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Reach For the Sky

Worship with Heart, Mind, and Body

PREVIEW: The Father wants worshipers who worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) In other words, God-pleasing worship is balanced. It honors God with heart (Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God”). It engages God with the mind (Matthew 22:37 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”). And it reaches out to God with the body (1 Corinthians 6:20 – “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies”). That is why you will find various physical expressions of praise throughout Scripture: Singing, shouting, clapping, kneeling, prostrating oneself, dancing, and, yes, quite frequently the raising of hands.

Reach for the Sky - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 134:2

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.

Raising your hands in worship is not a pre-requisite for God-pleasing praise—not necessarily! There is no rule that says, “Thou shalt lift thy hands in worship.” The Father wants worshipers who worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) In other words, God-pleasing worship must come from the heart and in a way that is congruent with Scripture—authentically.

Yet true worship requires all of us—spirit, mind, and body. Obviously, our heart must reach out to God when we worship him; otherwise, our worship would be nothing more than a heartless ritual (and there is already far too much of that among his people today). God wants not just formulaic expressions of worship; he wants worship to come from the overflow of a loving and grateful heart.

Our mind should be engaged in worship as well. If we park our brains in neutral when we praise, our worship is incomplete—and open to all kinds of weird and wild expressions that sometimes occur among certain groups of believers. To worship in truth means to worship with theological knowledge of the One being worshipped, which is most pleasing to him.

Yet, can we truly worship in spirit and in truth if we don’t engage our entire being? Authentic “spirit and truth” praise must even include physical engagement. Balanced worship honors God with heart (Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God”), mind (Matthew 22:37 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”), and body (1 Corinthians 6:20 – “You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies”). That is why you will find various physical expressions of praise throughout Scripture: Singing, shouting, clapping, kneeling, prostrating oneself, dancing, and, yes, quite frequently the raising of hands.

Perhaps you came to Christ in a tradition that expressed worship without physical demonstration. I would encourage you to challenge that assumption. The next time you gather with the body of Christ and the singing starts, try lifting your hands to the Lord. The Apostle Paul, while speaking directly to men but I believe in general should be applied to all believers in the church, wrote, “In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy” (1 Timothy 2:8). So, raise your hands to God in worship. I think you will find it quite freeing. In fact, you may want to practice first in your own private worship time just to get used to the action.

When my children were small, they would often come to me and lift their hands, hoping I would pick them up. Of course, I would. In that moment, they would have yet another indication that I loved them. And, of course, I was delighted to know they loved me, too—with their whole being.

Don’t you think that is true of your Heavenly Father as well?

My Offering of Worship: As you worship God this week, both in private and public, be conscious of worshiping with your whole being—heart, mind, and body. As Paul would say, considering who God is and what he has done for you, this is not only “holy and pleasing to God,” but it is simply “your true and proper worship.”

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It’s All Good

Nothing Is More Bless-able Than Unity

PREVIEW: Unity is a very big deal to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When you have unity between people—at work, at school, at home, and at church—there you will find that life is pleasant. And that’s how God meant for life to be—especially for his people. For where God finds unity, there God commands his blessing. In other words, you will not need to ask God for his blessings—which is not a bad thing to do—he will insist on blessing you.

It’s All Good - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 133:1, 3

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! … For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Unity! I’m not always sure what it is, but I sure know when it ain’t!

And I know when it is. For where you have unity between people—at work, in school, in home, and at church—there you will find that life is pleasant. And that’s how God meant for life to be—especially for his people.

So how can we achieve and maintain unity?

First, unity requires us to understand how important it is to God. In his final prayer before the cross, knowing what awaited him in the hours ahead, Jesus prayed for the unity of his followers in John 17:20-23,

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

What a person prays for in their final prayer reveals what is of utmost importance to them. For Jesus, that was our unity. The next time we have opportunity for disunity, we ought to stop and think about that.

Second, achieving and maintaining unity requires humility. For unity to occur, I must subjugate my desires and needs to what is good and best for others. Speaking of unity, the Apostle Paul exhorted us to follow Christ’s example in Philippians 2:1-4,

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others…[an attitude] that was the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Third, unity will be achieved when we submit ourselves to the spiritual leaders God has placed over us, whose primary task is to equip us to carry out God’s purposes on Planet Earth. And those purposes include the body of Christ being built up and coming to the full unity of the Spirit. Paul taught about this in Ephesians 4:12-13,

[Spiritual leaders are called] to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Fourth, unity will have its best chance when each of us makes unity our personal responsibility. How do I go about that? Once again, Paul hits the nail on the head in Romans 12:9-21. Take a moment to read his checklist for unity, but verse 18 encapsulates it well:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Yes, it may be difficult to define unity, but when you and I do our part to achieve it in the body of Christ, look out! Good things will happen: “For there God commands his blessing, even life evermore.”

