Worship

What is worship?

Is it going to church and singing songs?

Do we have to be in church to truly worship?

Our concept of worship affects every aspect of our lives, so let us consider some thoughts on worship:

Worship is the response of our heart, soul and spirit to the very character of God.

It is an inner response to who God is, which often will be exhibited in an outward response.

From our worship, flows our walk of fellowship with God, our walk of faith,

and our walk with other believers.

So then our worship is offered up to God   (“an holy priesthood,  to offer up spiritual sacrifices,

acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”  1 Peter 2:5 ),  and then our ministry comes down from God.

Here are some thoughts on Worship:

What worship is NOT:

It is not hearing a sermon.

It is not coming to the Lord to make a request, or get something.

It is not coming together to meet with other fellow believers.

It is not coming to be “refreshed”.

When we worship, we do not come before the Lord to be blessed;  we come in worship because we have already been blessed.

 It is coming to the Lord with our best:  (Mary anointing Jesus – John 12:1-11)

          ….our gift must be costly

            ….brought in humility

            ….all in the room were benefitted by her worship and the gift of her worship

It involves a separation to God. (“ I and the lad will go yonder and worship” – Gen.22:5)

It involves obedience to God. (Clean hands and a pure heart – Psalm 24:3,4)

It involves a grateful heart (Deut. 26:10)

It involves giving not asking (Deut. 26:10)

It is done joyfully (Deut. 26:11)

Worship is a work of God in our hearts based on the word of God.  (James 1:22)

It is not haphazard, and is seen as being obedient. (1 Cor. 14:33,40)

One day we will see Him face to face and will then begin worshiping Him in His presence for all eternity.

But we need to be a true worshiper now.

Requirements of worship:

Redemption and righteousness are required before we can worship God “in Spirit and in truth” ( John 4:24).   It includes a heart directed to Him in Love (“We love Him because He first loved us” ….1 John 4:19), a reverence, a sacrifice, and a purity of heart.

To truly worship in sacrifice for the Lord it should cost us something.  It will at least cost us our time and energy.  It may cost us our substance, our talent, and our comfort zone.

Worship requires our best for the Lord.

G. Campbell Morgan’s definition of sacrilege is:  “Taking something that belongs to God and using it profanely;  but even worse, giving something to God that means nothing to me”.

David would not sacrifice to God if it did not cost him something ( 11 Samuel 24:24).

A requirement for worship is humility ( Isa. 57:15;  James 4:6 ).

Is there always an outward visible (to someone else) response?

Absolutely not…I can worship God in my heart, mind and spirit no matter where I am,

and it may not be evident to anyone else.

Can it be that I am so overwhelmed with the very character of an awesome God that

I cannot possibly contain it….YES!!!!

Do I have to be in church to worship God?   No.

I can be anyplace when the magnificent grace of God so grips my soul that I cannot help but

praise him or offer up to him a heartfelt praise in the form of word or song.

It could be an emotional response of my spirit to the Lord, interpreted to God

by His Spirit ( Rom. 8:26 & 27 ).

So where do we get the idea that we worship only in Church?

Because God says …  “Do not forsake the assembling of our selves together” ( Hebr. 10:24 & 25 ).

We do come together collectively to worship, but if we think that we can only worship then,

or limit ourselves to only trying to worship then, we miss the greatest power in worship.

The collective worship should be the sharing  in outward expressions of “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” ( Ephes. 5:19)  with others.

But this worship comes from and is the “overflow”

of the worship that has already taken place in our own lives privately with our Lord.

Our worship is to be directed to God and for Him alone.

God says that …”They that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.”  ( John 4:24 )

So what does that mean?

We must worship Him in the Spirit, through the Holy Spirit;  and in truth.

What is truth?  The word of God.

And Who is Truth?  The Living Word of God…Jesus Christ ( John 14:6; and John 1:1,14 )

Our worship must be according to the word of God.

We cannot worship pleasing God if we are doing it in an unbiblical way or contrary to

what it is that God says is acceptable for true worship.

Hebr. 10:22 says…”Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Ask the Lord to teach you how to worship Him in your private life,

in your own private time alone with God.

Ask the Lord to teach you who He is according to His very Character,

and learn to respond to Him from your soul and spirit.

A very good way to do this is to read God’s word every day and look for the character of God

in the scriptures.

As you see His character ….His Goodness, His care for His people, His provision,

His protection, or His mercy and Grace,  stop then and thank Him for who He is (worship Him for that),

and maybe even the evidence of His working in your own life in some way.

Offer up a heartfelt, Holy Spirit driven response to the AWESOME GOD

that loves you and desires your worship.

