Tag Archive for: God Searches the Heart

Words of Wisdom: Praise and Worship In the Presence of God

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Words of Wisdom and Scripture Reference:

Men should always live for the opportunity to praise and worship God.  To “shout” as most Christians think of it is to offer praise and worship to God.  But, is it really?  It can be…if sincere.  To run, scream, and yell does not mean that true praise and worship are being offered.  Lucifer, now called the devil, was once a Cherubim Angel and was responsible for leading other angels in praising and worshipping God.  As an act of rebellion against God, whom he hates, he incites many Christians today to disturb church services with “false” audible praise that many accept as true praises to God.  Fortunately, those with a genuine spiritual connection with God are not deceived and can discern the devil’s works.  God has taught me the proper manner in which to offer Him praise and worship.  I share these teachings with you below.

What is Praise?

Praise, as God has taught me, is to be thankful.  When we praise God, we express our gratitude for His response to our prayers and His protection of us in all matters.  His loving arms are forever outstretched to fight our enemies for our survival.  He does the things that we cannot do for ourselves, and for that, we should be grateful and thankful.  We praise with a loud voice; we exclaim His joy everlasting, we dance as David danced, and we might even hold up holy hands.  All of these things are acts of visible praise that others might see.  God searches the heart as we praise Him to see if we are truly praising Him or creating a “show” for others to see.  God cannot be fooled. Our praise must be genuine.  The scriptures below are only a few that support the act of giving proper praise to God:

  • 35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing. (Gen 29:35)
  • 2 Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. (Judges 5:2-3)
  • 6 And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. (2 Chron 7:5-6)

What is Worship?

To worship God is to absolutely adore Him!  When we worship Him, we must “humble” ourselves in His presence.  Who are we to stand upright before the Lord God?  In true worship, we automatically fall on our knees, hide our faces, bow our heads, etc.  God is too great for us to stand upright in His presence if we truly worship Him!  The “surrendered” human spirit of man worships God, and an abandoned spirit already knows how to worship the LORD God Almighty! The scriptures below support what God has taught me about worship.  True worship cannot be faked. However, Satan will mock true worshipers.  His goal is to pull such a worshiper into false praise and loud outbursts, to pull them out of truly humbling themselves before the LORD.  This does not mean worship is always silent, but it does mean it is NOT disruptive.  God only reads the heart and knows the true intent of the heart.  Make sure you are not guilty of allowing the enemy to move you into false worship.

During “true” worship given to God, the surrendered human spirit ignores the natural surroundings as the worshiper fixates on the Spirit and Presence of God Almighty!  Search the scriptures and see what is said about “worship.” A few significant scriptures are listed below:

5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. (Ex 34:5-8)

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. 27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren. (Gen 24:26-27)

48 I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son. (Gen 24:48)

31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. (Ex 4:31)

Words of Wisdom: Children of God

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red rose on a bible page

Words of Wisdom and Scripture Reference:

Today, God spoke an awesome truth that, although I knew, I realized I did not know it as God wanted me to know and understand it.  I now share this teaching with you.  You might receive the words with your mind and miss the blessing, so seek the face of God for the true spiritual implications of the referenced scriptures and explanation provided.

A portion of my study today was in Deuteronomy 26.  This led me to other chapters about the intent of God and the role He expects to play in our lives.  It has never been the intent of God for Him to simply be the God of our fathers, but rather that He should be Our God! He made the first correction of this problem with the Israelites as presented in the study of the book of Deuteronomy.  Even before we accept Him as our God, He showers us with His Love and protection.  Then…He expects us to make a choice as He did with Israel.  We have to make a choice to accept or reject Him as our God.  When we choose God as OUR God, we enter into a covenant relationship with Him as Father and Keeper of our souls.  This covenant relationship hinges on our willingness to repent and obey His laws.

God had to move Israel from a dependent relationship with Him to a personal relationship of choice.  Those who agreed to repent and obey became his people, and He became their God! This new relationship allowed them to enter into a covenant with God whereby they became beneficiaries of the blessings or curses explained.

As we read the holy scriptures today, we face the same choices.  We must look at the bible as a detailed “history” of the workings of God as He dealt with His people.  We see many gods spoken of in the bible, and we have to decide what we believe and do not believe. If we conclude that Jehovah God is GOD, we must “choose” Him as our God.  When we choose Him, He requires of us the same thing as He did with Israel.  We must accept His “Truths” as our way of life.  We must agree to follow and obey His Truths.  We must repent if we have failed to follow Him after knowing what we should do!  When we repent, He searches the heart to see if our words are valid.  It is the heart that is judged and not the mouth.  When we are true to God, He grants us the right to be called the “children of God.” As you expect your earthly children to follow and obey you, so it is with our LORD.

All relationships with God hinge upon the truthfulness of our repentant hearts.  The promises of the bible do not belong to us until we become “People of God” and He becomes our GOD!  In addition to the scriptures below, please read, study, and pray through Deuteronomy 26-31.  Amen.

Scripture References:

  • 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10)
  • 1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1 John 3:1-10)

Thoughts: LORD, I Give You My Whole Heart For The Rest Of My Life

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Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

The Bible teaches us many things, but there is one penetrating theme that is echoed throughout…Love the LORD God with ALL your heart! This principle is spoken of by most believers who declare that they practice this love continuously. The problem is that most of the Christian world is clueless to what it means to truly love God or to surrender the whole heart. We have become accustomed to saying things which conform to the scripture without experiencing what is required. I personally judge no one and simply state that which God Himself has revealed.

To truly grasp the understanding of what it means to surrender the whole heart to the LORD, we must understand the spiritual world. We must know that things are not as they seem or evidenced by what we see with our natural eyes. What we see is not always what is! There is an enemy of God whose purpose is to confuse us and draw us away from the truth of who God is. This enemy is the Devil, Satan, and/or all forces of evil.  Again, without a clear experience of the holy spiritual realm, my comments will not be materialized in your hearts.

Know for a certainty that God created mankind to forever be in His presence; to rely on Him always. The evil forces of this world have taught man to not trust God by teaching self-reliance. Remember, Satan is all about Self! When you find yourself acting upon what is best for you alone, step back and question your motives. Always seek the face of the LORD God. Even if you do not have a personal relationship with the LORD and don’t know how to proceed, if you honestly want to know who He is, just ask. God WILL respond to all honest requests to know Him. I promise you…I guarantee you…, if you honestly and truly seek the LORD to develop a personal relationship with Him, it will be granted! Your request will be judged by God alone based on the contents and desires of your heart. What you proclaim with your mouth will not be received if the words spoken are not equivalent to what’s in the heart. God alone will discern the intent of the heart. Give the LORD your heart today and live the life you were created to live!

Be Blessed Always…