Study Your Bible!

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. (1 Thessalonians 5:27)(KJV)

I would like to share this devotional with you from an old daily devotional book that belonged to my father. The book is entitled Beside the Still Waters. This particular devotional was written by J. B. Crichton.


Study Your Bible!


What a sound piece of advice with which to close this Epistle! Read--study your Bible! Bible study, to be profitable, however, must follow some definite pattern. The Bible lays down three fundamental rules for profitable Bible study.


First, study your Bible daily! Job testified, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12)(KJV). As the body requires food each day for nourishment, growth, and sustenance, so the soul requires a daily diet of the Word of God. Don't starve your soul!


Second, study your Bible directly! David wrote in the Psalms, "My meditation of him shall be sweet." To be really profitable, it must be your own personal study of the Word of God. davily devotional books, Bible commentaries, and sermons are valuable in their place. But if they are acting as substitutes for a personal, first-hand knowledge of the Bible in your life, then they are a detriment.


Third, study your Bible definitely! David wrote of the "blessed man" that "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:2). To be useful and fruitful, Bible study requires meditation. Griffith Thomas once said, "Meditation is attention plus intention." By that he meant that meditation was composed of two ingredients: first, giving serious thought and study to what Scripture actually says; and second, making a determined resolution that, by the grace of God, the truth of the Scripture would be put into actual daily practice.


And now let me be very practical and definite. We are urging, let's study the Bible. What are you going to do about it? Resolve to meet God alone each day in the Word and in prayer. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God..."(2 Tim. 2:15)(KJV)


Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

How Can We Know If God is Pleased With Our Worship?

When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations--I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (Isaiah 1:12-14)(NIV)

Do we want our worship to be pleasing to God? If so, then we need to ask ourselves every so often a few questions. Is our worship about us, about what we want, about what we can get out of it or about what we are giving? Or is it truly about God, about what He wants, about what He has done for us and about giving Him the praise that He's worthy of?

This little article below is taken from the NIV Quest Study Bible and I hope it will give you some new insight into what worship should and shouldn't be:

The temple in Isaiah's day had ample space around the altar of burnt offering for one to observe another's spirituality. Even the presiding priests might be impressed by the sacrifice of a large, costly animal.

Prophets such as Isaiah were aghast at such showy displays of worship. At times, God swiftly punished prideful, self-centered worship. For example, when King Uzziah tried to offer incense in the temple and lost his temper when priests tried to stop him (Israel was not to have pries-kings like its idolatrous neighbors), God afflicted him with leprosy.

True worship isn't showy. It does not call attention to or glorify the worshiper; it honors only God. It is not a mindless formality, either. It is an affair of the heart, characterized by the conviction of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:6), fervent prayer (Jms. 5:16) and open-hearted reading of God's Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). God shows he is pleased with such worship by being present with us.

Singing His Praises,

Joey Culpepper

Worthy For Who He Is

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil." Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are spread out in the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face." (Job 1:8-11)(HCSB)


Have you ever heard someone use the phrase "the patience of Job"? You may have heard somebody say, "She must have the patience of Job in order to deal with that situation or set of circumstances." Well, when I read through the book of Job, I see a man who is committed to worshiping God. I'm not struck so much by his extraordinary patience as I am by his enduring praise.


In the course of one day, Job lost all his worldly possessions and all his children, and yet we see a response of praise rather than anger towards God.----He (Job) fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord. Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything. (Job 1:20b-22)(HCSB)


Wow! He didn't blame God, but praised His name instead. Now that's a tough example of worship to follow. Job continued to worship because, despite all that had happened, he understood that God is worthy no matter what. In Job 1:9-11, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, makes the accusation that the only reason Job followed God was because he received blessings for it. Job would surely stop worshiping the Lord if those rewards were taken away. Satan may have intended to turn this argument against everyone who followed after the Lord. A more up-to-date way of stating this idea might be: "A person will worship and honor God as long as it's in their best interest."


But God knew that Job would hold fast to his faith despite his suffering, because Job understood that the Lord is worthy of worship just because He is God. So let's take our cue from Job and worship God for Who He Is rather than for what He gives us. Let's be followers whose worship is an example of enduring praise both through the good times and the bad. Let's pray for the Lord to purify our motives for following Him so that if it comes down to it some day, we will be able to proclaim along with Job: The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord! (Job 1:21b)(NLT)


Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

Miriam

Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine and led all the women in rhythm and dance. (Exodus 15:20)




The following is a worship profile from the Praise and Worship Study Bible published by Tyndale House Publishers. I highly recommend this study bible for everyone who wishes to learn more about praise and worship.


