A New Song for a New Year

As a musician and song writer I love it when the Bible talks about singing a new song unto the Lord. There's something so special about being able to sit down with my guitar and work out a new hook, or sing a new melody. And it's so awesome when the Lord puts a new message in my heart and the lyrics begin to come to me. I always know it's from the Lord. Some 20 years ago I remember the Lord awoke me from a dead sleep, and the lyrics to a song I entitled "The Author and the Finisher" lept into my mind. Within 10 minutes I had wrote the chorus, 2 verses and a bridge. Minutes later the power of the Lord moved on me and I was filled with the Holy Spirit. That particular song has always been special to me because of what God did in my life that night. Now granted, songwriting usually doesn't come that easy for me, but every new song is special. As we approach the new year people will be thinking about their resolutions and the new things they want to accomplish or maybe change in their life. But personally, I was drawn to a passage in Psalms 40:3 where it says, "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD." Whether you actually write a new song or not, I believe the Lord can do something new and fresh in your life this year that will make your heart sing and draw others to trust in the Lord. I believe that God can use your life as an instrument in his hands and if you allow him to be the minstrel over you, he will make a beautful melody through you that the world will come to love. So as we approach 2009 - pray that God will make a new song for the new year through you.

CHRISTmas Worship

Although Christmas is tomorrow, I was reminded in scripture that not everyone has pure motives toward the King, even at this time of year. CHRISTmas should be a worship celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. Furthermore, the gifts we bring should not only be a token of our love to friends and family, but they should also be a reminder of the gifts that the Magi brought to Christ in Bethlehem. However, just as we see with King Herod in Matthew chapter 2, the same is true today. Not all who claim to worship the King come in pure worship with pure motives. Even at Christmas....

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[b] and have come to worship him." 3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ^[c] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'^[d]"
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." 9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east^[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

In this passage we find that as soon as word began to spread about the birth of Christ, Herod began to plot. In v.8 he asked the Magi to report back to him the location of the baby Jesus so he too could go and worship him. The catch however, is that he had no intent to truly worship Jesus and the Magi knew it because they were warned in a dream. Now granted, most people today aren’t as blatantly opposed to Christ or as jealous and threatened as Herod was. But there are many today who are posers at Christmas. They go through the motions and maybe even sing the carols and yet they are not pure in their motives. They may come to church, watch the play, laugh at the kids and sing the songs, but their heart is not truly worshiping. Friends, this is dangerous because the act of worship is not meant to be an “act.” It needs to be a sincere expression of a heart after God and anything else falls short. So ask yourself; Are you earnestly seeking after God with all your heart, soul and mind? Are you bringing your absolute best to lay down at his feet. Remember, it’s not about the gifts of gold, incense and of myrrh. What Christ really wants is You! This Christmas let’s bow our hearts before the King and give Him our everything.

4-Worship Posture

Have you ever thought about why certain people kneel? Or why do others raise their hands?Why do we sing out loud? Why do we pray aloud? Why do we do the things we do? Well, all throughout scripture we find examples of outwardly visible acts of worship. When Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed on the altar, we know that God provided a lamb in the thicket, however it was a clearly visible sign of worship and obedience to God. When the Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness and set up the tabernacle and holy of holies it was all visible worship. When King David danced before the Lord it was another act of visible worship. Now obviously Christ also rebuked the pharisees calling them hypocrites because much of what they did was to be seen by men. However, while we don’t worship to be seen, there are plenty examples in scripture when worship was meant to be visible. In (Psalms 150) we’re told to worship with the instruments and the clapping of hands. In (1 Tim. 2:8) it speaks of “lifting up holy hands,” and I believe when our heart is passionate to worship God our body will express our feelings. So the bttom line is this - whether you sit or stand, raise your hands or fold your hands, make sure that whatever you do it is done to glorify the Lord and make sure that your physical posture is an expression of the posture of your heart.

3-Worship in Truth

Continuing our look at (John 4:24) we see that not only do we worship in "spirit" but also in "truth." We must worship in Spirit because it's a spiritual experience, butJesus is also the “the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him.” (John 14:6). So while we worship in Spirit, we must also worship in truth, coming to the Father by worshipping Jesus, the son. Worshipping in Truth also means we must think about how we worship and make sure it remains Biblical in our expression, and Biblical in our message. For example; when you sing songs of praise think about the message you’re speaking and let it minister to your heart. Just as the words of truth in scripture can edify your soul, the words of truth in the songs we sing should bring glory to God and edify our spirit man. The Word mentions both "spirit and in truth" because there must be a balance. Paul spoke of this same concept when he taught the church at Corinth. "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." (1 Cor. 14:15). We have been given a free will to choose the Lord and when we truly exercise biblical worship we are choosing to focus our mind on the Lord and tune our heart into the Spirit of the Lord. So the next time you enter into worship - open your heart, and fix your thoughts on Christ Jesus.

2-Worship in Spirit

The Word of God is full of truth about worship and one of the most common scriptures is found in (John 4:24) which says “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit & in truth.” But what does it mean to “worship in spirit”? Well first of all we must understand that worship is much more spiritual than it is physical. Although the Bible does talk about certain postures, raising hands, clapping hands and even dancing before the Lord, God is concerned more with the posture of the heart than anything. We have to remember that we are a spirit in a body and God birthed his spirit in us the minute we were saved. (1Jn 3:24) "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." This is like our connection to the heavenlies and our worship should be spirit led and spirit empowered thru the gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit. So my prayer is that you will allow yourself to draw into the Holy of Holies through the Spirit and let him fill you through and through.

1-The Real Deal

All of us have different ideas on worship. Some people tend to be more demonstrative and others more passive. Some people are louder while some are more quite. Some people are more free while others like things more liturgical. But what we must understand is that worship isn’t a style but an attitude and lifestyle. When we corporately worship the Lord it’s only a united expression of our life and faith as it’s been lived out the rest of the week. So what am I saying? What I mean is simply this - our Sunday morning expression of worship should be consistent with our weekly expression of worship and if it’s not then we need to search our heart and motives. Jesus said in John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” So how can our worship be in truth when we’re putting on a front for the Sunday morning crowd that is inconsistent with our daily walk of worship. I believe the Lord is wanting to take us deeper in our worship experience but let’s be sure that we seek Him and worship as hard on Monday as we do on Sunday. Let’s be the "Real Deal" and allow him to be real in us.