The Attitude and Mindset of Worship

By Brother Michel Lankford

The first principle of authentic Christian discipleship is that we must choose to look at and define any key words, concepts principles and ideas the way that God Himself looks at them and defines them in His Word.

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This Blog Will Discuss:

• What Is Worship?
• What is idolatry?
• Where is that in the Bible ?
• Attitudes make a difference in worship

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In the last few blog entries we've been dealing with the question of worship. In the original Hebrew and Greek biblical languages, to worship literally means, to bend one's being, bow down and prostrate oneself toward something. Our English term worship literally comes from the term worth-ship. This means to esteem and treat as having the highest value or worth in one's life and practice.
In effect, whatever or whoever you ultimately obey or follow is what you are worshiping, because you are bending your will and your behavior toward that person or principle. That's why for example we are told that even when we work for another person, we are to work as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:22-25). In effect, not only will this earn you a better reputation and witness for Christ on the job, not only will it bring eternal rewards from the Ultimate Judge, but keeping God as your focus when you make your choices at work will prevent you from worshiping your job, which of course would become idolatry in and of itself.
When we talk about worship of Yahweh through Messiah Jesus, who is our Great High Priest, what we are saying is that Almighty God is the One in our lives who holds our highest esteem. His Word, together with bringing delight to His heart is our highest priority and desire.
To worship successfully literally means that our heart, our mindsets, our attitudes, our desires, motives, our plans, and our behaviors, all purposely been themselves toward what Almighty God desires and says. That's what it means to worship.
To put it in practical real-life terms, when I make excuses for disobeying God's word, or I choose to fulfill my own desires instead of God's, in that moment I am really worshiping self, because in that moment, I am esteeming my own opinion, my own wishes and desires ahead of God.
For some of you, what I just said makes perfect sense. For others, this may sound different, or even a little high-minded. This brings about a very important teachable moment that is useful for any up-and-coming disciple, which of course being who I am, I cannot let it pass without addressing it.
When you hear something different than what you may have been taught to believe, it is okay to question it. The key is to remain open to the Holy Spirit and to the Scriptures so that you can at least remain teachable, in case it's possible that you may have been taught incorrectly; (sometimes even for our whole lives).
The constant chorus which we ought to keep in mind in order to remain teachable, but still hold fast to sound doctrine are these:
•    Is it opinion, or is it Scripture? Is what this teacher presenting, is it his own opinion or can it be thoroughly backed up and supported by Scripture?
•    "Where is that written?" Where do you see that in the Bible? Remember and never forget that Jesus Christ defeated even the devil himself by using the rightly divided written Word of God. If it's good enough for Messiah, then it is good enough for us (Matthew chapter 4; Luke chapter 4).
Now, some people tend to dislike what is called "proof text" preaching or teaching. That is preaching or teaching where every major point is thoroughly supported by a proof text or Scripture. To be honest, that is the only type of preaching and teaching that I prefer to either listen to or practice, because honestly, the only opinion that matters is God's and Jesus Christ's. I love you, but I was not born for you. I did not live a sinless life to redeem you, I was not resurrected from the dead for you. I did not overcome sin, death, hell, and the grave for you, but Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ did. As much as I love you, I still better prove everything I say by the rightly divided written word of God, because His is the only opinion that makes any difference
So, when I say things like: "When I make excuses for disobeying God's word, or I choose to fulfill my own desires instead of God's, in that moment I am really worshiping self, because in that moment, I am esteeming my own opinion, my own wishes and desires ahead of God." What should your first question be, if you're going to remain open to learning and growing in the Lord, but also remain steadfast in sound doctrine? Remember both are critical.
The first thing you should ask yourself: "Is this Michel's own personal opinion or is it truly supported by the rightly divided written word of God?" If it is truly supported by rightly divided Scripture, then Michel just spoke or wrote under God's authority. At that point you become responsible for obeying it because you want to obey God in what you heard.
If on the other hand, what I said or wrote was not thoroughly supported by the rightly divided written word of God, then it becomes a matter of my own personal opinion or interpretation. At that point, your responsibility changes. You should investigate it further to see if it is truly wise counsel, and therefore it will not hurt you to follow it. Or, if when you investigate it, you find that it is contrary to the Scriptures, you are free to dismiss it. However, you are commanded to investigate  it if it's possible. For as it is written:
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. ” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–22, NASB95)
So, when I say, " When I make excuses for disobeying God's word, or I choose to fulfill my own desires instead of God's, in that moment I am really worshiping self, because in that moment, I am esteeming my own opinion, my own wishes and desires ahead of God." What is your first question supposed to be? Your very first question needs to be, "Is at opinion, or is it Scripture?" Your second question, "Where is that in the Bible?"
In the vast majority of cases, I try to be extremely diligent about not teaching my opinion, but you still need to ask the questions anyway. In this case, I spoke directly out of scriptural principle. For as it is written:
"So Samuel [Remember Samuel was an anointed prophet of Almighty God] said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23 - NKJV with explanation in brackets, and bold for emphasis added).
As it is further written:
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5 - NKJV with bold added for emphasis).
Now, please look back at the most recent underlined portion of this document, where I describe fulfilling my own wishes and desires as being the worship of self. Was I speaking my own opinion, or was I speaking in complete agreement with the words and principles of Almighty God?
So, here Scripture clearly identifies stubbornness; holding onto my own desires, holding onto my own traditions, holding onto my own opinions, and coveting; craving my own wants passions and desires, ahead of obeying and being content with what God says or provides, then God Himself, through His Prophet and His apostle defines it as the sin of worshiping false gods. It's idolatry, period, end of story.
Beloved, believe it or not this is an eternal life or death issue. If Almighty God says that He delights in something, that He wants us to do things in a particular way, or he wants us to give up world void certain things, then we better make up our minds to come into agreement with him and obey Him. If we insist on stubbornly holding onto her own cravings and desires and appetites when God says, "No," then we are in danger of not inheriting the kingdom of heaven. How do I know that? God's word says it outright:

• We know that stubbornness is equal to idolatry in God's eyes
• We know that rebellion is equal to witchcraft according to the Scriptures.

We know that coveting is equal to idolatry according to the Scriptures.
Scripture is abundantly clear that those who retain such attitudes and behaviors consisting of either witchcraft or idolatry will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21).
In point of fact, if we retain those behaviors as part of our lives (then we will go to hell (Revelation 21:8). God forbid, and rather help us to repent). God is not kidding. If He says He doesn't like something, and we are attracted to it, then we better cooperate with God and allow Him to change our appetites and attractions. If He says that he delights in particular attitudes and behaviors, then we better start cooperating with God and let Him change our wants to agree with what delights Him. Do not be deceived. This is a life-and-death, a salvation or damnation issue.

Closing Prayer:
Almighty God Most High, have mercy upon me. As we enter Your Feast and appointed time known as The Feast of Unleavened Bread within the next few weeks, please help me to remove the yeast and leaven of sin out of my life. Help me to submit to You and to cooperate with You at every step. Graciously remove from my heart, my being, my character, my motives, my desires, and my behaviors anything and everything that is unfit to dwell in Your Eternal Kingdom. In light of this study, please remove all manner of idolatry, witchcraft and coveting, and help me to submit and cooperate with You, as you accomplish this great work of grace in my life. Help me instead to worship you as you deserve and desire to be worshiped. Help me to delight in, and to pursue what is truly pleasing to You. Mercifully transform my entire being so that you will find my worship a delight to Your heart. Please grant this according to Your unfailing love, and the work of Your Messiah Jesus, amen.

Syncretism: The Subversive Idolatry

By Brother Michel Lankford

This video gives a great litmus test to discern truth from error

 

What is Syncretism?
 
