Here are the best family devotional activities on the joy of singing, count your cost and divination for you to share in your family morning devotion.
The Joy Of Singing
Another important element of our walk with God is the act of singing praises. We spend nearly a third of our assemblies engaged in this activity. It also has a place in our private devotions to God. And rightly so, for it has the potential of reaping great spiritual benefits for those who engage in it properly. It is clear that those who walked with God in Old Testament times delighted in singing - Psalm 146:1-2. Christians were taught to respond to the goodness of God in a similar way - James 5:13.
The Purpose Of Singing
Acts 16:25 tells us the purpose of Christian singing is to praise The Lord. This is the most popular concept of the purpose of singing. Indeed, this is certainly the idea inherent in the word "HYMN". Which comes from the Greek word HUMNOS, meaning "a song in praise of". Praising God should be "natural" for Christians. For if David in the Old Testament reacted this way to the blessings God gave him ... - Psalm 28:6-7. How much more should we? On the whole, singing is one of the "spiritual sacrifices" that we are to offer to God - Hebrews 13:15. As "spiritual priests" we are to offer up "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God" - 1 Peter 2:5. If we are not careful, we might be guilty of offering "defiled" service to God as was the case in Malachi's day! - Malachi 1:7-8, 12-13. Another purpose of singing is to teach and admonish one another - Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19. Our singing is not just directed toward God. Certainly, many songs are but many of the songs are directed to each other. That's because many songs are designed to teach one another. Teaching and admonishing us to live properly, enjoying the blessings of the Christian life. It might even be said that "congregational singing" is often "congregational teaching". Thus singing is a way that we can encourage our brethren and ourselves as well. When done properly, singing can be a wonderful blessing; but how can we get the most out of singing? Deep Words of Inspiration that Will Motivate You to Success
We Must Engage The "Mind" As We Sing
This assumes that we UNDERSTAND what we sing. We must be careful that our enjoyment of singing is not like the way many people enjoy their popular music (liking the music without necessarily understanding the words). Therefore, give careful attention to the WORDS of the song. When we sing, we must also engage the heart as we sing: "with grace in our hearts" - Colossians 3:16. "making melody in your heart" - Ephesians 5:19. This assumes that we involve our EMOTIONS as we sing. To sing without emotion (without grace in our hearts). Will be evident in our countenances - Proverbs 15:13. Is hypocritical, and condemned by Jesus! - Matthews 15:7-8. So as we sing, do so with BOTH the emotions of the heart and the understanding of the mind.
I hope that by reminding ourselves of the purpose of singing and how to get more out of it, we might rekindle this act of worship which can do so much for our walk with God. May David's attitude, a man after God's own heart, describe our own: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." - Psalm 104:33. "Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful." - Psalm 147:1.
While singing let's bear the following in mind: How we feel is more important than how we sing. We can not teach and admonish one another in song if we just whisper or mouth the words. We sing because we are happy and because singing makes us glad. It is our duty to sing praises to God by ourselves throughout the week and also together with other Christians.
The singing for worship must be differentiated from the singing in beer parlours and for entertainment as could be noticed during football matches and ceremonies. The entertaining aspect must be absent if it is for worship. Singing during worship is different from entertainment, please note this.
Count Your Cost
In Luke 14; Jesus lays out the terms of discipleship. There were great crowds following Him. Everyone loved the miracles, healing, and free food. Jesus was cool, the talk of the town, and the latest fad. But He knew their hearts. He knew they desired the benefits of what He did rather than an understanding of who He was. They loved His gifts, not the life He was calling them to. So He explained what it takes to be one of His followers:
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple' - Luke 14:26-33.
