Category Archives: Online House Church

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joel 2:28
God’s Spirit Poured Out
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
Isaiah 64
New King James Version
A Prayer for Help
64 Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
Psalm 24
3Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.

Matthew 6
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

1 Corinthians 9 (NLT)
24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

Philippians 3
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 12
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

** Nehemiah 8:10—”Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”he

Hebrews 11
1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Mark 12:30-31
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Philippians 3 (LSB)
12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1 Samuel 30
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
8 And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

Ecclesiastes 3
New King James Version
Everything Has Its Time
3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time [a]to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

Joshua 1
6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall [a]divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them

Galatians 2
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Isaiah 55
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Matthew 24
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Matthew 28
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you: and,
lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Psalm 103
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Matthew 25
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

 

 

A Biblically Defined Religious Spirit

 

I. The Ark and the Tabernacle – Exod 25 –
A. Beginning with this chapter, God lays out the plans and details for the construction of the Tabernacle, the Ark, and other furnishings of the Tabernacle
B. Verse 2 – 7: collect what people willingly contribute to the construction
C. Verse 8: God to allow/let people build
1. To represent God dwelling among them
2. It will be a sanctuary or sacred place for people
D. Verse 9: to be build to the exact plans God reveals
E. First up is the construction of the Ark verse 10-22
1. a rectangular box with dimensions in cubits corresponding to a fraction over 4′ long, 2.5 feet wide, 2.5 feet high
2. covering, called Mercy Seat
3. to contain the ‘Testimony I will give’ verses 16 and 21
4. serves as a meeting place with God verse 22
F. Continues into following chapters instructions for building tabernacle
1. a rectangular tent about 45′ long and 15′ wide divided within into two compartments by a curtain. Smaller one (15’x15) was where the ark would be kept.
2. the tabernacle was placed within an outter curtained fence that defined the court around the tabernacle (150 ft x 74 ft).
G. Details on contruction material, ornation, and dimensions were spelled out from the Lord
H. Made to be taken apart and carried to another location and assembled. Tribe of Levi were tasked with this responsibility.

II. Tabernacle build and carried throughout the wilderness
A. In promised land, Joshua set up tabernacle in Shiloh: Joshua 18:1
B. Remained there over 300 years to time of Saul as King
C. When Hannah, Samuel’s mother, and Elkanah, Samuel’s father, worshipped and offered sacrifice, they came to Shiloh where ark and tabernacle located: 1 Sam 1: 3
D. God appears to Samuel at Shiloh: 1 Sam 3: 21)
E. At sometime during Saul’s reign, tabernacle moved (without ark, see III) to Gibeon 2 Chronicles 1: 3

II. The ark was always with the tabernacle in the wilderness and into promise land for over 300 years.
A. Ark lead way in wilderness (Num 10: 33)
B. When entering the promise land, people had to cross flooded Jordan River (Josh 3: 14-17)
1. Priest carried ark and when entered Jordan river stopped flow and ground dry for people to cross
2. When all crossed, the priest carried ark across and as they left the Jordan, flow returned
3. Power of God was with the ark
C. When losing in battle, Israelite brought ark for its power (1 Sam 4: 4)
1. Ark is separated from tabernacle & does not return
2. Ark is captured by Philistine
D. 1 Sam 4 – 6 reveal the havoc the ark causes on Philistines and their return of the ark
E. Psalms 78: 60-61 and Jer 7: 12, 14 explain God’s perspective of his judgement
1. People in religious, misplaced, unfaithful worship
2. God forsakes Shiloh; delivered his strength (ark) into captivity
3. For such wickedness God will forsake ‘house called by His name’ even if He had placed Himself there
F. When ark is returned to Israel
1. People at Beth Shemesh 1 Sam 6: 12-13, 19
a. recognize the ark
b. irreverence to ark
c. punished for irreverence
2. ark sent to Kirjath Jearim & remains there 20 yr (1 Sam 7: 1-2)
3. David, as king, desires to bring ark to Jerusalem
a. goes to Baale = Kirjath Jearim 2 sam 6: 2
b.Uzzah’s irreverence punished 2 Sam 6: 6-7
c. ark left at Obed Edom house verse 11
d. Obed Edom’s household blessed by presence of ark (verse 12)
e. David brings ark from Obed Edom to City of David with gladness (verse 12) and placed in tabernacle David built (ver 17) not Moses’ tabernacle
G. Heb 9: 4 — the testimony/covenant which God said he would give and have placed in ark is revealed
1. golden pot of manna (Exod 16: 33) = bread from heaven
2. Aaron’s rod that budded (Num 17: 1-10) = dead brought to life, i.e. resurrection
3. tablets of covenant (Exod 34: 29) = word of God
H. So who is the bread from heaven, the resurrection, the word?