In the blog entry of March 31, we studied the fact that even though we are in the so-called age of grace, God does not accept every single act of worship that we bring to him simply because we do it in the name of Jesus Christ. In point of fact, this series of these next few blogs are about how to worship God in spirit and truth, or how to become worshipers that the father seeks. (John 4:22-24. In order to do that we have to understand what God accepts in worship versus what He does not.
On March 31, we studied the fact that being sincere and well-intentioned does not necessarily mean that God will automatically accept anything and everything we bring to Him (Matthew 7:21). We gave eight examples of worshipers whose gifts and offerings and ministries were rejected because they were being disobedient to God in their worship. Today we will discuss a practice which is come to be known as syncretism.

If you do not know what syncretism is, please do not feel badly. Being uninformed or ignorant is not necessarily a sin, but choosing to remain ignorant when you have opportunity to do better, then that would be sin (James 4:17; Amos 2:4-5; Isaiah 5:20-24). We are all learning and growing. I've been in the Lord's service almost 20 years now, and I only very recently learned what syncretism means and how dangerous it truly is to authentic Christian faith and practice.
Syncretism is the blending, the mixing and the combining of beliefs, ideologies, mythologies and practices of various religions and homogenizing them together into a new faith and practice. It is critical to remember that both in the Hebrew and Christian fulfillment Scriptures, the practice of syncretism is expressly forbidden.
That is why we are told NOT to think according to the pattern of the sinful world, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2), because God does not want us importing sinful ideas and homogenizing them into our relationship with God. That will defile our worship and sacrifices. Please understand that Romans 12:1-2 is not a New Testament idea. It's an Old Testament idea restated in the New Testament (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua1:7-8; Psalm 1:1-3; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Jeremiah 10:1-2; Proverbs 3:5-8). So the question is, would you like to prosper? Would you like for Almighty God to bless all your work and efforts? Would you like to be able to obey God so that you can be blessed? If you are wise, and the answer to all those questions is yes, then we simply cannot continue to think according to the pattern of the sinful world. We must submit to God and allow Him to change our thinking to agree with Him (Isaiah 55:6-7), because otherwise we cannot successfully obey Him. It's that simple, (Romans 8:5-8).
God did not, and indeed still does not want us to adapt ungodly, sinful or idolatrous ideas and practices into our worship of Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ. That's why He made certain explicit commands to the children of Israel. Remember, Christians are supposed to learn from these instructions as well. (Romans 15:4):
“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. “You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. “You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God. ” (Deuteronomy 12:1–4, NASB95).
Did you notice that the very first instruction Almighty God gave to the people of Israel was to absolutely destroy and obliterate everything and anything even remotely connected to the worship of false gods? (Which incidentally, are really demons trying to steal worship that belongs to God; 1 Corinthians 10:20). Why do you think that the Almighty God made that the very first instruction they were to follow when they took possession of the land? Most of you who read this blog are smart people. You love God. You love Jesus Christ. Why did the Almighty give this instruction? Deep down in your heart, you know the answer. God does not want us thinking, believing, talking or behaving in any sort of agreement with people who worship demons instead of God. It's that simple. If we let it hang around, it will make it more difficult to really believe and obey God, it will cause people to fall away from following Almighty God.
*Please note: Asherim in Babylon was given the name Ishtar from where we get Easter
“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; (Deuteronomy 12:8, NASB95)
Please Note: God is NOT asking us to worship Him according to what seems right in our own eyes. He is expressly commanding exactly the opposite. He is commanding us to seek, to discover, to learn, and then obey what seems right in God's eyes, and then worship Him accordingly. That's worship. That is esteeming God's opinion as supreme. Anyone who says otherwise is bearing false witness against the Lord God of Hosts, an extremely dangerous practice. His opinion must supersede our opinion in all matters, otherwise it isn't worship. That's putting our own desires and opinions above what God expressly states. That's not worship. That's the definition of rebellion.
““When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ “You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it. ” (Deuteronomy 12:29–32, NASB95)
God absolutely does not want us to blend or incorporate idolatrous or pagan beliefs, ideologies, mythologies and practices of various religions and homogenizing them together with worshiping of Almighty God. He is expressly forbidden it by His own decrees.
Wait a minute! Aren't those decrees in the Old Testament? Weren't those old laws abolished when Christ died and rose again? No, they were not, and anyone who says they were, is bearing false witness against the Messiah, and calling Him a liar. This again is an extremely dangerous practice which I strenuously recommend avoiding at all costs. Hear what the Lord, the Messiah and Christ of Almighty God has clearly spoken:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17–19, NASB95)
Please, make no mistake. According to the commands and teachings of Messiah Himself, in order for the teachings and principles of Deuteronomy 12 which we have just read to suddenly be set aside one or all three stipulations must take place:
1. Earth must pass away.
2. Heaven must pass away.
3. Every promise and prophecy of Scripture must be fully completed and accomplished.
I put it to you plainly. Is Earth still here? Yes. Is heaven still here? Yes. Has every single promise and prophecy of Scripture been completely fulfilled and accomplished? Our atonement for sin has been accomplished, but not everything else God promised is finished yet. For example, there are still components of the promises in the Abrahamic covenant that have yet to be fulfilled. For another example, according to the book of Hebrews, the day of atonement still goes on every year. Jesus our great high priest recalls before God  to recognize the blood that he shed for us. Through Jesus Christ, the method by which the blood is applied to our sin has changed, but the blood requirement itself has never changed.
So in the light of this, can we legitimately ignore, set aside or make null and void God specific instructions which we just read in Deuteronomy12? Well, we could, and we might even make it to heaven, but you should only do that if your best goal is to be absolutely the lowest citizen in the kingdom of God, because that's what Jesus said would happen. That wasn't my idea. Jesus said it. I'm just agreeing with Him. He is after all, the Messiah and the cornerstone of the church whose architect and builder is Almighty God. If you foolishly choose to ignore the Architect's specific instructions, then please do not be surprised if you have a more difficult time believing in applying God's word to overcome your difficulties, storms and trials in this life (Matthew 7:24-25)
The bottom line is that God has already given His specific and direct instructions concerning worship. When we are seeking to worship Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, absolutely none of our practices should be imitations of what other false religions do in serving their gods, because as the apostle Paul points out, when we do that, we are really paying homage to demons.
Is this particular concept discussed in Deuteronomy 12 restated in the New Testament? It most certainly is. If I know that something has its origins in worshiping pagan gods, I should not endorse or participate in it, not just for the sake of my own conscience, but also for the sake of other people who could be led astray from following Jesus Christ. Even if I don't personally feel convicted that it's wrong, I should not do it as a testimony that I stand for and with Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:14-22).
The apostle Paul restates the same principle again in 2 Corinthians:
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ” (2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1, NASB95)

 

 

