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Body Worship
As we continue to explore iworship24.7 Sunday lead us down an interresting path as we wrestled the the Psalms body language. We saw that it was much more than just metaphorical language but the Psalmists were actually engaging physically with their bodies as they worshipped.
“Bow down before the Lord”, actually takes on an added dimension if you physically get on your knees and place your face to the ground. This Body language says something about who God is and who we are. We are humbled in the presance of a mighty God. Reverance and humility can be shown physically as well as in our hearts and minds.
Psalm 145:14 the lord uphold those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down
Through Jesus Christ we are lifte up see God face to face, we can look into his eyes with out spot or blemish, perfect and dearly loved!!
As a response to his wonderful GRACE we worship him – We offer him our bodies as a living sacrifce – as our act of worship, 24/7!!
We don’t use our body laguage worship to gain favour with God – we use our bodeies to say thanks for what he has done for us – We lift our arms and hands to say thanks God – you deserve the highest praise. We lift our voices to the king of kings for what he has done for us.
Many of us come from backgrounds where using our bodies in worship has been frowned upon – especially in a public setting. There is always a danger in the use of our bodies becoming about us – but we have missed much of richness of worship by disconeccting it from physical expression. God always looks at the heart and thats where body worship needs to come from. That being said we do need to excercise our bodies and push things a little for this to become more natural. Why not try exploring it more – at home get on your nees and pray, bow down in a time of prayer, trying raising your hands in your prayers – next time you are in church try using your body to express your worship – it may well be tough at first, and it will be different for different people – But why not give it a go – God can be glorified as you use your body language to praise him.
Psalm 71:15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long,
Psalm 25:15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare
Psalm 49:4 I will turn my ear to a proverb;
Psalm 26:4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites;
Psalm 119:32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.
Psalm 86:12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 150:4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
Romans 12:1 In view of God’s mercy offer your bodies as living sacrifices – holy and pleaseing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
The Road Repentance
Psalm 51 helps us understand the road to repentance – why not have a read
Turn to a Merciful God vs 1-2
Recognition of the Ugly stuff vs 3-5
Cleansing from God vs 6-7
Restored Joy vs 8-12
It’s a heart thing vs 17
A responses of true praise and worship vs 18 -19
The road to true repentance is humbling ourselves before a merciful God and is an act of worship that turns us back to Jesus
How is your waiting going this week?
Is there some eager expectation (Rom 8:23)? Are the promises of God motivating you to action? He will keep working his plan of salvation through even just a remant (5%) He has promised to protect this remnant and get them through the ‘last days’ He has sent a saviour who is gathering all his people to himself – when that are all gathered He will return!!!! He has promised to restore this world to the way it should be – God and his people living together in a perfect world Now that’s worth waiting for!! Thats worth waiting well for!! Remember our lives are part of that plan of redemption and restoration Get on with living out the faith lifeReadings from sunday Isaiah 11:1-12, Jeremiah 29:4-11, Romans 8:18-39 - Well worth another read!!
Isaiah 1:17 “learn to do good, Seek Justice, encourage the opressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow”
This year I will seek justice in the area of……
In what ways is God asking you to ‘justice worship’? What are the things he is laying on your heart to defend? who is He asking you to encourage? Whoes case do you need to plead? What do you need to learn about in order to expose injustice? How is your lifestyle leading to the opression of the poor and needy. Why not visit some of these websites and start exploring…..
Marriage – is what keeps us together!!
We have an amazing picture of God’s love for His people in the book of Hosea. Though much of the book is focused on the punishement of Israel – we do get a vivid image of our loving God. God who is prepared to marry an adulterer, a God who is willing and able to forgive a people of the most rebellious acts. A people who have forgotten Him. A people who have fallin in love witht he world around them and themselves. Doing as they wished with little regard to their saviour God….and then this verse: “I am going to allure her….and speak tenderly to her”. this to a people who have spurned his love and had affairs with multiple partners. What Love is this!!!
And as we saw and experianced int he Lord’s Supper on Sunday – This is a love that invites us to the wedding banquet table – not just as guests – but as the bride – with her husband – as Paul says, “This is a mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the Church”. Our lives washed pure white by the blood of Jesus on the cross - “oh a love that paid so dearly” So that we may feast at the wedding banquet of the lamb – pure and spotless and with out blemish. What could be our response to a love like this?
Hosea 2:15 “she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the days she came up out of Egypt” vs 23 “and will say, ‘You are my God!!’” There is no other who can love like this! Our response - is a life of worship – a continual song of praise to our loving God. A life of devotion to him. Turn to him daily and remember His promise. 24 hours per day 7 days per week.
“I will betroth you to me forever….in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion”
What great news for an unfaithful people!!! turn to him and recieve his love!!
Count Your Blessings
As we end 2011 and look forward to 2012 – we thank God for his blessings!! But what are blessings? - Spiritual or physical gifts from God Let me share some thoughts that came to me via email this week from someone reflecting on this idea of God’s blessings:Two main thoughts came to my mind.
