Daily Bread 9/1/2023

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Daily Bread – September 1, 2023 (The Sixth Day – Genesis 1:24-31) Ephesians 5:19-20 – Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things to God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Utterances Of The Spirit Psalms, which by definition are classified as prophetic utterances, must not be only understood as singing the Psalms given in the Old Testament. Paul certainly groups psalms in the category of prophetic utterances which take place in the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:26). This does not eliminate the possibility of singing the Psalms of the Old Testament, but neither should we place it in this category alone – especially when we recognize the emphasis Paul places on prophetic utterances in the Church (1 Corinthians 12:10, 14:3-6,22-32,39). Somehow, we fail to realize the relevance of the utterance of the Holy Spirit that was poured out upon all flesh (Acts 2:4,16-18,33). The activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to be like rivers of living water rushing through the depths of our being (John 7:37-39). We have been given the ability to worship God by the Holy Spirit, not out of a religious and liturgical tradition. We put the songs written by a man before our eyes, read aloud the lyrics, and call it the spiritual sacrifice God desires. Such a position makes no sense at all in a Church baptized in the fire of the Holy Ghost and filled with divine glory. To believe that anything can be defined as spiritual and somehow function without the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a serious misunderstanding of Scripture. Certainly, Psalms of the Old Testament and hymns of the Scripture and those songs given by the Holy Spirit to someone in the Church can by used in worship, but to fail to make room for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to sing a new song is to miss out on another depth of the well-springs of life Christ Jesus desires to be express through His Church (1 Corinthians 14:15; Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Ephesians 1:22-23). Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen