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Pray Without Ceasing, Together and Individually

3/27/2018

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I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling 1 Timothy 2:8
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling 1 Timothy 2:8
​Today as we continue to study spiritual disciplines, we will look very briefly at prayer. I hope that you will take it deeper and spend time in prayer with the Lord, if there is a kind of prayer here you have not tried, I encourage you to do so.
Prayer is an important part of life as a follower of Christ. It is so easy to let the discipline of prayer fall to the wayside. It is internal and we have such busy lives we tend to say, I have to do this now, I’ll pray later.
Jesus understood the importance of prayer. He commanded we pray. He practiced it and gave us a great examples to follow.
Matthew 4- Jesus praying in the wilderness before His ministry and during His temptation
Matthew 14:23- Jesus praying alone on a mountain top
Luke 3:21 – Praying after His baptism
Luke 6:12-praying alone before He chose those would be the Apostles
John 17 is Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane before His arrest. He even prayed on the Cross as He was dying. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)
Matthew 6:5-13 reads,
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil

 
Sometimes, the only time we pray through the week is in church. Corporate prayer is great! It is essential, but it does not replace time alone with The Lord, quiet time. The prayer during that time is really special and it is different than corporate and other kinds of prayer.
Just as much as God wants us evangelizing, healing, prophesying, teaching, and learning, He wants time with us. Hosea 6:6 reads,
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings

Although Jesus was active in doing God’s will in ministry, He also did God’s will in His relationship. Luke 5:15-16 reads,
 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Jesus spent time alone with God, even though He is God. We should be filled with The Holy Spirit, God is inside us and yet, if Jesus who is God had to go be alone with Him, we should also seek alone time with God. We call it quiet time. I want to encourage us to make quiet alone time with God a priority. Since we do get so busy, and some of us have a hard time saying no to ministry and service, as well as full lives with family, work and church, it makes sense to make that quiet time, the first thing in the morning. There’s a famous quote that says, “If you don’t have time to pray, wake up earlier.” Martin Luther said it better though, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
Psalm 5:1-3 reads,
“Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Mark 1:35-39 tells us Jesus made prayer an integral part of ministry,
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”
 
That quiet time, is more than just expressive prayer, or prayer where we speak to God and tell Him all our wants and needs. It is also a time of praise, listening, reflection and meditation on The Word. Silence before God allows Him to do His will. And shouldn’t our time with God be about aligning our will with His? Zechariah 2:13 reads,
Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.
Being doers of the word as James 1:22 commands, requires us to be hearers of the Word, being hearers requires us to listen. Isaiah 41:1 reads,
Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
    let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
    let us together draw near for judgment.

 
Another kind of individual prayer is called breathe prayer. It is a practice that allows you to pray without ceasing, centering your focus on The Lord throughout the day while you do all the rest of what needs to be done. This practice does not replace specific time with The Lord or corporate prayer, it augments your prayer life. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 reads,
“Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”
Breathe prayers are done with your breathing. With your breath in say or breath a name of God that you want to rejoice in and praise, such as Father, Savior, Healer, or Counselor, Your breathe out is a God-given desire such as “Have Mercy on me” “Reveal yourself to me” or “Lead me” This breathe prayer is one sentence. Breathe in, “Good Shepherd” Breathe out, “Lead me in your ways” Breath in “Abba,” breath out, “hold me in your arms” or “Holy Spirit, Come”
Benefits of breathe prayer include[1]:
• keeping company with Jesus whether or not you feel his presence
• abiding in Christ, opening yourself to constant union all day long
• putting into a phrase the deepest desire of your heart and praying out of that desire
• reminding yourself that God is present and living in you
• guarding self-talk so your thoughts, feelings and behavior flow from an ongoing dialogue with God
• regulating your imagination and fantasy life
• breathing in the life of Christ and breathing out the work of Christ
• developing a rhythm of turning to God at any time of the day
• developing a constant, inner, unbroken, perpetual habit of prayer
Whether individual or corporate, prayer is a conversation with The LORD God. It is a time when we cast our cares on Him and He gives us peace beyond the world’s comprehension. It is a time when we tell Our Father what we need, want, and hope. Does He already know? Yes. But He still wants to hear it from us. And more often than not as we speak to God, He will allow us to hear our words and see our hearts and so comfort, teach, encourage, and lead us.
Philippians 4:6-7 says,
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
 
I want to encourage us to pray together as well as alone, whether it is with a large group of people or two or three of us. Praying together is very important, especially in small groups. The prayers of a few of us together are very powerful.
 
 
In Matthew 18:18-20 Jesus said,
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
 
Did you read the power God gives us when we pray together? We’re binding and loosing, we petitioning God with one another and He promises to respond and He promises He is among us. How many times have I been praying in a group of two or three and The Holy Spirit speaks through us, act through us, and manifests in ways we were not expecting? He is always with us, there are times when we are much more aware of what He is doing and saying. These small group prayers, sometimes referred to as conversational prayers are an opportunity for Him to do great things.
The corporate prayer I’m talking about here is not the same as the liturgical or one person led prayer. It involves a group each praying in conversational tones in a dialogue with God, as prayer ought to be. One example of this informal conversational prayer goes like this:
Each person prays briefly, usually just two or three sentences. Depending on how many people are involved, each person may speak more than once but in turn. If it is just two or three then the dialogue would likely go back and forth more. Being a dialogue means it requires listening as well as speaking.  When we practice prophetic prayer, we are often doing this type of prayer. It requires us to be ourselves, not using fancy words, thous and thees or give discourses in the midst of speaking with God. People pray briefly and plainly as they feel led by the Spirit.
Believer, I want to encourage you today to make the Lord a priority, to seek the Kingdom of God first above everything else in your life. Carve out a daily quiet time with the Lord. Pay attention to how that the intentional focus on The Lord and His will come to play in your day.
I also encourage you to add the discipline of the breathe prayer to your day and see how this prayer without ceasing impacts your spiritual walk.
 