Firstly, Every good gift is a blessing from God.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Secondly, we have to remember that spiritual blessings are the greatest blessing and in comparison to these, material blessings pail in significance.
Therefore, whether or not we have material gifts makes no difference to how blessed we truly are Even if we do not have them, we are still supremely blessed (Eph. 1:3 ). And if we do have them, they are not our focus.
These verses come to mind.
Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (The Holy Sprit is the supreme good gift)
John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
The trouble is, we inverse the value.
We focus on material things as the measure of blessing (unfortunately we reinforce it when we only seem to be able to pray for health,
wealth, safety, jobs, etc) rather than the Holy Spirit and His work.
In our hearts we need to focus on the kingdom and our place in it as the measure of God’s riches toward us.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This also applies to sharing and giving.
I remember this verse… it’s interesting.
Rom. 15:27 They were pleased to do it (give generously), and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’
spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
I read it as saying, the gentiles received the greater blessings, they ought to have no probs sharing the lesser ones!
I thought these were some great insights worth pondering and sharing as we think about 2012 and how we will use our blessings to serve our great God.‘Grace and Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savoir.’
This is a line that we find very regularly in the Bible – it is mostly used as a
greeting or a farewell. But I think it is a line we could readily use at
Christmas time. As we think about Christmas and its original origins – It says
this – Grace and Peace to you. It is a gift offered by God.
What does this word Grace mean? Is it just a girl’s name? Is it
something you used to say before eating a meal?
The way I like to remember it is in the following way:
Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense
The Christian message of Christmas is that: “God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life”
The gift of grace is a new life – selected, purchased & wrapped by Jesus Christ.
Jesus went on to say, “I have come so that they can have life….Life to the Full!!!“
It is a gift that will never perish or fade – It is a gift of a life of Peace,
Hope, Joy and Love – despite our circumstances.
That in the hard reality of much of this life we can have contentment and peace
knowing my life is in God’s hands – now and forever.
There are two verses from the famous Hymn Amazing Grace that remind me of this life
of peace……
The Lord has promised good to me.
But, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
His word my hope secures.
And mortal life shall cease,
He will my shield and portion be,
I shall possess within the veil,
As long as life endures.
A life of joy and peace.
It reminds me that this gift of eternal life begins here and now on this earth and
continues on for eternity. It actually brings a great sense of peace, that no
matter what happens in this life God will get me through, and even if I was to
die, I will continue to enjoy this gift of life that goes beyond the grave.
This Gift of life helps me sleep at night, brings contentment – and more than
that brings purpose and direction. I am so thankful for the gift of life this
Christmas.
Grace and peace to you and your family as you celebrate Christmas this year.
Peace be on Earth
What is peace? – I heard someone this week explaining that it is much much more than just the absence of conflict. That peace is much more holistic and is more about the sense of CONTENTMENT. But even more, it contains ideas of completness, wholeness, happiness, health, as well as prosperity and safety.
I continue to look around me and think that Christmas is one of the most PEACE-LESS times of the year. So much rushing around and buisiness and not a whole lot of contentment and contemplation. When it is said about Jesus that he would bring Peace on earth – what does that mean? how do we live in that in our such busy lives? Well I think that Psalm 85 helps me understand how it may work. The Psalmist points out the big problem we face as humans – we are not right with God! But once that is sorted out then a “peace that transcends all understanding” is made availabe to us. In Psalm 85 it says “rightousness and peace kiss each other” – I think this is such a wonderful word picture. That once we know that we are right with God, peace results. They are intimately linked. As we are enfolded in the arms of a loving God – there is a sense of saftey, protection, completness – contentment that brings our peace.
Jesus Christ came to secure our righteousness – and now we can have peace on earth. No matter our situation – in light of the big picture – the little things of life take perspective. I went Christmas shopping with my wife a last week – we worked through the list of gifts, we had coffee together, we had a nice lunch together in a very busy and noisey shopping centre, but strangely that was a sense of peace and contentment – knowing that all of this was not that importantant and that these things could be enjoyed in light of the bigger picture. The more I reflect on the big picture the more I have peace and contentment here on earth. Take time to contemplate this year – it may make a world of difference to you christmas …..
Come along on sunday as we explore this idea of peace on earth in a little more detail.
Did you see the signs?
This morning driving to the office I saw the sign again. I drove past a nativity scene that was placed in a local park. It supprised me a little thinking about how the christian message is constantly taken out of Christmas herre in Australia. But in my little suprised feeling my thinking also flicked back tot the message on Sunday and as I kept driving I began to reflect of what this sign was saying about God and about me. As I continued on in my trip I suppose I engaged in an act of worship as I gave thanks to God for what he had done by sending his son. It brought a smile to my face as I reflected on what that ment for me. What an amazing God that would love so much!!! I took heed of this sign and though how will I live for you today – and as I have battled through my day this sign keeps piccking me up and reorientates me in my thinking and action. Thank God that He is with us!!!
