By Jan Ross on 7/29/2009 10:23 PM

"And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground." (Nehemiah 8:6)

Surrender. Reverence. Humility. Worship.

Worship is a spontaneous response from a heart overflowing with love and emotion. The response can come in many ways such as raising hands, bowing the head, lifting up the head, tears, loud praise, silent praise, and so on.

Your acts of worship will probably change each time you enter into His presence depending on how your heart is touched. The Old Testament high priest, when he entered into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement, carefully lifted the curtain, got down on his knees and crawled in backwards out of total reverence and fear of the Lord. We see evidence throughout scripture that the presence of God – encounters with the Holy One of Israel – were not to be taken lightly. God's presence was and still is an awesome experience for any child of God, whether a new convert or a seasoned saint. ...

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By Jan Ross on 7/28/2009 10:27 PM

"Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices . . . of cassia five hundred shekels . . . and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil." (Exodus 30:22-25)

A few years ago my Pastor did an awesome series of sermons on "The Anointing". Many things stood out to me in that series that have caused me to do further study. The "cassia" as one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil prescribed by the Lord through Moses is something that has just kept stirring in my heart. In order to walk in God's anointing, we need to understand that each ingredient divinely prescribed by the Lord has a purpose that still speaks to us today. Here is a brief overview of this one spice that obviously had great importance to the Lord.

The word "cassia" is translated...

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By Jan Ross on 7/27/2009 9:51 PM

"This is the man upon whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)

When was the last time we trembled at God's Word? How seriously do we take our study of the Bible?

These are questions the Spirit of God is leading us to use to examine our own hearts today. These questions are probing my very heart as I pen this devotion.

What does it mean when God says "trembles at my word"?

I love the Word of God! I love to study the Word and learn more about the writer, what he is saying, looking at his words through his own eyes and his own culture. But I find myself asking if I am one who "trembles at [God's] word". How seriously do I take His Word? How careful am I to handle His Word with fear and reverence?

The word "trembles" comes from the Hebrew word "chared" meaning "fearful; reverential". It comes...

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By Jan Ross on 7/23/2009 9:37 PM

"Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:7)

"Many" deceivers? That's an understatement! Everywhere we turn we find a different gospel being preached and the sad thing is that people will believe it more quickly than they will receive the Truth. What makes people so resistant to the Truth that they would rather believe the lie than walk in Truth?

The lie says that there are many ways to heaven. The Truth says there is only one: "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

The lie says that there are no absolute rights or wrongs. The Truth says, "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)

The lie says if you believe anything hard...

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By Jan Ross on 7/22/2009 10:13 PM

"I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints". (Philemon 4-5)

Read today's scripture again . . . I love this. It shows such compassion for others, something that is much lacking in the Body today. Everywhere we go, the focus is on "me". Lord, bless ME. Lord, supply MY needs. Lord, save MY kids. Lord, heal MY body. Me, My, and Mine. It's everywhere. Yet here we see an exhortation that focuses on others. How would you like to have been the first-hand recipient of such a letter from someone who had been imprisoned for his faith and who suffered unbelievable persecution because of his love of the Lord? What an honor Paul pays to Philemon, a co-laborer and brother in the Lord.

Paul a prisoner, under the most adverse conditions, found opportunity to serve the Lord....

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By Jan Ross on 7/21/2009 9:38 PM

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation…" (Isaiah 61:10a)

"He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation"! There's no doubt that a great change comes over us when we're saved. Our most difficult task, however, is the change we must determine to work through with daily disciplines that help us grow in Christlikeness.

Look at Ephesians 4:24 ~ "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Here's another verse in Colossians 3:10 ~ "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." The "Garment of Salvation" in Isaiah is speaking of putting on the "new man."

Many years ago I had a precious friend. She didn't have much in this life but several small children and a husband who believed...

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By Jan Ross on 7/20/2009 9:56 PM

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)

The two go together . . . you cannot grow in grace unless you grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Growing in grace is an automatic byproduct of the knowledge of our Lord.

What is grace? It is being found acceptable, to be favored, and to have a divine influence on your heart. Of course, we all want to grow in grace – to grow in favor with God, to be found acceptable, and to have Him influence all that we are.

What is the "knowledge" of our Lord? If you ask around, most people you talk to will tell you they believe in God. But do they have "knowledge" of our Lord? Relatively few really do.

This knowledge that Peter describes is more than just acknowledgement. Rather, it is a familiarity with God's...

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By Jan Ross on 7/19/2009 8:38 PM

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Love that surpasses knowledge.

It's very difficult to explain, but when you have loved your spouse for decades you experience what this means. When you love a child and do what you never dreamed you could do for another human being, you understand this phrase.

Sometimes the mere thought of the love God has toward us is more than overwhelming. Take some time today to consider just how greatly our God loves us.

Contemplate His faithfulness even when we're not so faithful. Consider the purity of His love and the promise He has made to us that...

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By Jan Ross on 7/17/2009 3:55 AM

"And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul . . . Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle." (1 Samuel 18:1-4)

This scripture paints such an awesome picture of a covenant of exchange. If anyone understood the covenant of exchange, David did. The covenant of exchange was a practice in which two persons sealed a binding covenant by exchanging attire. This covenant represented a basic principle: "I will become what you are, and you will become what I am, our souls are knit together as one."

Because Jonathan was the royal son the offspring of the first King of Israel,...

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By Jan Ross on 7/16/2009 6:09 AM

"And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:39-40)

The Bible tells us that ALL creation worships Him, the Creator. It is odd that if all of creation recognizes Him as Creator and that He is the object of its worship. So, why does man have such a problem with it? One would assume it has something to do with the "will" of man.

What do you "will" to do? Hopefully offering the sacrifice of praise and heartfelt worship is of top priority on your daily agenda. The Lord was very plain in his remark that if His disciples failed to give Him the praise, that the very stones would cry out in worship of Him—creation praising the Creator.

Make it a habit of joining the rest of God's creation and...

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