[1] Calhoun, A. A. (2005). Spiritual disciplines handbook: Practices that transform us. Madison, WI: InterVarsity Press.
 
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The Discipline of Continuing Education

3/26/2018

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Although he was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. Hebrews 5:8
Although he was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. Hebrews 5:8
As Christians, we ought to be participating in our Christianity. It is a walk and it is a choice. We have the free will to choose God’s will, the Spirit or the flesh, to let Him flow like springs of living water from us or quench Him. That is why we are studying various spiritual disciplines, so that we can take an active part in our sanctification, so that we can respond cheerfully in obedience to God and happily submit to Him as He transforms us into the image of Christ.
This week as we have looked at ways to be more aware of God and what He is doing in our lives, we have considered journaling, examen, and practicing His presence. Before that we looked at various ways of worship. Today, we are going to look at the practice of being teachable and of actively learning. Yes, it is a choice and a discipline. Most of us want to be leaders and authorities, but it takes time as followers and students to get there. Even the brightest of experts will still take time to learn. Albert Einstein was one of the smartest and most accomplished men in the world. I cannot begin to imagine what he could learn academically from anyone. He said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”  I believe the same could be said for spiritual and emotional learning. Both cease only at death. Julia Child said, “You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.” Part of loving God is always wanting to know Him more. Part of loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is submitting to them (Ephesians 5:21).
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun defined teachability as “propensity and openness to learn from God no matter who the teacher or what the experience may be (Ahlberg Calhoun, 2005). God will use many ways to teach us and we need to be humble enough to notice and accept the lessons. How will God teach us?
God will teach us through His Word, The Sword of the Spirit, the Bible. This is one of His chief ways of teaching and speaking to us. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 says,
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
To allow the Bible to teach, reproof, correct and train for righteousness so that we can be completely equipped for good work, we have to read it, we have to hear it taught, we have to humble ourselves to understand the message is for us, not just for the people to our left and right.
Likewise, God will teach us through His Spirit through His written and spoken Word as well directly to us. Hebrews 4:11-13
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
 
The Holy Spirit will allow us to understand the Bible, it is His sword and what He uses to reveal ourselves to ourselves and teach, reproof, correct, train, and equip. He teaches us and makes us into the image of Christ because only He can know perfectly who He is. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 reads,
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”--

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
 
And through Him we use the Sword to teach one another. Proverbs 27:17-19 says,
Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and he who guards his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
    so the heart of man reflects the man.

Living life together affects one another. We sharpen each other to better cope with life through using the Word of God and tending one another. Who better sees the fruit your life is producing than your brothers and sisters? They will see bitter fruit, small fruit, bad fruit, healthy fruit, and the like before you do and they are there to tend you, to help you, and to help prune if needed. Who sees us more clearly, our brother or ourselves?  God speaks to us through the Spirit-filled Body of Christ using our gifts, loving one another, and sincerely caring about each other’s welfare. Ephesians 4:11-16 says,
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
 
Certainly, that is talking about submitting to our church leaders, but it is also referring to submission to one another’s spiritual giftings, and to the body as a whole, the whole body builds itself up in love. We cannot ignore that God placed people in leadership over us. Our church leaders, the pastors, elders, and teachers were given to us for a reason Hebrews 13:17 says,
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
 
It is not only Christians that God will use. He can speak through anyone or anything! He has prophesied through people who had no idea that they were speaking God’s word and He has worked through people who had no idea they were doing what God had moved them to do.
When plotting to murder Jesus, as recorded in John 11:45-53 Caiaphas the high priest said, “You know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He was trying to convince the chief priests and Pharisees that they needed to kill Jesus or else He would be the end of their religion and way of life, but Caiaphas instead spoke the Gospel prophetically. Verses 51-52 read,
He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
In Isaiah 10:5, God called Assyria His rod even though they were arrogant and pagan and He would punish them for what they did to Israel, it was still He who allowed them to plunder her. Judges 2:14 says,
So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
God can and has used an ass to not only talk to people but point them to Jesus! (Numbers 22:22-35). To learn from others, we have to be open and humble, we have to recognize the “God moments” and take advantage of them. I have experienced many times when non-believers said something that struck me to my core and moved me to stronger faith or be more aware of God’s will. Hearing God’s voice through them permitted me to make the right choice, improve my walk with the Lord, or glorify Jesus.
God uses the world around us to bring to mind scripture, show us things, and lead us. I cannot tell you how often I look at a clock and it reads 6:33. I immediately think of Matthew 6:33 (But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.) Or He will show me a rainbow and remind me He keeps His promises. I will see a commercial for a cleaning product and He will speak about sanctification or wasted efforts or whatever. There are some days when everything I see speaks about God from a penny on the ground to a man washing windows to a kid butting in line at a grocery store.  John 14:25-26 says,
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
 