Miriam



Miriam was almost certainly the sister who "stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him" (Exodus 2:4)(NLT) when Moses was hidden in the reeds along the bank of the Nile. When Pharaoh's daughter found Moses in the reeds, Miriam cleverly suggested to her that a Hebrew woman could nurse him for her. So Miriam told their mother, who then came and took care of Moses for Pharaoh's daughter. Miriam may have felt that she spent much of her life "standing at a distance" as God elevated her younger sibling among the Israelites. In the book of Numbers we read that God had to punish Miriam near the end of her life for the jealousy she expressed toward her brother: "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us, too?" (Numbers 12:2)(NLT). However, we also remember Miriam as the Bible's first female prophet, who led her nation in worship.


Miriam the Worshiper


The word prophet suggest to us a woman who has insight into God's plans for the future. But Miriam knew that she was called to focus her people's attention on what God had already done. Recalling his provision for us in times past is a fundamental part of worship.


Miriam's song reminds us of God's majesty, faithfulness, and love. She used her gift of music to lead the women of Israel in singing and dancing and in praise to God for leading them safely across the Red Sea.


Learning from Miriam


Three features of Miriam's song to the Lord can help us in our worship today. First, Miriam's song urges the Israelites to sing. Song is a good means for etching details in our mind, and it tends to be more effective than rote memorization. Second, Miriam attributes praise and majesty to God. Third, she recalls God's salvation of his people: "He has thrown both horse and rider into the sea" (Exodus 15:21)(NLT). Miriam gave God's people a lasting reminder of their miraculous rescue from certain destruction.


Following the Example


Do you have a gift, perhaps in music or poetry, or special ability in speaking or dancing that could inspire others to worship? Remember that God calls all of us to worship Him with our abilities, regardless of how prominent our gifts are among others. Choose an event from your life or from the collective life of your church, and praise God for what he did in the situation. Focus on God's greatness, and praise him for his character.


Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

I Want To Give God More

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples! (Psalm 96:1-3)(ESV)




As I think about and realize all that God has done for me, I want to give back more to Him. I want to sing of His salvation and tell of His marvelous works. I want to declare His glory among the nations. I want to take up my cross and follow Him, dying to self so that Christ can live in me to declare His glory to all peoples. I want to give Him more.


Below is a new song that the Lord gave me this week. It expresses this kind of desire to give God more by allowing Him to live through us.

Give You More

I want to worship and give You more

until there's nothing left

Help me to hold nothing back O Lord

for You deserve my best

I give You more than a prayer today

more than just what I say

I give You more than this song I sing

much more than that do I bring

I give You more than this heart of mine

please take the throne of my life

I give You all that I have to give

my life is Yours to live

copyright 2010 Heart of Praise Music

I pray that theses lyrics will somehow encourage you to want to give Jesus more of your heart...
more of your life.


Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

God Draws Near

Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Obed, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. "Listen to me, Asa!" he shouted. "Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you." (2 Chronicles 15:1-2)(NLT)

The prophet Azariah voiced one of the most basic lessons in the Bible: God draws near to us when we draw near to Him, but He will allow us to turn away from Him if we choose to do so. God loves us and has made a way for us to be reconciled through the sacrifice of His Son so that we can be forgiven and draw near to Him. But, as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, the Lord allows us to decide whether we want to follow Him or not. With our choice comes consequences and responsibilities, and so Azariah realized that the Lord will abandon us if we turn from Him.

After King Asa heard the message from the Lord delivered by Azariah, he turned the land of Judah and Benjamin back to the Lord by removing all the idols from the land and repairing the altar of the Lord. He even deposed his own grandmother, Maacah, from her position as queen mother because she had made an asherah pole. Asa remained fully committed to the Lord and led the people to seek after God. 2 Chronicles 15:15 reads--And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. (ESV)

So let's follow King Asa's lead and draw near to the Lord. Let's eagerly seek Him with all our heart so that we may find Him, and so that He will continue to draw near to us.

Singing His Praises,

Joey Culpepper

Jacob

I will not let you go unless you bless me. (Genesis 32:26)(NLT)


The following is a worship profile taken from the Praise and Worship Study Bible published by Tyndale House Publishers. I highly recommend this study Bible for anyone who wants to learn more about praise and worship.




