Showing posts with label the Law of the Rechabites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Law of the Rechabites. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 June 2014

Dominion through Worship


" But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  
 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23 - 24

Noah obeyed God and he and his family ,and the other living creatures who went with him into the ark  were the only survivors of the rains and flood  which  destroyed all living beings on earth. Genesis  8 :13 -19. 
When Noah stepped out of the ark  after the flood , he saw the devastation all around him. Destroyed by the flood were his homestead , his livestock and farmland , all his neighbours and friends and the life he had known for decades were all swept away by the great deluge.
The scene before Noah was that of a total wipe out by flood waters with no immediate remedy in sight for Noah and his household .
God saw Noah and his household surveying the devastation all around them .
Then God waited , expecting to see and hear reactions from them .
There were two options before Noah ; either he offered sacrifices of thanksgiving unto God  for sparing his life and for sparing the lives of his family ; or Noah could have chosen the other option which was that Noah and his family could have raised up a huge lament  to God ; bewailing the loss and destruction of their houses , lands ,fields , farms, livestock and other worldly possessions .Noah could have cried out  like this :
" Oh my God ! All we see  every where is muddy , smelly water !
God why did you allow millions of souls to perished here? !
Are you not supposed to be a merciful God ?!
 Everything is gone ; our  homes and land,  our crops  and livestock !
How can we farm and what shall we eat ?!  God?! Can you see us now ?"

 Sacrifice has been aptly described as" the giving up of the indispensable third leg of the stool".
 The heart of men is linked to their worldly treasures which is everything which they hold dear.
 Sacrifice is  that offering which is as special and precious as it is costly to the giver .
The word  "sacrifice", would readily ,come to mind as the giving of spiritual offerings of songs, dancing , of cash or goods to God and the giving of donations  to needy  human beings.
 There are diverse forms of sacrifices in the forms of either spiritual offerings to God or giving something valuable as donations and gifts to help the disadvantaged.
God appreciates all sacrifices which are offerings from genuine hearts
 Usually the poor and the needy would appreciate immediate reliefs and so they would prefer cash donations  to cashless ones. 
Gifts in cash and kind minister to immediate human needs quicker and more effectively than greeting and hugging the poor and the needy  or preaching and singing  to them.
Therefore cashless sacrifices are not accorded the same value and appreciation as those made in monetary forms . 

Sacrifice is not only that offering or donation which is tangible and which is in form of offerings of cash and goods only .  
Offering praise and  prayers  are worthy sacrifices acceptable  to  God so also are