Intelligent Worship -- Serve God -- Part 9

 Intelligent Worship brings us into the presence of God through service to God. Part 9.

Re-reading through today's subject verses and digging just a little more deeper into what the Word says about service is interesting. 

Psalm 2:11 

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. “For our God is a consuming fire.” (quoted from Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.")

Psalm 100:2

Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Both Psalm references mean "to work", while the verse in Hebrews means "I work". One is a generalization and the other is personal. One is instructional, the other is accountability. Both apply to us. For we must always be ready to receive instruction from our Lord and we must take responsibility for our actions towards our Lord. 

But this word 'serve' has many definitions in the Word. In Genesis alone it is translated 'cultivate' or 'till'; 'enslaved, enslavement, servitude', depending upon whom the verse is speaking of. 

In both the Old and the New Testament this word 'serve' can also mean 'worship'. When we serve God the way God wants to be served, we are worshiping God with our hearts, our actions, our words. We are blessing God by surrendering ourselves to His service. We no longer submit to our natural desires but we submit ourselves to God's desire, God's will, for us. We truly do "Serve the Lord with gladness". 

The Lord Is -- June

 

PATER PHOS 

(pronounced pat-ayr {air} foce)

FATHER OF LIGHTS

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

God Creates Light:

Genesis 1:3

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 33:6

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

God Never Changes:

Variableness: change, mutation, fickleness

This verse in James is the only time this word 'variableness' is used. 

Psalm 102:27

But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.

Daniel 2:22

He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.

God Gives Good Gifts & Perfect Gifts:

Good: describes what originates from  God

Psalm 139

Perfect: mature - going through the necessary changes to reach the end goal

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

For the second and third Sundays of this month I used two previous Names as fill-ins as I was not at my computer for awhile. 

June 12, 2022

TELEIOTES

(pronounced tel-ah'-ee-tee-os) 

THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL SALVATION

Hebrews 5:8-9

Though he was God's Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all who obey Him.

June 19, 2022

JEHOVAH-OR

(pronounced yeh-ho-vaw')

THE LORD IS MY LIGHT

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my Light and my Salvation: whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

But now I am once more ensconced at my desk, ready to take on new tasks and overcome new obstacles. 

June 26, 2022

LITHOS

STUMBLINGSTONE

Romans 9:33

As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Sion a Stumblingstone and Rock of Offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

 

Today's Word -- Judgment Begins Here

 If you are in a church where your preacher says it is okay to sin against God and still make it to heaven, you need to flee that church. Where unrighteousness is preached, it is also practiced. God is coming for a holy church, not a good enough church.

1 Peter 4:16-18

{16} But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name. {17} For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? {18} And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Hebrews 2:2-4

{2} For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment, {3} how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, {4} and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.

According to Matthew Henry's Commentary, "When God brings great calamities and sore judgments upon whole nations, he generally begins with his own people." For example, in Isaiah 10:12 the Lord tells Isaiah that He will judge Mount Zion and Jerusalem before He judges the king of Assyria. In Jeremiah 25:29 the Lord tells Jeremiah that He is bringing disaster on the city that bears His name. And again in Ezekiel 9:6 the idolaters in the Lord's sanctuary will be the first slaughtered. 

God is calling each one of us to be holy like He is holy. We are each responsible for receiving the salvation and spiritual cleanliness which God has given the believer through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (Savior) and His Holy Spirit (Fire of God). Through the blood we are saved when we believe in the name of Jesus Christ.  Through His holy fire we are made pure: unblemished, untarnished, unstained. 

I am responsible for believing God's Word. I am responsible for accepting the salvation He has proffered through His Son Jesus Christ. I am responsible for seeking the baptism of His Holy Spirit and obeying Him. I am responsible for living my life according to the Word of God. I am responsible for repenting daily for sins I (may) have committed against God. For tomorrow is not promised to anyone, even God's people. So I must be always ready to meet Him. It is less stressful to be ready than it is to worry about being ready! 

I am responsible for sharing the gospel with everyone I meet. I am responsible for living a life that glorifies God. And I am responsible for attending a church where the full gospel, the true Word of God, is preached, that I may hear with my ears and my heart the integrity of God's Holy Word. I am responsible for Who I worship and how I worship Him. 

I am responsible for my thoughts, my words, my actions. These must align with the Word of God that He might be glorified in me and through me. 

I am responsible for how I will be judged. Will I be found lacking? I hope not. Will I be ready? I hope so. 

Today's Word -- Inherent Nature

 Proverbs 2:6 

For the LORD gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 

We are all born with an inherent knowledge of good and evil thanks to Adam and Eve's decision to disobey God. "No" is one of the first words we learn to say after we learn our caregivers names, "Mama", "Dada", or in my son Brian's case, "Dani" (his sister). And we learn when to say 'No': when we want something we can't or shouldn't have and when we want to do something we should or shouldn't do. It's our nature. 

The same logic is applied when we become born-again Christians. We learn what is good and what is evil. We learn to walk in the Spirit. We learn to talk in the Spirit. We learn to read God's Word with wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Especially when we have good leaders to lead us and guide us through God's Word; leaders we look up to and find ourselves following after. 

As this verse in Proverbs 2:6 states, wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from God. And it is to God we must turn to in order to receive each one and apply them to our lives as His children. No longer are we under sin's command, now we are under God's command. And His command is love. Our new nature is very different from our old nature. Before, we always said 'No' and justified according to our desires. Now, we say 'Yes' and are justified by grace according to God's desires for us. We live in His love and can only grow and thrive in His love as long as we remain in His love, His Word. 

Wisdom is Applied. 

