Do You Know What Worship Is Really All About?
concerning our personal holiness.
reward.
is not grace.
performance.
 Ps 34:1-3. WORSHIP IS THE ATMOSPHERE OF FAITH.
     Worship is what happens when we discover the reality of God in or lives. It happens when faith comes alive. Faith itself is God's source of peace. Faith changes the heart and lifts the spirit. It is something that is nurtured in worship. Worship becomes the atmosphere where this faith grows in intimate relationship. Without this worship lifestyle it becomes impossible to function in faith.
         Worship is like bringing a need coupled with faith before god and hearing his plan, wisdom, and grace.
         Worship is the very bed of the miraculous. It's the dynamic of believing in god and having that faith grow.
         You may say, "What if I die, if he dies?" I’d rather accompany the experience of this body dying with faith! I'd rather go out believing in god's loving grace. Disappointment is just faith that is misplaced in our understanding. Trusting Him is different than attempting to believe that we can manipulate the Sovereign of the universe! Then we get disappointed that we couldn't get god to do our bidding. FAITH IS HEARING GOD, NOT SO MUCH GOD HEARING US. Then God hears faith!
       The miraculous is an awesome thing to believe for. It's a great challenge. You may say, God will do it when he wants to. I say, don't say there are yet four months before the harvest. Lift up your eyes, the fields are ripe now. The power of God to touch your life is available by faith. But you must learn to go after it. You WORSHIP HIM UNTIL HIS WILL BECOMES YOUR WILL. JOHN 15 SAYS IF YOU ABIDE IN ME and my words abide in you you can ask what you will and it shall be done for you. Your will becomes God's will when you abide in Him. Too often people have made the mistake of trying to believe and receive by faith without a life of worship, without God being their god whom they seek diligently. I don't know how inclined God is to heal us so that we can go and serve other gods.
  There is a place where the Sovereign God will take care of you no matter what you are going through. There is a place where even the trials are turned into triumphs. There is a place where He may allow a great trial, what this world, the devil, or circumstances that take on a life of their own, but He will work in it for His glory. Trials are even those things that are used for His glory. God’s intention for them is not defeat, but victory. His intention is always to turn our sorrows into joy.

