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31  DAYS OF PRAISE  

This blog post originally was (and still is) the praise devotion for day 17 in our “31 Days of Praise” blog post (see link below).

Most of the devotions consist of a praise verse, a truth about praise drawn from that verse, and a short, devotional paragraph with thoughts about praise inspired by that verse.  However, this particular devotion is longer…quite a bit longer.  It is the only long-ish devotion in “31 Days of Praise” because there’s just so much in Psalm 100.  The more I looked, the more I found, and the more there was to share about this passage of scripture and our great God.  With this much to share, I decided after I published the 31 devotions that this particular devotion needed to become a separate post as well.  Psalm 100 is even more special to me now that the Lord has revealed so much about it and about Himself through it.  We hope that this post will be a blessing.  Don’t forget to check out “31 Days of Praise” for 30 short devotions about praise + one that is a little long-ish.

Here’s the link to   31 Days of Praise

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This post was written by Cynthia A. Boyd.
This post can be reprinted in an unpaid church publication as long as the author’s name and blog URL are included.  It does need to be printed in its entirety.  We stand by each post on our blog, so we require that no edits be made.  Even the tiniest edit might alter the meaning or original intent of a post.  For a paid publication, obtaining permission is required.

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Do you know someone who is looking for answers?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.

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The Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

RESURRECTION  SCRIPTURES

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.    Romans 8:11

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.    Romans 8:34

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.    Romans 10:9

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.    Isaiah 25:8

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; on him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by his stripes we are healed.   Isaiah 53:5

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.”    Job 19:25

God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.    1 Corinthians 6:14

…who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.    1 Peter 1:21

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”   1 Corinthians 15:17

Resurrection Quotes

The tomb of Christ is famous because of what it DOES NOT CONTAIN.  —  Sam Morris

We live and die; Christ died and lived!  —  John Stott

The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence.  Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.  —  Clarence W. Hall

The primary source of the appeal of Christianity is Jesus – His incarnation, His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.  —  K. Latourette

…Luke associates John with Peter in Acts, when, after the Resurrection, that strange boldness had come upon the disciples.  —  Alfred Noyes

“The cross is a one time visual representation of God’s grief over sin.”  —  Dean L. Harvey

“Live in the awareness that Christ lives and that He lives in His people.”  —  Julien B. Weil

“The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph…The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one.”  —  Leon Morris

“The best proof that Christ has risen is that He is still alive. And for the immense majority of our contemporaries, the only way of seeing Him alive is for us Christians to love one another.”   —  Louis Evely

♪ ♫  “Christ the Lord is risen today, sons of men and angels say. Raise your joys and triumphs high; Sing ye heavens, and earth reply.”   —  Charles Wesley (from the Hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”)

All of heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, hell afraid of it, while men are the only ones to ignore its meaning.   —  Oswald Chambers

According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.  —  Harvard Law Professor Dr. Simon Greenleaf

♪ ♫ “Hear the bells ringing!
They’re singing that we can be born again!
Hear the bells ringing!
They’re singing, ‘Christ is risen from the dead!’

The angel up on the tombstone said, He is risen just as he said!
Quickly now, go tell His disciples that Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world!  He is risen!  Alleluia!”

—  Keith Green, The Easter Song

There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.  —  Brooke Foss Wescott

The Gospels do not explain the Resurrection; the Resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the Resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith.   —  John S. Whale

♪ ♫  “Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o’er his foes!
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
and He lives forever with His saints to reign!
He arose!  He arose!  Hallelujah!  Christ arose!

—  from ‘Up from the Grave He Arose’

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.   —  Martin Luther

The resurrection power of Jesus broke Satan’s captive power. When He led the Old Testament saints from paradise to heaven, He led captivity captive!   — Leon Morris

Our justification hinges on a risen life, present in us now because Christ is present with us now.   —  Paul F.M. Zaul

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.   —  Watchman Nee

The entire plan for the future has its key in the resurrection.   – – Billy Graham

There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three.  – – Billy Graham

Note:  The quotations and scriptures above were found at  http://www.unlockingthebible.org/resurrection-easter-quotes-bible-verses/

“It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all and showing us over and over again the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It was like a best-loved story being told day after day with each sunrise and sunset, year after year with the seasons, down through the ages since time began.”  ―   Francine Rivers  The Last Sin Eater

“…left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entrophy, acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there’s nothing much we can do about them. And we are wrong. Our task in the present…is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.”  ―   N. T. Wright   Surprised by Hope:  Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

“It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another.  It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions.  Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up.  It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.”  ―   Eugene H. Peterson

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
―   Charles Colson

“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry…He’s risen!”  ―   Charles R. Swindoll

“He, the Life of all, our Lord and Saviour, did not arrange the manner of his own death lest He should seem to be afraid of some other kind. No. He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those other His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in order that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death be recognised as finally annulled. A marvellous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonour and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat.”  ―   Saint Athanasius of Alexandria   On the Incarnation

“Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.”  ―   Fulton J. Sheen   Life of Christ

“No tabloid will ever print the startling news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes. Death is not a wall, but a door.”
―    Peter Marshall  (Congressional Chaplain)

“The Bible says He was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it. This means that what the death of Christ accomplished was so full and so prefect that the resurrection was the reward and vindication of Christ’s achievement in death.”  ―   John Piper   Passion of Jesus Christ

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Note:  The quotations above were found at  http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/resurrection?page=1

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MORE  RESURRECTION  SCRIPTURES

John 11:25-26 Jesus  said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though  he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall  never die. Do you believe this?”

Romans 6:4 We were buried  therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was  raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of  life.

Romans 6:5 For if we have  been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him  in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:9 We know that  Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has  dominion over him.

