Why We Worship 5

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"

Psalm 99 

The Lord reigns;
Let the peoples tremble!
He dwells between the cherubim;
Let the earth be moved!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
He is holy.

4 The King’s strength also loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;
They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.

8 You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 99 

has only 9 verses and three of those verses proclaim the reason for worshipping God that we are considering today.

          Verse 3
                 Let them praise Thy great and terrible Name for it is Holy

          Verse 5
                 Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is Holy.

          Verse 9
                 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His Holy hill; for the Lord our God is Holy

Why would the Psalmist need to tell us what appears to be the same thing?

Simply because it is not the same.

I believe this Psalm was very deliberately written with these three verses, it is not idle repetition.

Repetition with God's Word shows us how important something is and it is to be carefully noted.

Firstly   we are told that God's Name is Holy

and then 

Twice   we are told that God is Holy.

An indication that everything about God is Holy.

Yes in two of the verses we are told to worship God because He is Holy but in each case a different place is mentioned.

We are meant to worship God wherever we are 

because He is Holy no matter where we are.

There is never a time or place when God is not Holy.

We may feel as if some place is holier than another but God is always Holy 

and the place will not determine what He is like 

nor how we should treat Him.

Do you worship God differently depending on where you are?

Do you believe God is Holy?

           

The Hotel Pool - A Dose of Encouragement

Our children have always been excited when we have had the opportunity to stay at a lovely hotel especially when it has a pool.  So the three years we lived in America were very happy as we had several opportunities to stay at hotels with outdoor pools whilst on various trips across the states.

         
 On one of our trips back home to Northern Ireland we stopped over in London for a weekend at a hotel with an indoor pool and of course the kids just could not wait to get into it.  Jonathan and Daniel had learned to swim reasonably well by this stage but Linda was only 6 years old and was only just getting confident.  

Unfortunately she was too confident too soon 

as we were about to discover.

          Fred and the children got their swimsuits and towels ready and headed down to the changing rooms while I headed to find a seat at the poolside to relax and watch them enjoying themselves.  
But there were no seats by the pool, in fact, I couldn’t get close to the pool at all as there was a 4 ft high barrier all around the area. The only access to the pool was through the changing area and showers. 

          I stood and leaned on the barrier watching as Fred played and swam with the kids in the pool.  There was only two other people in the pool and very soon one of them climbed out and went over to sit in the Jacuzzi.  A short time later he left the Jacuzzi and disappeared from sight.  

          Linda must have watched him because a little while later she stepped out of the pool and went over towards the Jacuzzi but neither the boys nor Fred noticed her leave the pool.  The boys were playing together and the other person in the pool had started talking to Fred.  Neither the boys nor Fred could hear me as I yelled to them about Linda. 

          

 

 I hoped she would not actually get into the Jacuzzi but that’s exactly what she did and almost immediately she disappeared down under the water as it bubbled up.  Still Fred couldn’t hear me and I couldn’t get near the pool, all I could do was pray as I saw her head appear up out of the water only to disappear again. 

          Suddenly Fred realised she was missing and looked round.  He hurried out and over to her but by this time she had been under the water several times.  He dragged her out and we both were afraid it was too late, but as he laid her down on the pool edge she coughed up a lot of water and started to cry.

            It all happened so quickly and I had felt so helpless.  

I felt alone and unable to do anything.
Linda must have felt so alone too and could not help herself.
I am so thankful to God that He never leaves us alone.
He has promised to never leave us.

Fortunately this incident did not leave Linda with a fear of water and she still enjoys going swimming.  

It did however leave me with the knowledge that we can’t protect our children from everything now or in the future, God is the only one who can do that.

Thank you God that you love us and watch over us 

and preserve us and answer our prayers.

You never leave us nor forsake us.

Have you experienced God watching over you and your family?

Do you know that you are not alone when you have handed your life over to God?

Why We Worship 4

I am taking time each week to ask myself

 "Why we worship"

One of the things about God that we may find hard to understand is that God cannot be measured or defined.

Our minds are so finite that we can not really understand that there can possibly be something that is infinite.

Except if you are a Maths teacher as I was and then you have often had to talk about positive and negative numbers both going on to infinity.

 ( I love the symbol used for infinity  ∞ )

infinite adjective

1. limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate
2. 
   

Isn't that marvellous to think about?  

God has no limits!

So God has no start or finish.

 

                                                                                                       
  
Do you ever ask God to help you appreciate how different He is to us?        

What a Face! - A Dose of Encouragement

Having grown up (as some would have described me) as a Tomboy; I made it into my teens not too conscious of my looks or interested in make-up.

Then when I was 14 I met a boy!

    And I didn't change.