The Trail of Syncretism

 
In our modern, postmodern and very technologically advanced age we might think that syncretism and idolatry doesn't really affect us that much today. After all, we have the complete translation of the Scriptures. We have computers. With Google and YouTube you can find out almost anything you need to know, so surely the modern Christian church has progressed and advanced beyond the need to be on our guard against idolatry and syncretism. Surely in this modern technologically advanced age we don't have to worry about being deceived into adopting worldly and demonic philosophies into our faith and theology. Surely we have grown and progressed well beyond the need to worry about such things, haven't we? It might be comforting to think so, but if you are truly wise, you will not delude yourself into thinking that we no longer need to be on our guard against the subversive idolatry of syncretism.
Syncretism is not a new problem for the Saints to avoid. Within the first hundred years after the resurrection of Messiah, the apostles were repeatedly sending warning after warning to the church that it should diligently avoid blending Christian beliefs with the pagan philosophies of Gnosticism. Gnosticism effectively denies the physical life, death, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus Christ. In reality it claims Christian Enlightenment while denying the very gospel itself. The letters of the apostles Paul, John and Jude all contain strong elements exhorting the Christian church to avoid blending the gospel with the heresies of Gnosticism.
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. ” (2 John 7, NASB95)
After the death of John the apostle (circa 99 to 100 A.D), the church began to get flooded with countless philosophies and ideologies taken straight from pagan demonic religious practices, and brought them into Christianity. The pedigree of each of these ungodly ideas and how they became traditional within Christian faith and practice would take months to track down and weeks to read. It's a task worthy of Samson himself which I have no compulsion to undertake at the moment. However if you would like to know more, I strongly recommend the following resources:
Too Long in the Sun by Richard Rives
Time Is the Ally of Deceit by Richard Rives
In his books, Mr. Rives actually traces the problems of syncretism and the Judeo-Christian faith all the way back into ancient Old Testament times to the present day. He does a phenomenal job.
Frank Viola and researcher George Barna co-authored a book called:
Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices. In this book, the authors explore how paganism has affected almost every modern Protestant church practice today.
By the time the Roman Catholic Church and its inquisitions held their tyrannical grip that became the dominant force in Christendom (circa 400 A.D.), not only was there virtually no faithfulness to the theology of avoiding syncretism as had been previously taught by the apostles, but under the Roman Catholic Church, adopting heresies into Christian faith and practice was actually commanded and ordered by the Roman Catholic Church. The only reason that practices such as Christmas and Ishtar (among many other practices) have become so entrenched in Christian practice and tradition is because the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Gregory I (540 A.D - 604 A.D), officially ordered that any and all pagan festivals were to be adapted or incorporated into Christian worship. This is again something that Scripture expressly forbids doing, but remember the Catholic Church claims that its authority supersedes all scriptural authority, which is a lie, (Isaiah 8:20).
 
The Modern Push of  Syncretism
 
In modern and postmodern times, things literally have gone from bad to worse. In the 1920s there was an all-out push to incorporate the theory of evolution and combining it with Christianity, in the 50s and 60s the push for the church was to accept worldly psychology into our theology. In the 90s the push was to apply more American business models, consumerism where you attempt to modify church in order to become more seeker sensitive which is basically the attitude of changing Christianity to what the customer wants. Once we became aAt t at modifying Christianity to what we think the consumer wants, the focus then became how do we modify church and adapted to reach the postmodern world and generation X.
In order to do that, the wildly popular emerging church movement is now actively teaching people to deny God, to deny Jesus Christ, to deny the Holy Spirit and to deny the Scriptures, all the while claiming to be evangelical Christians.
The whole basis of the emerging church and postmodern theology is to refuse to believe that there is any such thing as absolute truth. When you deny that there is such a thing as absolute truth, that can be known understood and followed, you are calling Jesus Christ himself a liar, while calling yourself a Christian and in some cases even a minister. Think about it. If you hold to the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth which can be known, understood and followed, then you are denying Jesus Christ himself, because He IS the truth (John 14:6). If you hold the doctrine that there is no such thing as absolute truth then you are denying the people's only access and possibility of deliverance and freedom (John 8:31-36). If you hold to the false doctrine that there is no such thing as absolute truth, then you are denying the idea that God and His Son can bring salvation and eternal life (John 17:3). If you hold to the false emerging church postmodern doctrine which says that the truth cannot be known or followed, then you are denying a key function of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Romans 8:14)
Beloved, if you understand your Bible and church history, you will understand that syncretism has never worked to accomplish what the Bible requires from God followers and disciple. It never helped the people of Israel become more faithful to Almighty God when they did it, and it does not help the Christian church when we do it:
We must remember and not forget this. Both the Hebrew Testament and the New Testament of Scripture expressly forbids the practice which has come to be labeled as syncretism. We are explicitly forbidden throughout the whole Testament of Scripture from blending the Judeo-Christian faith with the beliefs, ideologies, mythologies and practices of pagan religions and worldly philosophies, and homogenizing them together into a different gospel. I beg you now as I have often times before, please do not let yourselves be deceived. We have been warned. If we fail to heed these warnings, we will be led astray, we will be deceived, and the damage to ourselves, our families and our churches will be incalculable: We Have Been Warned. Will we be wise and heed the warnings?":
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. ” (2 Peter 2:1–3, NASB95)
“Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Jude 1:3 (NRSV)
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ” (2 Timothy 3:1–7, NASB95)

We have been warned. Will we heed the warnings or walk in deception?  Each believer must decide to be diligent, to seek and walk the narrow path that truly leads to life. the alternative is to be swept up into the broad, popular, smooth and well traveled road which leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).  Our internal GPS had better be reprogrammed to agree with and obey the written word of God , because of it was good enough for Jesus Christ to overcome the temptations of the devil ,  it's more than adequate for us.  So which road will you choose to travel?

Brother Michel Lankford.

God Doesn't Necessarily Accept All Worship Done in His Name

By Brother Michel Lankford
 
Did you know that not all worship of Almighty God is automatically acceptable to God? As Christians, many of us believe the truth that the Bible is the Holy Spirit inspired and God breathed Word of Almighty God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Most of us understand that worshiping false gods (what Scripture calls idolatry) is wrong.
In fact, it is so entirely wrong that if people do not turn away from it, the New Testament Scriptures overtly say that such people will go to hell. He rejects all forms of idolatry. From the OT and NT, that concept does not change (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9;10:7; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; Eph 5:5; Rev 21:8; 22:15). Remember, those are even New Testament and not Old Testament Scriptures.
With so much at stake as peoples eternal lives, it seems to me that we should use HIS definition of idolatry and not our own preferences to define that term, because it IS a life-and-death issue (Matthew 5:17-20; 6:13-14, 7:21-23).
So now we know that the worship of anything else other than Almighty God who made heaven and Earth is called idolatry. It is expressly forbidden, and if people engage in and do not turn away from such practices, they will in fact go to hell. That is the truth. No legitimate Christian, nor pastor, nor teacher of God's Word can rightly claim or teach otherwise. Lord Almighty God, save us, cleanse us, and deliver us from all evil which in Your righteousness, You would be required to judge or condemn, amen.
With so much at stake as peoples' eternal lives and their relationships with God, it becomes absolutely critical and imperative that we define idolatry in the same manner that Almighty God defines that term, since so much depends on how God judges it. His definition is the only one that counts. I think I'm relatively safe in saying that if you ask the majority of modern Christians what idolatry is, they will say to you something to the effect of:
Idolatry is worshiping anything in nature or creation. Or, idolatry is any time you take wood, stone, clay, or mental, then you make some form of a statue to represent God or a god. Then you bow down, worship, and to make offerings to it.
According to most Christians, that would be the only definition of idolatry. Many of us believe that as long as we avoid overt idolatry, then no matter what we choose to do in worship, as long as we do it sincerely and in Christ's name, then we are safe and God accepts and even honors whatever we choose to do in worship. That's certainly the general consensus, but is that true? Certainly the above description fits the definition of overt idolatry but is that the complete definition as God and His Word defines the term? I sincerely believe that a careful examination of the Scriptures will surprise you.
Of course, the heart and character of a person must be sincere, but Scripture is also clear that what we offer and how we offer it to God also matters greatly. In this particular blog entry, we will focus on worship and sacrifices which God rejected.

