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Saturday,
September 26, 2009
Fruit
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our
lips giving thanks to his name. (KJV)
Death and life are in the power of the
tongue; and remember, what goes into a man is not what defiles him but that
which comes out of the mouth. Our heart produces the fruit of our lips. So
that which is in our heart is what will come forth.
Is it the fruit of the Spirit that comes
forth from your heart continually enabling you to be a living sacrifice singing
praise unto God for the life that He has blessed you with in Christ? Our
Father doesn’t want to hear or see empty lifeless words producing lifeless
fruit in our lives.
Matthew 15:8-9 This people draweth nigh
unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine
the commandments of men. (KJV) – Isaiah 29:13
Many have been taught that worship is
singing, dancing, waving around like a bunch of lunatics; and yet in the
Word it says:
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.
(KJV) – Colossians 3:16
Colossians
3:16
The
singing which is here recommended is widely different from what is commonly
used in most Christian congregations; a congeries of unmeaning sounds,
associated to bundles of nonsensical, and often ridiculous, repetitions, which
at once both deprave and disgrace the church of Christ. Melody, which
is allowed to be the most proper for devotional music, is now sacrificed to
an exuberant harmony, which requires, not only many different kinds of
voices, but different musical instruments to support it. And by these
preposterous means the simplicity of the Christian worship is destroyed,
and all education totally prevented. And this kind of singing is
amply proved to be very injurious to the personal piety of those
employed in it; even of those who enter with a considerable share of
humility and Christian meekness, how few continue to sing with GRACE in
their hearts unto the Lord? (from Adam Clarke Commentary)
It is an inward worship that God desires;
the reconstruction of our lives in the fruit of the Spirit with the fruit
of our lips being Spirit and life. What better way is there to thank our
Father in heaven for all that He has given us in His Son Christ Jesus, than
letting our lives be a reflection of who He is and the love He is giving.
For many the fruit of their lips are empty
promises so to speak, because the fruit in their lives do not reflect a
willingness to offer themselves up a living sacrifice of praise to Him
continually; they are not thanking Him with their lives; they say they live
for Him yet the fruit of their lips demonstrate otherwise.
God is a Spirit; and those who worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Let the fruit of your lips be
in Spirit and in truth today; singing praise with thanksgiving continually
unto Him who has given you life in Christ.
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