IV. We have the ark which represents the presence/power of God, or God Himself and we have the tabernacle which represents the location, means, opportunity, ritual, tools to identify with God
A. No illustration of power of God associated with Tabernacle or Tabernacle leading the way. Only the Ark
B. Ark is separated from Moses’ tabernacle to David’s tabernacle
C. Irreverence to ark (i.e. God) is punished
D. Relating to the ark with reverence and gladness is blessed

V. Solomon – David’s Son
A. Raised in Jerusalem where David brought the Ark and worshipped
B. Becomes king after David
C. Goes to find God in Gibeon (2 Chr 1: 3)
1. God meets him there
2. Why travel to a high place to find God when His presence was where Solomon dwelt (Jerusalem)?
3. Was he being more religious?

VI. Religious spirit amongst us
A. When where, how, when, with whom we worship is more important than God
B. When we forget or don’r realize God dwells within us – such that our behavior reflects that we have to somewhere, perform some action (traditions, sing certain songs, use certain translations, a certain day or time, make a certain offering) to get into the presence of God
C. When wee make a high place out of a doctrine, a leader, a teaching, a prophecy
D. When we are note or become critical that others are not doing it right
E. When we lose our awe and joy for God
F. When we don’t recognize that we are being or can be punished by God for our irreverence of Him

The Strength of God’s Joy

 

I. Joy
A. We are body, soul, and spirit
1. Our body or flesh is about pleasure
2. Our soul (will, emotions, intellect) is about happiness (self-defined and influenced by the environment, circumstances, external influences
3. Our Spirit (if we have the Holy Spirit) is about joy
B. Nehemiah 8:10 The Joy of the Lord is our strength is about Joy that is of God
C. Source of God’s Joy
1. Eccl 2: 26: God gives wisdom and knowledge along with Joy
2. John 15: 9-11 and 17: 13: Jesus gives us his Joy to make our joy complete or full.
3. Gal 5: 22 fruit of spirit includes joy; Acts 13: 52 fill with Holy Spirit and Joy
D. ask Jesus for the joy (John 16: 24)

II. Use Joy in trials and tribulations
A. James 1: 2-3: count it all joy when testing of our faith for it will produce patience
B. Luke 6: 20-23: Understand that we are blessed when poor; hungry; weeping; reviled and hated because God promises are there
1. Understanding and believing God is in control in these trials
2. We can respond with rejoicing and leaping for joy
C. Acts 5: 41: apostles judged, thrown in jail, commanded not to teach Jesus, and beaten…yet they rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Jesus’ namesake.
D. Hab 3: 17-18: Even when circumstances are dire, use Joy
1. Decide to rejoice
2. Focus on God and the God of our salvation for joy
E. sorrow turned into joy (John 16: 20)

III. Exceeding Great Inexpressible Joy
A. 1 Peter 4: 12-13
1. firey trial: should not surprise us nor should we feel it uncalled for
2. partake in Christ’s sufferings is a reason to joy
3. His glory revealed as we complete suffering trial
4. glad with exceeding joy
B. 1 Peter 1: 6
1. when we stop to recall that God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ placed us with living hope (vs 3) and incorruptible inheritance (vs4) and kept by the power of God (vs5) we greatly rejoice (leap for joy)
2. greatly rejoice while in our various trials
C. 1 Peter 1: 8
1. even when we can’t see Jesus in our situation (though he promises to never leave nor forsake us), we believe
2. we rejoice with joy inexpressible
D. Psalms 68: 3 levels of joy
1. let the righteous be glad (realize their joy)
2. let the righteous rejoice before God (express their joy)
3. let the righteous rejoice exceedingly (uncontained overflowing joy that affects our soul and our body)
E. Psalms 16: 11 there is a fulness of joy – in God’s presence