 

 

Examples of Worship Which God Rejected

A. Cain's worship. Genesis 4 reveals the instance when Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to God. Cain "brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord" (4:3) and Abel "brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" (4:4). Abel offered his sacrifice "by faith" (Heb. 11:4) and "the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering" (Gen. 4:4). One can only do something "by faith" when he has a revelation from God and obeys the revelation communicated to him (Rom. 10: 17). Hence, Abel's worship was accepted because he offered his worship according to the pattern God revealed to him. Cain's worship was rejected by God.
Notice that centuries before the law was given, people knew how to respect what God expected. Notice also that God rejected not only Cain's offering, but in the space of that time, He had no "respect" for Cain either. Cain was rejected because his heart was not right. The offering was rejected because it was not right either.
What's critical to understand is that in order for worship to be accepted both the worshiper, and the gift he brings must be correct and appropriate before the Lord. Please do not missed that point. Other Scriptures will attest to this. In order for worship to be accepted both the heart intent and the deed done must be correct before God.
B. Remember the Israelites: who gave YHWH's name to an idol (Exodus 32:1-10). The Israelites had adapted pagan worship practices which they had learned while in slavery for 400 years in Egypt. They took those practices and they copied them. They fashioned a golden calf, they made an idol. They gave it the name of YHWH and declared a feast unto the LORD, YHWH.
What's interesting is that even though they put God's name on it, and declared what they were doing to be a festival to YHWH, God was not pleased by it. He did not honor it. He did not accept it as appropriate worship, unto Him, even though it was done in His name. In fact, if you would read further, you would discover that God was ready to destroy the entire population and start over with Moses because of what they did. Moses acted as a foreshadowing of Messiah, and the whole population of Israel was not destroyed. Nonetheless, 3000 people died that day.
God is serious about being obeyed, and sincerity does not trump obedience. If He did not like it in 1440 BC, when the Israelites took pagan Egyptian practices, put God's name on it and called it a festival for Him, then what possible Biblical basis could we have to even remotely believe that we can take the name of Babylonian and Greco-Roman fertility and sex gods and goddesses, along with the specific feast days and even some of the traditions of those pagan festivals, what makes us think we can put the name of Jesus Christ over the top of it and somehow make that acceptable worship to the LORD? God doesn't change. If He was repulsed by a particular modus operandi in 1440 BC, He is not going to suddenly like it when we apply the same misguided principle, merely because we do it in Jesus Christ's name. If I managed to poke a hornet's nest and escape unscathed, does this naturally mean that poking a hornet's nest with a stick is suddenly a wise and prudent thing to do?
C. Remember Nadab and Abihu: The Lord revealed that the priest was to take fire from the altar of burnt offering to light the incense on the altar of incense (Lev. 16:11-14).
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord (Lev. 10:1-2).
Keep in mind, these sons of Aaron were not worshiping false gods. They were worshiping the real and True God. They merely offered their worship in a way that was clearly different than what God instructed. What was the result? The result was still death. Though these men offered worship, their worship was not accepted because it was not according to the pattern revealed from God. Tinkering with divine worship is serious business, as shown by God's immediately striking down these men with death.
D. Remember Uzzah: (2 Samuel 6:1-11). This man was very sincere. He thought he was rendering service to God. He thought he was protecting the Ark of the covenant from being desecrated by preventing it from touching the ground. That was his purpose when he reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant. Did Uzzah's sincerity of purpose save him? No it didn't. Why not? Well, because God is serious about being obeyed. According to the Believer's Study Bible:
"The Law strictly prohibited any Israelite’s contact with the ark of God (cf. Ex. 25:14; Num. 4:5, 15, 20). Uzzah was not unaware of that command, nor of the Philistine experience with the ark (1 Sam. 5:1–6:18), nor of that of the men of Beth Shemesh who looked into the ark (1 Sam. 6:19, 20). Uzzah’s error was disobedience to the Law of God, based upon an inadequate view of the holiness of God. Actually,the ark was not being transferred in compliance with the divine command (cf. 1 Chr. 15:12–15). Thus, all the ingredients for this tragedy were present from the start."^[1]
E. Remember Saul, The First King of Israel: King Saul offered a burnt sacrifice to God and God fired him as King of Israel, from that point on he fell into more and more sin, which later killed him (1 Samuel 13:5-14; cf. 1 Samuel 15:22).
F. Remember King Uzziah: He try to worship by performing a priestly function. He burned incense to God and God made him a leper (2 Chronicles. 26:16-21).
G. Remember the Worshipers in Malachi's Generation: It is disheartening to think that, within 100 years of the return of the first Jews from Babylon, their worship had already become vain, but that was the case. What Almighty God had to say about it is typical of everything else the Scriptures say about vain worship. The thing they were calling worship was worse than no worship at all. YHWH rebuked them in the strongest possible terms: "'Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,' says the Lord of hosts, 'nor will I accept an offering from your hands'" (Malachi. 1:10,11). Whatever else their sacrifices and ceremonies might have been good for, they weren't any good for pleasing the Lord -- He did not accept them.
Always remember and do not forget that in six of these seven examples, these people were not worshiping false gods. They were worshiping the real and true God, but they were doing it in a manner that was not acceptable to the Lord.
Even in the New Testament, Scripture says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4, NASB95) So, if we are making good and proper use of the good brains that God gave us, then we will learn from the bad examples in Scripture, we will carefully heed and pay attention to the warning from them, and we will not repeat the kinds of errors that brought His judgment. Conversely, we will diligently study the Scriptures, we will learn from the good examples we see in Scriptures, we will imitate those, and be blessed in what we do. That is what a wise person does (James 1:19-27).
Well, that was the Old Testament. Does the same principle carry forward in the New Testament. Of course it does, because God does not change:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall." Matthew 7:21-27 (NASB)

If everybody's worship and acts of service were automatically accepted just because they were done in Christ's name, then why would Jesus specifically say what He said? Think about it.
Minister Gary Henry (wordpoints.com) writes:

“Today, we urgently need to understand the link between worship and the way we live. The NT is clear -- our worship is rendered vain if we do things like these and refuse to repent:
Speak with an unbridled tongue - Jas. 1:26.
Turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the disadvantaged - Jas. 1:27.
Indulge in secret immorality - 1 Tim. 2:8.
Live lives of bitterness, hostility, and enmity - Mt. 5:23,24.
Mistreat our wives - 1 Pt. 3:7.”

Lord God Almighty, graciously turn our hearts away from evil and toward what is good, blessed, pleasing and delightful to You, so that when we gather together, You will be pleased to be in our midst, so that you will be delighted to accept our worship and pleased to hear our praises, and graciously disposed toward our petitions, since we are desperately dependent upon You and can do nothing worthwhile apart from you. Have mercy upon us O LORD. Amen.

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^[1] Believer's Study Bible. 1997 (electronic ed.) (2 Sa 6:7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Christianity as a Lifestyle

By Brother R, Michel Lankford
 

“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ” ” (Matthew 4:4, NASB95)

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This Blog Will Discuss:

• Christianity as a Lifestyle
• True Christianity is a Lifestyle NOT a religion
• LOVE makes the relationship go-round
• Learn God’s Word, Precepts and Standards