I met him at a youth meeting and decided he was the guy for me.
(There really is a bit more to it than that but that might be for a different story sometime).


 I didn't go to the youth meeting all the time but we got to know each other a little as friends over the next 2 years.  There were things I wanted to know more about from the Bible and he was the one I talked to.

Two years after we met there was a Summer Youth Camp for a week and I wanted to go.
My problem was the week before it I was going to be on a School trip to France arriving back into Belfast on the day the camp started in Bangor.  The Pastor of the church which ran the youth group approached my parents and asked if it would be ok with them for him to meet me off the boat in Belfast and take me to the camp and they agreed.  I was delighted and even though I had been promised for a few years that I could go on this trip in my 5th year at the grammer school I was now looking forward more to the camp than to the trip to France.

While on the school trip I found I had a little blister forming on my cheek but just thought it would be ok. By the time I arrived at the youth camp I was greeted with remarks about how I really should go to the chemist and get something for my face but it was Saturday evening and they weren't open.  By the time it got to Monday morning the blister had spread up my cheek and was not very nice looking.  Walking me along to the chemist were two of my girl friends and this guy I liked, but when I got there I just didn't want to go in.  I dreaded the thought of anyone touching this cheek and even though they tried to persuade me several times I would not go.

It got bigger and bigger and when I think back now I can't believe anyone would have wanted to be near me at all as it could have looked as if I was contagious with something.

Towards the end of the week this blister thing was quite a sight to see and was rather ugly.  I was not looking at myself all day so I didn't have to see the ugliness but others did.

Then there was the day that we all went to walk up Slieve Donard the highest mountain in the Mournes (I believe).  There was a bunch of us who got lost and headed the wrong way but had a laugh anyway.  I'm not sure that everyone else would have been too happy had there been any accidents; as I was carrying the First Aid Kit.


Well who was I sitting beside in the car on the way home?
You've guessed it, that guy I liked.


Well I sort of (cough, cough) fell asleep on the way home and whose shoulder was conveniently there for my head to slip down unto?
You've guessed it, that guy I liked.


All during that week I was in his company a lot but never alone, always with other friends.  Then the last night of the camp we did get the chance to be on our own for a very short time during which he told me he loved me.  Quick work for the quiet lad everyone thought he was.

When I arrived home my parents were startled to see the "thing" on my face.
The doctor was called immediately and he did a home visit.
Apparently I had caught a virus while sunbathing in France and it had caused my skin to develop several small blisters as it burnt and these then turned into a horrible scab.  I was prescribed an ointment which was very effective and the scab seemed to dissolve and most of it just slid down off my face.  My family were relieved that my face cleared up very quickly with no scars, while I was relieved that there was not as much pain as I had feared.  This virus still lies dormant under my skin and flares up now and again.


When I would think back to that time and tell our kids the story of how daddy told mummy he loved her before they even went on a date together; the main thing in my mind would always be that this was our special story.  But one thing that my sister had said to me all those years ago always made it more special to me in particular.  She said

She told me that she couldn't understand how I came back from camp with a boyfriend when I looked the way I did.

Later when I asked Fred (the guy I liked) why he hadn't been put off by my ugly face, he just told me that he thought I was beautiful and that something on my face didn't change his mind.

So you see all these years I have been very happy and extremely thankful that Fred loved me when I was looking ghastly and I never would have thought I was beautiful.  He wasn't attracted by my looks,  he was attracted to me, the person I was.

Maybe I should explain that 4 years after this camp I married Fred and (at the time of writing this) we have been married for 36 years.

Even as the years have passed and I have not thought myself to be pretty, Fred has often told me that I am Beautiful.  That has always helped me to feel special.  This is just one of the reasons I still love my husband.

A lot of the attributes of God are hard for us to see, or to understand because we think as humans but He is God.  When I experience the love Fred has for me and how he sees me it helps me to see how God can love me and see me as beautiful just the way I am even though I am far from perfect for which I can never cease to be thankful.


Do you know that God wants you to know that you are beautiful?

Do you know that God loves you?

Why We Worship 3

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship".

I am not presuming that there is one overall right answer.

Perhaps because we are all uniquely different people we may also believe we have uniquely different reasons for worshipping God.

I believe we will have some uniquely different ways of worshipping but there are many reasons why we worship that must be common to us all.

In this series I'm really focusing on the attributes of God at the moment with

       
          God is GREAT

               
                    God is WORTHY 

                             

                                   

and for today I'm taking the bible verse   1 John 4 v 8

How do we know that He is Love?


The Bible tells us He is Love as in the verse above.


Our pastors and leaders in church explain to us that He is Love


But most of all our personal relationship with Him cries out to us that He is Love.

We would not even be able to have this relationship with Him if He was not Love.

