Posted on August 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters
Of the three Ruling Angels, it was Lucifer who was created to worship. Isaiah tells us he possessed ‘the sound of Stringed Instruments’ and Ezekiel refers to the “workmanship of his timbrels (like a percussion instrument) and pipes (woodwind instrument).” Unfortunately he tried to exchange his role as worship leader with that of being the center of attention and the focus of worship. He has been cast down from this role in God’s presence, yet he continues to use his power to pervert music for his purposes.
God has now given Believers the honor of producing worship before their God.
Mankind is built to worship. We have vocal cords as a stringed instrument, hands for percussion as in clapping, and wind instruments as when we sing. So worship is not something we go to, but something we are capable of doing every moment of our lives. (hodges)
But we possess more than just instruments. And we as those who are created in the likeness of God’s nature and essence, have a much more powerful reason to worship than even Lucifer did… worship was Lucifer’s job, but worship is not our job or even simply a religious activity. Our worship, as those who have placed their faith in the completed works of salvation made available to us through God’s love and Jesus’ obedience, even obedience to the cross; our worship is in response to His first loving us. Our worship should come from a heart that understands the cost of our salvation and the loving kindness that constrained Jesus, whose will was set like flint towards the cross. For it was through the cross that God’s perfect justice would be perfectly satisfied, and by which those who believe would be declared justified in His sight; enabling us to walk boldly into His gates of Heaven with ‘Praise and Thanksgiving’ produced from a heart that has chosen Jesus ‘above all.’
Let it never be that our worship be a religious activity driven by tradition, day, or methodology! O that our worship be from a heart that loves and adores our Lord and Savior, the One who gave His all for you and me!
Choose wisely….
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the sheep of His pasture. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God— ‘this is your true and proper worship.’ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Psalm 95:6; Romans 12:1-2)
Praying you choose Christ today
Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.
Think About This: “It was becoming clearer and clearer that if I wanted to come to the end of my life and not say, “I’ve wasted it!” then I would need to press all the way in, and all the way up, to the ultimate purpose of God and join him in it. If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God’s passion.” ― John Piper
The Daily Bible Reading: Jeremiah 6-7. You can download our 2023 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17-18
Consider a retreat at America’s Keswick retreat center.