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Christianity Is a Lifestyle
Everything in this little book will revolve around these three larger concepts. True Christianity is developing a thriving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a lifestyle that is learned little by little over a lifetime of practice. It involves being loved and learning to love God and others. It’s becoming dependent and learning to become dependable. It involves Learning to trust in becoming more and more trustworthy, learning to become a more obedient follower so that when God gives us a chance to lead we will lead gently and well. Now, there is no way that I can in this little book, give you every single precept that you will need to learn over a lifetime of living in Christ. What I did try to do as God gives me grace, is to give you the fundamental heart concepts, mind concepts and behavioral concepts you will need to be a successful Christian. True Christianity is a lot more than a detailed list of do's and don'ts. We don't want to make the mistake of reducing Christianity into some kind of glorified behavior modification program. Don't get me wrong, God does desire and expect us to develop new habits and behaviors for our own good, but that's not all there is. True Christianity involves allowing God to change our heart, to change our thinking, and as we cooperate by gradually adjusting our lives and behavior to match those new heart and thinking concepts, we will become people who reflect his love and character in a dark and hurting world.This little discipleship manual is intended to help you get started in living with God and for Jesus Christ successfully. True Christian discipleship involves a change in lifestyle. It happens, little by little, inch by inch and step-by-step, but over time God expects the people that He saves to:
a) Learn how to receive and digest His love for us so that we can be nourished and strengthened. God's primary desire is to love us, transform and grow us up in His Love. He wants to have and enjoy a sweet thriving relationship of love with us first. As we are gradually nourished and transformed by his love, He allows us the blessed privilege of becoming an agent who carries and demonstrates His Love to other people who need his love.
b) Learn His Word, His precepts, and His standards. We need to learn to live by God's word, because that's the way we learn how to receive and live in God's blessings, care and protection. Since God created this world and our lives, He knows how our lives are designed and how we should live in order that we would enjoy a most blessed, fulfilling and productive life. I'll illustrate with a physical example. If you've ever bought a hair dryer you might see a warning label like this: CAUTION: Do not use hair dryer near water or in shower, electrocution may result in severe injury or death. Now, if you have any sense at all, you are not going to stand under a running shower and use a plugged in hair dryer. Why? Because the consequences are painfully disastrous to your life, health, and well being! The same principle holds true with disobeying God. The only difference is that the consequences of disobeying God are not as shockingly quick or immediate. That's because God is patient and wants to give us a chance to turn away from our sinful habits or mistakes before they destroy us. Therefore, God often protects us from the full consequences of our sin and foolishness until we die. He is hoping that we will make the choice to turn away from our sins and toward Him so that we won't have to bear the full consequences of our foolishness. We'll get into that more later. For now it's sufficient to say that one of God's key desires is that we learn His word, precepts and standards so that we can live under God's blessing care and protection.
c) God wants us to successfully practice his word and principles, not only so we can be blessed, but also so that we can have the privilege of being a productive blessing to others as God works through us.

7 Key Reasons to Obey God and Jesus Christ

By Brother Michel Lankford

Recently, a friend of college age told me that they wanted to start a college Bible Study group, and wanted to know what to teach. I earnestly recommended that the focus of the group should be all about studying the Commands of Jesus Christ.

Why should Christians Study to learn and obey Christ’s Commands?

1. Since we are called to love God and His Son Jesus Christ with all our heart soul mind and strength, then we must understand what that means in God's terms (Matthew 22:26-30; Matthew 7:12; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

a) The proof that we love God is that we obey God and Jesus Christ: We have to remember that from God's point of view there is no real reparation between love and obedience. In other words, if we truly and correctly love God and His Son Jesus Christ, we are going to obey Him. If we do not earnestly desire, seek to, and progressively succeed in obeying God and Jesus Christ, then the simple fact of the matter is that we do not sincerely and truly love Him. That may seem harsh, but it's biblical, (Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10; John 14:15-24; 1 John 5:3).

b) In fact, as you'll see in the passages, refusing to obey God is closely linked to idolatry. That's because to worship means to esteem of the highest value. Therefore, if we are refusing to obey God, that means that we are esteeming other people, places, things or desires ahead of God. That is why contrasting statements are made between obedience and idolatry in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.

2. The absolute first principle of successful Christian discipleship: Always define every key word, idea and concept the way that God defines it.  By definition, a disciple is one who believes, one who follows and obeys, and one who spreads the teachings of God and Jesus Christ to others by their words and way of life. Ergo, if you are not following and obeying Jesus Christ, then you are not really His disciple at all.
3. Discipleship Is Not Happen Automatically. Disciples of both born-again, and they are also made. As it is written:
"Then Jesus came up and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 NET- Bold texts and underlines added for emphasis) So once again, if we are not teaching people how to obey everything that Jesus Christ commanded, then according to Christ's own definition of the term, we are not truly succeeding at making disciples, are we?


4. In general, most believers claim that we want to have a greater revelation and understanding of God and Jesus Christ. According to Christ's own words, God only reveals and makes himself known and manifest to those who have and who keep Christ's commands:
John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." (NASB)
So in reality, can anyone have a sincere revelation and understanding of God and Jesus Christ, without obeying Christ and His Commandments? The answer is, no they cannot. If anyone claims to have any real revelation or understanding of God and Jesus Christ without making it a regular practice to know and obey Christ's commandments, such a person has either deceived themselves, or they are outright lying. In either case, any person who suggests that you can have a revelation of God without actively obeying what Christ commanded is not to be trusted (Psalm 1:1-3; 1 John 1:5-8; 2:6; James 1:21-25). Beloved, why would you ever want to allow yourself to be counseled and coached by someone who chooses to be deceived?

5.  Obedience Brings Us into Family and Friendship: As believers, most of us claim that we want greater friendship with the Redeemer, and by extension the Almighty Father. Again according to Christ's own words, His friends and family are those who do God's will, and obey Christ's commands:
Mark 3:31-35 Then His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You." Answering them, He *said, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, "Behold My mother and My brothers! "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (NASB)
"You are My friends IF you do what I command you. John 15:14 (NASB- Emphasis added)

6.  Obeying God and Jesus Christ proves our genuine citizenship in the kingdom of God. Again, using Christ's own words:
"Matthew 7:21-27  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall." Matthew 7:21-27 (NASB emphasis added)

7. Obeying God and Jesus Christ, guarantees that we will persevere through our trials. For that is the very definition of perseverance:
Revelation 14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
8. Summary Conclusion of Principles: Why do we obey, and why do we teach others to obey God and Jesus Christ?
    a) We obey, and teach others to obey because we love God and Jesus Christ. From God's point of view there is no separation between healthy maturing love and obedience
    b) We obey and teach others to obey because we want to be disciples, and help other people to become successful disciples as well.
    c) We obey and teach others to obey because we want to have authentic revelation of God and Jesus Christ in our lives, and God only discloses knowledge of Himself and His Son, to those who have and keep His Commandments.
    d) We obey and teach others to obey because we want to be counted as members of God's and Christ's family and friends, and He only grants that to those who obey His Commands.
    e). We obey and teach others to obey because it ensures our perseverance as Saints of God
   f)  We obey and teach others to obey because it secures the fact that we are thriving and growing citizens of the kingdom of God.
Whenever anyone of the discipleship students with whom I'm entrusted is tempted to complain that I spend too much time focusing on Christ's Commands, I generally take them through a list similar to items 7(a)-(f). I will then generally ask them, which one of these blessings can you do without for all eternity? Speaking for myself, I cannot do without, nor do I wish to be without any of those great blessings for all of eternity. Therefore, I see no other reasonable course of action than to learn and to heed the Commandments of Almighty God and Jesus Christ.