Like the great preacher Vance Havner once said, “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together, they can stop traffic.”

What do you say we stop some traffic this week!

My Offering of Worship: As you reflect on these unity verses, allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how you can be an instrument for the unity of your church.

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Taking Care of God’s House

A Passion for God’s Dwelling

PREVIEW: Of both David (Psalm 69:9) and Jesus (John 2:17), the Word of God says, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So how about you? I’m not suggesting that you dance so wildly that you embarrass your spouse like David or that you take a whip to worship with you next weekend like Jesus, but what I do hope for is that the same zeal for God’s house that consumed David, and the Son of David will consume you. Me, too!

Taking Care of God’s House - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 132:3-5

I will not enter my house or go to my bed—I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.

David had a passion for the house of God. He couldn’t tolerate the thought that as king, he would be able to build himself an unbelievably opulent palace while God’s dwelling was just a humble tent, the tabernacle, that had been used since the exodus.

Then there was the time David publicly danced with delight as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem to its resting place at the Tabernacle (2 Samuel 6:14). The king’s public display of affection for the Divine was so extreme that his watching wife despised David for it. But he didn’t care because his exuberance for the house of God exceeded his capacity to contain it.

David had a passion for the house of God.

David wanted desperately to build God a permanent structure—a temple. He knew God deserved the best. So, he located property for the building, but rather than throwing his royal weight around to get a good deal for it, he insisted on paying full price. He said, “I won’t offer the Lord something that has cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).

David had a passion for the house of God.

God had other plans, however, and told David that it would be his son, Solomon, who would build the temple. So, what did David do? He set about to make all the preparations for its construction in order for Solomon to have a good head start when he was inaugurated as Israel’s king (2 Chronicles 22:5).

David had a passion for the house of God.

The Son of David, Jesus, was passionate about God’s house, too. Although he predicted that not one stone of it would be left upon another because of God’s judgment against the corrupted worship that took place there (Matthew 24:2), he did his best to bring purity to it. He drove the moneychangers from the temple—and not with gentle persuasion either. He made a whip—and used it. He overturned the tables they used to carry out their shady commerce. With an illustrated sermon that no one would ever forget, Jesus cleansed the temple. (John 2:13-16)

The Son of David had a passion for the house of God!

Of both David (Psalm 69:9) and Jesus (John 2:17), the Word of God says, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So how about you? I’m not suggesting you dance so wildly that you embarrass your spouse or take a whip to worship with you next weekend, but what I do hope for is that the same zeal for God’s house that consumed David and the Son of David will consume you. Me, too!

May it be said of you, “Zeal for your house consumes me!”

My Offering of Worship: What is your attitude to the physical place where you worship? Because God’s people gather there and the Word of God is preached there, God has sanctified it. Do you treat it as common or holy? This next weekend, when you gather with others in your place of worship, approach it as a place that is near and dear to God’s heart.

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Room For Only One God

Settle the Issue of Godship ASAP

PREVIEW: Wrestling with the decision of godship, that is, the decision who or what will exercise control and rule from the throne of our heart, is more prevalent than we care to admit. While the decision should be made once and for all, the fact of the matter is it is a daily match for most of us. How so? When we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather that a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne. However, when we surrender to God’s supreme rule over our lives, then the very things we futilely attempt to attain on our own—grace, security, confidence, contentment, and hope—inexorably come our way. There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God.

Room For Only One God - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 131:1

My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! That is what King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost,
I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business
or fantasized grandiose plans.