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 For I  delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died  for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that  he was raised on the third day pin accordance with the Scriptures,  and  that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/quotes-about-the-resurrection-23-good-sayings/#ixzz2PBXHkv6X

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.     Author: Watchman Nee

The Word of truth teaches in the clearest and most positive terms that all of the dead will be raised.  No doctrine of the faith rests upon a more literal and emphatic body of Scripture authority than this, nor is any more vital to Christianity. Author: C.I. Scofield

The first thing that stuck in the minds of the disciples was not the empty tomb, but rather the empty grave clothes – undisturbed in form and position. Author: Josh McDowellOn what does the Christian argument for Immortality really rest?  It stands upon the pedestal on which the theologian rests the whole of historical Christianity — the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Author: Henry Drummond

I went to a psychologist friend and said if 500 people claimed to see Jesus after he died, it was just a hallucination. He said hallucinations are an individual event. If 500 people have the same hallucination, that’s a bigger miracle than the resurrection. Author: Lee StrobelThe truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. Author: John MacArthurNote:  The quotations above were found at http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/Resurrection-Quotes/page-3.shtml Here (below) is an article about proof for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from  http://christianity.about.com/od/easter/a/7-Proofs-Of-The-Resurrection.htm Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ an historical event that really happened, or is it only a myth, as many atheists claim? While no one witnessed the actual resurrection, many people swore they saw the risen Christ after his death, and their lives were never the same. Archaeological discoveries continue to support the Bible’s historical accuracy. We tend to forget that the Gospels and book of Acts are eyewitness accounts of the life and death of Jesus.  Further nonbiblical evidence for Jesus’ existence comes from the writings of Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, and the Jewish Sanhedrin. The following seven proofs of the resurrection show that Christ did, indeed, rise from the dead. The Resurrection Proof #1: The Empty Tomb of Jesus The empty tomb may be the strongest proof Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Two major theories have been advanced by unbelievers: someone stole Jesus’ body or the women and disciples went to the wrong tomb. The Jews and Romans had no motive to steal the body. Christ’s apostles were too cowardly and would have had to overcome the Roman guards. The women who found the tomb empty had earlier watched Jesus being laid away; they knew where the correct tomb was. Even if they had gone to the wrong tomb, the Sanhedrin could have produced the body from the right tomb to stop the resurrection stories. Jesus’ burial cloths were left neatly folded inside, hardly the act of hurrying grave robbers. Angels said Jesus had risen from the dead. The Resurrection Proof #2: The Women who were Eyewitnesses The women who were eyewitnesses are further proof that the Gospels are accurate historical records. If the accounts had been made up, no ancient author would have used women for witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. Women were second class citizens in Bible times; their testimony was not even allowed in court. Yet the Bible says the risen Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene and other women. Even the apostles did not believe Mary when she told them the tomb was empty. Jesus, who always had special respect for these women, honored them as the first eyewitnesses to his resurrection. The male Gospel writers had no choice but to report this embarrassing act of God’s favor, because that was how it happened. The Resurrection Proof #3: Jesus’ Apostles’ New-Found Courage After the crucifixion, Jesus’ apostles hid behind locked doors, terrified they would be executed next. But something changed them from cowards to bold preachers. Anyone who understands human character knows people do not change that much without some major influence. That influence was seeing their Master, bodily risen from the dead. Christ appeared to them in the locked room, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and on the Mount of Olives.  After seeing Jesus alive, Peter and the others left the locked room and preached the risen Christ, unafraid of what would happen to them. They quit hiding because they knew the truth. They finally understood that Jesus is God incarnate, who saves people from sin. The Resurrection Proof #4: Changed Lives of James and Others Changed lives are yet another proof of the resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus, was openly skeptical that Jesus was the Messiah.  After the death and resurrection of Jesus, James became a courageous leader of the church at Jerusalem, even being stoned to death for his faith. Why? The Bible says the risen Christ appeared to him. What a shock to see your own brother, alive again, after you knew he was dead. James and the apostles became effective missionaries because people could tell these men had touched and seen the risen Christ. With such zealous eyewitnesses, the early church exploded in growth, spreading west from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond. For 2,000 years, encounters with the resurrected Jesus have changed lives. The Resurrection Proof #5: Large Crowd of Eyewitnesses A large crowd of more than 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus Christ at the same time. The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D. Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Today, psychologists say it would be impossible for a large crowd of people to have had the same hallucination at once. Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched Jesus and watched him eat food. The hallucination theory is further debunked because after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped. The Resurrection Proof #6: Conversion of Paul The account of the conversion of Paul records the most drastically changed life in the Bible.  As Saul of Tarsus, he was an aggressive persecutor of the early church. When the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, Paul became Christianity’s most determined missionary. He endured 5 floggings, 3 beatings, 3 shipwrecks, a stoning, poverty, and years of ridicule. Finally the Roman emperor Nero had Paul beheaded because the apostle refused to deny his faith in Jesus.  What could make a person willingly accept—even welcome—such hardships? Christians believe that the conversion of Paul came about because he encountered Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead. The Resurrection Proof #7: They Died for Jesus Countless people have died as martyrs for their faith in Jesus, absolutely certain that the resurrection of Christ is an historical fact. Tradition says 10 of the original apostles died as martyrs for Christ, as did the Apostle Paul. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of early Christians died in the Roman arena and in prisons for their faith. Down through the centuries, thousands more have died for Jesus because they believed that the resurrection is true. Even today, people suffer persecution because they have faith that Christ rose from the dead. An isolated group may give up their lives for a cult leader, but Christian martyrs have died in many lands, for nearly 2,000 years, believing Jesus conquered death to give them eternal life. (Information in this article was compiled and summarized from the following sources: gotquestions.org, xenos.org, faithfacts.org, newadvent.org, tektonics.org, biblicalstudies.info, garyhabermas.com, and ntwrightpage.com) READ MORE! Here are links to two excellent articles about proof of the resurrection of Christ: http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/resurrection-evidence.htm http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection Here are links to some wonderful articles about the resurrection of Christ and what it means: http://www.jesus.org/death-and-resurrection/resurrection/what-does-the-resurrection-mean- for-us.html http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/did-jesus-christ-really-rise-from-the-dead/ http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Articles/What-the-Resurrection-Means-for-You.aspx http://www.gotquestions.org/resurrection-and-life.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> The information in this post was compiled from the sources noted by Cynthia A. Boyd <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Looking for answers for yourself or for a friend? Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/ Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity and salvation found in Jesus Christ. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

30 Thankful Verses

Thankful hearts, rejoice!