Jacob


Jacob pursued God's blessing as an athlete pursues a prize. If Jacob had retired early the night before his meeting with his brother, Esau, or if he had whiled away the hours in sleepless anticipation, he would have had good reason. This was the same Esau he had cheated out of his father's blessing years ago. Accompanied by four wives, twelve sons, a daughter, and an abundance of material possessions, Jacob had made his way back to the land where his brother was still living. Yet Jacob spent the night before the meeting wrestling with a mysterious visitor until daybreak. "I will not let you go unless you bless me," Jacob persisted (Genesis 32:26). And so Jacob received a blessing, along with a new name, Israel, which means "one who struggles with God."


Jacob the Worshiper


Despite his character flaws, Jacob appreciated the greatness of God and the privilege of serving him. From his youngest days, Jacob heard the story of God's covenant with his grandfather Abraham and his father, Isaac. Jacob then continued this legacy of devotion to God. 


Notice that Jacob exerted much to gain his blessing. Going without sleep was tiring enough, but wrestling for hours surely exhausted him. And for what? The blessing was not material gain--Jacob was already a wealthy man. Jacob sought God's favor. That was the great treasure that God offered and Jacob eagerly accepted.


Learning from Jacob


Rarely do we think of worship as a strenuous exercise. Yet there are times when we are called to set aside our comfort--or our struggles--and seek only God.


Following the Example


Like an athlete who has just begun training, we may be surprised at how little endurance we have when it comes to seeking God. We may find that obtaining God's blessing is more difficult, more elusive than we first thought. Yet God calls us to persist, for he is anxious to bless us. The blessing he gives will change us, just as God's blessing transformed Jacob.


Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

God Wants the Honest Truth

But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. (Ps. 51:6)(NLT)

Are you an honest person? Come on... tell the truth now. Are you a person of integrity--one who's truthful and sincere? That's the kind of person God wants us to be--because He is the Truth (Jn. 14:6), and He is looking for those who will worship Him in truth (Jn. 4:23). God abhors dishonesty and falseness of any kind. He hates lies. Those who are godly hate lies. (Prov. 13:5)(NLT) In fact, God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2) Did you know that Satan is called the father of lies? (Jn. 8:44)He will do whatever he can to steer you away from the truth of Who God is and away from the truth of God's redemptive plan.

There's a movie which many of you may have seen, called "A Few Good Men". The movie starred Tom Cruse and Jack Nicholson among others. At the climax of the movie there's a military trial and Tom Cruse's character, the navy prosecutor, asks Jack's character, a General, some questions trying to get to the bottom of a murder. The prosecutor says to the General--"I want the truth!" The General, yelling, replies--"You can't handle the truth!" Well, you know, the devil can't handle the truth, because God is the personification of truth. But God wants the truth. He wants honesty and sincerity from us in our worship and in our service of Him. He knows when we aren't truthful--when we're being even slightly dishonest. And our lies will eventually be exposed for what they are. Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed. (Prov. 12:19)(NLT)

There are consequences for our dishonesty with God. We can see how serious God is about this in Acts 5:1-11. A married couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and gave the money to the disciples. Sounds pretty good, huh? Well, they lied about how much the land was sold for. Peter found out and spoke to each of them separately. He told them that they had not lied to him and the disciples but to God. And then they each dropped to the ground dead! You can believe that sent the fear of God through the community.

In Ezekiel chapter 13 we find that God despised the false prophets who were proclaiming good news when a warning was in order. These prophets who told lies to comfort the people, were like those who built a weak wall and held it together with whitewash. God told them that their deception would soon end, that their flimsy wall would soon crash down. And God wants us to speak the truth today as well. Sometimes we need to speak up for unpopular things in our society if that means that we are standing for the truth. We must choose to follow the Lord rather than our culture, our peers or our government.

So let's praise God that His Word is truth. Let's praise Him because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Let's pray that the Lord will expose any deception or falsehood in our life, and show us how we can worship Him in spirit and in truth causing us to become more like Jesus.

Singing His Praises,

Joey C.

