"Meaningless. Worship"

“Meaningless Worship Condemned”

Worship to be seen God gets no Glory

Isaiah is warning Israel and us concerning meaningless worship.the reality is God knows our hearts. The Old saints would sing I won't to be like Jesus In my heart. I am one of those old saints. God is the only one know our heart., therefore we cannot fool him with our worship. Listen to the Scriptures

Lesson: Isaiah 29:1-16

Golden Text: KJV—verse 13: “This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men”

Worship entails paying reverence to God in thought or action to acknowledge His worth. The essence of worship is that the worshipper is absorbed in humble adoration of God.

Meaningless: without any clear purpose, value or importance

Worship: a. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.

b. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.

2. Ardent devotion; adoration

Condemned: To express strong disapproval of; To lend credence to or provide evidence for an adverse judgment against; blame, convict

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In this lesson we see that the people were not worshipping God with an sincere heart. They opened their mouth to begin to speak worship unto him and with their lips to honor him, but the true spiritual hearts were not connected to the Father. They were worshipping the Father with sense of how men begin to teach them as going through the motion and not being sincere. Because of this, God closed the eyes of the prophets and the seers, who was anointed to tell the people what was coming into their lives and what was going to happen, but because the prophets and the seers begin to act and do the same thing the people were doing, he caused them to be able to use the gifts that he gave them. Their worship became vain and meaningless and the Lord did not accept their worship, because the Lord knows the truth of the heart of man. The Lord said that he would perform miracles and do wonders in the sight of those who were wise and intelligent, and they will see these things, but they will perish, because they will not be able to understand what was going on. The people wanted to offer up worship unto the Lord that came from the creation of man and not from God, the Lord would not accept their worship.

God Bless you

Focus On You

Focus On You

 

_“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” Psalm 138:8 (NKJV)

 

When we go to God asking Him to change a person in our life, He always shows us things we need to change about ourselves.  It’s like “Lord, can we please take the focus off of me right now?”  He responds with an emphatic, “No, I will take care of them, but let’s talk about you.”  It forces growth in us that is unpleasant, but necessary.  Many of us adamantly demand change in others while they themselves either remain the same or slowly improve.  This is not to say that you are to ignore wrong behavior or that you can’t offer positive criticism, but when your entire focus is on what someone else isn’t doing, you’re missing it.  The truth of the matter is, you can’t change others, but you can change yourself.  It’s like driving a car.  You can’t concentrate on the road and be overly consumed with the car next to you.  If you do, you will wreck your car.  You will live a more peaceful life if you learn to focus on you and leave the rest for God to take care of.

Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, I thank You for being so interested in my personal growth and development.  Help me to be patient with those around me as You work on me.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Hope of His Coming. 11 Peter 3:3-15a

Our focus has been "A Call to Holy Living" for the month May. Take a look below for a quick recap of what we've already learned...

Lesson I " A Living Hope" we learned to hold on to our living hope in Jesus during difficult times, to remember that our troubles in this world are not compared to the eternal life and eternal hope we have in Him, and that He offers us something far better in the Future.

Lesson II "Equipped for Godliness" we learned that God has already provided us with all that we need to live godly lives, and as Christians we should learn how to use and show the resources that God has given us, and to live the way God wants us to live.  

Lesson III "Serving One Another" we learned as Christians we all have been given various spiritual gifts and we should use our gifts effectively to serve one another, without complaining, and with love in our hearts.

This Weeks Lesson "The Hope of His Coming"  As a reminder of words that have already been spoken Peter wrote a Second Letter. Peter tells us that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts. They will live in open rebellion against God, Jesus, His followers, and they will do whatever they want for their personal pleasure and ambition. They will reject God's past judgments, promises, and the return of Jesus. They do not believe that God created the world, they deliberately ignore the fact that by the Word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed and that back in the days of Noah God brought judgment on the sinners by a great flood. Unbelievers ignore that fact. 

By the Word, the world was created. By the Word, the prophets spoke words of warning and coming judgment. God's judgment this time will not come by water but by fire the godless will have no place in the Kingdom because they refuse to love and worship God. Peter also say not to ignore this one fact that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some may think, He is patient not wanting us to perish, but all to come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night "unexpectedly" so we should always live holy lives waiting on the day of the Lord found without spot or blemish, but to be found by Him in peace.

Planted By God

LET GOD PLANT YOU

A seed doesn’t just need water in order to grow, it needs the right amount of everything.  It needs the right amount of water, soil, sunlight, and love.  A seed doesn’t get to choose it’s own soil, the gardener does.  When it comes to church membership, every believer must be planted somewhere in order to grow and blossom.  However, you don’t choose where you are planted, God does.  He chooses the conducive environment that is perfect for you and your family. You don’t just need good preaching or a great kids program.  You need a conducive environment that’s perfect for your optimum growth and spiritual development.  God is the gardener and where He plants you, you will prosper.  Where He plants you, you will be challenged.  Where He plants you, you will blossom and spread your wings to soar.  That conducive environment will bring out the best in you and you will in turn give your best back to it.  Are you growing?  Are you blossoming?  Are you soaring?  Are you being challenged? Is your life producing visible results?  If not, you must ask yourself if whether you have been planted by God or if you have chosen your own soil.  When you plant yourself, you develop weeds and your life doesn’t produce much.  Pray for God to plant you and you will begin to grow and blossom for the glory of God.

