The last few days we’ve spoken about how long God will love us, and I’ve reminded you that His love endures forever. Today it’s time to give thanks to God for loving us forever…
From the rising to the setting sun His love endures forever
Although we can always be assured of God’s love, we must not ever forget to say thank you to God for loving us. Say thank you to God, sing praises to God, for He love us and He will always love us.
Forever God is faithful Forever God is strong Forever God is with us Forever
I hope you enjoy the following song Forever by Chris Tomlin:
How about prayer? Does that strike you as being an act of worship?
At first when I getting my thoughts together for this blog post, I had to say I didn’t really think prayer was a true act of worship. However we’re reminded in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. (The Message)
God wants us to pray, to rejoice in Him and thank Him for all He does for us. By praying to God we are showing Him just how much we love and adore Him.
God tells us to “pray without ceasing”, but He doesn’t mean we should pray continually all the time, as that would be unachievable. However He does expect us to pray daily and thus worship Him on a daily basis.
Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
As I touched on yesterday in Stripped Away, our worship can sometimes get overtaken by our involvement in musical sections or other activities our church. Don’t be fooled though, God knows when we’re just going through the motions, even when we ourselves feel we’re putting our heart into it!
God know us better than we know ourselves. God knows our every feeling, our every emotion, He knows why we feel the way we do, even before we understand the reason ourself.
Don’t try and cheat God, put your heart and soul into worship – He puts His heart and soul into us every day.
In the last few weeks, you may be aware if you’re on Twitter, that there has been people, one in particular who has been doing all they can to turn people from the Salvation Army in the UK. While they are free to express their own opinions, many very broad generalisation and rash assumptions have been made by these folk, simply because they have had a bad experience in the Salvation Army.
My main reason for mentioning this is that one of their main gripes about the Salvation Army is that it focuses too much on music, the musical sections (both young peoples and senior sections), and the musical ability of its members. I agree that in the Salvation Army we do encourage music as a means of worship and praise, however I certainly do not agree that the Army focus is more on its music than on God.
In thinking about and praying about some of the things that have been said on Twitter, I’ve found myself drawn to the song When The Music Fades. Then in our devotions during the band practice last Thursday, our officer (minister) reminds us again of that same song…When the Music Fades.
When the music fades All is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to bring Something that’s of worth That will bless Your heart
I bring you more than a song For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship And it’s all about you It’s all about you, Jesus I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it When it’s all about you It’s all about you, Jesus
King of endless worth No one could express How much you deserve Though I’m weak and poor All I have is yours Every single breath
This song really sums up what I think the Salvation Army is all about…yes we love our music, I love the music it’s how I express my love for God, however it is just a small part of what it’s all about for the majority of us. For us, you could take away the musical sections, the music, the uniforms etc, but Jesus would still be there at the centre of all we do.
Yes, I will admit that sometimes we can all get caught up in the emotions of some of the music, but if we are real Christians and not just going through the motions of the Salvation Army and all that entails, we remind ourselves of the words related to the music, remind ourselves of Jesus and remind ourselves of the cross…that should be more than enough to remind us of the reason for being a part of the Salvation Army.
Everything we have is God’s, because all He had, He gave for us at Calvary.
So you’re a Christian, but have you really given everything you have, and every part of you to God?
God needs and wants us to give him our all. So fall down on your knees and worship God today and every day.
In bowing down before God each day we are promising to serve Him, to serve the King of Kings - Have you promised to serve the King of Kings?
King of Kings, Majesty by Jarrod Cooper
King of Kings, Majesty, God of heaven, living in me Gentle Saviour, closest friend, Strong Deliverer, Beginning and End All within me falls at Your throne
Your Majesty, I can but bow I lay my all before You now In royal robes I don’t deserve I live to serve Your Majesty
Earth and heaven worship You, God Eternal, Faithful and True Who bought the nations, ransomed souls Brought this sinner near to Your throne All within me cries out in praise
Is God worthy of our praise? Is He worth of all our glory?
Yes and yes!
We can never repay God for all He does for us each and every day. Have you ever even stopped each day to consider all the blessings He has given you during the day – I know I don’t do this nearly as often as I should. But we really should think more about all God does for us. How can we ever hope to repay Him for all He does for us if we don’t even acknowledge all He does for us.
God is amazing. God is more than worthy of our praise!
We have raised a thousand voices Just to lift Your holy name And we will raise thousands more To sing of Your beauty in this place Well none can even fathom No not one define Your worth As we marvel in Your presence To the ends of the earth.