IV. Strength of God’s Joy
A. we get it from the Father (along with wisdom and knowledge) and the Son (along with abiding in His love) and the Spirit (along with power)
B. we choose, as Habbakuk did, to joy
C. we anticipate our joy to grow from realization to expression to over the top
D. Power of the Holy Spirit with over the Joy (Romans 15: 13)
1. God of hope
2. Fill us with ALL (levels and from all sources) of JOY and peace
3. we believe we will abound in hope
4. we believe this will be with the power of the Holy Spirit
E. Amplified Bible:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises
F. Use joy as a tactical weapon in your spiritual battles and your trials

Tom Goka Our Testimony

 

I. Revelations 12: 11
A. One of three weapons for us to overcome the enemy
1. Blood of the Lamb
2. Word of OUR TESTIMONY
3. Not loving OUR lives unto death
B. A testimony is the equivalent of evidence – to affirm, support, prove
1. a means for us to rise above influences of our past
2. also to rise above our fears
3. provide hope because of what we know God can do
4. remind us what God has done and is capable of doing
5. along with not loving our lives to the death, testimony put to death the past (2 Cor 5: 17)
6. remind us that we are coming out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)
7. MOST IMPORTANT: to declare the Goodness of God
C. Testimony is not to promote us, what we did, who we are, our ministry.
D. Testimony need not be spectacular, need not be long, need not be historically detailed
E. 1 John 1: 1 in regards to our GOD – what we heard; what we saw; what we understood/comprehended; what we physically experienced

II. Testimony can be worship
A. Psalms 105
1. verse 1 …make known His deeds among the peoples
2. verse 2 …talk about His wondrous works
3. verse 5 …remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and judgement of His mouth
B. Psalms 66: 16
1. come hear (those who fear God) — this is to believers
2. I will declare what He as done for my soul
3. testimony to encourage fellow believers who fear our God
C. Psalms 40: 1-3, 5
1. verses 1-3 …is a testimony by David: David cried out to God, knowing God would hear, so David waited: God got David out of the pit and onto solid ground and ordered David’s steps; caused David to sing a new song, a declaration of what God has done lately, to praise God
2. verse 3 …David’s intent of giving this testimony is so many will see it and fear and trust in the Lord
3. verse 5 …God’s wonderful works and thoughst to us are too many to recount every one.

III.. Even Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon thought it would be good to declare the signs and wonders (including Nebuchadnezzar receiving much deserved chastening from God) the Most High God worked in Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4: 2)
A. This entire chapter tells the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar; its interpretation by Daniel of judgement on Nebuchadnezzar; and the fullfillment of this prophetic dream that resulted in Nebuchadnezzar recognizing the Most High God.
B. Nebuchadnezzar chose to give this testimony; one that did NOT promote him but humbled him to recognize and praise our God

IV. Woman at the well – John 4: 27 —
A. Woman’s encounter with Jesus moved her from religious and habitual behavior to realizing who Jesus is
B. She goes tell the men that Jesus knew what she was and did
C. She invites the men to come see this Jesus, could He be the Christ? (verse 29)
D. Many believed because of her testimony (verse 39)

V. Evidence for believers and unbelievers 1 John 1: 1-3
A. verse 1 …about the Word of Life (Jesus) what we heard, saw, comprehended/understood, and experienced in the flesh
B. verse 2 …declare the eternal life
C. verse 3 …we declare to you
1. to bring you in fellowship with us
2. our fellowship is with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ
3. in other words, the word of our testimony is to bring you into communion with our God with whom we are in communion

VI. Word of our testimony
A. for warfare to set us and others free
B. for warfare while weary
C. for warfare through worship
D. for warfare for evangelism
E. for warfare be in communion of our Father God

VII. Something Beautiful by Bill and Gloria Gaither
A.Something beautiful, something good…alll my confusion, He understood.
All I had to offer Him was brokeness and strife,
But He made something beautiful of my life.
B. If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life’s best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross.