Jesus said a lot in those simple illustrations. He quickly put an end to the idea that He offered some kind of welfare program. Although the gift of eternal life is free to anyone who asks - John 3:16, the asking requires a transfer of ownership - Luke 9:23; Galatians 5:24. "Counting the cost" means recognizing and agreeing to some terms first. In following Christ, we cannot simply follow our own inclinations. We cannot follow Him and the world's way at the same time - Matthew 7:13-14. Following Him may mean we lose relationships, dreams, material things, or even our lives. Morning Devotion Topics on Key to Effective Prayer, Spirit Guides, Compromise and Compassion
Those who are following Jesus simply for what they can get won't stick around when the going gets tough. When God's way conflicts with our way, we will feel betrayed by the shallow, me-first faith we have bought into. If we have not counted the cost of being His child, we will turn away from the threat of sacrifice and find something else to gratify our selfish desires - Mark 4:5, 16-17. In Jesus' earthly ministry, there came a time when the free food stopped and public opinion turned ugly. The cheering crowds became jeering crowds. And Jesus knew ahead of time that would happen.
Jesus ended His description of the cost of discipleship with a breathtaking statement: 'Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple'- Luke 14:33. "Renouncing" may mean we give up something physically, but more often it means we let go emotionally so that what we possess no longer possesses us. When we become one of His, we cannot continue to belong to this world - 1 John 2:15-17. We must make a choice, for we cannot serve both God and Mammon - Matthew 6:24. The rich young ruler when confronted with that choice, turned his back on Jesus - Luke 18:18-25.
Suppose you learned that you had been given a ticket to a Dubai trip complete with airfare, a car, food, and a tour guide. You could brag about your new lifestyle, plan for it, and dream about it. But until you pack up and leave your current home, the new life is never really yours. You cannot live in Dubai and your current hometown at the same time. Many people approach Christianity the same way. They love the idea of eternal life, escaping hell, and having Jesus at their beck and call. But they are not willing to leave the life they now live. Their desires, lifestyle, and sinful habits are too precious to them. Their lives may exhibit a token change-starting to attend church or giving up a major sin-but they want to retain ownership of everything else. Jesus is speaking in Luke 14 to those with that mindset.
We cannot earn salvation by lifestyle change or any other good deed - Ephesians 2:8-9. But when we choose to follow Christ, we are releasing control of our lives. When Jesus is in control, pure living results - 1 John 3:4-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17. In Jesus' parable of the sower, it was only the soil that allowed the seed to put down roots and bear fruit that was called "good." If we are going to be disciples of Christ, we must first count the cost of following Him.
Divination
The word divination comes from the Latin divinare, meaning "to foresee" or "to be inspired by a god." To practice divination is to uncover hidden knowledge by supernatural means. It is associated with the occult and involves fortune-telling or soothsaying, as it used to be called.
From ancient times, people have used divination to gain knowledge of the future or as a way to make money. The practice continues as those who claim supernatural insight read palms, tea leaves, tarot cards, star charts, crystal balls and more.
God tells us His view of divination in Deuteronomy 18:10: "There shall not be found among you . . . anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens." I Samuel 15:10 compares rebellion to the "sin of divination."
Practising divination is listed as one of the reasons for Israel's exile - 2 Kings 17:17. Jer. 14:14 spoke of the false prophets of the time, saying, "They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds." So, compared to God's truth, divination is false, deceitful, and worthless. Devotional Topics for Family on the Lamb of God, True Children of God and Perseverance
As Luke travelled with Paul and Silas in the city of Philippi, he recorded an encounter with a diviner: "We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling" - Acts 16:16. The girl's ability to penetrate mysteries was due to a demon that controlled her. Her masters received "much gain" from their slaves. Paul eventually exorcised the demon (v. 18), freeing the girl from her spiritual bondage and angering the slave owners (v. 19).
Divination in any form is a sin. It is not harmless entertainment or an alternate source of wisdom. Christians should avoid any practice related to divination, including fortune-telling, astrology, witchcraft, tarot cards, necromancy, and spell-casting. The spirit world is real, but it is not innocent. According to Scripture, those spirits that are not the Holy Spirit or angels are evil spirits.
Christians need not fear the spirits involved in divination; neither are Christians to seek wisdom from them. The Christian's wisdom comes from God - James 1:5.
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