Then pray scripture back to Him.  For example…..

I Chron. 16:29 says… “Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto His name; bring an offering,

and come before Him;  worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”.

We might pray…..Lord, help me to be holy before you.  Help me to worship you with the glory due to you.

Lord, I have nothing to give to you, but I give you myself.

Ask the Lord…

….. to show you Himself now through His word

…..to teach you what it means to really know Him

…..to have the “power of the resurrection” (Phil. 3:10) in your life for your walk with Him

…..to show you what it means to walk by faith like those in Hebrews 11.

…..to truly know what yieldedness to His Spirit is in your life

…..to teach you what true worship is for you

He so desires our worship, and it pleases the very heart of God when we respond to Him in this way.

Obedience with Honor.

Posted on March 4, 2014 

Ephesians 6:1 says for the “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy Father and Mother…”
Do our children have a submissive spirit and good attitude, obeying from the heart, or are they just doing as we say with a resentful, resisting spirit?   If they have the wrong attitude or spirit, they may be obeying but they are not “honoring” in their obedience.  Honor for the parent will give the right attitude and a sweet submissive spirit in their obedience.
Is this the attitude we have in our obedience to the Lord? Do we honor the Lord, giving Him the sweet obedience that He deserves?  Are we honoring Him as we obey and serve?  Maybe our children will learn this best by example?  Are we as wives honoring our husbands?

Posted in Daily Treasures for the Soul and SpiritEncouragement for the HeartWives

How To Help Widows

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Eliece Rybak

There are so many truly hurting people out there. We desperately need to know how to minister to them. These are hurting, bleeding, wounded sisters in Christ.

My hope is to give some insight in how to minister to widows primarily, but many of these suggestions apply to all different kinds of hurting people.   Some may have a loss of a child, a broken marriage or a loss of a relationship, a loss of a parent.  Some may have lost a job that meant their financial security, their retirement and loss of their home.  Some are grieving the loss of something they never had….. a lady who never had the opportunity to marry and have children, or one who is married that is grieving the children she could never birth.

For some, these losses are so significant that they cannot even think how to go on with life.    I firmly believe that if we cannot show deep compassion to them at this time, we cannot minister to them in their need. There is a broken world out there. The losses that people have are so tremendous….and we need to be there for them.
Here are a few hints of what broken, hurting people need… and maybe what they do not need.

…….Their greatest need is for someone to listen. Sit with them, listen, and scripture says in Romans 12:15….”weep with them that weep”. Christ did this. His dear friend died, and the sisters who were dear friends as well, we heartbroken ( John 11:1-44). Christ felt their pain and sorrow. He wept with them.  He showed the compassion that we need to show for those who grieve, are in deep sorrow, or have a loss in their lives that has caused them to weep.  If we as Christians do not have this compassion, the world surely will not.  This is a wonderful opportunity to allow Christ to minister through us.
Why don’t we weep with them?  I submit to you that we do not have the heart of Christ, if we cannot weep with those who need someone to feel their pain and sorrow.  Many times in the Gospels it says…Jesus had compassion on them.  Isaiah 53 verse 3 says that Christ was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from Him…”.  This rejection of men indicates that we put him out of our mind, as people of that day put lepers out of their presence.  The proud sinful heart of man puts Christ out of his presence of mind. We need NOT duplicate that sin if we know Christ and have an opportunity to minister to another hurting person in need.  Many of these are in the body of Christ and “the body” is hurting ( 1 Corin. 12:13,14,18,23-26 ).

…….Time is precious to the hurting.  Sometimes they just need someone to sit with them, and by that show they care and “are there” for them.  Can you spend some time to be with them?  They may feel all alone and the presence of another person may help greatly.

…….Let them talk. They sometimes need someone with whom to talk.  When people are deeply hurting, they do NOT need advise or someone “throwing scripture at them”.  They need a person to sit, listen and maybe weep with them. Deep, deep grief cannot handle “lots of advice” or accusations of what they did wrong or needed to do, or need now to do.  Job had friends like that and God reprimanded them for their actions. They did not help Job when they did that.

…….Pray when you are in the presence of a deeply grieving person.  Ask the Lord to guide you in what to do.  When their grief is new to them, and they are deeply grieving, their need will be different than when they have walked a while in their sorrow and grief.  After the Lord has ministered to them in their soul and spirit, they will be more open and able to think through Biblical council, and even suggestions for help.  Praying with them at this time may be a tremendous help to them.

…….People say, “Give it time”  or  “It just takes time”.  It is not really time that ministers; it is Christ and His Word that makes the difference.  It is the strength and comfort that a loving, caring, omnipotent, sovereign God can give over time, that brings the healing.   It is what those who are grieving do in that time that makes the difference between resolving the grief, or going on for a long period of time with unresolved grief.  Christ is the only one that can fill and fulfill the need of the heart.  He is the only one that can meet the need of the heart, because He is the only one that truly knows the deep wound of the heart and soul that this person is experiencing.  Christ’s compassion shown through us at this time is so crucial.  Seek to be the comforter (“parakletos”….consoler-advocate ) that comes alongside them and walks with them.

……..Someone said to a really grieving person,  “You just need to be thankful for what you had….”  This is not really helpful.  That person may truly be thankful for what they had, but that does not make the grief and sorrow any less.  A statement like this to a severely grieving person only succeeds to heap guilt on an already wounded soul.  It is difficult to be able to rejoice when the heart and soul is so heavy with grief and sorrow.  If this person truly knows the Lord, it will come.  The joy of the Lord is there, and it will bubble forth in due time. But at that moment it is such a ‘deep’ grief that the joy is not ‘felt in the usual manor.

……..Some say,  “You should not be sorrowing as those who have no hope”( I Thes. 4:13).  This statement is not helpful either.  The person may have great hope in the resurrection.   (If the truth is known, they may want to be “raptured” out of here immediately, if nothing else than to escape the pain of heart and soul.)   This only succeeds in heaping more guilt on an already grieving person.  Be careful of your words.  If you have not experienced the exact loss that they have, then you cannot possibly know how they feel.

……..Yes, there may come a time when the person grieving needs wise council, but make sure the Lord has given you the right words of council for them when you seek to help them.

……..Who is to say how long it takes to “be able to go on” after a loss.  Remember each person grieves at a different pace.  They usually do not  “just get over it”  like it was a bad cold!  Give them the time they need, pray with them and for them.  Be the friend they need to walk this journey with them as much as you can.  God in His sovereignty is doing a work and has a purpose for all things that He allows.  Pray for the Lord’s healing for them.

Posted in UncategorizedWidows

Calvary Love:

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Eliece Rybak

Calvary Love:

What is Calvary all about…..  Jesus showed us Calvary Love:

…Jesus is God

…Gave up heaven

…Voluntarily took on human flesh

…Limited himself in a fleshly body

…Chose to obey his ‘earthly’ parents

…Set his face toward Jerusalem

…Garden of Gethsemane decision

…The cross of Calvary

 Amy Carmichael talks about Calvary love….

What are some characteristics of Calvary love?

  1. Humble (James 4:6,10)
  2. self-less…..self-sacrificial (1 Peter 2:15-25)
  3. not feelings oriented  (Hebr. 10:22-25)
  4. focused on others  (Phil. 2:1-4)
  5. focused on a higher plan  (different plan / a greater plan) (Luke 22:42)
  6. dependent on a higher power  (Hebr. 12:1-2;  Rom. 12:1-2)
  7. willing to be used for a higher purpose  (Acts 20:24)

What did that mean in Amy’s life?      And what does it mean in our lives?

(”Grace in rivers is required for this, day by day…”)

Posted in Daily Treasures for the Soul and SpiritEncouragement for the HeartMarriageMothersWidows

Missions

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Eliece Rybak

Five things a Christian in China has to be ready to do:

  1. Pray no matter the circumstances, in all situations
  2. Speak the Gospel
  3. Suffer for the name of Christ
  4. Die for Christ
  5. Escape (Matt. 10:23 ‘flee unto another’ place)

C.T. Studd said:

“Some want to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.”

C. T Studd  (1860-1931) As a British Protestant Christian missionary to China he was part of the Cambridge Seven, and later was responsible for setting up the Heart of Africa Mission which became the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (now WEC International).

Posted in Uncategorized

Faith: Growing Our Faith in the Trials of Life.

Posted on February 17, 2018 by Eliece Rybak

Faith: Growing Our Faith in the Trials of Life.

Seeing our challenges through the eyes of the Lord….I Thes. 3:13 “to the end He may establish our hearts unblamable in Holiness before Him….(4:7) God hath…called us…unto Holiness.”

A.W Tozer said…”Whom God will use greatly, He will also hurt deeply.”

