SING TO THE KING - SING PRAISES TO HIS NAME

We know from Scripture that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people.  The psalmist writes in Psalm 147 verse 1 the following: "Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and the song of praise is fitting.

Then we skip down this same Psalm to verse 7 where the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to say "Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving, make melody to our God on the lyre." Why should we do that? Why should we sing and praise and shout and then praise some more? We do so not just because He is a good, good Father, but because we love Him for Who He is.

He is God. 
He is Creator of all things.
He is from times long ago...so long ago, no super computer on earth can calculate.
He is the Sustainer of all things. He speaks and worlds exist.  He commands and the winds cease.
He is Provider, Protector, Deliverer and the Author of our Faith.
He giveth grace upon grace. He loveth more than a parent. He forgiveth more than we deserve. He loves us, the unloveable, when we should, by all rights, be condemned.

Psalm 147 also tells us that the Lord "takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love" (verse 11).

Is there a song in your heart and mine today? If they looked at us through spiritual x-ray eyes, would they see Jesus in every cell in our bodies? When the angels landed on Shepherds' Field in Bethlehem they sang a song first, glorifying God, and announced He Who will save the people (us) from their (our) sins. 

The angels sang then and sing NOW, before the Throne as the Bible tells us in Revelation. What song can you and sing to the King this day, this week, this month and this year? Remember, if it is from the heart and soul, the Lord will delight in it.

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 2

Hallowed by Thy Name

We know all of the great attributes of God – He is all powerful, knows all, owns all and sees all.  2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that “the Eyes of the Lord roam across the WHOLE earth in search of those whose hearts are loyal to Him”. There is absolutely no doubting that fact.

But the first attribute of God is His Holiness. He abhors sin. He despises it and even turned His back on His own Son – the Lord Jesus – Who had to cry out from the Cross “my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1 and Matthew 27:46).

How do we know this? Well, the greatest Old Testament prophet, who wrote about those times as well as the End Times, was pulled up into Heaven before the Lord Himself in Isaiah Chapter 6. The first thing anyone who has had an encounter with Holy God does is this: fall down at His feet in total surrender and humility. Isaiah did it. John did it.

The next thing that happens to a man, who, in the rare occasion, is recorded to be in the fearsome Presence of Holy God is – the self-realization of one’s worthlessness to be in such a lofty place. Isaiahfalls down (Chapter 6) and knew immediately he was a sinner….that he was notworthy of being there….that he was a man of unclean lips, even as a man of Godand a prophet. We can relate to that today.  We, every one of us, use language which our forefathers – regardless of background – would never use and would even consider untoward.

The Lord took care of Isaiah’s problem with swearing and probably even blaspheming when He sent one of His emissaries to take a burning coal off the altar to cleans the prophet’s inclination towards such speech. God sends the Holy Spirit to convict you and I immediately after we say something we swore we would not say 500 times before. 

The third and important thing to note is the Worship in Heaven underscores what the ministering special angels – God’s Own Special Ops– think of the Almighty. They sign back and forth “Holy Holy Holy ….”. This is reinforced in Revelation 4 and click here to read the entire amazing chapter!

What is the connection to the practical matter of us praying to Abba Father, Who is in Heaven? The Knowledge of the Holy – the Holy One of Israel, should act as a check in our spirit as to how we approach the Lord.  Just as we do not take the Lord’s Table or communion in an unworthy manner, meaning with active sin in our lives, we need to be instinctively circumspect in our prayer, following the example of the Messiah Who gave us this prayer. In light of this, let us pray into it:

Heavenly Father, we do not deserve to even be in the same zip code as You. But You in Your love and mercy adopted us, who believe in Jesus as Lord, as Your Children. Lord we are people of unclean lips, and too many times unclean hearts and minds. Purify us, oh God, remove our sin as far as the east is from the west. Wash us with hyssop that we may be clean. Cleanse us that we may be as white as snow. May these spiritual broken bones be healed or done away with that we may stand pure and holy before You, because You are Holy. You are worthy. You are mighty. Forgive  us as we approach in true repentance and surrender all at the Foot of the Cross right now, in Jesus’ Name amen.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY BY AW TOZER FOR FREE!...DOWNLOAD AS A PDF TO TABLET ETC....

(photo credit here)

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 1

Our Father Who art in Heaven
This begins the first in our closer look at the Model Prayer of the Bible – The Lord’s Prayer. To comprehend the context of it,  we look at what led up to Jesus presenting these timeless words as the most famous prayer in all human history.  The Words of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”  are a larger part of the great Jewish Prayer – The Amidah. I examined this fully in three parts on my TV program, Plumbline (Part 1 of 3 is below in the YouTube video). Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, that this is HOW they should prayer, when they asked as if He (the Lord) would teach them HOW to pray.

To get our minds around what the Lord means, alongside the Jewishness of this prayer, it will be helpful to exegete or go through the words and phrases which the Creator uses to teach His disciples HOW to pray. This prayer is not some magic formula for some to use to punish wayward church members into reciting “xyz”….and five “Our Fathers”.  This is Truth from the Oracles of Heaven for us to examine and enter into an even closer relationship with our God and King – Yahweh. 