Here are thirty verses about giving thanks to God.  There is one verse for each day of the month, with some brief devotional thoughts to inspire you.

  DAY  ONE

  “The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord.   Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:  “He is good; His love endures forever.”   Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud.”    II Chronicles 5:13

Jesus prayed that we (God’s people) would be one.  When we come together as one to praise and thank Him, God’s presence is made known to us as he inhabits (literally, dwells within) the praise of His people.  Today, let us thank God, as the trumpeters and singers did, for His great love that endures forever.

  DAY  TWO

  “I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”    Psalm 7:17

He is holy and righteous.  Thank God today for His righteousness.

  DAY  THREE

  “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart:  I will tell of all Thy wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exult in Thee, I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.”     Psalm 9:1 & 2

How are we supposed to give thanks to the Lord?  This verse tells us that we should give thanks to God with our whole heart.  A half-hearted thankfulness results from giving thanks out of a sense of duty, just because we know we should.  However, when we spend some time thinking and meditating on all that God has done (His wonderful deeds), thankfulness is the natural overflow of our hearts in response to our great God.  Spend some time thinking of His wonderful deeds, and thank Him with your whole heart!

  DAY  FOUR

  “Blessed be the Lord!  for He has heard the voice of my supplications.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”    Psalm 28:6 & 7

Thank the Lord today for being a God that we can trust.  He has our best interests at heart.  He gives His strength, protects us, and helps us.

  DAY  FIVE

  “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.”     Psalm 30:4

His saints…   He has accepted us as we are, saved us, and is at work in our hearts to make us like Jesus.  Thank God for His mercy in all of these things!

 

  DAY  SIX

  “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.”    Psalm 50:14

He has given sacrificially to us in every way, and He always keeps His promises.  Thank God today for accepting your thankfulness as a sacrifice to Him, for the sacrifices He has made to you, and for His unchanging character as a keeper of promises.

  DAY  SEVEN

  “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”    Psalm 69:30

Thank God for the songs that allow you to praise His name and bring glory to Him through thanksgiving.  Sing one of these songs to the Lord today.

  DAY  EIGHT

  “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High; To show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night.”     Psalm 92:1 & 2

Thankfulness is a good thing!  From morning until night, give thanks for God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness today.

  DAY  NINE

  “O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is His also.  The sea is His, and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.  O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.  For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”     Psalm 95:1 – 7a

He is a great God!  Our God is the sovereign ruler and creator of all things!   And yet, he regards us with tenderness, as the sheep of His hand.  Thank God for His might and for His tenderness today.

  DAY  TEN

  “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.”    Psalm 97:12

We can be called righteous only to the extent that His righteousness indwells our hearts.  Thank God today for living within you.

  DAY  ELEVEN

  “Make a joyful moise unto the Lord, all ye lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness; come fefore His presence with singing.  Know that the Lord is God; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.  For the Lord is good:  His mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.”     Psalm 100 (all verses, 1 – 5)

The Lord is good!  His mercy lasts forever!  (He never tires of showing mercy!)  His truth will prevail, even when it seems that the world is full of lies.  Thank God today for these great truths about who He is.

  DAY  TWELVE

  “O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people.  Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him; talk of all His wondrous works.  Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.”    Psalm 105:1 – 3

We can rejoice and give thanks because when we call upon the Lord, He hears us.  When we seek Him, He responds.  Before we knew we needed Him, He met our need.  These are among the wondrous works of the Lord.  Thank Him today for being a God who knows us and who wants to be known by us.

  DAY  THIRTEEN

  “Praise ye the Lord; O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.  Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?  Who can show forth all His praise?”   Psalm 106:1 & 2

Thank the Lord that His mighty acts are so numerous that no one can name them all.  Thank Him for the ways that He is at work that we cannot see.  The Lord is good!  Show forth His praise today.

  DAY  FOURTEEN

  “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wonderful works to the sons of men!  And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!”   Psalm 107:21 & 22

No matter who we are, where we’ve been, or what we’ve done, God’s love for us is steadfast.  Thank God today for His wonderful, everlasting love.

  DAY  FIFTEEN

  “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast!  I will sing and make melody!  Awake, my soul!  Awake, O harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn!  I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples, I will sing praises to You among the nations.  For Your steadfast love is great above the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!  Let Your glory be over all the earth.”    Psalm 108:1 – 5

God’s faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  It is beyond any faithfulness that we have ever known.  God’s faithfulness is not dependant on perfection from us.  He is faithful is spite of our sinfulness.  Thank God for His faithfulness today and every day.

  DAY  SIXTEEN

  “With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng.”    Psalm 109:30

Where did the Psalmist give thanks and praise to God?  ….in the midst of the throng.   And how?  …with his mouth.  Thank God today, no matter where you are and who is there with you.  Thank Him out loud!

  DAY  SEVENTEEN

  “Praise the Lord.  I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”    Psalm 111:1

Where else did the Psalmist give praise and thanks to the Lord?  …in the company of the upright, in the congregation.  You will never know how much your presence and the testimony of your praise may mean to the heart of another believer.  Do not forsake the worship of God with your congregation.  As iron sharpens iron, the faith of others increases our own faith, and your faith increases the faith of others.  Thank God today for those who have been a spiritual influence in your life.  Give Him praise with your whole heart, and remember to assemble with the saints in your congregation every time that you can be there.

  DAY  EIGHTEEN

  “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God upon the lyre.”     Psalm 147:7

Why are we told in scriptures so many times to sing to the Lord with thanksgiving?  It’s because we matter to Him, and our praise matters to Him as well.  We were created to bring Him glory.  Thank God that you matter to Him, and that He considers you to be of such infinite value that your praise brings Him glory.  Glorify Him with your praise and thanksgiving today.