 I have never lost anything that mattered! Through the physical loses, the material loses of this world, God found an empty place that He filled up with himself!!
  When Paul and Silas were in prison, they were singing praise when they were delivered. God turned the negative into a testimony of His power – something always done in the face of the impossible. The impossible is the only place where there is no doubt that God is!! Where man’s extremity exists, God’s possibility begins. Don’t be afraid of the impossible places of this world. They all exist as opportunities if we will learn to believe!! Decide! Is God real? Is His word real!!
4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
 . When You see me You are not ashamed. Your beholding me does not cause sorrow and dejected condemnation. When I look to you I am blessed and not bereaved. Those who look upon You are cleansed by your gaze, by their beholding your glory.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
 Troubles come to the righteous!! Understand that “If need be..” means deliverance is coming for you!!
7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
9 O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
 You have fears. Why? WE BELIEVE IN WHATEVER WE FEAR!! FEAR HIM!!!
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
 Trials are woven into the fabric of this world to draw us to believe and receive, not to be defeated. Asking why of God should never be to judge Him as if He is wrong in what He is allowing. He will not be accountable to any man, but we to Him. The trial of the storm was so that the disciples learn how to walk through it and defeat it. The death of Lazarus was for the glory of God, as was the blind man. God looks at sickness and despair as a canvas upon which His love may be painted!! Let Him be the painter!!
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
 THE PROMISE WAS NEVER TO BE FREE FROM ALL BATTLES, BUT TO BE FREE FROM DEFEAT!
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
 Trials are not vehicles to defeat us, but to link us to the prayer of faith. Trials and failures are there to establish our righteousness as we learn to believe. They never mean we can’t believe!!
             We can come to a place where victorious life exists with nothing! I don't believe in money anymore, nice things, reputation, cars.
 When you are in a trial, and you believe, and you get another hit – sometimes within minutes of walking out of the sanctuary of victorious worship, get up again. Bow down again. WORSHIP AGAIN, determined that the devil will not get a victory through your life, that he will not use you to accuse God of being unfaithful by your despair!
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
They trust the Lord. However this trust enables them to do the right thing, and that is to trust Him enough to confess one's sins to Him.
      This Psalm includes a picture of the misery of unconfessed sin. Within there is a roaring. No wonder people are ornery when they have sin within. God's heavy hand weighs upon them. They are like a vessel with no opening, and that sin festers, infects, and releases pain within the soul. But confession by faith is like God opening up the tight cork over our heads. Light pours in. The poison floats up, up and is dissipated by the healing ointment of the Holy Spirit.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is emphasized. Here we see too that the righteous are those who are filled with trust in God. It is impossible to be righteous without trust. Our lives will fall apart in sin and defeat without this faith. There will be the fear of man instead of the fear of God. There will be carnal seeking of life's necessities. YOU CAN NOT BE A RIGHTEOUS MAN IF YOU CONTINUE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF WHAT SATAN AND MAN CAN DO TO YOU, AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO FEAR YOUR INABILITIES. You cannot be righteous in your actions and thoughts because fear will rob you of your ability for peace and power. Your carnal man will force you.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate
 TRUSTING IN GOD WHEN THERE'S NO REASON YOU HAVE TO DESERVE HIS HELP IS WHAT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ALL ABOUT. The overwhelming condition of the soul - life force in mind, will and emotion, as well as the very heart substance of life itself - in a situation of affliction, trouble, and fears is one of apparent condemnation. "Where did I fail? What did I do to deserve this? What is wrong with who I am? I'm sure there's something terribly evil about me."
     "Desolate" means condemnation and often is associated with the punishment that accompanies wrong doing. Desolation is a fitting description for someone who is struggling in unbelief with condemnation - punishing one's self for wrong doing.
      The feeling of failure in affliction comes largely from what we are thinking and how we assess or judge our state of being. Redemption, or the paying a ransom for our being held hostage by an enemy force, is accomplished for us. Hostages cannot free themselves, for that is the whole point of a demanded ransom.
       Satan gets the satisfaction of our misery in condemnation, and then the pleasure of seeing that condemnation destroy our lives through unbelieving acts of desperation and pride. But God has paid the ransom - the punishment for sin. The punishment that we mete out on ourselves, and that which Satan, others, and eventually God himself mete out to us has already been accomplished, paid and finished. Your punishment has been taken away by an act of God!
     Here is the very essence of the Gospel mined out of David's trust of God in his wilderness flight. The end result of afflictions, troubles, and fears is the faith of eternal life itself. "None of those who trust in God will become condemned in guilty indictment."
  Worship inspires, and WORSHIP SAYS, “THIS IS THE GOD THAT WILL REIGN IN MY LIFE OVER ALL THINGS. FEAR WON’T REIGN. Despair won’t rule. People’s words won’t manipulate. I will not be mastered by men, by money, or by pain. They won’t rule me. God is my ruler. I will not worship these carnal things by the songs of fear, by the words of criticism, sorrow, or anger. I will be ruled by the dominion of heaven in worship instead of the strongholds of this world by the worry of men. Worry, anger, and hurt are the expressions of worshipping the things that want to rule your life.
 Worship is the place where true revelation is released and faith is born. It is the atmosphere that makes faith possible. It is where we find the power to set aside the gods of this world that keep us from faith. Faith is easy in worship. It’s FAITH IN THIS WORLDS GODS, THE IDOLS THAT WE DON’T WANT TO LET GO OF THAT MAKE FAITH HARD. Are you kidding? Is there any way that beholding this great God would make it hard to believe in Him?!!!
  There is a place where we don’t need God AND certain things in this world. There is a place where He alone is sufficient. We need to find those places where we secretly are feeling, “I need God AND this ______ to be happy. Sometimes those things are what are destroying our life joy.
  This song is what the sound of victorious worship sounds like in the face of death and defeat.

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 Less of me. More of you.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
 Worship is bowing before and giving allegiance. It defines who or what we are really living our life for. We worship what we believe in and what we pursue the most to find our sense of well-being and happiness. What we worship determines our level of anger, frustration, and fear. We become like what we worship, for it defines who we are. If establishes what we defend or are defensive about. Our value and values are established by what our heart truly worships. Truly finding our highest objects of worship will define our identity, priority, and purpose.
Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  Worship disconnects our "worry" button and allows us to hear God. As it is with prayer, worship acknowledges God as superior to our value and ability in life. It's so easy for those with some sense of ability, knowledge and intelligence to engage themselves in solving life's problems without God. Oh, we may use our knowledge of the Bible. We may seek and search the scriptures, read books, listen to sermons, and attempt to overcome by our own capacity, and think that we are availing ourselves of God's promises. But as long as we are struggling, analyzing, rationalizing, and exerting our own mind and will, we are not releasing the full potential of God in us.

​2 Chronicles 20:12-17 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”
 Worship engages the truth that we have within us. Knowing the truth is not enough. Believing it and confessing it is not enough. As long as we hold revelation in a 'carnal cup' of human ability alone, the power of the Spirit can usually be stopped up. To set the mind on the Spirit, live and worship in the Spirit, we must let go of our carnal battle of striving, even with biblical tools of revelation knowledge.
 Worship acknowledges God's supremacy and power and releases it. Mere attainment of Bible knowledge acknowledges only our ability to understand, believe, and live. Understanding is merely a human capacity. He will give us a peace that passes understanding. But to achieve it we must go beyond our demand to understand, beyond our idea that the attainment of understanding is the way to deliverance. Worship and prayer are our admission and surrender to the reality that we are unable, and always will be unable, to attain the will of God by our own strength. As long as we do not worship and do not pray, we are still believing that we can do it ourselves.
 