To learn this way, you have to be focused on Jesus, practicing His presence with you so that when His Spirit shows you something, reminds you of something, or speaks to you, you will see it, remember it, hear it, and take it to heart.
And finally, He teaches through circumstances, good, bad, difficult or easy. In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul wrote.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Romans 5:3-5 tells us,
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
 
Are you humble enough to be teachable? Ask yourself if you are open to correction and exhortation. If not, perhaps you could repent of pride and let God teach you through the many and various ways He speaks to His people. How often have you let a lesson slip past you because you refused to see anything but your own point of view? Like Balaam who had no idea The Angel of the LORD was standing in front of Him to give Him a message (Numbers 22:22-35) how many times have we missed serving God and entertaining His messengers for our own pride? Hebrews 13:1-2 encourages us,
Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
 
If the strangers we show kindness and love to are angels, imagine the messages they have for us from God, yet if we are not humble enough to consider it, we will dismiss it. If we spurn the prophecies given to us, we are not living in the love and unity humility allows and we will scorn the things of God. Be discerning, know the difference between God’s voice and the voice of the thieves. Be humble. I will leave you with this reminder from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 as you are encouraged to remain teachable and so do not stifle the work of the Holy Spirit.
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
​
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Practicing the Presence of God

3/24/2018

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Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15 Practicing God's presence Bible devotional
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15
​The recent spiritual disciplines we have been looking at have been practices meant to keep us aware of God’s very active attendance in our lives. His presence is something we can choose to ignore or something we can thoroughly enjoy.
Practices like examen and journaling make us aware that God is with us and active, now we get to choose to be with Him or we choose to quench Him. How many of us have head knowledge that God is with is, but it doesn’t make it to the heart, strength, soul, or mind? We try to compartmentalize our lives. Here is family, there is work,  there is recreation and over there is spiritual. But God is not compartmentalized and He does not categorize (Galatians 3:28). He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is all three, always. He is One God, not three. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 reads,
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
 
He is not one god with two lesser gods. It is a concept that might be just out of our minds grasp until that Great Day when we will see Him face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12 explains,
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
 
What an amazing thing that will be, to fully know and understand God and everything about Him. I imagine it a little like The Matrix, when John Anderson becomes Neo and he has all this information downloaded to his brain. He remarks in astonishment, “I know Kung Fu.” When we come face to face with God and we know Him perfectly, do you imagine we’ll sit back and say, “Oh that’s why you let roaches live” or “That is why I experienced that event in my life” or anything other than falling down in worship and adoration of the LORD of Lords, Jesus our Savior, King of kings, and Creator of the Universe? We will know Him fully and it will make us love Him all the more, the way He knows and loves us.
On that day the beginning of eternity with Him and in His presence, there will be no time constraints to the Jubilee, nothing to keep us from completely and copiously celebrating the Lord, and nothing separating our once temporary lives from enjoying our real lives forever. God wants us to understand now and here that our eternal lives in the kingdom of God have begun already, here on earth. Sure, we still live in these bodies that He calls tents, but our houses, our permanent perfect bodies await us in the City of God. It is not the 100 years or so on this earth that are the real matter, it is eternity with Him that is real. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 reads,
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
 
And Colossians 3:1-4 says,
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Read that passage in The Message
1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
 
We have to stop compartmentalizing our lives and understand that our spiritual lives ought to be infused into every part of our lives, that our lives, like the Lord are triune and inseparable, body, mind, and spirit. We are heart, soul, and might, and we love Him with our entirety, indivisibly. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Look back at 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  Catch this, the way God wants us to know and love Him, He already knows and loves us that way! He loved us first (1 John 4:19)! He is with us. Deuteronomy 31:6 says,
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
On the quickest and shallowest search of my concordance, I found 144 times that the Bible says, “God is with you.” Believer, He is with you. Child of God, He will never leave you nor abandon or renounce you! If I did a more indepth search, I have no doubt that I would find that phrase and similar ones many more times. But how often does God have to say it for it to be true? Once! How many times do we need to hear it before we believe it and live it?
Well, now we know God is present with us.  Our practices of examen and journaling have opened our eyes to His attendance in our lives. How do we practice His presence? How do we celebrate His presence? We keep Him in mind, keep our focus on Him and remain aware of Who God is and What He is doing and we respond appropriately. Psalm 46 says this,
God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

 
Since we know God is not just present, but VERY present, we can respond with peace as we trust God to be God. We allow His water to flow through us, bring us life, nourishment, and growth as it produces steadfastness, joy, peace, and patience in us. There is chaos, destruction, and conflict around us, but God is with us, we have nothing to fear, no bad news can frighten us, we can remain steadfast (Psalm 112:7). We can be still amidst the chaos and know He is who He says He is. Psalm 46:4 which we just read says,
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.

Are you aware of the river of living waters that you drink from, that makes you a mighty oak of righteousness (Psalm 1:3, Isaiah 61:3), and now flows through you to help others drink from Him? To celebrate God’s ever-present steadfast company with us, I think it helps to picture Him as He described Himself as the river of life.
Revelation 22:1-2 paints this beautiful picture
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 21:6-7 reads,
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
In John 4:14 Jesus said,  “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In John 7:38 He said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Revelation 7:13-17 reads,
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 
We can allow the Living Water to flow into and out of us affecting the kingdom, bringing healing to the nations, and the lost to the Lord or we can quench the Spirit and ignore God being here with us. Can you describe your life as one where God is like a river filling you to overflowing and pouring out of you?
If not, how can we get there? How do we practice the presence of God? Proverbs 3:3-12 offers us some practical steps as well as promises of the blessings God gives if we practice His presence.
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good success
    in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
    and your vats will be bursting with wine.