We would not have been given the only way of Salvation through Jesus if He was not Love. 

We would never be able to get beyond our sinful nature if He was not Love.

I am thankful that God is Love and I have experienced His great Love for me.

Without a doubt God is Love!

Do you have this relationship where you can say without a doubt that 

God is Love?

Automatic Pilot - A Dose of Encouragement

Do you drive your car or does the car drive you?  

My car drives me more often than not.

          Sometimes for various reasons I had to drive my two teenage sons to school.  My oldest boy Jonathan had been working for his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award and of course this involved hikes and camping which in turn meant rucksacks.  This is why one morning I had to drive the boys to school (there's hardly enough room for all of the pupils on their school bus, let alone a number of rucksacks as well). 

Everything went very smoothly and we even left in very good time and they were early for school and I was back in time for a 9am appointment.  The boys even praised me when we got to the roundabout on the way to school as I managed to go round and take the right road.  

Of course I'm perfectly capable of negotiating a roundabout and I do know where the roads in my city lead.  However my kids are quite used to me driving straight through that roundabout and taking the other road that I travel on each afternoon instead of the one that leads towards their school because I'm on automatic pilot.  You know those times when you are driving carefully enough but not concentrating enough to remember you have to deviate from your normal route - don't you?  My excuse is simply that the car takes over and goes its own way.  


Then there was the example of just the other day when I went round that same roundabout three times as I tried to remember which exit to take on that specific occasion, now I did have a friend in the car talking non-stop but I can't blame it all on her.

      

      Then there was the day a few years ago when as I was driving along I suddenly had to ask myself where I was going.  Was I going to collect my daughter from Primary school as I did each day at 3pm, or was I going to my mother's house (they are both in the same direction)?  As I thought about what day it was, and noted the time on the clock in the car I remembered it was neither of these, it was only 2pm and I actually was going to the Primary school but to collect my nephew not my daughter.  Then I was to call with my mother before collecting Linda.

                   

Obviously my mind wanders a lot. 

So it's no wonder God has to catch my attention repeatedly.
  
How often do we go along on automatic pilot and forget to tune in to where and what God is telling us to go and do?

Are we doing everything the same, each day, each week?  

• Do we teach Sunday School or kid's club in the same way each week?  
• Do we preach to the same format each time?  
• Is our outreach approached in the same fashion each time?  
• Do we plan our meetings in the same way each time?  
• Do we even read the bible and pray in the same way each day?
• Do we write our blog posts in the same way each time? 

Do you think it is time to stop automatically doing these things and treat each one as a completely unique event?

Maybe it’s time to consider the roundabout and carefully ask God which exit we are to take today, tomorrow, and the next day………….??

Why We Worship 2

If someone were to ask you today why you worship God would you know how to answer?

We dealt more with that in the first one in the series featuring GOD IS GREAT                             
         Today let's look at                          

Revelation 4 v 10 - 11

        the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

If the 24 elders who are before the throne of God worship Him because He is worthy then we can not disagree but need to proclaim exactly the same thing now here before we need to do it in Heaven.

   

Some people might say
  

                              "Let's Practice what we will be doing for eternity"

                       

               
 but instead we should say

"Let's worship and let's do it now" 

Let's declare it now "God is Worthy to be praised".

because

                                                         

                                                              now and for eternity.

Forty Winks - A Dose of Encouragement

One Sunday afternoon we went to visit Fred’s aunt in hospital.  

As we were sitting chatting Fred’s uncle nodded off to sleep for a few minutes,  later that afternoon his dad nodded off sitting in our house and in the early evening Fred himself nodded off.  

Does it run in the family or what?  Well I remember when my dad used to nod off on occasions too, so is it a “Man” thing?  

We usually laugh about it but sometimes I get annoyed at Fred because I don’t think I’m that boring really.

The next morning when I sat down to read my bible, I found I had got to Psalm 121.  Well because it’s rather well known I immediately thought I’ll read this one quickly and get on to the next one. 



However, verses 3 & 4 made me sit up and take notice.  

It says God will neither

slumber nor sleep

and I of course thought back to the day before.  

This was now much more meaningful because suddenly I felt that I had the proof that I’m not boring to God, He is always interested in what I’m doing and is always listening and attentive to my needs and fears and anything else I’m thinking about. 

         

We may sometimes think things are boring or uneventful or going on the same, day after day, but God doesn’t.  He doesn't find us boring because He loves us. 



So remember that you, yes you are loved by God and you are so important to Him that 

He isn’t nodding off at any moment at all.

I am so thankful that God doesn't slumber or sleep, are you?

Have you read Psalm 121 recently?

If not maybe you could just take a little moment to read it now and be encouraged.