  • Keep eyes on Jesus; Set your affections on Him.   (11 Cor. 4:16-18; Col. 3:1-4
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  •  Fill our mind and heart with the word of God.   (Phil. 4:8-9; II Cor. 7:1)
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  • Talk to God; Pray the word of God back to Him.   (Phil. 4:6-7; I Cor. 2:1-5; Col. 3:15-17)
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  • Remember His Promises.   (Rom. 8:28 & 29; II Tim. 3:14-17)
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  • Know He loves you; Cares for His own. (Ps. 91:1,2,4,11,12; I Peter 5:7)
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  • He never leaves us or forsakes us.   (Hebr. 13:5,8)
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  • Keep Praising Him.   (Hebr. 13:15; Ps. 22:3; Ephes. 5:19-20)
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  • Keep choosing joy. (Hebrews 12:1,2, Psalm 16:8,9; John 15:1-11)
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  • Find something to smile about every day.   (I Peter 4:12-14; Prov. 15:13)
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  • Keep giving to others during the trial.   (II Cor. 9:7-8; Phil. 2:1-4; Romans 12:9-21)
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  • Surround yourself with mature Believers that you can trust. (Psalm 1:1-6; II Cor. 1:4-5; I Cor. 2:1-5)
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  • All things are from the hand of God for our Good. (Rom. 8:28-29; Hebr. 12:6,11-15)
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  • Remember…we are only passing through.   (II Cor.5:7-10,20; Phil. 3:20; Job 23:10)
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  • Always HOPE (joyful, confident anticipation) in Christ, for this life and the life to come. (I Cor. 15:19)
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Meet with God each morning so that:

….rather than viewing God through our challenges, we see our challenges through the eyes of the Lord, whom we have met with, and He is the one that has already prepared us to meet this challenge.

The Holy Spirit comforts and strengthens. John 17

Then… the Holy Spirit challenges and stretches. Phil. 2:13-16

What is the abundant Life?   (It has nothing to do with earthly possessions.)

The abundant life (John 10:10) is a spiritual life of contentment (“in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Phil. 4:11); Phil. 3:9 says “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering (I Peter 4:13), being made conformable to His death.” (Rom. 8:17; II Cor. 4:10-11

Abundant Life is a full life of understanding what life is all about through the eyes of Christ, and by thinking Christ’s thoughts after Him. Assurance of salvation and assurance in God does not give us a license to sin, but gives us the liberty to please Him….fall in love with Jesus.

Posted in Heart to heart for WidowsSuffering / GriefWidowsWives

Suffering and Grief

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Eliece Rybak

Elisabeth Elliot said… Jan 8th 1956:
“When I sat by my short wave radio and learned that my husband was missing,
the Lord brought to mind what the prophet Isaiah (43:2) said …
‘when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee’ “.

“Suffering is the irreplaceable medium
through which I learned the indispensable truth that
He is LORD.”

She was soon to learn that her husband Jim Elliot was one of 5 men who were speared to death trying to give the Gospel to a tribe of Indians in Ecuador.

Posted in Statements from Men and Women of RenownSuffering / GriefUncategorized

The Word Of God

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Eliece Rybak

Many years ago, a man named Robert Chapman gave Christians a
powerful reminder of our privilege and responsibility as stewards of  God’s Word.

He wrote, speaking of the Word of God:

“This book contains… the mind of God,

the state of man,

the way of salvation,

the doom of sinners,

and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrines are holy,

its precepts binding,

its histories are true,

and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise,

believe it to be safe,

and practice it to be holy.

It contains light to direct you,

food to support you,

and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler’s map,

the pilgrim’s staff,

the pilot’s compass,

and the soldier’s sword.

It should fill the memory,

test the heart,

and guide the feet.

Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.

It is a mine of wealth,

a paradise of glory,

and a river of pleasure.

It involves the highest responsibility,

rewards the greatest labor,

and condemns all who will trifle with its sacred contents.

Christ is its grand subject,

our good is its design,

and the glory of God is its end.”

Posted in Statements from Men and Women of RenownUncategorized

H. A. Ironside said:

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Eliece Rybak

“Christ is a substitute for everything, but nothing is a substitute for Christ.”

“No one…. who really wants to count for God can afford to play at Christianity.”

“If lips and life do not agree, the testimony will not amount to much.”

“Time is given us to use in view of eternity.”

“No one ever lost out by excessive devotion to Christ.”

“Christianity is Christ!”

Posted in Daily Treasures for the Soul and SpiritStatements from Men and Women of RenownUncategorized

Hell

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Eliece Rybak

….God has the power to send all to hell;
….Everyone deserves hell;
….God is under no obligation to keep the sinner out of hell.

“Hell is not the choice of God; Hell is the choice of man who rejects God.”

“Religions and/or religious leaders came to make bad men good,

but Jesus Christ came to make dead men …alive.”

Ravi Zacharis