In light of this, we begin:
“Our Father Who art (is) in Heaven” – Right off the bat, Jesus is telling us, via His disciples at the time, to Whom ANY prayer needs to be addressed – Almighty God, the Father of Lights.  It is from Him that ALL good things come to anyone who has ever been alive on this planet, since creation.  Please do, let us try and wrap the frail human mind around this for a few minutes!  Please consider this: the Creator and Giver of Life is actually listening to each and every one of His redeemed-by-Christ children (us) and hears our pleas, petitions and yes, our praises! This is not just anybody or some “higher power” as the unsaved calls Him. This is God, Almighty Father, Who said to the Son – Yahweh (the Great I Am) “Let us make man in our image”.

The Father declared man and Jesus spoke Adam into existence, fashioning Adam from dust. Then the Third person of the GodHead –Who never disagree- breathed LIFE into this lifeless piece of dust and the first man came into existence. So let’s get this thing in order once and for all. We are His creation and He does not work for us. Every breath we take, every move we make, He’s been watching us, knowing our next step and still, He loves us and wants to hear our prayer. He is the Ultimate Parent. He sees the horrible and wrong things we do, say and feel and still, His mercy, grace and long suffering last a lifetime. That’s our Father.

If we wish to add the dimension of time to Him, He would have existed for billions of years before Moses recorded the account of Creation and eternity is, well, God knows – how many billions of years! We live on a tiny speck of a planet which is one puny galaxy when we consider the Universe. When we consider the moon and stars and the Heavens….what is man, what is this planet that He would be so mindful of us, that He, in the form of the Son would step down from His Eternal Heavenly Throne for 33 years separated from our Father?

He lives in another dimension. His Throne is in the heavenlies. We have several glimpses of the power and majesty of our Father Who is in Heaven and remains there as Ruler of all. In Isaiah 6 we read in part about the worship and power and share fearsome Presence of God which should cause up to sit up straight right now.  In Daniel 7

, there is an actual live streaming, so to speak of what is going on in the Throne Room of God as we read here. Then the Apostle John was given the tour of Heaven in the End Times,  he saw things which were amazing to behold (Revelation chapter 4). (Click all links to read those specific passages).

The Apostle Paul was taken up into the “third heaven” where the Throne of God resides and given a thorn in the flesh that he may not just stay humble having been there, but also that he would not speak of things which are not mean for revelation at this time. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)

This is the God, our Father in Heaven, to Whom we pray. So right from the start, the very first thing which Jesus is teaching us is this – be VERY aware just to Whom you and I are addressing our prayers.  In light of His Power, Awesome Fearsome Majesty and more, we are therefore supposed to be EXTREMELY careful HOW we pray and WHAT we pray for. When we are not sure about where we are going with this thing, it will be beneficial if we just tell the Lord in all humility, that we have no idea how to pray for a situation and we need help.  That’s it!  We are promised Holy Spirit will translate our prayers up to the Father.

Our Father Who is in Heaven – Who is our Sustainer, Master and Ruler of the Universe. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and Almighty. He can be depended on. He is to Whom we pray. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Father, we thank You so very much that You have chosen us as Your people, from the Foundation of the earth that we, who are being saved, can call upon Your Name - You the Mighty God of all the universe, of all creation, Owner of all things, Giver of Life, Mighty to Save and Victorious in the Heavens. Thank You for allowing weak and sinful mankind the opportunity to approach You, under the banner of Prayer, that we may be considered worthy enough, under the Blood of The Lamb, to have our pleas, petitions and sometimes pitiful prayers heard in the very Throne Room of Heaven. Thank You that You see us through the lens of Your Son...that You have taken us from the Pit to the very heights of the Heavens. Thank You for Your all powerful attributes that we may be able to stand firm while resting in the Glory and Might of Your Name and those attributes, in Jesus' Holy Name amen and amen. Thank You, most kind, gracious and wonderful Father in Heaven, amen.

WITH A HEART of WORSHIP....

Today, Yahweh- I Am Who I Am, is calling us as a people unto Himself.  He is calling us to be a people of worship. The problem is that the noise of this world has clogged the direct pipeline from heaven, which many first maintained free and clear at the point of conversion from a child of darkness into a saint walking in His Marvelous Light. Revelation chapter four tells us in bold colors, what really going on in heaven, not just right now, but at all times since eternity past. True worship in the truly amazing Temple of God is what's happening. It dwarfs the idolatry of celebrity and self which we call "worship" here on planet earth. However, we are not given that glimpse of heaven for anything else but for our edification and anticipation of that glorious time in the Father's actual presence one day soon when we live for eternity in The Kingdom of His Marvelous Light.

So turn aside what this temporary corrupt culture and people deem as important and pray for a redirection of heart, mind, body and soul in true alignment with the Spirit of God Who sealed you way back then, at the hour of your salvation. If today you truly heard His voice, harden not your heart, but return to Him, in the Name of whom there is no comparison, Jesus Christ, amen.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,And the sheep of His hand....(PSALM 95:1-7)

HISTORY OF WORSHIP MUSIC - FROM CREATION (ONGOING SERIES)

FROM THE PLUMBLINE TV SHOW:

Psalm 95:1 - O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Right now, this very minute and from eternity past, we know there is an ONGOING worship service around the Throne of God. Here is the proof: "And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,    and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:7-11, ESV)

We are exhorted to encourage and enlighten each other "in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Colossians 3:16) as modern day believers. But where did all of this start? Well, God Himself told Job where it started! Here in Job 38:4-7:  

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

    Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 

Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

    Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 

On what were its bases sunk,

    or who laid its cornerstone,

7 

when the morning stars sang together

    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Here is a brief history of Worship music from there until present times. It is part of an occasional look at the great Hymns and music of the Faith of those of us who love Jesus Christ and believe in Him.