Knowledge is Gained.

Understanding is Growth.

Our new nature seeks after God in His Word and in prayer with Him; that's how we hear from Him. This new inherent nature is through Christ living in us: we are new creations in Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 

We are new creations in Christ when we believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, that He died on the cross in our place, rose from the dead and walked out of the grave into newness of life and is seated at the right hand of the Father Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The Lord Is -- April

 

TSUR YISRAEL

ROCK OF ISRAEL

Isaiah 30:29

You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 

YHVH ELOHIM QADOSH

THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

BACHIR

CHOSEN ONE

Isaiah 42:1

“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations."

Matthew 12:17-21

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.

He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.

In His name the nations will put their hope.” 

Matthew 1:21

"She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.”

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

LEON IOUDAS

LION OF JUDAH

Revelation 5:5

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

Hebrews 7:14-15

He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, a tribe as to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

Micah 5:2

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be Ruler over Israel--One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

The LORD Is ---- Month of September

 

HILASMOS

ATONING SACRIFICE

1 John 2:2

He Himself is the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

1 John 4:10

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 3:25

God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

Hebrews 2:17

For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

THEOS PYR KATANALISKO

OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE

Hebrews 12:29

For our God is a Consuming Fire.

Exodus 24:17

And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Psalm 97:3

Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.

Isaiah 30:27

Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.

Isaiah 33:16

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

How, indeed, can anyone live in the presence of everlasting flames?

Romans 10:13

For “everyone who calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved.” 

KURIOS PISTOS

THE LORD IS FAITHFUL

2 Thessalonians

But the LORD is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

1 Corinthians1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is Faithful.

1 Corinthians 10:13

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is Faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

YESHUA OZ ADONAI YHVH

The Lord God Is My Salvation & Strength

Psalm 140:7

O GOD the Lord,

the Strength of my Salvation,

You shield my head in

the day of battle.

Ephesians 6:17

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

Unwrapped

 

 James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness (change), neither shadow of turning. 

Acts 2:38-39

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Hebrews 2:3-4

"How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will."

Such a gift God above has given to us below! Everything God Is, Jesus Christ Is. John 1:1-5 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 

For Jesus Is God's Living Word, God's Perfect Gift. 

John 1:9 "The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. BUT to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God."

That's our Gift from God, salvation through Jesus Christ, by believing on the NAME of THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, we become children of God. What Is the NAME of THE LORD? Wherever you find a verse that reads THE LORD IS, that is His Name. Whenever you read I AM, that is His Name.

The first one that usually pops into mind is Psalm 23:1 "The Lord Is my Shepherd." Therefore The Lord's Name is Shepherd. And because I believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, then I know that He Is my Shepherd, too.

There are many, many others of which I am still learning and studying up on. But here are a few of The Lord's Names to get you started:

• Exodus 15:2 The Lord Is My Strength and My Song
• Exodus 15:3 The Lord Is A Warrior
• Numbers 14:18 The Lord Is Slow to Anger Abounding in Love and Forgiving Sin
• Psalm 9:9 The Lord Is A Refuge For the Oppressed, A Stronghold in Times of Trouble
• Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer. My God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold
• Psalm 118:6 The Lord Is With Me
• Hebrews 13:6 The Lord Is my Helper
• Isaiah 49:26 I The Lord Am Your Savior and Redeemer, The Mighty One of Jacob

God's Gift to us, all of us. Unfortunately, some will not receive this Gift. Some will pick up the Gift, look at the pretty wrapping and set it down. Some will hold the Gift in their hands, open it, look at, maybe set it out somewhere, and never think of it again. 

Some folks will not even look in the direction of the Gift, ignoring it completely. Some will not even see the Gift, their eyes wandering to other trappings, their ears hearing greetings other than God's Word calling out their names. Sadly, none of them will receive God's Gift to them until they believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
These are the people God is trying to reach. To reach with His Love, the mighty Love that more than covers sin: this Love completely washes our sins away AND Forgets the sin that has been forgiven! What an amazing Gift God has given us! And He wrapped that Gift in flesh, which Mary then wrapped in baby clothes and blankets. Jesus. The Gift from God that keeps on giving. 

• Giving Joy Unspeakable (1 Peter 1:8). 
• Giving Peace Which Passes Understanding (Philippians 4:7)
• Giving Love (1 John 4:7)
• Giving Hope (Romans 15:13)
• Giving Faith (Romans 10:17)
• Giving Sight to the Blind (Luke 18:42)

Let us open this Glorious Holy Gift which God has so graciously extended to us and receive His Perfect Word, Jesus Christ, into our hearts and our lives, with Joy and Celebration!

TELEIOTOS

 

JEHOVAH ELOHIM TSABA

So, when I finished reading Jude, there was a cross-reference in verse 23 that took me to Amos 4:11, where I was compelled by the Holy Spirit to read through the end of Amos. And that's when this Name of Christ grabbed my attention.

JEHOVAH ELOHIM TSABA

THE LORD, THE GOD OF HOSTS

Amos 4:13

"For, behold, He Who forms the mountains,

Who creates the wind,

and reveals His thoughts to man,

the One Who turns the dawn to darkness,

and strides on the 

heights of the earth,

The LORD,

The GOD of Hosts Is His Name."

And I talked to The Spirit about how we were going to render this name pictorially. He reminded me that God's warriors are "flaming ministers". That's why each flame carries a sword. 

• Psalms 104:4
• Hebrews 1:7
• Genesis 3:24
• 2 Kings 2:11
• 2 Kings 6:17
• Ezekiel 1:13

JEHOVAH-MILHAMAH

Outside The Gate