WORD up!

Making Beautiful Music Do you praise God as you should? Would you praise Him if you could? Do you praise Him in your church? Do you praise Him in a lurch? Do you praise Him in the car? Praise Him, praise Him where you are! No, I’m not auditioning for a role in “Seussical”. I just do some pretty goofy things when I’m joyful. Praising God fills me with joy. It really amazing how I can be giving Him so much in worship, and the whole time, He’s filling me up! May I make a suggestion? We touched on this thought a bit at the very beginning of this study. You should continue to practice your praising. It will soon be our full time job in heaven – to praise our Creator and His Glorious Son! (Rev. 19:1,3) Hallelujah! If you could see me now, I’m out of my seat, spinning around with my hands in the air singing “woo hoo”. Well, not really. I’m typing. But I was doing that a few minutes ago! How Loud Is Your Love? In case you haven’t noticed, Psalm 150 is pretty loud. Many joyful noises are being ...

Breathe Got Breath? Praise the LORD! Even the animals do it! How? By serving the purpose for which God created them. Bees do it by flying when they shouldn’t be able to do so. Just ask Thelma Wells. She’s one of the Women of Faith who has a thing for bees. Birds sing. Coyotes howl. Gorillas pound their chests. Even cockroaches do something. I’m not sure what it is, but they have breath. Don’t they? It’s the same for us. We pray. We teach. We preach. We work. We serve. We encourage. You don’t need to test yourself to find your gifts. Just start serving somewhere. Eventually, God will direct you to your perfect fit in ministry. Or He may change your ministry over time. Perhaps you’ll have multiple ministries where you serve. Does your breath praise Him? How? Do you play the flute? Do you preach the Word of God? Are you a teacher? Do you encourage others? Our praise should destroy lies, proclaim the truth and advance the gospel message. Don’t let another moment pass while you wait. Just g...

Crash, Bang, Boom! Clash of cymbals Talk about heavy metal! Okay, maybe it’s not that heavy. This musical crash of metallic plates of brass adds punctuation to a song. Wham! Can you hear the music they make? I guess it’s more like a “crash” or a “clang” than a “wham.” Anyway, how does this speak to us on a spiritual level? We’re supposed to be loud when we praise, so we had better be in tune. This doesn’t mean you should shout “Repent!” from the street corners in your home town. I mentioned in an earlier chapter about living out loud. This means that, everything you do, you should do for Jesus because, as a Christian, you need to bring Jesus to the world. That’s the Great Commission. Check it out in Matthew 28:16-20. Did you stop to read the scriptures? If not, I urge you to do so. Go ahead. I’ll wait right here. Not only are we given the assignment to make disciples and baptize, verse 20 says that the disciples should also be “teaching them to obey everything I commanded you”. How can...

Put On Your Boogie Shoes Tambourine Man Let me reiterate harmony as we discussed in the last chapter. Now, let’s add another facet: the rhythm section. If you want to throw a band into chaos, bring in an out-of-sync percussion instrument. A bad beat will knock the greatest of bands out of whack because it sets the pace. The beat is the backbone that all of the other instruments and voices look to for direction. Look up a few of these scriptures involving tambourines. They are such joyful instruments. Many of these verses involve singing, dancing and other musical devices. (Exodus 15:20-21, 1 Samuel 10:5, 1 Samuel 18:6, Job 21:12, Psalm 149:3) The Bible also tells us that instruments alone are not enough. Respect for God is a must! Read Isaiah 5:11-12. It clearly states that, even though they play the instruments at the right parties, these men are indulging their own desires of the flesh. They don’t respect what the Lord has done. This tells me that there’s no point in having a party c...