Wrestling with the decision of godship, the decision of who or what will exercise control and rule from the throne of our heart, is more prevalent than we care to admit. While the decision should be made once and for all, the fact of the matter is it is a daily match for most of us. How so? When we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather than a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a perfect track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And, by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

  • You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness), as David describes, “My heart is not proud, O LORD,
    my eyes are not haughty”—Psalm 131:1a. Of course, the Bible repeatedly tells us this is always the catalyst for greater grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
  • You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me”—Psalm 131:1b (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
  • You become the recipient of greater confidence. Someone else is running the universe, which means you don’t carry that great weight upon your shoulders. David says, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul”—Psalm 131:2a … which is possible only when you first walk with the Shepherd who leads you beside quite waters and restores your soul.
  • You become the recipient of greater contentment. David describes it “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content”—Psalm 131:2b (MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
  • You become the recipient of greater hope. “O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore”—Psalm 131:3. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, confidence, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

My Offering of Worship: Are you wrestling over godship in your life? Why not bow your knee right now to the only rightful King? Let God be God in your life. You’ll never be disappointed.

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God Doesn’t Keep Lists

He’s the Great Obliterator

PREVIEW: God doesn’t keep lists. Aren’t you glad for that? Unlike some of us who keep track of the mistakes and offenses of others, our gracious God doesn’t! When we confess our sins and repent of our offenses, the Lord remembers them no more. How amazing is that! God takes the worst sins of the repentant sinner and obliterates them from his record. He wipes them from his memory bank—“as far as the east is from the west”—which, the last time I checked, was a long way. No wonder the psalmist called us to “fear” the Lord in response to God’s unmerited forgiveness. To fear the Lord meant to reverence him and to offer him a heart of gratitude, praise, and love. Obviously, that is the proper response to a God who goes out of his way to forgive people who have gone out of their way to offend him.

God Doesn’t Keep Lists - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 130:3-4

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

God doesn’t keep lists. Aren’t you glad for that? Unlike some of us who keep track of the mistakes and offenses of others, our gracious God doesn’t! When we confess our sins and repent of our offenses, the Lord remembers them no more. The Apostle John wrote, “When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse of from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

King David, who not only knew a great deal about personal sin, but Divine pardon as well, spoke in Psalm 103:3 & 12 of a God, “who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” How amazing is that! God takes the worst sins of the repentant sinner and obliterates them from his record. He wipes them from his memory bank—“as far as the east is from the west”—which, the last time I checked, was a long way.

One of the most moving and poignant descriptions of this forgiving God was penned by the prophet Micah. He spoke of God not just in terms of his willingness to forgive, but even more, of his passionate desire and aggressive search for ways to extend forgiveness to sinners. Take a moment to absorb this mind-boggling truth from Micah 7:18-19,

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

No wonder the psalmist called us to “fear” the Lord in response to God’s unmerited forgiveness. To fear the Lord meant to reverence him and to offer him a heart of gratitude, praise, and love. Obviously, that is the proper response to a God who goes out of his way to forgive people who have gone out of their way to offend him.

I am so grateful for a God who forgives my transgressions—and remembers them no more. There is no other god like him, and I will be eternally indebted to his mercy and grace. When I think about his “unfailing love and…full redemption” (Psalm 130:7), I am simply undone. How about you?

What love, what mercy, what grace…what a God!

My Offering of Worship: Have you sinned? Ask God to forgive you. Has God forgiven you? Fear him—that is, reverence him, thank him, praise him, and love him—because he has obliterated your sin from his memory.

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Down But Not Out

You Will Rise Again

PREVIEW: Like Israel of old, you have enemies, too. However, your enemies are usually not physical, flesh and blood adversaries; they are spiritual forces that attack you from within—your moral character, your emotional stability, and your spiritual vitality. They seek to weaken your resolve to trust in God’s sufficiency and obey his commands. They seek to enslave you to a life that is far less than God’s best. Maybe even now they have the upper hand in your life. The psalmist would say to you, “Maintain your hope, don’t surrender your trust, strive to overcome every temptation, and get back up when you stumble. Whatever you do, don’t quit if you’ve failed. It may seem that you are down for the count, but you are not because God will give you the victory over your enemies.”

Down But Not Out - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 129:1-2

“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,” let Israel say; “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.”

Some people don’t like being reminded of their troubles. They think we ought to talk only of the positive things in life and leave out all the pessimistic stuff. They’d rather hear only of the sunshine of God’s grace and not the storm clouds of life’s difficulty. Even considering the reality and nature of Satanic opposition sends them posthaste into the fetal position.

I understand that. I prefer to move past, if not bury, all the difficult and distasteful things life brings my way. But isn’t that to ignore the fact that this thing called the Christian life is all about spiritual warfare—that we do have an Enemy who constantly seeks to destroy our very soul and that we are called to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and our testimony of faithfulness in the fight?