11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.

 
Since God is always with us, since His Spirit is actually imbued in us, we should be praying constantly and rejoicing always 1 Thessalonians 5:14-21 offers more practical steps to be aware of God’s presence.
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
Once God was not always with His people, they had to enter into His presence carefully, but now He has entered ours and we get to celebrate Him always! Nehemiah 8:8-12 tells us to enjoy Him and share what He has given to us.
8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
 
The joy of the Lord is your strength, understanding His presence, His love, and His will gives you strength. What overjoys Him, a real relationship with us gives us strength.
Fellow Followers, I pray you will choose to be deliberate in knowing God is with you and living as if He is walking right next you hand in hand. He is so much more inexplicably with you than merely interwoven hands. Let your heart, soul, and might be interwoven with Him. Let springs of Living Water bubble from your heart and soul and take action with your strength.
 
 
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Remember What God Has Done

3/23/2018

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Remember the wondrous works that he has done,     his miracles, and the judgments he uttered Psalm 105:5 Journal Bible devotional
Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered Psalm 105:5
​We are continuing to consider various spiritual disciplines or practices which will help us draw near to God and further our growth in Him and our conformation to the image of Christ. For the last couple of days we have been looking at the disciplines which will make you more aware of God’s presence and activity in your life. Today’s discipline is one I have practiced since I was about ten years old, though it has grown and changed over the years, journaling.
Journaling allows you to chronicle the significant happenings of life, work through your thoughts and emotions about those events, keep track of prayers, record visions and prophecies, write lessons learned, and take notes of sermons, Bible studies, and other teachings. Not every person journals each of these, and not every person journals the same way. When I journal, it opens another avenue for God to speak to me. I will start with a question or prayer and by the end of my writing, God will have spoken to me through the writing as He brought my mindset into alignment with His. I also record sermon notes, what God says to me, and prophecies I receive and sometimes give. Looking back over my journals has often been a catalyst for praise, repentance, worship, perseverance, and hope.
God is our Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). That name means He counsels us. He advises, guides, advocates, encourages, comforts, exhorts, listens, and speaks. Unlike Him, none of us has a perfect mind; a journal helps us to keep in mind and at our fingertips what He has spoken and done. My own journals have reminded me of prophecies spoken to me and visions God gave me and therefore, put me back on track in God’s will. They have reminded me of answered prayers and given me reasons to praise God when I have been discouraged. They have prompted me to make better choices, when I reread that I faced the same situation in the past. For me, when I am soaking my pillow with tears, they help me hear God over my cries as He takes my focus off myself and puts it back on Him.
Romans 11:33-36 reads,

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
 
We do not know the mind of God, but, He has given us His Spirit and that means He lets us in on His mind, will, and thinking. We can inquire and He answers. We can seek the answers and He will give them to us. He does not leave us in the dark. In Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus said,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
God will give you the answers, comfort, and encouragement you are looking for when you journal. Journaling also serves as a reminder about answered prayers, miracles, and times when God did great things for you.  In Psalm 77 the psalmist called Asaph was in despair and questioning if God would help him. In verses 6-9 he said,
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” 

I have written things like this in my journal. But like Asaph, I was seeking my answers from God. In the same Psalm God gave him an answer, verses 10-15 read,
Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. 

The remaining verses of the psalm list a few of the miracles God did for Israel as He led them out of slavery in Egypt through the Wilderness toward the Promised Land. The Lord often tells us in His Word to remember what He has done and in remembering to make something that will remind us (Genesis 12:7, 1 Chronicles 16:15, , Exodus 17:15 Psalm 105:5). We don’t build altars today but a journal can and does serve as a solid reminder. Joshua 4:1-14 tells us about God’s command to Joshua and Israel to build an altar of 12 stones in the midst of the Jordan as they crossed the mighty river that God had divided for them. Our journals can serve as the stones.
Psalm 143:5-6 encourages us that remembering is more than merely letting thoughts briefly cross our minds, we are to meditate on God’s deeds, consider them, and apply the insights He brings to our lives.
I remember the days of old;
    I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.   Selah

 
And remembering God’s sovereignty in our lives leads us to prayer, repentance, and prayer. It brings us into His presence and gives us a chance to worship Him. Jonah 2:4-7 says,
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
    from your sight;
yet I shall again look
    upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
    the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6     at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
    whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
    O Lord my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
    I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
    into your holy temple.