  DAY   NINETEEN

  “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.  Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.”     Isaiah 12:4-5

To whom are we to make God’s name and His deeds known?  …to the nations, and to all the world.  Our God wants everyone to know Him.  He values all people.  He loves all people.  Today, thank God for the fact that He has allowed you to be part of His great mission to make Himself known and to reach the hearts of people around the world.

  DAY  TWENTY

  “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”    II Corinthian 4:15

Thank God for His wonderful, incredible grace, reaching out to us in spite of our sinfulness and covering our sin because of His great love.

  DAY  TWENTY  ONE

  “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”    Eph. 5:20

For what should we be thankful?  …everything.  This is the most difficult thing for us to do, but He is with us and is working all things together for our good.  Give thanks for the hard places in your journey.

  DAY  TWENTY  TWO

  “Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your request be unreservedly made known in the presence of God.”    Phil. 4:6

Thank God today for the fact that we have the ability to talk to Him in prayer about anything.  We are to come to Him without reservation.  We do not need to worry.  He hears our prayers and answers them in His wisdom.

  DAY  TWENTY THREE

  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power, so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.  May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.    Col 1:11 – 12

God continues to give!  He gives strength through His glorious power, along with endurance and patience.  He gives us an inheritance as His people.  He allows us to live in the light of His glory and grace.  Thank Him today, with joy!

  DAY  TWENTY  FOUR

  “Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”    Colossians 2:7

We don’t have to stay where we are in our walk with the Lord.  He accepts us and loves us as we are, but He also continues His work in our hearts as we build our lives on Him.  Thank God for His work in your heart and life.  He will be faithful to complete it!

  DAY  TWENTY  FIVE

  “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.  And always be thankful.”    Colossians 3:15

Thank God for His peace, and ask Him to help you allow His peace to rule in your heart no matter what circumstances surround you.

  DAY  TWENTY  SIX

  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”    Colossians 3:16 & 17

Thank the Lord for Christ our Savior!   He has given His all for us, so may we live to bring Him glory!

  DAY  TWENTY  SEVEN

  “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas.   You accepted what we said as the very word of God–which, of course, it is.  And this word continues to work in you who believe.    I Thessalonians 2:13

Thank God for the power of his Word, which continues to work in us, and for Jesus the living Word, who has been the physical incarnation and demonstration of the Word

  DAY  TWENTY  EIGHT

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”    I Thessalonians 5:18

We belong to Christ Jesus!  He has saved us, and God holds us in the hollow of His hand.  How can we fail to be thankful?

  DAY  TWENTY  NINE

  “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”    I Timothy 2:1

Thank God for the people in your life…all of the people!  And, when God brings a name or face across your path (whether you know the person or not), thank Him for this person and ask God to help them.

  DAY  THIRTY

  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably, with reverence and awe.”    Hebrews 12:28

Thank God for His eternal Kingdom and His ultimate victory.  With our thankfulness, we offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence for Him and awe because of who He is and what He has done.  Thank Him for being who He is.

WORTHY  OF  OUR  THANKSGIVING

For all of time, God has been the same.  He has always been worthy of praise and thanksgiving, and He always will be.  Our grateful hearts on earth foreshadow the thankfulness of the great multitude in Heaven.  Give thanks to Him every day!  Amen.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multititude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!”  And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, ” Amen!  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever!  Amen.”
Revelation 7:9 – 12

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This thankfulness guide could certainly be used in the month of November as many people focus on thanksgiving to God.  However, it can be used at any time!  Everyday, we have 10,000 reasons to thank God and give Him praise!

Note:  The verses used in this post were copied from BibleCC, the Online Parallel Bible at http://bible.cc/
The verses were found using the following search terms:  ‘thank’, ‘thanks’, ‘thankful’, ‘thankfulness’, ‘thanksgiving’, ‘give thanks’, and ‘giving thanks’.  In each case, the Bible translation which seems to convey the meaning of the verse most clearly was used, so the verses represent various Bible translations.  There were other verses in which the thankful terms also appeared.  However, many of the verses in Psalms were very similar to verses already chosen.  Other verses were part of a narrative and would have sounded incomplete when used out of context.  The 30 verses chosen were just the best representation of verses about the subject of being thankful or giving thanks.

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These scriptures were compiled and the devotional thoughts were added by C. A. Boyd

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Do you know someone who is looking for answers?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading the contents of this page.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.

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Lifting Up His Name!

Psalm 107:8

“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.” Psalm 7:17

What does is really mean to praise the name of the Lord?  In order to praise Him in Spirit and in truth, we must have some knowledge about Who He is.  In other words, we must know the truth about God to some extent in order to be able to offer genuine praise that flows from a heart of gratittude.  In the scripture verse above, the Psalmist acknowledges the righteousness of God, His Lordship, and the fact that He is the Most High God, Lord over all.  The thankful heart of the Psalmist results from knowing that God is good.  He is righteous.  He is the Most High.  As a result of this knowledge and relationship, the Psalmist feels that he has an obligation to respond appropriately to God’s goodness and supremacy.   The Psalmist gives thanks to the Lord and sings praise to His Name based upon revealed truth and what that truth means to him.

Similarly, a child reaches a point when he has grown up enough to recognize the sacrifices his parents are making and have made on him behalf, resulting in his desire to thank his parents and to be good to them in turn.   We are part of our biological or adopted family, the children of our earthly parents.  We carry their name and their hopes and dreams, as well as their investment into our lives, for the remainder of our years.  With maturity comes the acknowledgement that everything about the way the we live impacts all of those around us.     We praise our parents and others who have had an impact on our lives not just for what they have done on our behalf but for who they are and the fact that they truly love us and have our best interests at heart.  Our lives bear the fruit and the image of their sacrifice.