The psalmist understood quite well from the history of Israel’s enemies—literal foreign enemies who sought to defeat and enslave God’s people. These enemies were there from the beginning (“from my youth”) and never went away—Egypt, Edom, Moab, Philistia, Assyria, and Babylonia. These foreign, godless enemies oppressed Israel early and often, but each time, God gave his people victory over them.

You have enemies, too. That’s not being pessimistic; that’s just being real. Unlike Israel, however, your enemies are usually not physical, flesh and blood adversaries; they are spiritual forces that attack you from within—your moral character, your emotional stability, and your spiritual vitality. They seek to weaken your resolve to trust in God’s sufficiency and obey his commands. They seek to enslave you to a life that is far less than God’s best. And perhaps, like Israel, these enemies have “oppressed you from your youth,” or as the Message puts it, “They’ve kicked me around ever since you were young.” In other words, the same doubts, fears, temptations, and weaknesses you had as a young person or as a young Christian are still doing a number on you. Maybe they have had or even now have the upper hand in your life.

The psalmist would say to you, “Maintain your hope, don’t surrender your trust, strive to overcome every temptation, and get back up when you stumble. Whatever you do, don’t quit if you’ve failed. It may seem that you are down for the count, but you are not because God will give you the victory over your enemies.”

Israel had enemies—and God gave victory over each one. You’ve got enemies, too, but God has already given you victory over each one through Christ’s victory over sin. Think about that: All your adversaries have already been defeated—even if they don’t act like it. So go ahead and remind those enemies—depression, lust, anger, sickness, scarcity—that they are nothing but losers.

And you are anything but!

As the Apostle Paul declared in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Yes, they may have you down for now, but you are not out! Christians never are.

My Offering of Worship: Whatever is tormenting you and keeping you from victory needs to be put on notice. And you need to be the one to do that. So, call it out, then call it defeated by declaring Christ’s victory, and thus your victory, over it!

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Blessed Fear

Consumed With What God Cares About

PREVIEW: What does it mean to fear the Lord? This is by no means a theological definition, but for all intents and purposes, to fear the Lord means to make him and his purposes both the center and the circumference of your life. It is to be consumed with love, fueled by faith, and characterized by obedience in a moment-by-moment walk with God. It is to care more about what God cares about than anything else. That is what it means to fear the Lord, and that is what it takes to be blessed by the Lord.

Blessed Fear - Ray Noah Blog

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 128:1-2

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.

King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, began his most famous book, Proverbs, by writing, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). What followed was a collection of wise sayings intended to lead the God-fearing person into a life that the Lord would uniquely bless.

Solomon’s father, King David, who was Israel’s most beloved king, began his most famous book, Psalms, by writing, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3 )What followed was a collection of worship songs that expressed the blessed condition of one who feared the Lord.

Blessed fear—almost seems like an oxymoron. Fearfully blessed—same with that. Yet, for the person who fears God, blessings are guaranteed. And for the person who lives a genuinely God-blessed life, there you will find the fear of the Lord at their core.

What does it mean to fear the Lord? This is not a theological definition, but for all intents and purposes, to fear the Lord means to make him and his purposes both the center and the circumference of your life. It means to be consumed with love, fueled by faith, and characterized by obedience in a moment-by-moment walk with God. It means passionately caring more about what God cares about than anything else.

That is what it means to fear the Lord, and that is what it means to be blessed by the Lord.

You see, blessing in the purest sense is to be consumed by your love for God, to be fueled by your faith in God, and to be characterized by your obedience to God. A person who lives that kind of life knows pure and unassailable joy at the deepest level. Earthly success, material wealth, personal popularity, and all the other attributes the world says are needed for the blessed life are simply pale compared to a life characterized by blessed fear.

When you fear the Lord, you are truly blessed. When you are truly blessed by God, it is because you fear the Lord.

May God grant you holy fear, and may God richly bless you.

My Offering of Worship: Have you made the Lord and his purposes both the center and the circumference of your life—that he is your everything? Can you honestly say you are consumed with love, fueled by faith, and characterized by obedience in a moment-by-moment walk with God? Do you passionately care more about what God cares about than anything else? If not, take some time today to invite God to realign your life so that the measurement of who you are and what you do reveals that you genuinely do fear the Lord.