 
If you want to grow closer to God, recording your prayers, His answers, the happenings and God’s movement in those events can truly help you to draw close to Him. It gives him another venue to speak to you and it gives you a chance to remember what you would have forgotten and be encouraged about the awesomeness of the LORD.
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Examen: The Discipline of Daily Reflection and How to Hear God’s Voice

3/22/2018

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And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, Philippians 1:9 The practice of Examen devotional
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, Philippians 1:9
​I used to wonder how people knew God’s voice. I would listen to people say that God had told them this or God had told them that and wish I knew so clearly when it was God that was speaking to me. I asked and people answered that I should just listen and get to know Him and that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). Well, honestly that didn’t help me. But, I didn’t give up. I wanted to hear and know God’s voice. Today, I hear and know Him clearly and it was partially through today’s spiritual discipline that I gained that discernment. This is a practice known as Examen. I did not know that it had a name and I did not practice it “by the book” since I did not know it was something people did. To me, it was just something that came from desire to know God more deeply and recognize Him in my life.
I can tell you this that the Lord does speak to you and you have the ability to hear Him and follow Him. John 10:27 says,
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
That is what Examen is, it is a purposeful examination of your life, your day, and your self to recognize God’s presence, activity, and voice. It brings you to a place where you can appreciate the “God stuff,” His will, and just how involved He is in your life. It helped me hear God’s voice and it helped me notice just how many ways He speaks to us.
Examen is typically done at the end of one’s day. It is a quiet time of prayer and reflection with the Lord in which we ask Him to reveal Himself in the day’s events. We come to Him in prayer and ask Him to open our eyes, ears, and mind to Him. Thank Him for the day and the blessings it brought. Colossians 1:9-14 reads,
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
 
To reflect on the day, you might choose to list each blessing you can think of from the morning’s cup of coffee to the chance to chat with the delivery man and to having enough food to cook dinner. This will help you notice God in your day, even in the little things like the flower growing through the sidewalk that you noticed. Or you might ask two questions such as,
What I was most thankful for today? What was I least thankful for today?
How did I give or receive the most love today? Did I miss a chance to love someone?
Where did I see the Lord work today?
Did the Holy Spirit teach me show me something today?
 
We are walking in the kingdom of God as we simultaneously walk in the world. God’s kingdom though invisible to most is more real than the visible world. We can walk with our eyes open to His kingdom if we choose. Examen helps us to do that. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds us of this,
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
 
The book Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barret Browning contains this poem 86, which gives us an example of how we walk with our consciences and consciousness closed to the kingdom of God around us. Some excerpts from that poem are,
TRUTH, so far, in my book;—the truth which draws

Through all things upwards,—that a twofold world

Must go to a perfect cosmos. Natural things

And spiritual,—who separates those two

In art, in morals, or the social drift

…
No motion: without sensuous, spiritual
       15

Is inappreciable,—no beauty or power:

And in this twofold sphere the twofold man

(For still the artist is intensely a man)

Holds firmly by the natural, to reach

The spiritual beyond it,—fixes still
       20

The type with mortal vision, to pierce through,

With eyes immortal, to the antetype

Some call the ideal,—better call the real,

And certain to be called so presently

When things shall have their names. Look long enough
       25

On any peasant’s face here, coarse and lined,

You’ll catch Antinous somewhere in that clay,

…
And (glancing on my own thin, veinèd wrist),

In such a little tremor of the blood

The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
       60

Doth utter itself distinct. Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,

And daub their natural faces unaware
       65

More and more from the first similitude.

 
What does that mean? It means most of us go through this world missing God in the everyday stuff. We miss Him in the beautiful face of the homeless man and we miss Him in the way His creation works so perfectly. We miss Him speaking to us, we are standing on holy ground and He is miraculously working in front of us and instead of hearing Him or even taking note of the burning bush, we are living our lives unaware of Him.
Examen helped me see God in the everyday, in the giggle of a baby and the tears of a man. It helped me see His guiding hand in my life and truly hear Him speak. When I prayed and reflected on my day, I could clearly see how He had shown me this and told me that. Not only did I start recognizing His voice but I saw Him speaking through circumstances, other people, His creation, and numerous other ways. Hebrews 1:1-2 reads,
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He speaks in many times and many ways. He speaks through prophets. He speaks through Jesus. Joel 2:28-30 reads,
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
He speaks to us directly through His Holy Spirit, He speaks to us through one another, and He speaks through signs and wonders, and natural events. And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
 
If we really are seeking God, we cannot miss Him, He is here; He is actively speaking to us and actively revealing His will to us. He wants us to be complete in Him and He wants us to use our position in Him for every good work! If you want to know what God is saying read His Scriptures, they are alive and He speaks through them. If you want to hear from Him, spend some time listening to Him. Now, I can hear some of you saying, ‘That is fine and good but I still don’t hear Him when I listen.’
I will give you a little help, when you ask God to tell you something, stop and be quiet, actually listen and wait. You know that tiny strange thought you got and threw away? That one that you swear was yourself, take a hold of it. Chances are that was not you, why would you have thought such a crazy thought? Take the thought and ask if it aligns with scripture, check it out, and it is likely you will find out it was God. If you obey, if you are faithful to His voice then over time, you will more clearly hear Him. We are told to take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). That includes the thoughts we imagine are ours but are really God. How else do we obey unless we have been given the command? It is up to us to learn to understand the difference between His voice, our voice, and Satan’s voice.
God doesn’t sound like you imagine, He is not a huge booming voice. Mountains do not melt because His voice is so thunderous, mountains melt because He is the LORD. 1 Kings 19:8-14 tells a story about Elijah running in fear from Jezebel. It helps us understand that God does not conform to what we assume He is, He brings us to Him. It also shows that He is compassionate and loving. As His children, we have no reason to fear His voice. Here is that passage from The Message.
He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep.
Then the word of God came to him: “So Elijah, what are you doing here?”
10 “I’ve been working my heart out for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,” said Elijah. “The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
13-14 When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” Elijah said it again, “I’ve been working my heart out for God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, because the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed your places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
 
