Tumwesigye Daniel
P.O.BOX 35587
Kamapala Uganda
www.burn247.com/uganda
Why Do We Worship God?
God calls us to worship Him. Have you ever wondered why? Is it for Him or us? Do we need to worship God, or does God desire to be worshiped? God knew several things about us that causes Him to make the call to worship God. God designed us to worship. We operate best when we worship our Creator. When we worship ourselves or the works of our hands, we continue to feel empty and unfulfilled. We only feel peace and fulfillment as we worship Him as our Creator.
Unfortunately, there are times we do not feel like worshiping God. God uses King David to address these times. Let us look at three times we should worship God.
1. We should worship God when we are discouraged. Psalms 61:1-8 says, “1. Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. 2. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. 4. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. 5. For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. 6. You will prolong the king’s life, His years as many generations. 7. He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! 8. So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.”
Here David reminds us that when we are “faint” overwhelmed or weak, we should worship God. God is reminding us that whenever we are faint, discouraged, or weak, we need to “dwell in His tent,” “take refuge in Thy wings,” and “go to the Rock that is higher than I.” We do these things through praise and worship of our Creator, our Redeemer. In verse 8, David says, “I will sing praise to Thy name forever. . . .” God knew that we would not feel like doing anything when we are discouraged or “faint.” God also knew that this would be a time not to follow our feelings. In these times, our feelings would lead us astray and cause us only to feel more discouraged!
2. We should praise Him whenever we are troubled by someone who seeks our downfall, our destruction, or our harm. Psalms 62:1-8 says, “1. Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. 2. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. 3. How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. 4. They only consult to cast him down from his high position; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. 5. My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. 6. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 7. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 9. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”
In the first four verses, we see that someone sought for David’s downfall. In verses 5-8 we are reminded to put our trust totally in God and to pour out our heart to Him. Verse 5 is a reminder not to curse God or to murmur against God in these times but, instead, to worship God for His faithfulness. In times when we are under attack, we might seriously consider blaming God or at least complaining against God. God reminds us that, instead, it is a prime time to open our hearts toward God and to pour out our hearts in worship, declaring the fact that we trust God.
If you have ever been under attack, you know how easy it is to complain or be angry at God. You might ask, “God, why have you let this happen?” Instead, we choose a better pathway. Worship literally activates something in the spiritual realm. The words of my mouth are tied directly to my feelings. This truth works both ways, positive and negative. When I speak negative things, I feel negative feelings. When I speak positive things, I feel positive feelings. Think about this statement. You are what you think about, and you feel what you speak about. That is why the Bible spends so much time talking to us about watching what we think about and what we speak. When we are under attack, we need to worship God and declare our trust in God.
3. We should worship God when we are in time of spiritual dryness. Psalms 63:1-2 says, “1. O God, You are my God; early will seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. 2. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” David refers to a time when we are in a dry and weary land where there is no water. To us this relates to a time when there is no direction, no anointing, no joy, no peace, just spiritual dryness and weariness. David tells us that in times like these, “my lips shall praise Thee.” Have you ever been there? Most of us have. Usually this is a time of testing to see where our heart really is. Verses 4-7 are a clear reminder of our proper response to times of dryness. It is common to try some new and exciting thing in a “dry time” in order to try and get us out of our spiritual desert. The excitement will be short lived and empty. Instead, God calls us to worship Him in times of dryness. It is a time when we override our feelings and dig into God’s everlasting truths. Remember that when we worship God, especially in times of dryness, we literally release ourselves from bondage. It is like cutting the cords that bind us.
Let me give some practical truths that will help you in learning to worship God.
1. Prepare your heart by centering in on God and His faithfulness. Do not concentrate or focus on you or how you feel. Meditate on His mercy and goodness.
2. Be on your guard for attacks that seek to draw you away from worship. Satan will use anyone or anything to try to keep you from worship.
3 Enter into praise from the very beginning of worship time. This allows your heart time to enter into worship. Psalms 118:19-20 says, “19. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord. 20. This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter.” God is telling us that the place of entry, or the gates of righteousness, is the place where we choose to praise the Lord. That choice to praise God is the decision to override all our emotions and feelings and praise God. This opens the gates so that we can enter into true worship. Some of you wonder why you can never seem to enter into worship like some around you. You think, “I’m just different. They are just more comfortable worshiping than I am.” That is not true. The only difference between you and them is that they made a choice to praise God and to open the gates of righteousness so that they can worship God. You should choose to come early so you can begin praise from the very beginning and stay late so you can fellowship afterwards. Do not expect to enter into real worship and receive what God has for you if you come late, do not praise, and then leave early.
4. Be mindful of distractions. This means several things. We must learn to block out distractions and not focus on them. Satan will use anything. It also means to make a choice not to be a distraction during praise and worship or the sharing of the word. We must be always on our guard, remembering not to allow Satan to use us as a distraction. This means not getting up and walking around, not going to the bathroom unless necessary, and not talking to others around you during times when people are trying to hear the word of God or as they are trying to enter into worship. Psalms 119:130 says, “The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” If I am a distraction or allow my children to become a distraction so that the word of God cannot gain entrance, then I am guilty of not allowing that person the Light of God’s word that they desperately need. We love children here. We believe that they are blessed and a blessing. Sometimes children can distract those around us from worship and from the word. In those cases, we provide an overflow room on each side with a TV monitor so that you can have a place to bring your children when they get fussy or need tending to. Obviously, it is wise to sit in an area near those rooms if you have children who could be a distraction. When I say these things, it is not a lack of love for your children. Instead, it is the realization that some people around you could be affected for eternity if they cannot hear the word of God that God desires them to hear. Our children are a precious commodity, but our eternal destiny is an even more precious commodity. Let us make sure we are not a distraction, our children are not a distraction, and that we not allow small things to distract us from what God has for us.
