Scripture

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. Psalm 47:1

Observation
Clapping. We do it at concerts and football games. Applause is the reward of performers. But there is more to clapping than two hands in rapid motion.

Think of clapping as a weapon and you will have a better idea of what it really means. In the Bible there are two reasons why people clap.

Clapping establishes rulership. When God’s people clapped kings were established and God took dominion over his land. So when we clap in worship we are extending the authority of the kingdom of God.

Clapping pronounces destruction over enemies. Applause sounds very different in the ears of the defeated than it does in the ears of the victors. Demoralization is the result of clapping over the victory of God. When we give a clap offering to the Lord, we also intimidate the enemy of our souls.

Application
A clapping church is a victorious church that reigns over the enemy. It is easy to make prayer and worship an internal intellectual process. Clapping makes worship a contact sport where enemies are tackled and brought down.

Prayer
Father, help my life to inspire others to applaud you and to tear down strong holds in that process. Amen.

Other verses on clapping in the Bible:

Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!” 2 Kings 11:12

All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” Lamentations 2:14-16

For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel…Ezekiel 25:6

Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? Nahum 3:19

Scripture
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes. 1 Cor 8:4

Observation
When I am afraid, I over-inform. It’s a pattern I see in my life. It isn’t good. It isn’t God. It isn’t useful to others. It isn’t attractive to him.

There is another path to follow. Less information and more love. Love is usually the last thing to use in times of fear. Love creates vulnerabilities. It is given from the heart and the only way it can be given is to open the heart, even just for a moment. That’s why we are cautious with love until conditions are right.

But here is the point: love anyway. When afraid don’t turn to the force fields we’ve learned to put up when afraid so we won’t be more vulnerable. Mine is over information. Yours may be something else. Hang ups. We all have them. But we can step beyond them.

Why would I risk vulnerability to love God? Because even if I am taken advantage of, I still have gained the favor of God. “The person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.” To be the center of God’s attention should be the object of my life.

Application
There is a fear to open the screen door on a hot summer’s night. Mosquitos may come in while the door is open. But that is the risk of opening the heart. Yet there is a greater risk. That is to not open the door and so to miss God coming inside to be with me. Love is worth risks.

Prayer
Father, help me to love as Christ does. His vulnerability on the cross with the thieves is his shining moment. He felt forsaken by you, but he was the center of your attention as Easter Sunday proves. When I love please show up. Amen.

Scripture
The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. Joshua 9:14-15

Observation
Joshua made a good business decision but made a bad choice with long shadows into the future.

From a leadership point of view, Joshua seemed to do many things right. It seems that he had begun to delegate, for others met with the strangers and tasted their goods. The elders seemed to bring the treaty to him all ready to sign.

Joshua got an A+ for delegation and leadership but he failed at spiritual leadership because he didn’t ask God’s direction.

Application
“What does God think?” That simple question could same me so much wasted and hurtful time? Because Joshua began distracted, he asked others what they thought rather than asking God what he wanted. What does God think? That is to be my first order of business each day. There are some things a leader can never delegate. Alliances is one of them. Who we connect to and with is of great importance to God.

Prayer
Father, today what do you think of the alliances in my relationships? Made good decisions through me. Amen.

Scripture
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:8 & 22

Observation
The law, as Paul uses it, is not so much what the Lord expects of us, as it is the words that controlling people put into the mouth of God so that they can control our lives through him. The law is full of peer pressure and scowling expectations to live up to someone else’s standard. This is why the law is so comforting. It tells us exactly what to do to earn acceptance by others. Follow it, and there is entrance; ignore it and there is rejection.

The law is very difficult to escape because it is the ticket to acceptance. To step out of a legalistic life and into freedom is far more than not obeying manmade rules. The only way out of the law and all of the expectations of others is to submit to something and Someone more powerful. If we are going to be rejected by others for walking in a new way, it had better be toward a greater love.

Life by the Spirit takes us beyond group think, right past frowns, scowls, wagging tongues and side glances. The Holy Spirit lifts us to a higher level of living that begins with God’s favor. We don’t have to earn it, we have it. Because we know it, we can live it. In the face of judgement and condemnation we can find and show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and all of the rest.

Application
Life by the Spirit is not God handing us a book and telling us to live by it; it is the Holy Spirit himself living with us and through us. We are no longer alone. We are loved. We are accepted. There is no need to perform. What more can we gain? We are free to love those who expect other things of us.

Prayer
Father, help me to live and walk in the fullness of freedom. Amen.