“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.” (Isaiah 61:3 NLT)


Prayer: Father, I pray You direct me to the church that is the right environment for me and my family.  I want to be all that You have called me to be.  Lead me and guide me to where You want me to be planted.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Humility

HUMILITY

(1 Peter 5:1-11)
Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, be-cause, “God
opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

As Peter gives final instructions at the close of his letter, he
addresses both old and young, leaders and followers, shepherds and
sheep. Leaders should lead out of generosity and not for gain, he
warns, because the flock belongs to God. Followers should follow with a
teachable spirit. All should wear humility visibly, as if it were
clothing. Humility should be like a uniform that God’s people wear.

Humility starts with an acknowledgment of our complete dependence on
God. When the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is your only comfort in
life and in death?” the answer shows our dependence: “I am not my own,
but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior,
Jesus Christ.” We rely completely on Jesus for our salvation and our
very existence. What a relief that it does not depend on our own
strength!

That humility should shape how we treat one another. We all belong to
God, so we have neither an authority of our own nor a right to profit
from other people.

That same ancient catechism draws out the implications of our
dependence: “Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and
ready from now on to live for him.”

May we in humility serve God by serving one another!

Prayer:
Lord, make us people who acknowledge our dependence on you. Grant us
humble hearts to serve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Hope Restored. Luke:24:13-21,28-35

Become He has Risen all our Hope is Restored:

This a Summery of the Lesson:

This takes place Early Sunday. Morning. Jesus had Risen from the grave the woman seen him first.

Theses 2 disciples are walking back to Jerusalem. They are not the disciplines as we know . There were other disciples. Luke gave us there name. Cleopas and in reach it said the other one could be his Wife. Let us not let that cause us to miss the message. After saying that These two disciple was depressed there hope was gone, there Lord was now dead. The one who had gave sight to the blind , cashed out daemons, no doubt they were saying what are we going to do.

Jesus caught pup with them in verse in verse 15 but they did not know Him
Verse 16 Jesus ask why you are sad, what you talking about.
Verse 16 the answer. Are you a stranger don't you know Jesus of Nazareth , which was a prophet mighty in deeds and words before God and all the people Verse 20. The chief priests and our rulers delivered and have condemned to death, and have crucified him.

Jesus went home with them and He ate with them . When He blessed the bread they knew who he was. When you get blessed from God you will know who He is

Notice what they said "didn't our Hearts Burn within us while He talked wit us"
When I was a girls there was a old deacon name Deacon Harris He would say didn't our hearts burn, I thought it was funny then.

The disciple went where way telling the news.

When Jesus speaks to you you will know the voice, and you can't keep it to yourself

Happy Easter

Create In Me a Clean Heart

Lord, Create In Me A Clean Heart

Have you ever prayed that God would give you a clean heart and a right spirit? King David did. As the story goes, King David spotted Bathsheba from his rooftop bathing herself. He later slept with her, got her pregnant and then had her husband killed, all in an attempt to cover it up. He was later approached by the Prophet Nathan about it and then he realized he had sinned against God (2 Samuel 11-12). He went from being God’s right hand man to being tied up in a vicious web of sin and lies. Today, even when great spiritual leaders of our time fall into sin, typically it’s not for adultery and murder. Yet, God loved King David, as He does us all. He viewed him as a man after His own heart and blessed him to be in Jesus’ lineage. Sin effects us. It effects our lives and how we view ourselves. We say to ourselves, “Look at what I have done. I’m no good. How can I be of any use to God or anyone?” This is the ultimate pity party attitude. Ok, you lied, you cheated, you stole, you knocked him out, you slept with the guy, you slept with the girl, you slept with both of them at the same time, you smoked it, you passed it around, you drank it and you enjoyed it! You then realized you sinned against God and now you feel guilty and shameful. King David sat exactly in the same place you’re sitting and what did he do? He not only asked God to forgive him, but he asked God to create in Him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. With only a forgiven sin, we are bound to repeat our actions over and over again, but with a clean heart and a right spirit we won’t. We find that King David is never once mentioned again to have fallen into that same sin. Only God can cause you to detest and run from sin, rather than find pleasure in it. He doesn’t want to just forgive you, He wants to give you a new heart, a new mind and new life through Jesus. With His help, your days of struggling with sin are over!

“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Romans 6:12-14 NLT)

Prayer:
Father, I’m struggling with sin. The problem is I enjoy it, but I know You hate it! So I repent and I command by Your power that the grip of sin be broken off of my life right now in Jesus name. Lord, show me how to walk in newness of life with a new heart and a new mind. Help me love what You love and hate what You hate. Thank You for setting me free! In Jesus’ name, Amen.