​Joshua 5:14-15 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Take that idol, put it on the floor, and bow to it.
Joshua 6:18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
 "Stand still."
 Worship believes God to the point that we let go of the battle. It comes from a state of being where we believe that God really does want to speak into our lives with His power. It knows that we don't have to worry about whether or not God will act if we simply stop trying. We cannot 'will' God to work. Nor should we narrow His vast diversity of options and intentions by our limited 'faith expectations.' "If God is really here, and if I really believe Him, then He should give me a word of knowledge about this situation, or He should deliver this miracle of healing." Worship frees us from this human expectation and frees Him to be the God of variety and love that He is. We need not worry by limiting Him with our own expectations of how He will speak or work.

​Daniel 3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Daniel 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
 American government has failed this week. June 26, 2015, sin came out of the closet, not by the rule of law, but by the rule of will, according to Justice Scalia. It is a hallmark moment that only a constitutional amendment can now change. Congress can't change it, nor can the president, because it would be illegal now. The gloves are officially off. My wife said, "This nation is dead." And who are we to rail too harshly against the government, the media, or the gays themselves? How can this change?
 The stand that these 3 Hebrew men took is an example of how radically the government of a powerful nation can change. They had long ago determined that they would worship the Lord God above all else, above all men, above all governments, above all of the courtroom of public opinion, above all the dead religion which brought them to this place. They would yield their very bodies that they might not serve any other god. It is this determination and conviction to sacrifice all that they had, all that they were materially and physically, in order to worship God. And it was this worship that changed the heart of the King. And he made a decree. He changed the law!!!
 Worship will release the Spirit of God to manifest Himself as we take our minds off of ourselves and off of our own human thoughts. The mind set on the Spirit in worship is the experience of Life. The music we sing can be used by God to take us away from our own thoughts and inspire us with heaven. Sometimes our prayers will put us into a depression as we focus on our problems. But worship is our forgetting about ourselves, drawing away from this world, and drawing near to God.
 Who I am is not intended to be what I know but who I am in relationship with by the Holy Spirit. It is dependence upon who the Spirit is instead of upon what I know in the Bible.
 Many people have great bible knowledge, much life experience, many testimonies of God's intervention, and have great faith in what God can do. But they experience little of His present power and presence because they have been drawn away from worship. Temptations have become hard to overcome. Frustrations, life problems, and personal sins have begun to creep back. Blame has become a way of life, and bitterness is not far behind. Falling short of the grace of God, as Hebrews outlines, begins to take over.
 
​Ex. "Let My people go that they may worship Me."
Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
 Misplaced worship is the beginning of successful temptation. For worship is drawing near to God, and temptation is drawing away from Him. "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be on my lips." Ps. 34:1. This is the beginning of breakthrough.
 Worship and praise brings us to a strong life consciousness of God's presence verses the constantly struggling awareness of self. Some people are far too aware of self with all of its failures and faults, and far too unaware of the living Christ within us. Self-awareness is good, but only if it leads us away from ourselves and nearer to God. What good is our awareness of our short-comings, and what good is our awareness of God's Word if we do not come to experience the presence of God, His joy, His peace, and His power? Without worship Christianity degenerates into a mind over matter religion void of the power of salvation.
 There are many weaknesses, infirmities of soul, mind and emotion that keep people defeated. There is the motions of the flesh, the carnal divisions, self-absorbed short-comings in the name of religion. It's almost impossible for a group of Christians to love each other unless this is in place: we need the heart that lives in a place of worship. When God truly is our daily treasure, then we have the well-being necessary to live in love. Without this, it is impossible to keep our eyes on God in the storms of life. When worship fails, so does the power of the Christian life.

​Matthew 8:16-17 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he hath borne our griefs, (sickness)
and carried our sorrows: (pain)
yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.
 Just because He doesn't heal us as we want doesn't make it any less true. He also wants to lead us to take care of ourselves. But this is simple truth, that the world loves to make fun of. Healing is in the atonement. Healing is for today. Did He just take away the sins of the first generation? Clearly the healing is manifested as part of the consequence of taking sin away.
 Healing gets in our face. It brings us face to face with an ancient and eternal faith that is intended to impact our "now" world. When it doesn't seem to happen, it messes with us. So some make fun of it in order to live in denial. But it's true none-the-less.
 "Fulfill" means to cram or 'make to be full.' To complete so that nothing shall be wanting. To carry into effect, bring to realization; to ratify; to bring to fulness or perfection. It therefore doesn't mean that it was just fulfilled on that day, never to be accomplished again. For He continued to heal. The disciples continued to heal after He had ascended. The church is commissioned to bring healing to all who believe.
 "Infirmities" includes by definition: of the soul for: want of strength and capacity requisite to understand a thing to do things great and glorious to restrain corrupt desires to bear trials and troubles.
 As we grow older we hopefully narrow the gap between what we say and what we do. We become more aware of our limitations. Our well-intentioned words have more integrity as we grow in wisdom. "There's nothing that you can do that will get me to stop loving you." While a very warm sentiment, it may be totally ridiculous. "I'll never leave you." "I'll help you with whatever you need me for." Or one of my favorites - "If you ever see something in me that's not right, just tell me." Don't bite into that apple! To narrow the gap between what we say and what we do is important. But it is also something that we need to give people grace in. We all have our margins of error. All of us.