Wednesday, March 18, 2020

"..never stop offering our sacrifice to God" - Hebrews 13:15-16 (ERV)



Jesus is our doorway, our entrance into the presence of our God. 

Our sacrifice, as it says, is our Praise, our gratitude, and our thankfulness. 

God gave up something most precious to Him, and that was His Son so that He could make a way for us to come back to the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. 

Sacrifice is more than just praising God; sacrifice is an attitude of deep obeisance to our King. 

We often see the words Praise and Worship together, but they have very different meanings. For example, we can offer Praise to Jesus for the efforts He accomplished by going to the cross, and that would be a commendation to what He accomplished, declaring His fame or renown for His meritorious effort. 

Worship, on the other hand, is different; the primary word in worship is “worthy.” The fundamental sense of the word worthy is worth, which, at its core meaning, is strength, excellence, and virtue. Other descriptions of worth are importance; and valuable qualities, all of which go back to the notion that worthiness is an attribute that is recognized, honored, and suitable. 

Worship is the act of demonstrating worth or worthiness by recognizing the one deserving our deference has earned this honor by either position or virtuous merit. We worship God for who He is as a loving Father to us, and the title He holds as creator and mediator of the heavens and the earth.

“You are the one who put me together inside my mother’s body, and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.” 
Psalm 139:13-14 (CEV)

King David gave us the best examples of Praise ever recorded, and it is this Praise that helps us to understand that it is the goodness of God that puts the praises in our mouths. We have nothing within us that would naturally praise the Lord because we are dead in rebellion and sin. It is the love of God that reveals His goodness to us that we become alive in and through Him.

“With all my heart I praise the Lord, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise the Lord! I will never forget how kind he has been.” 
Psalm 103:1-2 (CEV)

The passage today speaks of a sacrifice of Praise; sacrifice is a willingness to offer God our time and devotion out of gratitude for what He has done on our behalf. Praising God is the foundation of how we interact with God. It means that Praise is intentional. 

It takes our effort to praise God to decide to stand in a place of honor and devotion before God and humble ourselves before Him and recognize that He is above (or higher) than all of the things that He has created, including ourselves. It is from this position we speak our affection and appreciation back to Him because He is a good God.

 “Shout praises to the Lord! You are his servants, so praise his name. All who serve in the temple of the Lord our God, come and shout praises. Praise the name of the Lord! He is kind and good.” 
Psalm 135:1-3 (CEV)

The passage says (almost as a side note) “don’t forget to do good and share what you have with others.”  The writer is saying because God is good, that goodness has been imparted within you. 

When you go out into the world, share God’s goodness with others, for these types of efforts (sacrifices) are very pleasing to God, who wants to go out into the world at large, sure He could do it by Himself and Just be God. Still, He has created and chosen humans to communicate His love and kindness to the world; we are God’s imagers.
  
Praising God, as I said earlier, is intentional. He puts the desire within us, and we must respond to make it happen, we have to speak out the praises that exist in our hearts (minds), and as we speak (sacrifice) more Praises become added to our vocabulary. It is how the love of God is communicated; it is dynamic and expanding as we open ourselves to His goodness and share it with others.

 “My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him. God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him. God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.” 
1 John 4:7-12 (CEV)

That is the nature of God to love us, no matter what we have done in our past or our present, His love for us never changes. Jesus has declared the Love of God to us.

How could we not praise and worship Him?

Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

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