Clothed in Glory

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. (Psalm 104:1-2)(NKJV)

For thousands of years people have longed to see God's glory. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse of His greatness like He did for Moses. In Exodus 33:18 Moses asks--"Please, let me see Your glory" (HCSB). God then placed Moses in the crevice of a rock and covered him with His hand until His glory passed by, allowing Moses to see only His back, because as God told him--"You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live." (Ex. 33:20)(HCSB)

Sometimes God gives us visions of His glory like the one recorded in Isaiah chapter 6, where God calls and commissions Isaiah. --In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth. (Isa. 6:1-3)(HCSB)

Sometimes the Lord uses other things and experiences in our lives to reveal His glory and His greatness. I love the song "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash and recorded by Chris Tomlin. The opening lines of the song focus our attention on the glory and awesomeness of our Lord. Look at these lyrics:

The splendor of a King
Clothed in majesty,
Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light
and darkness tries to hide,
It trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice.

Can you imagine? The darkness is driven away from the brightness of God's glory. All the forces of evil tremble at His voice. And we should tremble as well. We should have a proper respect and awe for our Lord, Who is the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty God.

In Matthew 17:1-6, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain where they soon witness a miraculous sight. It has become known as the transfiguration. They were given a glimpse of Jesus' glory that would transform their understanding of who Christ was. They saw Jesus' appearance change into a blazing white light, as if they were looking into the sun. They then saw Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. Then a bright cloud surrounded them and a powerful voice proclaimed: "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him. Listen to Him." (Matt. 17:5)(NKJV) The disciples were terrified and fell on their faces at the sound of the voice. The voice was of God Himself! But their actions were right on the mark. Their gesture of worship was appropriate. Their reverence can teach us some things.

We need to consider how we respond to revelations of God's glory. We need to--just like Peter, James and John--maintain a humble attitude of worship before God. To realize that we are nothing compared to His glory and greatness. Let's thank God for giving us little glimpses of His glory and power. Let's be careful to worship Him in wonder and reverence asking forgiveness for the times we fail to recognize His true glory. His appearance is so glorious that He can wrap Himself in light. We should strive to surround, clothe ourselves with His glory. Let's do our best to live our lives in such a manner that His glory will be evident to the world around us.

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.

Abraham

Through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed--all because you have obeyed me. (Geness 22:18)(NLT)

The following is a worship profile of Abraham from the Praise and Worship Study Bible published by Tyndale House Publishers-copyright 1997. I highly recommend this study Bible for everyone who wants to learn more about worship.

Costly. Demanding. Life-changing. We don't ordinarily associate these words with worship. Yet to Christians who are filled with the Spirit, worship becomes so vital that it transforms their entire lives. Such devotion to Christ can collide with goals, possessions, and ideals that we hold dear. But as we continually worship God, we will begin to yield them to God. Abraham may have been the first to discover the cost-- and profound reward-- of worship.

Abraham the Worshiper

Abraham marked his places of worship. He remembered the spots where God met him, and he returned there. One of the recurring phrases from his life is "Abram built an altar there to commemorate the Lord's visit" (see Gen. 12:7-8; 13:18; 22:9).

Abraham understood that the first step of worship is responding to what God has done for us. When told that he would have a son, Abraham trusted God's word. In fact, God declared Abraham righteous because of his belief (Gen. 15:6).

Abraham's defining moment of trust came in worship. God asked him to sacrifice his only son (Gen. 22). Before this, building altars had been a joy for the old man. This time, it was a labor of agony. All the while, Isaac kept wondering aloud where the animal for the sacrifice was. Only when the knife was raised and Abraham had demonstrated his willingess to give God his only son did God provide a substitute.

Learning from Abraham

Abraham understood that no one and no thing should receive higher allegiance from him than God. Even a dearly loved child must not rob our affection for God. Abraham worshiped with hands open and available to God, and God treated him with dignity. When Abraham laid Isaac on the altar, he had delivered his promised future into God's hands. As we learn about Abraham, we come to understand how much obedience costs. Worship changed Abraham. It ought to change us as well.

Through Abraham, the Lord revealed himself as the God who asks for everything. Yet in the end God gave Abraham far more than he asked from him. Until he gave everything to God, Abraham could not have imagined what God would do for him. Likewise, for us today worship can open our eyes to God's goodness and mercy to us, such as his gracious gift of redemption through the perfect sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Following the Example

In worship we place ourselves before God. Holding back any part of ourselves from God represents a lack of trust. Worship demands that we give everything to God, trusting that our heavenly Father will provide for our needs and help us grow. Take inventory today of what you are holding back from God, and then pray for help to overcome your lack of trust.

Singing His Praises,

Joey C.