In thinking about our lives in relationship to God, the fact that He desires relationship with us is amazing!   The fact that He is good and acts on our behalf is fantastic!  The fact that He would give Himself for us is miraculously magnificent!  What should be our response ot such an awesome, loving, and merciful God?  Consider the worship quote below.

Worship quote:

“Worship is discovering and declaring the magnificence of God, not just by our image-bearing and not just in sacramental acts, but the way we breathe every breath, take in every sight, hear every sound, and move as image-bearers through every day.”

( The quote above is from http://marshill.com/2011/04/17/what-worship-is )

The term “image bearers” in the worship quote above is a reminder to me of the true meaning of one of the Ten Commandments. When preparing to teach a Sunday School lesson several years ago, I learned that the definition of the word that has been translated as “take” in the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” is “to bear or to carry.” This expanded my understanding of what God was telling us to do and not to do in a way that is more profound than the very true teaching that we must have reverence for God’s name and only use His name in a way that is honorable. In addition, we are the carriers of His name. We take, or bear, or carry, the name of God with us wherever we are as Christians. So, the commandment is telling us to be very aware of our witness and testimony, making sure that we do not bring shame or reproach to the name of God through our actions, words, or attitudes. To do so would be to carry His name in vain because of the fact that all of our efforts for the Kingdom would not bear fruit as they should in the lives of others. If we have compromised our testimony to such a great extent that our efforts are in vain, this is a very serious situation; but I believe that it does not have to be a permanent one. God’s forgiveness and mercy are always there for us. Every day is a new beginning.  God’s infinite investment of love and mercy in our lives is worthy of our best image-bearing (carrying His name in such a way that our lives bring Him glory).  Today, with God’s help, may we carrry His name and the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in such a way that His glory is seen, not only in our best efforts, but even in our imperfection that has been surrendered to Him. That is worship, dear friends.

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–  This post was written by C. Boyd

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The worship scriptures used in this post can be found on our Worship Scripture Page called “Lift Your Voice” at http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/lift-your-voice/

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The worship quote used in this posts can be found in our post called “Worship:  Definitions and Quotations” at this link:  WORSHIP:  Definitions and Quotations

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Do you know someone who is looking for answers?

Thank you for spending your valuable time reading this devotional post.  We hope that it has been helpful to you.   If you or someone that you know is looking for answers about life, we hope that you will visit our page called “Do You Know Jesus?”.   The links provided on this page will help to answer life’s deepest questions.   Here is the link to “Do You Know Jesus?”:  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

Please feel free to share this URL with anyone who is looking for answers about life and eternity.

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Music is a gift…Worship the Giver!

Music is a gift…Worship the Giver!

The picture of a musician bowing at the cross with his guitar is a reminder to us.  God gives gifts and abilities, but our lives are never about these gifts.  We can enjoy them, and we can use them for God’s glory; but what counts in our lives is ultimately that which cannot be seen.  God looks upon our hearts.  He knows our desires, our priorities, our needs, our hurts, our struggles, and our focus.  He knows how much we truly love Him and desire to give Him glory.  He knows our moments of purest devotion and the moments when we can’t seem to keep our minds from wandering.  He knows how much our God-given gifts and talents can become a part of what we and others view as our identitiy.  But, once again, when God looks at us, He just sees our hearts.  He could have chosen any gift or ability to give to us.  Would our fundamental identity have been changed if he had given us a different set of abilities?  What if we lose our abilities at some point in life?  Does God see us as less valuable or less able to bring Him glory?

God is the giver.  In His wisdom, He chooses to give gifts, talents, and abilities to each person He has formed within the womb.  He chooses the person…He chooses the gifts….He chooses our time and place.  The very fact that God chooses all of these things makes them important.  He has invested Himself in each of us as He was creating and forming who we would be.  And yet, the Bible makes it clear that the most important thing that God sees when He looks upon us is our hearts.

It is good to use the gifts and talents God gives.  He wants us to use them and even expects it.  He wants us to develop our skills and abilities and to become the best we can be.  He wants us to experience joy and delight in using our gifts and in the journey toward using them with skill and excellence.  However, in all of our striving, let us never forget that He sees our hearts.  In Him, there is the freedom to let go of the results of our efforts.  Ribbons and trophies, certificates and compliments, honors and publicity…. these are all the fleeting types of recognition that we give to one another to recognize a job well done.  None of them matters as much as knowing that we have done our absolute best to honor God.  We were not in control of which gifts we were given, but we can give them back to Him by surrendering them to His care.  Just as Jesus surrendered His earthly life, we can allow God to make our lives (including the moments that we have honored God in using the gifts that we have been given) have eternal significance by giving them back to him in daily surrender.   If we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and do our best with the gifts we have been given, we are fulfilling Gods’ purpose in a way that far exceeds any earthly accolades.

In addition to the gifts, talents, and abilities we receive from the Lord, there is a very important element that should be present in our lives in order to allow us to use what God has given us.  This crucial element is passion!  There are people who could be phenomenal athletes, singers, poets, writers, artists, musicians, business owners, teachers, politicians, or whatever.  However, if an individual does not possess a passion for a field of endeavor, they will never do much more than dabble in it.  For example, there are people who are sitting in the pews of every church who could really be an asset as a teacher, serving on a committee, or serving in worship ministry.  However, they either are going through a season of life that prevents their service (such as caring for a loved one who is ill), or they have not yet deepened their relationship with the Lord enough to see the need for serving Him through their church, or they are specifically called to service in a para-church organization, such as a ministry to battered women, or they simply do not have the passion for a particular area of ministry that would be called for in order to maintain a commitment to serve. 