The Teaching Model:
Understanding the foundational basis of what we must learn and teach the Commandments of God and Jesus Christ is crucial, but once we know what to teach, it helps to have a basic idea of how to go about it. Of course, one should seek the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction in all matters, but this is one method of studying and teaching which I have found to be effective:
1. Discover What the Commandment Is: That means that we read what the Commandment is along with its surrounding scriptural texts in order not to take the Commandment out of context. In the process, is usually infinitely helpful to identify the keywords or phrases in the command itself. I generally recommend looking up the key words in a good original language resource such as, the vine's expository dictionary of old and New Testament words. You can search for references in this resource for free on various pages the Internet if you don't already have one in print.
2. Discover the guiding principles behind the Command: Generally, the best way to do this is to look at cross-references. According to the surrounding text what were the circumstances under which this command was given? Is this command described in other places in Scripture? How does this command reflect God's love? how does this command reflect God's righteousness?
3. Discuss and Plan Practical ways to put these Commands into Practice: no Bible study of this type would be complete without some real, down to earth, brass tacks discussions about exactly how do we obey and put these commands into practice. It is not the commands of God which we know that transforms our lives, if the commands of God which we obey the transforms our lives. So no discussion of any particular commandment should be considered closed unless we've opened the floor to discuss and include some real practical ways of obeying what we've learned. If the groups are close enough in love and friendship, this can be a great springboard for accountability, but that's a whole other teaching.
Beloved, I hope this helps you. Continue strong in love and faith of God and Jesus Christ. Until next time,
Michel Lankford

Knowing the Will of God Part 2

Part 2: God Specific Will.
By Brother Michel Lankford
 

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NASB)

The Third Principle of authentic Christian discipleship is that God's word contains many great promises. Most of God's promises contain qualifiers and conditions which reflect God's character. To receive the promises, we must obey the conditions in a manner that reflects God's character

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This Blog Will Discuss:

•  Learning God’s specific will for our lives:
• God has the universal will, but also a specific will for each individual He created (Ephesians 2:8-10 )
• Seeking and discerning God's direction is our responsibility (Ephesians 5:15-17).
•   Some fundamental basic steps in seeking God's will.

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There are people who are willing to concede that God has a general will for mankind, but they will claim that he has no specific will for individual human beings. Does God, in fact have a plan and desire for individual human beings, as well as for the human race in general? The truth is, absolutely! Let's take a look at Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that Not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (NKJV)  From this single verse, we can learn some profound truths.

· We are God's workmanship... From this, a wise person can correctly glean the fact that we do not belong to ourselves. We are a uniquely designed and uniquely loved work of art. A person with understanding will glean that if we are God's workmanship (God's unique creation) such a position comes both with privileges and with accountability to the one who made us.
· Created in Christ Jesus... From this, a person of wisdom and integrity will correctly understand that being created in Christ Jesus means that God's will for our individual lives will of course exquisitely reflect the character and attitudes of God's Son Jesus Christ.
· For good works... It seems almost unnecessary to mention, but some people are afraid to seek God's personal will for their lives because they are afraid that it will not be good or that they will not be happy. That is an unfortunate and erroneous belief system. God is love (1 John 4:7-8). God is good and his mercy endures forever (Psalm 106: 1). If you learn nothing else from these studies, please learn this. God's desire for our lives, is always for our absolute good. For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." (Romans 10:11NASB). Sometimes that's difficult to believe because our personal experiences have often fallen short of God's best desires for our lives. Sometimes this is been the result of our own sinfulness. Other times we've experienced less than God's best because of the sins of others. All of that notwithstanding, God's desires for our lives are always good. We must understand that our personal experiences are not the best indicators of God's desire for our lives. That's because too many of our experiences are brought about by human interference which can act as static to our spiritual receivers so to speak. That’s another topic. For now, let's focus on the fact that God's desires for our lives are always good. Since we were designed by God who is love, then it stands to reason that the only way will be truly happy and fulfilled as human beings, is to discover and learn to carry out those good works for which God designed us.
· Which God prepared beforehand... Now this is an extremely powerful phrase. Can you see the dynamic implications? God the Almighty Creator of the universe not only designed and created us, but in his infinite love, knowledge and wisdom, He knew that the only way a human being could be fulfilled is to be productive; to learn, grow, and do something infinitely worthwhile with their time. Being the ultimate loving parent, He not only created us, but He prepared (meaning God planned out with specific and deliberate forethought) some good works for us to fulfill during our time on earth.
· That we should walk in them... Notice that God says, "that we should," not that we automatically would walk in them. A wise and discerning person will understand from this that we always have a choice whether or not to fulfill God's best desires for our lives. While we legitimately owe God our love, loyalty and obedience, (which by the way carries infinite rewards), in his love God will not demand that we love and obey Him. He leaves the delicate and perilous choice up to us.
Our primary mission in life is learning to discover the good works, which God prepared beforehand, for us to fulfill, and that we cooperate with God to accomplish those things. It is the only way that we can be completely satisfied and fulfilled with our lives. With God's help I will throughout the study attempt to give you a step-by-step skeletal framework that you can use to discover God's will for your life. Keep in mind that God may work with you slightly differently, but these rudimentary principles will most likely always be there.
 

Seeking God's will and direction for His specific will in our lives is our  personal responsibility before God

 
We don't hear much about it these days, but even though we are saved by grace through faith in what Jesus Christ  accomplished  through his death and resurrection, seeking God's will and direction for our personal lives  is the responsibility of each individual believer.  We don't hear much about that anymore  in modern-day Christendom.  However, by definition a valid relationship involves at least two individuals.  In order to be a living and thriving relationship,  each party in the relationship has to contribute something.  Now,  our relationship with God is not  an equal partnership  by any stretch of the imagination.  We even need God's help to contribute our portion  of the relationship successfully, but we must contribute into the relationship nonetheless.  Otherwise we do not have a valid relationship with God at all.  A portion of our contribution into our relationship with God is our willingness  (our will)  and our energy.   After God has opened our hearts to believe and receive the gospel of Jesus Christ , part of what we contribute is our ongoing willingness and energy into actively seeking  and obeying God's direction:

"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. Proverbs 8:17 (NASB)... (cf. Proverbs 2:4, 5; James 1:5-8)
Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7 (NASB)

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (NASB)
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NASB)

 
This is by no means an exhaustive list,  but did you notice that the word diligence  is often used  in direct correlation to how we are to seek after God.  Beloved,  please do not be deceived. even though we live under the grace of God through what Jesus Christ  accomplished,  this did not eliminate our need to be diligent  in our relationship with the Lord.  God's not always going to drop absolutely everything automatically into our lap  simply because we believe His Son  and we think we are cute, and entitled.   Knowing God's will and direction for our lives will require that we direct our will and our diligent  efforts into s seeking after it.  The good news is that if we do  choose to direct our will  and apply our diligent efforts  into seeking God's will and direction,  we are guaranteed success  (Matthew 7:7-8).
 

Some basic steps in seeking God's specific will for your life:

Some of these things may seem very elementary, but honestly it's neglecting the small stuff that does the greatest damage sometimes:
 
