SERVING AND SINGING

“Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing" (Psalm 100:2 NKJV).

Our verse give some good counsel which addresses two important matters in the Christian’s life - serving the Lord and singing before the Lord.

Serving – “Serve the Lord with gladness.” Here we are told who to serve and how to serve. First, who to serve: “the Lord.” Scriptures command us to serve God. Service to God has priority over all our other interests. We may have business and family interests, but these must not hinder our service or our priorities are wrong. Second, how to serve: “With gladness.” Some folks serve, but do so grudgingly and complaining. God does not want that kind of service. We should not serve the Lord out of duty or obligation but out of the gladness of our hearts for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Further, because of God’s great love and mercies, we should serve Him willingly and with joy. Worship leads to service, and true service is worship.

Singing – “Come before His presence with singing.” Good music is from God and our verse says two things about music; the place of music and the praise in music. First, place of music: “Come before his presence.” Music is to be used in our worship of God. It has an important place in worship. It is therefore no surprise that the enemy trying to use the music of today to ruin worship. Second, praise in music: “Singing.” The meaning of this word involves praise. Much of what goes on in church today under the heading of music does not praise God. We ought to have the best music when we worship. And the music we use in our worship ought to praise God. Shoddy or worldly music does not do much to honor and praise of God. A failure to praise the Lord is a failure to serve the Lord.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“God gives blessings to us so we can give glory to Him!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Distributed

In Acts 13:19 we read, “And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment!” (NKJV).

Distributed is the Greek word kataklēronomeō (κατακληρονομέω). It made up of two words: “kata” which means down, according to, entirely, and “klēronomeō” which means to be an heir or obtain an inheritance by casting lots. Thus the word means to give over as an inheritance, make someone the owner.

Kataklēronomeō does not appear in Classical Greek, but occurs frequently in the Septuagint where it means to take possession, or to cause to inherit. Its notion is to possess, specifically the Promised Land, the inheritance. In the New Testament, kataklēronomeō also carries the idea to possess.

It has been suggested by commentators that God apportioned to each tribe in Israel their piece of the Promised Land by lot. In so doing He made them temporary owners. God kept possession of the title to the land, as was evidenced when He evicted the Israelites during the Babylonian captivity. They could inhabit the land as long as they lived a life-style pleasing to God, the Holy One of Israel.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – The joy of Messiah’s resurrection predicted (Psalm 40:2-5)

New Testament Fulfillment – John 20:20

Did You Know…

Moses and the Israelites came up out of the water of the Red Sea and went into the desert (Exodus 15), where they were tested by God regarding their faith. They failed the test. The Lord Jesus came up out of the waters of the Jordan following his Baptism (Matthew 3) and went out into the desert to be tested by Satan (Matthew. 4). The Lord Jesus passed the test by quoting scripture from Deuteronomy 6 and 8.

Bible Quiz

Why were the Pharisees upset to see Jesus eating at Levi’s house?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: When Jesus sent the disciples out to minister on their own, what were they to do if a town did not accept them? Shake the dust off their sandals (Mark 6:11) .

Everyday Expressions Alluded to in the Bible

"Can’t keep a good man down”

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand” (Psalm 37:23-24 NKJV).

“Can’t keep a good man down” - The expression “can’t keep a good man down” carries idea of being determined to not give up. Life in this sin-cursed world is often hazardous and we may fall along the way, but we will not be utterly cast down or totally overthrown. We are upheld or sustained by the Lord Himself. The righteous benefit from the Lord’s guidance throughout their lives.

Did You Know – Christian History

The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organization. As of 2010 it is the largest charity in China. It was created in 1985 on the initiative of Christians in China with the late Bishop K. H. Ting as its founder. Its main objective has been to help develop poorer areas of the country. Amity’s headquarters are in Nanjing. The organization includes the Amity Printing Company (APC), also called Amity Printing Press. Amity Printing Company opened a branch in Ethiopia in 2016.

The Amity Printing Company is the largest producer of Bibles in China, and one of the largest in the world. It is a joint venture with the United Bible Societies. In its first year (1988), it printed 500,000 Bibles on a press donated by UBS. Since 1988, APC has published Bibles in Mandarin and in several ethnic minority languages, as well as in many other languages for export. It is China’s only legal printer of Bibles.

The Amity Printing Company has so far published more than 100 million Bibles. Most of the Bibles printed are the Chinese Union Version, the Chinese Bible translation used by the Protestant churches, or the less commonly accepted but more modern Today’s Chinese Version. Recently the Pastoral Bible used by the Catholic churches has also been printed here. All Chinese Bibles are distributed not by the state-run bookstore chains, but through the network of officially registered Protestant churches.

By the end of November 2016, more than 154 million Bibles have been printed. This figure includes Bibles destined for mainland Protestant and Catholic churches and Bibles export in more than 90 different languages such as English, German, Spanish, and French, together with many African languages. Amity is certified as National Printing Demonstration Enterprise, a Key Enterprise for Culture Export. The company has gained the Benny Award of the Premier Print Awards, the Green Enterprise, the 3rd Session of China Press and Publication Awards, the 4th China Print Gold Awards.

A Little Humor

A teacher asked the children in her Sunday school class, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would I get to heaven?” “NO!” the children all answered. “If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the lawn, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get to heaven?” again they answered “NO!” “Well,” she continued, “How then can I get to heaven?” In the back of the room, a five-year-old boy shouted, “You gotta be dead.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“The Bible breaks hard hearts and heals broken hearts!”