It is very important that Christians who serve and seek to bring glory to God in any kind of ministry or in any vocation first have a sense of calling to that vocation or ministry area.  Secondly, individuals who seek to glorify God through their lives and their service must have a knowledge that God has equipped them in some way through the giving of gifts and talents, which they have then developed through study, practice, the investment of their time, and taking advantage of growth opportunities such as classes, conferences and mentorship.  Finally, the third requirement for lifestyle service and ministry is to have a deep sense of passion and commitment to excellence as well as faithfulness in that area of service or career.  For many people, the passion is not the problem.  Passion is definitely present in their lives for the areas in which they feel they have been gifted for a vocational or ministry calling.  Passion is a wonderful and necessary element in using our gifts, talents, and abilities.  However, we must remember that the key to balance and to keeping a proper perspective is the knowledge that the most important thing is always what is in our hearts.  Gifts, talents, abilities, a sense of calling, and a passion for excellence in serving are all blessings from God; but they are not what God values most.   With whatever we have been given, we must love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and seek to honor and bring glory to Him. 

Be thankful for the gifts, and worship the Giver!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”   James 1:17

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.”   John 3:16

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Post written by C. Boyd

Note:  If this post seems familiar,  you may have seen it posted as a featured article on The Worship Community .com (filed in their “Worship Leadership” category).  It can be found there at this link:
http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/music-is-a-gift-worship-the-giver/

The article can also be found on the Worship the Rock website (worship leader forum and social network) on Travis L. Boyd’s blog, along with several other re-blogged posts from our Worshp Sounds Music blog.
http://www.worshiptherock.com/profiles/blogs/music-is-a-gift-worship-the-giver

The post was also recommended in “Weekend Links” by Worship Links in October of 2014.
http://www.worshiplinks.us/2014/10/weekend-links-80/

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ADDITIONAL POSTS ABOUT WORSHIP:

Worship:  Definitions and Quotations

Worship…it’s all about Giving!

Worship in the New Testament

Understanding Worship

Worship is Joy!

Worship Planning and Preparation

Worship ABC’s

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Do you know Jesus?

The decision to ask Jesus to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior is the best decision you could ever make!  The one true God is ready to give you forgiveness and eternal life as soon as you understand your need for Him and believe on the name of His only Son, Jesus, for your salvation.  Here’s a blog page link to help you find the answers to your questions about Jesus.  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

The Name Above all Names

Who is Jesus?

There are many roles defined in scripture for Jesus as our Lord and Savior.   He has also been given many names that are descriptive of his supremacy over all things in every way.  The name of Jesus has saving power and authority over all of Creation.  His name is truly the name above all names! 

Jesus Christ is…..

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
(from John 1:29)

Advocate  (1 John 2:1)
Almighty  (Revelation 1:8; Matthew 28:18)
Alpha and Omega  (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13)
Amen  (Revelation 3:14)
Apostle  of our Profession  (Hebrews 3:1)
Atoning Sacrifice for our  Sins  (1 John 2:2)
Author of Life  (Acts 3:15)
Author and Perfecter of our Faith  (Hebrews 12:2)
Author of Salvation  (Hebrews 2:10)
Beginning and End  (Revelation  22:13)
Blessed and only Ruler  (1 Timothy 6:15)
Bread of God  (John 6:33)
Bread of Life  (John  6:35 and 6:48)
Bridegroom  (Matthew 9:15)
Capstone  (Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7)
Chief Cornerstone  (Ephesians  2:20)
Chief Shepherd  (1 Peter 5:4)
Christ  (1 John 2:22)
Creator  (John 1:3)
Deliverer  (Romans 11:26)
Eternal Life  (1 John 1:2 and 5:20)
Faithful and True  (Revelation 19:11)
Faithful Witness  (Revelation 1:5 and 3:14)
First and  Last  (Revelation 1:17, 2:8, and 22:13)
Firstborn from the Dead  (Revelation 1:5)
Firstborn over all creation  (Colossians 1:15)
Gate  (John 10:9)
God  (John 1:1 and 20:28; Hebrews 1:8; Romans 9:5)
Good (or Great)  Shepherd  (John 10:11 &14; Hebrews 13:20)
Great High Priest  (Hebrews 4:14)
Head of the Church  (Ephesians 1:22, 4:15, and 5:23)
Heir of all things  (Hebrews 1:2)
High Priest  (Hebrews 2:17)
Holy and True  (Revelation 3:7)   
Holy One  (Acts 3:14)
Hope  (1 Timothy 1:1)
Hope of Glory  (Colossians 1:27)
Horn of  Salvation  (Luke 1:69)
I Am  (John 8:58)
Image of God  (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Immanuel  (Matthew 1:23)
Judge of the living and the dead  (Acts 10:42)
King Eternal  (1 Timothy 1:17)
King of Israel  (John  1:49)
King of the Jews  (Matthew 27:11)
King of kings  (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16)
King of the Ages  (Revelation 15:3)
Lamb  (Revelation 13:8)
Lamb of  God  (John 1:29)
Lamb Without Blemish  (1 Peter 1:19)
Last Adam  (1 Corinthians 15:45)
Life  (John 14:6; Colossians 3:4)
Light of the World  (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah  (Revelation 5:5)
Living One  (Revelation 1:18)
Living Stone  (1 Peter 2:4)
Lord  (2 Peter 2:20)
Lord of All  (Acts 10:36)
Lord of Glory  (1 Corinthians 2:8)
Lord of lords  (Revelation 19:16)
Man from Heaven  (1 Corinthians 15:48)
Mediator of the New Covenant  (Hebrews 9:15)
Mighty God  (Isaiah 9:6)
Morning Star  (Revelation 22:16)
Offspring of David  (Revelation 22:16)
Only Begotten Son of God  (John 1:18; 1 John 4:9)

Our Great God and Savior  (Titus 2:13)
Our Holiness  (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Our Husband  (2 Corinthians 11:2)
Our Protection  (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
Our Redemption  (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Our Righteousness  (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Our Sacrificed Passover Lamb  (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Power of God  (1 Corinthians 1:24)
Precious Cornerstone  (1 Peter 2:6)
Prophet  (Acts 3:22)
Rabbi  (Matthew 26:25)
Resurrection and Life  (John 11:25)
Righteous Branch  (Jeremiah 23:5)
Righteous One  (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1)
Rock  (1 Corinthians 10:4)
Root of David  (Revelation 5:5 and 22:16)
Ruler of God’s Creation  (Revelation 3:14)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth  (Revelation 1:5)
Savior  (Ephesians 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Peter 2:20)

