worship

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Practicing His Presence - Part 4

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Practicing His Presence - Part 4

The Book of Genesis is called the book of beginnings. It’s here we find out the ‘whats,’ ‘whys’ and ‘wherefores’ of man’s existence. It’s interesting to know that before God made living creatures, He made a place for them to live first. He made the sea first then the fish to swim in it. He made soil then plants to grow in it. He made the firmament for the stars before He made the planets that He placed there. He made Eden for man to live in before He made man. When you take the fish out of water it malfunctions. When you take a plant out the soil it malfunctions and when you take a star out of its place it becomes a meteor. Take a man out of Eden and he kills someone.

No one has ever found Eden for it was not so much a place but an environment. Man was created to live in God’s presence and when he is outside of His presence he malfunctions. In a previous message we looked at how King David said that there was one thing he desired more than anything else, and that was to live in God’s presence every day of his life.

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord. And to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

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Practicing His Presence - Part 3

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Practicing His Presence - Part 3

As I said in the previous message, that you may never have a literal vision of God this side of heaven, but you don’t necessarily need one either. There is another more effective way for us to experience God’s presence in this life and the word says that this method can be far better one for us. Jesus told Thomas after he refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, that those who believe what He says, believe the promises of God are even more blessed than those who have seen Him in the flesh. He wants us to believe like this too. Believe what His word says about Him and His promises even though there is nothing there at the moment to be seen. It’s trusting Him. Then Jesus told him,

"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

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Practicing His Presence - Part 2

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Practicing His Presence - Part 2

In the previous message I looked at how we can learn to practice the presence of God through what we see of His glory down here on earth. The Angels declared 2600 years ago that the whole earth ‘was’ full of His glory now , but what we see is only a whisper of what He is really like. What we see of Him is just the finger prints of God, but they can help us to worship Him. Job says that what we see is only the outer fringes of God’s garments.

“And these are but the outer fringe of his works ; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" Job 26:14 NIV

There are signs of His presence everywhere for those whose eyes are opened and are also praying that they will perceive and recognise Him.

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Practicing His Presence - Part 1

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Practicing His Presence - Part 1

It was King David who wrote most of the psalms and his son Solomon who wrote the Song of Songs and the proverbs. It says in 1 Kings 4:32 that along with Solomon’s proverbs he also wrote 1005 songs. Unfortunately, the Song of Songs is the only one we still have with us. Both Psalms and the Song are rich in describing the glorious attributes of God. Both David and Solomon noticed the beauty of the Lord in all their walk of life and not just in the Temple services. We see this in their writings. King David said that he wanted to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of his life. What did he mean? Did he want to stay inside the Temple every day, all day? I don’t think so. What he was saying was that he wanted to dwell in God’s presence every day of his life – all day. He wanted to be conscious of God’s presence not just in the Temple but all day long. He also said.

“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:6 KJV “I am always thinking of the Lord.” Psalm 16:6 The Living Bible

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Practicing His Presence - Part 5

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Practicing His Presence - Part 5

Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:19-2

We see in verse 24 that the Father is seeking for worshippers. I find this very challenging. Why is God seeking for Worshippers? If I were to write this verse I’d probably say that the Father is seeking for ‘Prayers,’ ‘Evangelists,’ or ‘Tithers.’ Aren’t they high up on God’s wanted list? As I have pondered this I have realised that when the Father has a ‘Worshipper’ then He has all the above thrown in as well. Think about it. You can be a ‘prayer’ and yet not be in love with Jesus. The Muslims pray 3 times a day, maybe more than us and yet they don’t profess to be in love with Jesus. You can also be a very religious Christian who prays a lot and not be walking in grace. You can end up telling everyone how long you prayed this morning to blow your own trumpet. I know because I used to be like that. You can also be an Evangelist telling people about Jesus and yet not be in a good place with God. I have had a so called ‘Evangelist’ in my congregation over the years who were not afraid to tell someone that they were a sinner and needed Jesus, yet I found out later they were having an affair with a woman all during that time. I have realised that you can be over the top because you have a guilty conscience and are trying to compensate maybe hoping that God will overlook what you are doing because you are out there ‘saving souls.’ I have also noticed that those who try and make you feel guilty because you are not witnessing enough never seem to have anyone in the Church from all their efforts. A lot of the times it’s the quiet ones who share the good news that seem to bare the most fruit. In my world travels I have come across Evangelists on street corners who are quite hard and condemning towards others, which I’m sure is not pleasing to the Father. If you are a Worshipper, then out of love and gratitude towards God you will automatically become His Evangelist by accident rather than on purpose. You would think Tithers would be high on the Fathers ‘wanted’ list – right? But you can be a ‘Giver’ for many reasons. Some Christians think that as long as they give money they don’t need to do anything else in the Church. Some think because they give so much money to the Church that they can manipulate others to get their own way. They threaten that if you don’t comply with their view that they will withhold financial support. I agree that tithing is a powerful means of grace but you can still do it and not be a worshipper. Don’t get me wrong, God wants prayerful people, Evangelists and Tithers but when He has a ‘Worshipper’ He has all of the above. I believe this is why Jesus says, the Father is seeking for Worshippers. One meaning for the word worship means ‘worth-ship.’ To worship means to appreciate the worth of God. To worship means to value, treasure and love the presence of God. Where your heart is there will be your treasure be also. You treasure something or someone that you delight in and love. That someone or something is where you spend most of your time. You spend time with the person or thing you value the most. Abraham was told by God that, ‘I am your exceeding great reward’. Is God your exceeding great reward?