The practice of Examen will help you to be more aware of God in your life, how He is working in you, around you and through you. It will help you foster discernment and open your ears, eyes, and heart to Him and give you ever-growing faith to obey Him and hear Him more and more. Once, I swore I couldn’t hear God, now I hear Him daily and you can too. 
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Keeping Your Eyes Fixed on Jesus

3/21/2018

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as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
​Jesus said, “I will am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). You are in the Father (John 17:20). The Holy Spirit is in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). God will never leave you (Deuteronomy 31:6). We may know God is with us, yet do we live life aware of His presence? Outside of corporate worship or personal quiet time, do we live as if God is walking next to us, or living within us? I have to admit that too often, I do not keep myself mindful of God’s company. Over the next several days I want to look at spiritual disciplines that are meant to help us be cognizant of the Lord, sensitive to His voice, and open to His heart.
Today, I want to look at the discipline of deliberate awareness of God’s presence. The new-agers have taken the term mindfulness, but we want to be always mindful of God with us. Some call this discipline contemplation, to contemplate is to examine, deliberate, or meditate. It is to reflect and study something. It experience something fully.
It is a choice to stay focused on ourselves or keep our focus on the Lord. We can do amazing things when we remember that we have Almighty God next to, behind, in front, and within us. Look at the story of Peter whose zeal for Jesus allowed him ask Jesus to command him to step out of a boat onto the sea and walk on water to His Lord. He was walking on water, not being knocked by the waves or sinking in the depths of the roiling water. But when his focus returned to his circumstances, he began to sink in them (Matthew 14:22-33). That was before the Holy Spirit had indwelled him! Imagine you and I today with God in us, allowing Him to be fully realized in us.
There is much more than being able to operate in the fullness of God. Imagine, I love a man, perhaps a famous man. That’s not real love but it will do for this illustration. Now, I am excited to see him in a film or watch an interview, but if I get to meet him, I am that much more thrilled. If he talks to me, I am over the moon! And if he chooses to befriend me or even date me I would be ecstatic. Would I ignore him most of the time that I am with him? Would I marry him and just have an attitude of, “I am Mrs. Gerard Butler, but I am going to live as if I am still Miss Donna Campbell. My husband is here somewhere, I spend an hour with him once a week.” If I live as a Mrs. I will be different, have certain privileges, and live up the expectations of being Mrs. instead of Miss.
I have that choice with Jesus. I love Him, and I can actually really love Him because He loved me first! And I get to be His friend and bride. I get to spend as much time as I want with Him. I should be overjoyed. That joy imbues me, it becomes part of who I am and is manifested in my life. If I maintain my awareness of Him, if I choose to acknowledge Him in everything I do. God is not far off. He is right here, right now. Acts 17:24-28 reads,
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.
 
God enjoys it when we pursue Him, when we draw close to Him, and He doesn’t ignore our affections, He draws close to us (James 4:8). Just like Peter said, “If it is you, command me to come to you” and Jesus said, “Come,” He answers our request to come to Him by saying come. It is not always easy, the waves and wind are easier to see, they are right here, visible and affecting us if our eyes are on them. But though we can’t see Jesus face to face just yet, He is so much more real than any circumstance.  2 Corinthians 4:17- 5:1-5 says it like this,
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
 
You have a choice about how to look at your life, you can see the darkness and lack or you can choose to see the awesome blessings He has given, life, His creation, and realize that the entirety of the world is His. Psalm 24:1-2 and 5-7 reads,
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
    and established it upon the rivers.

…
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.

 
You can see Him in the little things and the big things. When I see a sparrow, my mind is immediately on the LORD and how much He loves me. When I see a butterfly, my thoughts are about how the Holy Spirit transforms us. When I see a skyscraper, I think what an amazing God that He made man with such abilities. I can choose to let things point my mind to God because I know that the earth and everything in it is the LORD's. I seek God in my surroundings and circumstances and He lifts up my head, He comes in and I see Him.
Enjoy life! Live life! It is a gift from God and it is so much more awesome when you celebrate life with God purposely in everything you do. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 says,
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Maybe you’re saying this is nice but how do I focus on God’s presence. How do I keep my eyes on Jesus when I can’t see Him? What are the actual things I can do to be mindful of Him with me? We will look into several disciplines that will help you to do that over the course of this series. They include:
  • Having a daily time of devotion between you and the Lord to include honest prayer, listening, worshipful prayer, and Bible reading.
  • Continuous prayer including supplications, worship, breathe prayers, and intercessory prayer
  • Being cognizant of creation and blessings with the knowledge that it all belongs to God, came from Him, and was created through Him.
  • Reflecting on your surroundings and circumstances with the awareness that God is the giver of all good things.
  • Remaining open to hearing from God, listening to Him and discerning what you see and hear in case it is God choosing to speak.
  • Take time to worship God.
  • Point other people to Jesus, Let them see who you see.
 