We give You glory, Lifting up our hands and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart Glory, lifting up our voice and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart
As we fall down before You With our willing hearts we seek In the greatness of Your glory It’s so hard to even speak There is nothing we can offer No nothing can repay So we give You all our praises And lift our voice to sing
We give You glory, Lifting up our hands and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart Glory, lifting up our voice and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart
Our hope is drenched in You Our faith has been renewed We trust in Your every word Nothing else can even measure up to You.
We give You glory, Lifting up our hands and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart Glory, lifting up our voice and singing holy, You alone are worthy We just want to touch Your heart, Lord, touch Your heart
How great is your love, it never gives up on me Stronger than shame, carries me back to you Jesus my redeemer, You have made a way
All glory to God who is able All power and praise Forever the earth will proclaim You are mighty, you are mighty
So great is your love, keeps all its promises Unshakeable, eternity rests in your hands Jesus I surrender, lead me in your ways
All glory to God who is able All power and praise Forever the earth will proclaim You are mighty, you are mighty
Lift him higher, he is mighty Lift him higher, he is God Lift him higher, he is mighty Lift him higher, he is God
Do you lift God higher each day?
God is ever faithful to us, and when we give our lives to Him, we are promising to be faithful to Him. Even when we do or say things we shouldn’t, God forgives us, and welcomes us back to Him.
Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
God is great, so tell the world how wonderful and faithful
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
Jesus is the Son of God, His only son. He is our Lord and our Saviour. We must lift up our voices in praise to Him, for He will never leave us alone to face all this world throws our way.
We must bow down before God and lift up our praises and our prayers to Him, today, tomorrow and every day.
Be Lifted Up by Paul Oakley
Be lifted up, be lifted up As we bow down, Be lifted up. (Repeat)
Let the heavens rejoice Let the nations be glad Let the whole earth tremble For you are God Come and worship the Lord In the beauty of holiness
As we bow down, Be lifted up, As we bow down, Be lifted up
I was walking down life’s highway a long time ago.
One day I saw a sign that read “Heaven’s Grocery Store”.
As I got a little closer, the door came open wide.
When I came to myself, I was standing just inside.
I saw a host of angels. They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said, “My child, please shop with care”.
Everything a Christian needed was in that Grocery Store.
All you couldn’t carry, you could come back the next day for.
First, I got some PATIENCE; LOVE was in the very same row.
Further down was UNDERSTANDING, you needed it wherever you go.
I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH.
I just couldn’t miss the HOLY SPIRIT, for He was all over the place!!
I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help me run this race.
By then my basket was getting full but…I remembered I needed some GRACE!
I didn’t forget SALVATION, for SALVATION was free.
So I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.
Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
for I thought I had everything to do my Master’s will.
As I wind up the aisle I saw PRAYER and I just had to put that in.
For I knew when I stepped outside, I would run right into sin.
PEACE and JOY were plentiful; they were on the last shelf.
SONGS and PRAISES were hanging near, so I just helped myself.
Then I said to the angel, “How much do I owe?”
He just smiled and said, “Just take them everywhere you go.”
Again I smiled at him and said, “How much do I owe?”
He smiled again and said…… “My child, JESUS PAID YOUR BILL A LONG TIME AGO!”
That was the Sydney Staff Songsters of the Salvation Army singing a wonderful arrangement of Revelation 19.
Revelation 19 contains words of praise and worship and encourages us to celebrate God’s wonderful love for us each and every day. We so often take God’s love for us for granted, so why not listen to the Songsters sing Revelation 19 again, and then share a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for all he’s done for you today and for all He will do in the future.
The Message version of the bible says the following in Revelation 19:1-10 under the heading of The Sound of Hallelujahs:
I heard a sound like massed choirs in Heaven singing, Hallelujah! The salvation and glory and power are God’s— his judgments true, his judgments just. He judged the great Whore who corrupted the earth with her lust. He avenged on her the blood of his servants. Then, more singing: Hallelujah! The smoke from her burning billows up to high Heaven forever and ever and ever. The Twenty-four Elders and the Four Animals fell to their knees and worshiped God on his Throne, praising, Amen! Yes! Hallelujah!
From the Throne came a shout, a command: Praise our God, all you his servants, All you who fear him, small and great!
Then I heard the sound of massed choirs, the sound of a mighty cataract, the sound of strong thunder: Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints.
The Angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Blessed are those invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.’” He added, “These are the true words of God!” I fell at his feet to worship him, but he wouldn’t let me. “Don’t do that,” he said. “I’m a servant just like you, and like your brothers and sisters who hold to the witness of Jesus. The witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
What do you think of when you hear the word “worship”?