5. Refuse to let anyone or anything keep you from entering into God’s presence in worship. This means that we come to church desiring His presence earnestly. We enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise! Then we set our hearts to worship Him, not allowing Satan to steal our precious time with the Lord.
6. Refuse to let any old bondages or traditions keep you from worship. This means to be open to God’s freeing us up. If we will let God work in our hearts, He will set us free from our past traditions to worship Him with all our hearts. Psalms 30:4 says, “Sing Praise to the Lord you His Godly ones and give thanks to His Holy Name!” And Psalms 30:11-12 says, “11. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12. To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.” For some of us, we need to let God loose us from the sackcloth of our old traditions and set us free to worship Him freely. John 4:23 says, “For the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth.”
Why do we worship God?
When we worship God, it becomes a key to our freedom in other areas.
When we worship God, we release something within us that has been hidden for a lifetime.
We become who we are created to be.
We were born to be a vessel of praise and worship to our God.
When we worship, it brings healing and salvation.
When we worship, it brings deliverance and restoration.
When we worship, it brings cleansing and holiness.
When we worship, it reveals reverence and devotion.
When we worship, it cements commitment and consecration.
When we worship, it drives out bitterness and apathy.
Tumwesigye Daniel is located at P.O.BOX 35587 Kampala Uganda. Phone (256) 71-212-3259
E-mail: tum_daniel@yahoo.com tumdaniel83@gmail.com tumdaniel@jesusanswers.com
www.mychurch.org/tumdaniel www.freewebs.com/tumdaniel www.burn247.com/uganda
Turning the Negative Into Postive
Huge Tree
A few years ago I happened to be stressed and depressed at that point I needed no body to talk to me in any way, so I decided to take a walk in a nearby park/gardens/compound, I laid down looking above in the sky, seeing the shining blue-white clouds, I begun asking God, “ If you do exist come out of those clouds and meet me now?” from that moment I don’t know how I sat and my eyes were now focusing on a nearby huge tree which was just in front of me, I looked at the leaves, the branches, the stem and the roots, since some roots were on top of the ground,
The Lord had to drive me back before the plantations took place, at the beginning someone got the seed and planted the tree, even if it took time to germinate he became patience with it until germination, he was filled with joy and happiness for that, thereafter, the shoot became fragile and sun was shining day by day, so he had to protect it, by every day getting a wateringcan and water his growing tree, where he realized that enemies could attack it, he had to create a perimeter wall for its protection and a shade to prevent it from the daily sun and exposure, this took some good many years until now, look at the trees in your compound, I believe some trees were planted by someone whom you even don’t know may be you planted it by yourselves but the care you used to give it is not the same as today, now here we’re enjoying everything bit of it, When you come to some parts of Africa basically in the villages, when the leaves fall off the trees they are used as lighting papers to start up a cooking stove and atime when the branches fall off, they are used as energy, and also for building, other trees are medicine also, they become helpful but we can’t know how they came into existence.
After going through that revelation and vision I checked myself and begun questioning myself : When I was a baby my parents used to take care of me day by day, I was infact breast fed on the palms of my mother, they bathed me always, when I became sick they took responsibilities to see that my health is in good conditions,
I remember, during Christmas seasons we used to go visit our grandparents in villages once in a while, One time my mother and I together with my brothers and sisters paid a visit to our grandmother, upon reaching there, we all the children were sent in the grass shushed kitchen, I took step to cooking milk, I was given a kettle then went to the cow and the person responsible of milking the cow gave me the milk in the kettle hence to the firewood local stove, after it was fully cooked, I carried the kettle which was too hot, as I was approaching the door way to the living room, I fell down and the whole blazing milk poured onto my right arm, I screamed not because of the pain I was feeling but because of the fear that I was going to be beaten because of pouring the milk, so my grandma ran to me and am glad that time none of them beat me. They went to the bushes and got all several herbs to find ways of healing my arm as soon as possible, they all seemed not working, the arm begun rotting and I could see the bones inside, every day I couldn`t sleep but cry, for sure I thought that my hand was to be chopped off, someone in the village brought an idea that when you get the fur of a rabbit and pour onto it, it will gain more meat and heal, since we were in the village, they ran and got the fur, poured it on my hand but it worsened everything but instead it produced a lot of purse, which could stink and nobody would even come near me, I almost died in the village because of ignorance, thereafter I was brought back to Kampala the main City of Uganda, and I was treated and healing came, but all this care came by my parents.
Well, your parents could be treating you bad now, forsook you, but one thing I can tell you, since they persisted and carried your pregnancy until your birth, they remain your parents, recently have been watching ONE TREE HILL- SERIES: this movie teaches you how to handle love regardless of any thing Love shall be there, you may stubbornly act as if you don’t have love inside of you but its there, you just have to dig it and use it.
Now am grownup my parents don’t have to carry me so I can feed, I leave by my own, just like the tree, its on its own now, when it rains, it rains on it, when the sun shines, it shines on it, many enemies approach it, and use it in any way but it remains standing.
In this state what I do, I turn every negative into positive, in many ways when the enemy comes to you, a times we say: may be God doesn’t exist but he remains there and He always watches over us, when the sun shines on the tree you may say that the trees are going to burn but instead they are growing with turgidity, infact they are gaining minerals for a process. Look at the differences in plants, during summer, winter, spring seasons, at every stage the trees, plants look beautiful,
Just like humans at every stage we look awesome for the testimony of God.
Hope you are encouraged
written by Tumwesigye Daniel
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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