Everything we do is a choice, the attitude we have is a choice. Choose to focus on Jesus and just do it.
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The Command to Celebrate the Sabbath

3/20/2018

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Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.. Exodus 20:9
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:9
​This world is busy. It is filled with jobs we must do for careers or other money-making ventures, it is filled with taking care of family and home, it is filled with maintaining friendships, connections, and fitting in the good times. Many of us throw rest to the side and let that 6-8 hours a night be it. Some, like one person I know make that sort of rest a priority, she goes to work, comes home, eats and goes to bed. On the seventh day, she sleeps almost all day. Both extremes are not only bad for your physical and emotional health, they are detrimental to your spiritual health.
God commanded we honor the Sabbath, not so we could add more religiosity but so that we would have time to devote to our relationship with Him, be strengthened, and renewed. It is one of The Ten Commandments. It is listed in Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
 
God did not rest because He was tired, He rested to give us this gift of a day we can set apart for rest. We had to go ahead and put our religion all over though didn’t we? We had to fight among ourselves about whether it was going to be the seventh day as it was originally or the first day as it honored the Resurrection. We had to make rules to make sure the rules weren’t broken. And make it more stressful than enjoyable. Do we cook? Wait isn’t that breaking the Sabbath and working? Do we go out to eat? But then we are resting on the labor of someone else! God did not give us the Sabbath, so we could argue about how to celebrate this weekly day.
Firstly, though I know people will argue the point, I do not think it matters to God if we set aside our Saturday, Sunday, or any other day, as long as we set aside a time for Him and for our rest. Do you imagine that we will get to the Judgement Throne and He’ll say, “Sorry you chose the wrong day, God and Faithful Servant, you didn’t keep the letter of the Law, See ya.” NO! We are resting from works, we are in The New Covenant, The Law was fulfilled by Christ and we follow the heart of the Law which is Love (Matthew 5:17, Galatians 5:14). We live in the Sabbath rest now. Yet, setting aside a day devoted to rest and celebration of God is still a spiritual discipline which will bring us closer to God and help us as we are made into Christ’s image. Not everyone has chosen to practice God’s Sabbath. Not everyone has chosen to practice it on the same day as you have. All these little worries about what will or will not break the Sabbath just do not matter. The Sabbath belongs to God, He made it for us. He will not have us be hungry on our day of rest, He will not have us give up necessities because it resembles work to get them. Matthew 12:1-8 says,
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
 
What day you keep the Sabbath, how you keep it, is not for other people. We are not under the Law, we are in Christ. Keep the Sabbath holy, set it aside as special, for the purpose of celebrating the Lord. It is a practice we are expected to follow the same as praying, going to church, being generous, and taking the Lord’s Supper. It is a practice that sets us aside as disciples of Jesus. It is a discipline that keeps us close to God, holding onto Him, and aware of His presence with us. Colossians 2:13-20 reads,
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
 
Just like you want your kids to remember that every Monday is coming and prepare ahead of time for it by doing their homework, getting their clothes ready, and getting a get night’s sleep, our Father wants us to prepare ahead of time for the Sabbath. He provides plenty, we just have to notice it. God gave Israel an example of this with the food He sent from Heaven a white flake “bread” called manna. Each morning it covered the ground and the people would gather enough for each person in their tent for one day and no matter how much or little they gathered, it was enough to satisfy them perfectly. If they tried to save some for the next day, it bred worms and stank, it rotted. They had to gather it daily, except for the sixth day, Friday. On Friday they gathered for two days and God made it enough for both Friday and Saturday. Exodus 16:27-30 reads,
 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
 
Jesus, the Son of God, perfect and sinless did what the Pharisees considered work on the Sabbath, over and over they accused Him of the sin of breaking the Sabbath, But love does not stop because helping someone requires effort. Rest does not preclude loving one another. Matthew 12:9-13 says,
He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
 
What is the spirit of the Sabbath? How do we honor the Sabbath and keep it holy without making it religious and ritualistic? Let’s go back to the passage from Matthew 12:1-8 where the disciples were eating the grains. There are some significant things to learn here. One is that Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6. If you regularly read this devotional than you will almost certainly have read this verse and hopefully even quote it yourself, it says,
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

 
God doesn’t want us following a list of rules and regulations, He doesn’t want us to robotically do things, even good things like praying, taking the Lord’s Supper, or giving money to the church. He wants us to do those things out of love, faith, and obedience in a desire to know Him more, spend more time with Him, and deepen our relationship with Him. In Verse 5 of that passage Jesus says, “Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?” What that means is that the priests had to do certain jobs regardless of the Sabbath and in order to make the Sabbath possible for others, yet they were not held guilty of breaking the Sabbath.  They lit the lamps, baked the showbread and displayed it, made fires, killed and prepared sacrifices and more. It was to honor God.
On the Sabbath can rest from our pursuit of money, our pursuit of comfort, and any other pursuit that can come before God, but we should doggedly pursue God. Read His word, pray, fellowship, worship, and acknowledge who He is. Does your Sabbath include gathering with your local church, enjoying fellowship with other believers, learning more about who God is, sharpening others as you are sharpened yourself? Does it include a nap as you are assured that you can deliberately not pursue provision on this day? It is a special Day, purposely set aside for celebrating God.
Believers live in the Sabbath, we have rested from the labor of the law. Our entire lives now are devoted to pursuing God. Yet, still marking that wonderful truth each week is a practice that keeps us moving ever-closer to the image of Christ, the process we call sanctification. In Hebrews 4 the author is talking about God’s true Sabbath, His rest, given by salvation through faith and not works, eternal life, and ultimately eternity in New Jerusalem. Israel for the most part failed to enter His rest. They became an illustration for us as most of the Israelites who entered the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land did not get to enter. We so easily choose rules over Jesus, work over faith, and law over grace.
Hebrews 4:6-13 reads,
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
 