Step One: The Spiritual Heart Checkup: This is an all-important first step. If you have an honest desire to be a disciplined follower of God in Jesus Christ, there will be different times in your life when you feel the need to seek God specific will for your life or within a particular situation. You might be seeking God's will in any number of situations. Maybe you're considering a new job, moving to a new home, considering adopting a child, or taking on a new ministry or project of some sort. All of these, and any other situation important to you is important to God. Any time you are seeking out or reviewing God's will for your life, it's important to do a spiritual heart checkup. I will explain.
The spiritual heart checkup is something we need to do any time we are seeking God's leading and direction in our lives. The spiritual heart checkup is a soul-searching exercise where you are intentionally asking yourself some key questions. It's important to check yourself out on these questions before you seek God's will in a given situation
a.) Am I really willing to hear God in this situation? Please, whatever you do, do not assume that you are always prepared to hear God. No matter how much you love God or how well-intentioned you may be, our human will can often get in our way when we're trying to obey God.
b.) What are my desires and wishes for this situation? Do I feel anxious or worried that God may want something different than I want for myself in a situation? What are my fears and concerns in this situation that I can see right now? If you are feeling anything like these, it's important to get those worked out with the Lord because they can color or distort how you interpret God's directions for your life. Remember to cast all your cares upon Him (Jesus) who cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
c.) Am I genuinely determined to obey what I hear from the Lord? God, could you please reveal anything in my heart or my will that could hinder me from hearing and obeying your voice in this situation.
Make no mistake about it. There is no more important human task then to discover and do the will of God for our lives. It's a joyous, but often challenging adventure. The reason that we have to begin with a heart checkup is that seeking God's will does have at least one element of danger. I'll explain. You see, seeking and doing God's will carries with it enormous blessings, both for our temporary lives on earth and our eternal lives with Him. Perhaps the biggest danger of seeking God's will is that of responsibility. Once we discover what God's will is for our lives we have added responsibility to obey Him. If we are ignorant we bear responsibility for not finding out what He wants us to do, but if we know what He wants us to do and disobey it, it's far worse. James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (NKJV) That is why I say that it's important to do a heart checkup when you're seeking God's will, in order to make sure that you are fully prepared to do as God directs.
Step 2: Obey What You Know First. Remember, God only reveals Himself and His Son to those who've already made the determination in their hearts and their will to obey Him (John 14:21; John 15:14). He only reveals Himself and his will to those who are already walking in the direction of obeying what He has already revealed. He gives fresh revelation and understanding as you are moving ahead with what you already know to do. Please DO NOT expect God to give you extraordinary revelation of Himself, if you are not already walking in the direction of obeying what He has caused to be written in black-and-white, or red and white. Beloved, let us not deceive ourselves. If we do not make it a practice to obey what is Written in God's word, then we will not be able to be faithful with what God reveals either. It is deceptive vanity to believe otherwise.
It may sound very basic, but it's critical. Many times it is not the difficult things that undermine our success with God, but neglecting the simple. The second step of discovering God's will in your personal life is to make sure that you are doing the universal will of God while you are seeking. I cannot tell you how many times I've sought God for specific direction in my life and I was having difficulty discerning His leading. More than once I've heard God speak to my heart: "Obey what you've already heard, and I'll give you more." If you are seeking God's will and having trouble discerning what his direction is, double check and ensure that you are at least following God's universal will first. Luke 16:10-12 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? (NRSV) Remember that in God's kingdom, the little stuff REALLY counts. It prepares us for bigger opportunities God has planned ahead for us.
Step 3: Develop Your Prayer Life Once again, it may sound very basic or obvious, but an effective prayer life is absolutely imperative when we're trying to learn how to discern God's will for our lives. Let me be clear. When I talk about having a prayer life I'm not talking about reading off your grocery list of desires and concerns to God. When I talk about an effective prayer life I refer to developing the habit of two way communication with God. Every time we pray, we should give God the opportunity to speak to us for little while. You might be thinking to yourself, how will I know in its God speaking to me and not my own self. The answer is, at first you won't always know, but you will learn with practice. On the other hand, if you don't purposely give God the opportunity to speak, if you don't practice listening to his voice, it's almost a solid guarantee that you'll never get the chance. You may not make a mistake is often, but neither will you have much opportunity to succeed.
While you are praying, something may come to your consciousness that interests or challenges you. Make a quick note, just a few words to jog your memory so that you can pray about your impressions again at a later time. Remember, practice makes perfect. Make it a regular practice to give God an opportunity to talk back to you when you pray.

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NASB)

Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Psalm 32:8 (NASB)

Step 4: Develop the Habit of Bible Reading & Biblical Thinking. We all know the importance of Bible reading on a daily basis. This idea goes beyond that elementary principle. Thinking biblically means that we are analyzing and interpreting situations from a biblical point of view.

Joshua1:7-8 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. (NKJV)

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.(NKJV)

Romans 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (NKJV)

Step 5: Follow the steps to experiencing God. This is the method I learned years ago, I still glean from it today. So I offer it to you.
1. God is always at work around you.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
5. God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

*Based on and modified from Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King. Compiled by Trent Butler. ©1995 by Broadman & Holman Publishers All rights reserved. For Personal use and edification only.
 
So by now you might be thinking, all this information is nice, but how will I know if I'm listening to God or my own heart? Some of that comes from practice and experience, but it's not all trial and error there are some key criterion that I use to see if something is God's will or not. These are in addition to doing the things I've mentioned above.
There are several key standards that I use when trying to discern God's direction in our personal life.
1. Is that path or choice I'm considering, heading in the direction of love? (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
2. Is the path or choice that I'm considering going to require faith, or does it appeal more to my desire for security? Whatever we do should be motivated by love and faith above all (Romans 14:23).
3. Is the path or choice that I'm considering motivated by a desire to be obedient or is there rebelliousness and resistance? (1 Samuel 15:22; John 14:21)
4. Is that path or choice that I'm considering consistent with what I already know of God's written word? (Mark 13:31; Psalm 119:9).
5. Is the path or choice that I'm considering reflective of Christ and his character? (Colossians 1:10).
6. Is the path or choice I'm considering encouraging me to live by my sinful nature or my new nature in Christ? (Galatians 5:16-25).
7. Is the path or choice I'm considering selfish or giving? (Philippians 1:16)

Remember also to learn from the experiences of others who have walked with God.   Romans 15:4 tells us that the things that were written before hand, were written  for our instruction.   What that means is that while Scriptures  do have deep spiritual meaning,  God also allowed some things to remain in the Scriptures so that we could learn either from the good  or the bad examples  contained therein.  As long as you are earnestly seeking God's will and direction for your life,  God guarantees that you will succeed  in that endeavor.  the key is to properly apply some basic biblical foundations to the search,  then apply your will and diligent perseverance  to the task.
Thank you for joining mein studying God's word.  until then,  may you grow even more successful in  diligently seeking and obeying  God's direction  for your life . God be with you.
Brother Michel Lankford 

Knowing the Will of God Part 1:

The Universal Will of God
Bro. Michel Lankford.
 

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NASB)

The Third Principle of authentic Christian discipleship is that God's word contains many great promises. Most of God's promises contain qualifiers and conditions which reflect God's character. To receive the promises, we must obey the conditions in a manner that reflects God's character

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This Blog Will Discuss:

• Knowing God's will is definitely possible
•  God's universal will
• God’s will is for all people to be saved (2 Timothy 2:4)
• God wants all people to repent, to turn away from sin and do right (2 Peter 3:9).
• God wants us all to be transformed so that we will live by and give away His love (Matthew 22: 36-40; 1 John 4:7-8).
• God's will is that we will be made holy (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
• God's will is that we live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).
• God's will is that we will grow in the Lord (2 Peter 3:17-18).
• God's will is that we adjust our attitude (1 Thessalonians  5:16-21)