 

 

Tom Goka Praise and Worship as Instructed by Psalms 105

I. Psalms 105: 1-5
A. These are imperative sentences
1. Commands, demands, directive
2. Unless identifed, the commands are directed at the reader/hearer – that be us
3. As we shall see, each of these are givings ways to worship and praise our GOD
B. Psalms = Praise
1. Lyrical and melodic
2. Expressions of emotions; actions of body
3. Hebrew ‘mizmor’ means with pluck of string is translated psalms
C. Beneficial commands
1. When you don’t feel like praising
2. When your environment is difficult
3. When alone and distracted
4. When emotioally or mentally distracted
5. When you want to focus on God and His presence
D. A way we can give our Father the glory for His wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness,

II. Dissecting the commands – since these are commands, perhaps we should look more closely at each with the intent to understand so that we can obey the command
A. OH – many ways to speak this word with feeling and emotion.
1. Speak it aloud as you would state it with the statement ‘Give thanks to the LORD’
2. Sometimes to worship, you merely need to remember how you stated the ‘Oh’
3 Give Him thanks for where you are at this moment
B. Call
1. upon His Name
2. What Name for God comes to your mind at this moment.
3. Speak out that name, calling Him by that name, trying to understand what that name means to you right now
C. Make Known to others
1. Recall something God has done and tell someone.
2. What a neat way to praise someone when you tell others what that someone has done, especially for your benefit.
D. Sing
1. to Him….not for us…not the song we want to hear but one we want Him to hear
2. Sing psalms (praises)
E. Talk
1. to other, though this works well to talk to ourselves.
2. Implication here is that this is vocal, aloud, not merely think about it
3. Talk not about what you want or what is wrong, but talk about things He has done that makes you wonder…like how he turned back the shadow on sundial for Hezekiah or met a need you didn’t even realize you had.
F. Glory – exult, feel and show jubilation
1. Get your body involved with a leap, a skip, a whoop with arm raised
2. This is in response to you knowing His identity revealed in His name
3. Imagine the lame begger healed by Jesus as he leaped giving praise to God
G. Those of you who seek the LORD, Let your hearts rejoice
1. Often we don’t realize that we must let our hearts rejoice
2. Understand we don’t let our hearts rejoice because of fear, unforgiveness in our heart, jealousy, lust and many other wickedness of heart
3. If we are seekers of the LORD, we need to learn to Let our Hearts Rejoice
H. And speaking of seekers, we need to Seek
1. Picture a young child who suddenly desires a parent.
a. Child’s heart (emotion, desire) is for parent
b. Child’s mind is focused on single task, find parent
c. Child’s body is put into motion to move to find parent
d. Child uses eyes and hears to search for parent
e. Generally, Child will try to return to last place that the Child remembers being with parent
2. To seek, we need to
a. know whom it is we seek
b. desire and focus
c. put our flesh in motion
d. use our senses to aid us
e. recall last place we were aware of God (prayer, worship, Scripture, fellowship)
3. Seek the Lord and His strength (Eph 3: 16)
4. Seek His face
a. Here face represents both His presence and His attentiveness
b. Like a child that cups your face to be sure you are looking at her
c. Evermore, implies a continued action, rather than a one time event.
I. Remember
1. This is a deliberate choice – decide to remember and then do it
2. Three things to remember
a. His Marvelous Works which He has done – for you directly or indirectly; many things recorded in the bible are marvelous indeed. You can tie this back to making it know among people (verse 1)
b. His Wonders – try to remember the things about Him or His actions that make you wonder. Talk about them aloud (even if only to yourself) verse 2
c.Judgement of His mouth – while we often think of judgements as being against us, He has much more judgements in our favor. He counts our faith in Him unto righteousness; He gives rest to those who labor and come to Him; He gives peace and abundant life. Don’t you remember?

III. Doing these commands places our worship and praise on our Father, our LORD, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Righteousness, our Peace, our Strength, our Hope and Comfort…

IV We do this because we are the offspring of Abraham, we are the manipulative sinner whose debts were paid by Jesus before we knew Him, we are the chosen (verse 5)

V. Having done all these steps, how now would you say OH?