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Bible Commentary: “They Worshipped”

“And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11 NKJV)
“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2 NKJV)
“While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.”(Matthew 9:18 NKJV)
“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:33 NKJV)
“Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.”  (Matthew 15:25 NKJV)
“And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy”  (Luke 24:52 NKJV)
“And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.” (John 9:38 NKJV)

What does it mean to worship?  When we worship it is different from when we give praise.  Praise is when we acknowledge a job well done.  Mostly we receive praise from our managers for doing our jobs well.  Sometimes sports persons receive praise.  Sometimes our children receive praise when they have done well academically.  None of these ever receive worship.  Why not?  The Dictionary defines “worship” as, “The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity”.  Sometimes we love a singer, actor or sports person so much we move them into a position of idol and we literally begin to worship them.  That is an incorrect response to a human being.  The only One worthy of receiving our worship is God.

Jesus caused spontaneous acts of worship!

Wise men worshipped Him and He was just a baby.  Lepers, rulers, crowds, simple folk came into His presence and willingly gave Him acts of love and devotion.  And when did they worship Him?  Before Jesus did any action!  They worshipped Jesus first and then they asked Him for whatever their need was.  Being in the presence of Jesus drew acts of worship from people.

Child of God – Here is an interesting act of worship that only Luke tells us about.  Jesus is making His triumphant entrance in Jerusalem and, “Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “”Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:37-38 NKJV).  There is a whole multitude worshipping in the streets before Jesus as He rides into town.  They are singing, they are dancing, they are very loud and they are very specific.  The object of this group worship is Jesus because of who He was and what He was able to do.  The Pharisees want this to stop and actually command Him to have them stop and Jesus tells them, “But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40 NKJV).  There was a possibility that this multitude could be silence but the presence of Jesus was so strong that the stones along the road would start worshipping.  This may sound ridiculous to the 21st century ear whoever heard of a stone speaking?  This isn’t even done in our cartoons.  But Jesus is being very serious and truthful.  If the crowd had been silenced stones would have found voice and expressed themselves.  We all have needs, wants and desires.  God knows what we are going to ask Him for.  We really need to be like the stones; we need to find our voice and let is burst forth loudly.  We really need to worship first then once we get that out we can ask Him for things.  What we will find out is most of what we were going to ask for we won’t need anymore after a good time of worship with Jesus.

Our prayer:
Lord, you deserve our worship not only because of what you have done for us but because of who you are. Let me have a worshiper’s heart Lord, a heart that remembers to worship when there is light and when it is dark; from the top of the mountain and when deep in the valley. A heart that knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything is going to be well as long as you are the center of all its worship.  Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you

Bible Commentary: “Knelt and Fell Down”

“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17)
“And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” (Mark 3:11)
“But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. (Mark 5:33)
“When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8)

There are some countries in the 21st century that still have monarchies, kings or queens that rule the country rather than a president or some other elected person.  For those of us that do not have monarchies if we were to come into the presence of the President we would shake their hand, in countries where there is a Monarch when you come into their presence you kneel.  Not kneeling in their presence is a sign of disrespect and can cause all manner of consequences.  When does a person fall down at someone’s feet?  When someone really needs something that only the person that they have fallen in front of can provide.  Think of a drug addict, they have been deprived of drugs past the time that they can endure.  The addict is beginning to go through withdrawals and is in tremendous pain.  All of a sudden the drug dealer is standing before them and the addict will fall to the floor before the dealer and beg for the product that only the drug dealer can provide.  Sometimes a person brought before a Judge in a Court of Law will be so desperate for the Judge to rule in their favor that they will fall before the Judge and plead for mercy.

People came to Jesus and knelt before Him.  They also came and fell down before Him.  All manner of people; rulers, sick people, demons didn’t matter who or what they were they either knelt or fell down before Jesus.  Why did they do such a thing?  Because Jesus is a Monarch!

Child of God – Pilate asked Jesus a question, “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”  (John 18:37 NKJV)  Pilate had to know if Jesus was a threat to Caesar.  The question that Pilate asked then is the same question that we ask now, is Jesus really our King?  And the answer that Jesus gave then is the same answer for us now,   “Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king” (John 18:37 NKJV)  For us in the 21st Century and a democratic mindset it is difficult to kneel before a King.  We just do not do this sort of action, it somehow seems uncivilized, doesn’t it?  Yet we really need to come to firm understanding that not only is Jesus King but Paul tells us that He is, “He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, (1 Timothy 6:15 NKJV)  We need to kneel in His presence and we need to fall down at His feet in desperation because only Jesus can provide what we need.  We need to call out, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17 NKJV)

Our prayer:
Lord,  give me your grace to see your majesty in the midst of knowing you as my friend and my savior. I most certainly crown you as King of my life, but I need to grasp the splendor of you as my King specially in those times when I need just to obey even with no complete understanding of all. You are the greatest King, not like the kings of this world in their human weaknesses, but you are a just and faithful King. Let my heart be kneeling before you always, in all respect and adoration.  Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you

Bible Commentary: “Touched”

And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. (Matthew 8:15)
And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. (Matthew 17:7)
So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. (Matthew 20:34)
And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; (Mark 7:33)
And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. (Luke 5:13)
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (Luke 7:14)

Jesus touched people.  All kinds of people; sick people, deaf people, lepers, blind people, dead people.  People most other people didn’t want anything to do with.  Matter of fact there was a law that forbade touching lepers or dead people, yet Jesus touched them.  And when Jesus touched He didn’t just use His fingertips like we would touch today.  No, the Greek word is “Haptomai” which means, “to fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to”.  When Jesus touched you He was using His whole hand and you knew that you were being touched.  Jesus grabbed a hold of you as if you were a part of Him and He was pleased to do it.

Child of God – When we read the stories of Jesus we find the blind and the lepers and all manner of sick people coming to Him crying out for mercy.  A cry for mercy generally stopped Jesus and captured His strict attention and when the person stood before Him that’s when Jesus touched Him and restored the person whole.  It’s in His hands; Jesus has Creator hands.  Jesus likes to create, that’s why He was a carpenter He couldn’t get away from making things.  Individuals that create things, sculptors, painters, craftspeople especially medical people are known for having sensitive hands.  I suppose they have to; look at what they are doing.  Jesus had sensitive hands, friendly, caring giving loving hands.  Jesus had merciful hands.  A cry for mercy not only got His attention but it brought a touch from Him.  And not just any kind of touch, He touched in the place of need.  He touched the blind eyes.  He touched the deaf ears.  He touched leprous skin and He touched the casket that dead people were in.  When there was a cry for mercy Jesus touched with His merciful hands and gave mercy and healed whatever needed healing.  Does Jesus still touch?  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)  Got a problem?  Is there something dead, dying or broken in your life that needs a touch from Jesus?  Cry out for mercy and the next thing you will be aware of is His hands reaching out to grab ahold of you to heal and comfort you as only He can!  All we need is a touch.

Our prayer:
Lord, you have touched me many times in my life. I know the power of your touch is the only one that can make me new. Today I come to ask you once more to touch me in the areas of my life I need your touch the most. Lord God, you know everything about me and you know me, you know what I need. Please come quickly and touch me again!   Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you