“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17

Savior of the world  (John 3:16 & 17Son of David  (Luke 18:39)
Son of God  (John 1:49; Hebrews 4:14)
Son of Man  (Matthew 8:20)
Son of the Most High God  (Luke 1:32)
Source of Eternal Salvation for believers  (Hebrews  5:9)
The One Mediator  (1 Timothy 2:5)
The Stone the builders rejected  (Acts 4:11)
True Bread  (John 6:32)
True Light  (John 1:9)
True Vine  (John 15:1)
Truth  (John 1:14 and 14:6)
Way  (John 14:6)
Wisdom of God  (1 Corinthians 1:24)
Word  (John 1:1)
Word of God  (Revelation19:13)

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Read more at Name Above All Names
This site is the source from which the above list of the names of Jesus (with scripture references) was copied.  The two larger illustrations that appear on this post also came from this web site.

The copied text mentioned above was introduced and edited for this post by C. Boyd

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Here is a link to a site with even more names taken from scripture…over 500!  http://www.wonderful1.com/page6.html

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DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

The decision to ask Jesus to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior is the best decision you could ever make!  The one true God is ready to give you forgiveness and eternal life as soon as you understand your need for Him and believe on the name of His only Son, Jesus, for your salvation.  Here’s a blog page link to help you find the answers to your questions about Jesus.  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

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WORSHIP…it’s all about Giving!

The one true God,
the Creator of all that is,
has given to us everything that we have ever known.

Our lives,
our very breath,
our families,
our gifts and talents,
our earthly home,
sunshine and rain,
all of creation,
the capacity to love and be loved,
our minds and bodies,
our eternal souls,
His great love and mercy,
salvation,
and even His only Son

… all these are given to us from the hand of God the Father, the maker of Heaven and Earth.   What do we have that we can give to him?   Can any gift from the created ones be of value to the Creator of all that is?   After all, what do you give to the One who has absolutely everything?

God has shown us His eternal and pure love through the giving of all that He is. 
He has given us His message, the Word, both in the form of the scriptures and in the form of the Living Word, Jesus;  He has given His creativity, order, power, brilliance and majesty in Creation; He has given His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and patience in allowing us to choose whether to love and serve Him.  He has given us new life and purpose and an eternal home in Heaven through the gift of salvation.   He has given us His only Son, the most precious gift ever given, when we, as the recipients of this gift, were lost in sin and ugliness and the filth of selfishness.

As we think about the giving and loving nature of God, it follows that if God is our model for giving, there are certain facts that are always evident about the kinds of gifts that truly make a difference.

First of all, His giving is sacrificial to an extent that we are unable to fully comprehend.

Secondly, His giving always has our best interests at heart.

 Thirdly, God is ever present in His giving.

*  He gave us the earth as our temporary home, but he sustains it so that this life can continue according to His plan

*  He gave us himself in the person of His Son, God with us, Emmanuel.

*  He gives us salvation and comes to live within us.

With every gift, God also gives Himself.  If we are to give a gift that has meaning and value to Him, we must also be very present in the giving, not just for a moment in time but for a lifetime.  Though none of us will be able to perfectly fulfill the goal of giving our all to the Lord, we must press on and continue, with God’s help, to focus upon Him and diligently seek Him, striving to grow in our relationship with Him and to surrender all that we are to Him day by day and moment by moment.

What does the Bible have to say about our giving and how we must be present in the gift, in other words, giving ourselves? 

From Romans 12:1 & 2, the meaning is abundantly clear:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Because of God’s mercy, we know that He is good.  Our response to His goodness (as it has been revealed through His choice to show mercy) should then be (according to this scripture) our true and proper
(in some translations, “reasonable”) worship:
the giving of ourselves.

This is to be a sacrificial gift, and yet we are allowed to continue living this earthly life.  We become living sacrifices, giving up our own will for His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  We allow Him to transform us through His Spirit.  As our mind is renewed, we gain some level of understanding of His purpose and His will for our lives.  As we give ourselves to Him, all that we are is changed and made new.  (II Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”)  This new, spirit life within us causes us to want to live in a manner that brings honor and glory to the Lord, and this desire changes the focus of our lives.  We are no longer focused exclusively upon self and the world as it relates to our selves.  Instead, we begin to become aware that all that we think, say, and do has eternal importance.  Though we will never achieve perfection in this earthly life, we still seek to give to the Lord an intentional living sacrifice with every choice that we make.  We have the power of God through his Holy Spirit within us to help us follow through with our commitment to live for God’s glory, so we do not have to strive in our own strength.  We are to live as to the Lord, and not unto men.  (See Colossians 3:23 & 24)

When the very living of our lives has become an act of worship, recognizing God’s supremacy and worth in every decision and thought, worship is no longer an action but rather a lifestyle.  It’s a 24 / 7 / 365 … every moment of every day … goal of intentionally expressing God’s glory in all that we do, think, and say.**   In living out this lifestyle and this heart commitment to the One who has given us His all, we give the only gift that we can give to our Creator and Savior:  the gift of a transformed life that brings Him glory and joy!

CORPORATE  WORSHIP  AND  GIVING…

What about when we come together to worship the Lord?   How will we give to Him a time of focused worship that is meaningful and reverent, joyful and celebratory, and based upon what we read in the Bible about the types of giving that should characterize a gathering of God’s people for the purpose of worshipping Him together?  What are some of the Biblical references that could be applied to our efforts to give of ourselves to the Lord through worship?

1.  We are to give God THANKSGIVING and PRAISE!

* Psalm 100:4   “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.”