Strike Up The Band Tea And Trumpets Trumpets are musical instruments that were used in the temple service. Only the priest was permitted to sound the trumpet loudly to call the people together for religious assemblies. The trumpet was also used in battle. Trumpets led the way when the ark was returning to Jerusalem. They notified God it was time to knock down the walls of Jericho. They were used to celebrate. Trumpets called out to God to fill the temple. They cry out to God. They accompany sacrifice. Just as you use breath to play the trumpet, we should use our breath to praise God. How many ways can you think of the praise the Lord using your breath? Let’s take a look at several of the references made to trumpets in the Bible. Look up the following scriptures. Trumpets have seen some action! (Numbers 10:8-10, Joshua 6:1-20, Judges 7:1-22) The Bible tells us in these passages that the Israelite priests were to blow the trumpets. The Bible also says that when the Israelites went to war...

Here is a list of daily readings and activities that correspond with what is written in the Bible about where Jesus was and what He was doing during His last week on earth before the crucifixion. Read these passages, meditate on them, let them bring you to a new level of your relationship with Jesus. Palm Sunday Jesus enters Jerusalem – Matt 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 19:28-44; Jn. 12:12-19 Jesus predicts His death – Jn. 12:20-36 The Jews don’t believe – Jn. 12:37-50 Journaling/Activities: Compare the different Gospel Accounts of today’s events. What details are different? What stands out? What is the same? What does this tell you? -or- Write a diary entry based upon today’s events as if you were an eye witness. -or- Make a list of questions you would ask if you were to interview one of the participants or witnesses of today’s events. In your prayer time, ask God these questions. Monday Jesus in the temple – Matt.21:12-17; Mk. 11:12-19; Lk. 19:45-48 Jesus curses the fig tree – Matt. 21:...

The Great And Powerful God! God isn’t a fake like the Wizard of Oz! He really is the great and powerful God! He’s Got the Power Power is strength, force, effectiveness, control, authority, among other things. Look up the word “power” in the dictionary for a greater picture of what is encompassed in such a small word. Note any additional insight into the word “power” in the margin. The Bible is full of stories depicting God’s acts of power. Some of these include creation, redemption, and grace. Read the following encounters, then take a few minutes to record your thoughts and observations about God’s power. (Exodus 14:21-22, Acts 9:1-22, I Kings 18:22-38, Luke 1:26-45, John 11:41-44) Can you wrap your mind around this concept? Take your time. Each of these examples can be overwhelming - like contemplating the size of the universe. The power of God can part the sea to reveal dry ground. The power of God can bring a terrorist to his knees before Christ and make him a mighty evangelist. Th...

Just Do It! God deserves all of our praise. We should exalt Him alone. Our actions, word, and even thoughts should glorify Him. Do you agree? Do you give Him all of your praise? If so, way to go! If not, why? One of my reference materials, The Treasury of David, writes that God should be our only object of adoration. If we give any honor intended for Him to another, it is treason. If we don’t honor Him, we have robbed Him. Do you feel convicted? I certainly do. Although I don’t believe that humans are physically capable of giving God all of the praise that He deserves, to think of this in terms of “treason” and “robbery” leads me to believe that each of us is ultimately responsible for praising Him! To what, besides God, are you giving your praise? We are going to refocus our attention over the next few weeks. We will begin looking for God in unusual places and celebrating Him in unique ways. It is my prayer that this will draw us closer to Him and enhance our relationship with our Hea...

I am so excited that you’ve decided to join me on this thrilling journey of praise! When you truly open your heart to praising God, your life will never be the same. I encourage you to approach each day as a gift from Him specifically to you. I challenge you to look upon each situation and circumstance and try to find His hand in it. Experience your world with the eyes of a child, full of wonder and passion and awe at what your Daddy is capable of! Hallelujah! Before we read through the scripture that will anchor our time together for the next few weeks, I’d like to go over the guidelines for this study. The “Guidelines” If you joined me in the study “Living the Blameless Life,” you’re already familiar with the guidelines. We previously called them ground rules, but, in honor of the Captain Barbossa line from my favorite movie of all time in the whole wide world, Pirates of the Caribbean, I’ve renamed them “guidelines”. If this is our first study together, please forgive my rambling an...