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We Can Know God’s Will

We are about to discuss some of the most profound life questions. These questions transcend ages and generations. They cross far beyond the boundaries of the simple denominations into deeper doctrine. Can we truly know, the will of God, or is it meant to be entirely mysterious? Does God have a specific will for each individual human being or is it more universal? If God does have a specific will for individuals, and He intends for us to know and understand it, then how do we go about receiving God's direction, knowing His will, and putting it into practice successfully? These are all things we will discuss as we study; Knowing the Will of God.
Let us pray...
Almighty God, Heavenly Father; Lord Jesus Christ, and gracious Holy Spirit; have mercy upon us and save us according to your unfailing love. Mercifully create in us, hearts that are open and receptive ground for the good seed of your word. Grant that we will produce much good fruit in your word. Give us ears that are open and receptive to what the Holy Spirit says to the church. Give us pure spiritual eyes that are good and full of light; able to correctly discern the truth. Grant us your powerful grace to be evermore open, receptive, and obedient to Your teachings. In Jesus name, amen.
Before we begin, I must point out, that as it is with so many different topics in Scripture, we won't be able to cover everything about the will of God, and how to discern his will. The different variables and possibilities are numerous. Covering all of them and giving each of them the detailed attention they deserve, would be impossible. What we will try to do with God's help as best we can, is to give you answers to the broader questions, and a good sturdy framework from which you can begin to discern God's will for yourselves. May God bless you as we study together.
Please understand that the Bible is God's written word. I believe it to be the only solid foundation upon which to discover truth and gain true wisdom. At the same time, I believe that as we read the Bible, we must do so with the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is He who will guide us into all truth, (see John 16:13). We must not only believe the Bible, but we must also call upon and trust in the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us about what the Bible says. It is not good to take the most spiritual of books, and try to understand it with carnal eyes.
Just because we may not always feel like we know God's will, does not mean he doesn't have one for our lives. What Dave Branon doesn't mention, which I think bears mentioning is that ignorance can be comforting. It sounds almost spiritual; almost like you're proclaiming God's greatness, when you talk about God's will being too vast to understand. There is even a Scripture that would seem to imply that, (Romans 11:33-36). After all, if we can convince ourselves that God's will is too mysterious or too difficult to understand, we can thereby extension excuse ourselves for not seeking or obeying it. It is a dreadful trap. It's a terrible lie of our age. While we expand in knowledge, we either pretend that there is no God, or if there is, that his ways are so far beyond our finding out, some will not even try. It is a terrible waste of human potential. Why do I say that?
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created by Him and for Him. (NASB77)
We were created by God and for God. We were meant to bring him glory and honor by the way we use our talents, our time, and other resources. Failure to do that, means that we fall far short of our potential. While Romans 11:33-36 does point out that God is sovereign, and there are parts of his will we will not understand, I believe as we continue our study, you will see that the weight of the biblical evidence, definitely indicates that we are responsible to discover and follow God's will for our lives.
I believe you can answer the question, 'can we know God's will' by answering another question. "Is it God's desire that we obey Him?" The answer is obviously yes. Even a cursory look at Scripture will bear out the truth of that statement.
“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the faFat rams.
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. (1 Sa 15:22–23)^[1]

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:21 (NASB)

"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21 (NASB)

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NASB)

Obviously it's God's desire that we should obey Him. It logically follows that we cannot obey God's will, unless we know what it is. Therefore, God surely intends for us to gain knowledge of His will and learn how to obey it. So, what is God's will? How do we know?

God's Universal Will

There are several truths that can be classified as God's Universal will. The Universal will of God, refers primarily to those things that are God's will for everyone. It does not refer to God specific well for individuals, but his Universal will for every person that He created.

God's Desire Is That All People Receive His Salvation: God desires that every single person be saved. When I say, "be saved," I am referring to the fact that it is God's will that every single person comes to intimately know God, and His Son Jesus Christ (John 17:3). It is God's will that each person receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and that Christ's sacrifice would become the atonement for every individual person's sin, as they believe in Him.
2 Peter 3:8-9 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (NKJV)²
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (ESV)
John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV).³
God Desires That We; Receive, Are Transformed by, and Give Away His Love: If there was one desire that God had for human beings, if one word could define God's will, it would have to be love. It's God's desire that we would receive and be transformed by his love. Furthermore, it's God's will that we who are transformed by God's love would show God's love to others. There are countless places in Scripture where God identifies love as the standard of judging righteousness. (See 1 John 4:7-8; Matthew 22:36-40). God is so intent on the idea that we should love Him with our whole being, and others as ourselves that he makes a very interesting command. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, God's Word says, pursue love. Now, that is a very interesting phrase. In the biblical Greek the phrase is transliterated as follows: dee-o'-ko ag-ah'-pay (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary). For a moment, let's focus on the first word in the phrase. The word dee-o'-ko literally means to seek, run after, give chase, press forward and to pursue with such a veracity as to persecute. At first, my little FAS brain had difficulty with the Greek definition of these two words. To me it seemed that the concepts of pursuing something to the point to persecution and love were oxy-moronic. After some discussion with the Lord, and a relatively short season of waiting, God showed me something interesting. He reminded me that at the time these words were written, the Jewish religious leaders and the pagan world were voraciously chasing Christian believers down, in order to persecute them. What the Lord was saying to the church of that day was that believers ought to pursue love, with at least the same passion and veracity that the nonbelieving world was using to pursue and persecute them. A contemporary application of that concept might look something like this. We who believe Jesus Christ, and have been touched by the love of God, should pursue love with the same level of veracity that the ACLU seeks to abolish God's teachings from all public forums. We should pursue love with the same tenacity as terrorists use to pursue their victims. It's important to add that the command is to "pursue love." Notice if you will, that it says nothing about catching love. To God, the successes in the pursuing. The command assumes that pursuing love is a lifelong endeavor that will not be complete until we reach our eternal home in heaven.
God Desires our Sanctification: Sanctification is a fancy word. It refers to the idea that we are being transformed from the inside out by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses God's Word, various ministries in the church, and almost every circumstance in our lives to transform and refine us. God begins doing this work at the moment of our salvation, and He will continue working until our desires, attitudes, words and actions are an excellent reflection of Jesus Christ. It is God's will that those who have been forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, would be completely set free from their sinful nature and sinful habits, which hinder them from being the best they can be in Christ. (See 2 Cor 7:1)
1 Peter 1:14-16 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."(NKJV)
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 “For it is God’s will that you be sanctified: You must abstain from sexual immorality;each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,not with passion and lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;and you must never take advantage of or exploit a brother in this regard. For the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we already told you and warned you.For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–8, ISV)⁴
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (KJV)
God's Will is That We All Live a Life of Faith: We live in a world that prizes independence and self-reliance, very highly. God says that he wants his people to be utterly dependent on him, not themselves. God values a relationship of trust so completely, that he regards the person who trusts him as righteous (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 4:3). So important is faith, that without faith, it's impossible to please God. (See Hebrews 11:1, 6). God considers living a life of faith so critical, that he considers anything done in the absence of faith, to be sin. (See Romans 14:13-23, especially verse 23; Psalm 37:3).
God's Will Is That We Grow: it's God's will that we would grow in grace and our knowledge of Him, (2 Peter 3:17-18). It would be a tragic shame for anyone who is experienced the love of God, to somehow quit learning or stop actively growing. All healthy living organisms grow. Likewise all healthy spiritual people grow. In the physical sense, if a person is not growing physically, we know something is drastically wrong. The same holds true if a person is noNot owing spiritually or emotionally. Something is dreadfully wrong. If we are truly spiritually alive who will grow. If you look at a human baby, they are hungry to discover and learn. They pull themselves up, using furniture over and over again until they learn to stand. It's a natural desire, but what drives them to do this? They are driven by a God-given desire to grow; they want to learn, discover and achieve more than they have been able to up to that point. If you want to know how healthy you are, in doing the will of God, check your desire to grow. How hungry are you to grow beyond, where are presently with the Lord? (See John 15:1-5; 2 Peter 1:1-11).

God's Will Is That We Adjust Our Attitude
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-21 (ESV) Hey, when God specifically says, "This is the will of God," I'm thinking that's a good place to start. One of the most important aspects of Christian discipleship is that we must be willing to be adjusted by the Lord . we must be adjusted in the area on our desires , our attitudes , our thoughts and our behaviors .

Today we looked at God's general, or universal will for humankind. in our next blog entry, we will look athow we can use this as a springboard to help us discover God specific will for our lives. t thank you so much for taking the time to come study with me. I do hope you'll come and join me again. Until then, God be with you.
Brother Michel Lankford

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^[1] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Sa 15:22–23). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
²Scriptures designated (NKJV) are taken from: The New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, used by permission. All rights reserved.
³ All Scriptures which are designated (ESV) are taken from the The holy Bible, The English Standard Version copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved
⁴All Scriptures which are designated  (ISV) International standard version New Testament : Version 1.1. 2000 (Print on Demand ed.). Yorba Linda, CA: The Learning Foundation.
5. The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2009 (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version.). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.