* Psalm 9:1 & 2   “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart: I will tell of all Thy wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exult in Thee, I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.”

2.  We are to give God GLORY!

(or, glorify Him)

* Psalm 86:12   “With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

3.  We are to give God AWE and REVERENCE, acknowledging Him as the Lord and Creator of all.

(In some verses and some translations, “the fear of the Lord”)

* Psalm 111:10   “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

* Psalm 86:9 – 12   “All the nations You have made shall come and bow down before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great, and You do wondrous things; You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; and I will glorify Your name forever.”

4.  We are to give God BLESSING.  (Bless the Lord, bless the name of the Lord)

* Psalm 103:22   “Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

* Psalm 28:6 & 7   “Blessed be the Lord!  for He has heard the voice of my supplications.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.”

5.  We are to give Him EXALTATION!*  (or exalt Him, exalt His name)

From the www.thefreedictionary.com, here are the applicable definitions:

1. to raise or elevate in rank, position, dignity, etc.

2. to praise highly; glorify; extol

* Psalm 34:3   “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”

*NOTE:  The word ‘exaltation’ sometimes gets confused with ‘exultation’, for which the definition is “to rejoice greatly, be jubilant or triumphant (or, as in triumph.  We rejoice greatly in His triumph.)  — same source

6.  We are to give Him SERVICE!  (giving of our hearts, our time, our gifts, and our lives in serving Him)

* Joshua 24:15   “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Lift up His name!

7.  We are to give Him WORSHIP!

True worship rises up from the people of God, who are choosing to intentionally express His infinite worth! **

**(see note at end of post)

You have probably noticed by now that there is some overlap in the various types of giving to the Lord.  For example, in singing praise to God, we can bless His name.  In the worship category of giving, there is overlap with all other types of giving.  All of these ways of giving to the Lord are worship (lifestyle worship) when we are giving with the purpose of bringing glory to God and expressing His infinite worth through giving our best to God in every area of our lives.

* Psalm 29:2   “Honor the LORD for the glory of His name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.”

* Phillippians 3:3   “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

John 4:24   “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

8.  We are to SING UNTO HIM!

* Psalm 5:11   “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.”

* Psalm 30:4   “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.”

* Psalm 59:16 & 17   “I will sing of Thy power; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for God is my defense , and the God of my mercy.”   Psalm 59:16 & 17“I will sing of Thy power; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for God is my defense , and the God of my mercy.”

9.  We are to give Him TITHES and OFFERINGS!

* Malachi 3:10   “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

* Exodus 35:29   “The children of Israel brought a voluntary offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart prompted them to bring for all manner of work, which Jehovah, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.”

10.  We are to give Him HONOR!

* Revelation 4:11   “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

* Psalm 96:6 – 9   “Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”

* Proverbs 3:9   “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income.”

Just as we would honor a guest in our home by seeking to serve our best meal and prepare diligently so that all will be able to enjoy the best time of fellowship, we choose to give unto the Lord the best of all that we are and all that we have for His honor.   We honor the Lord by giving, just as He has chosen to honor us by seeking fellowship with us and reaching out to us through the gift of His very best.

Psalm 8:3 – 5  

“When I consider Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which You have set in place,

what is man that You are mindful of him,

the son of man that You care for him?

You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings^c

and crowned him with glory and honor.”

11.  We are to give Him LOVE!

The words of Jesus Himself in Mark 12:30   “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

* Psalm 31:23   “Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

* Joshua 22:5   “But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

* Psalm 116:1   “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.”

Give Him your heart

12.  We are to give Him OUR WHOLE HEART AND LIFE!

* I Chronicles 28:9   “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

* Psalm 86:9 – 12    “All the nations You have made shall come and bow down before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great, and You do wondrous things; You alone are God.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; and I will glorify Your name forever.”

* Colossians 1:10   “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

* Psalm 56:13   “For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.”

* Mark 8:35   “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”

In demonstration of His infinite love for us, God continues to give.
In response to our efforts to give, He gives again in return.  It is impossible to give more of ourselves that He gives of Himself.  For God and for Jesus, demonstrating perfect love for us has been, is now, and will always be about giving.  For us, in giving to God honor, blessing, exaltation, thanksgiving, praise, glory, awe and reverence, love, honor, service, tithes and offerings, songs, and all that we are in life and in our hearts is our gift of worship and devotion to Him.  Again, he responds with more giving.  He gives His presence in response to true worship, and all Heaven breaks loose!  The Bible is full of promises for those who will give to the Lord their all.
Giving is about worship, and worship is all about giving.

“Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.  Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.”‘   Psalm 96:6 – 9

GOD HAS GIVEN HIS ALL…may we follow His example.

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**Here is a link to John Piper’s devotion where this definition of worship, paraphrased here, can be found:  http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/bodies-breakfast-and-the-marriage-bed

The wording of the original definition (directly quoted) in the first paragraph of this devotion is as follows:

“Worship” is the term we use to cover all the acts of the heart and mind and body that intentionally express the infinite worth of God. This is what we were created for, as God says in Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory…” That means that we were all created for the purpose of expressing the infinite worth of God’s glory. We were created to worship.”

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This post was written by C. Boyd.

For other posts on worship, view our category called “Worship with Wonder” at https://worshipsounds.wordpress.com/category/worship-with-wonder/

We also have a page entitled “Lifestyle Worship”  at this link:  http://wwwworshipsounds.wordpress.com/lifestyle-worship

The titles of additional pages related to worship ministry (on topics such as creative worship ideas, worship planning and preparation, and avoiding burnout in ministry) can be found in the header on our home page at the bottom of the scenic photo.

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Do you know Jesus?

The decision to ask Jesus to come into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior is the best decision you could ever make!  The one true God is ready to give you forgiveness and eternal life as soon as you understand your need for Him and believe on the name of His only Son, Jesus, for your salvation.  Here’s a blog page link to help you find the answers to your questions about Jesus.  http://www.worshipsounds.wordpress.com/do-you-know-jesus/

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