Entering God’s rest, the true Sabbath cannot be done apart from the Word of God, here this scripture refers to the Bible but then the next sentence also refers to the word of God as Him. He, the Word of God is Jesus. On the Sabbath both our weekly celebration and the state of our new life, we have to allow the Word of God to pierce us and separate soul and spirit, bone and marrow and make us into the new creations He made us to be. We have to submit to His work for our sanctification. If we are not willing to let our Loving God in to make us more like Him, I would question if we are really saved, if He is really Lord, or if it is a shallow thing which will be gone with the stress of life.
How did the early church set an example and celebrate the Sabbath? They went to the synagogue, which is similar to a local church where they came together read scriptures and learned about Jesus (Acts 13:14-15, Acts 15:21). They prayed, taught Jesus, and spent time together (Acts 16:11-15). They talked about Jesus to one another and others (Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4). Not only did they honor the weekly Sabbath, they honored the New Covenant Sabbath every day. Acts 2:42-47 reads,
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Do you set aside a day to celebrate the Lord? Do you enjoy the rest He gave to you? He said, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work.” The Sabbath just as with God’s other gifts was meant to be enjoyed, if you do not currently practice a Sabbath day, I encourage you to do so. Have faith that God will provide for you, you can afford to stop pursuing provision one day a week.
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Worshipping God through The Lord’s Supper

3/19/2018

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Do this in remembrance of me Luke 22:19 on painting of Jesus at the Passover
Do this in remembrance of me Luke 22:19 on painting of Jesus at the Passover
​Today we continue to look at the discipline of worshipping God. It is my opinion that if you are not practicing worship, then you are not in a real relationship with the One True Living God. Of everything we do, worship should be preeminent; it should be in everything else we do. Worship encompasses all the other disciplines. According to God the most important of any of the commandments in the Bible is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). To love God like that is worship. If we are not worshipping Him, we are not keeping the command that He said was the most important and the way to have eternal life.
The Lord’s Supper also known as Communion or the Love Feast is a commanded and beautiful act of worship. The Passover Seder celebrates Jesus Christ as the perfect lamb who was sacrificed so that we could live. His blood covers us and death passes us over. I know that was very Christianese. Let me try and explain it plainly.
Passover is a feast we are commanded to celebrate always (Exodus 12:14). In that feast, Israel would find and sacrifice an unblemished lamb, eat bread without yeast, and drink wine to celebrate the first Passover when they had to kill a perfect lamb and paint the blood of that lamb over their doorways. When death came for the first-born sons of Egypt, it passed over the houses with the lamb’s blood covering them. In the morning they quickly ate all the lamb, ate bread that had not been leavened and then left slavery in Egypt to go to the Promised Land (Exodus 12). When they ate that first Lord’s Supper, He blessed them with their freedom and so much more. Those same blessings await us. Psalm 105:37-43 describe what God gave Israel as they left slavery and entered life under the blood of the Passover Lamb.
Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quail,
    and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
    and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen ones with singing.

They were healthy and strong, they had plenty, and every provision they asked for was given. They were chosen and joyful and they sang it all back to God in gratitude and celebration of His awesome power and goodness.
Before Jesus was crucified, He spent Passover with His closest followers, and He prophetically showed them what was about to happen as they ate the Seder together. Matthew 26:26-29 reads,
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
 
Luke 22:19-20 records it with this commandment,
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
This important act of worship has been practiced from the very beginning of the Church (Acts 2:46-47) and Paul saw that many people were not taking it seriously, using the Lord’s Supper not for worshipping God but for a reason to get drunk and overeat. He gave instructions for the church in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.
This is a somber and beautiful act of worship, we remember Christ’s sacrifice, His body freely given to us, broken and killed by reflecting and then eating the piece of matzoh, the wafer of unleavened bread, or other food. We drink the wine, the fruit of the vine, juice, or other drink and remember His blood which was poured out as an offering, so we could have life.
When we choose to worship Him by celebrating the Love Feast, He blesses us. We worship through an act of unity with the church as we all do this ritual with earnest hearts together. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 reads,
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
 
When we worship through communion, we proclaim that Christ’s body was broken for ours, He took on our sins and our brokenness and gave us righteousness and wholeness. Though it is serious and it reminds us of our desperate need for Jesus, though we recall His tortuous death all for us, it is a celebration, a reason to rejoice. It is because Jesus chose to take on our sins and give up His life as The Passover Lamb that we have eternal life, a relationship with God, and a future with Him forever.
When I break a piece of bread off the loaf of matzoh (my preference for the Lord’s Supper), I think of Jesus’ body broken for me, His wounds from the scourging He received (John 19:1) and I celebrate what Isaiah prophesied about our beautiful Messiah. Isaiah 53 describes the trial, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus. As you read it, look at the blessings you receive and understand that each time you celebrate The Passover, each time you take the bread and wine, you rejoice in every blessing and you worship God in deepest gratitude for Jesus’ marvelous and miraculous grace. Verses 4-12 read,
Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities
.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong
,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors
.

 
Believer, I truly hope you practice this worship regularly and deliberately. It should be done with your local church often. It can be done with just two or three. It can be incorporated into gathered meals, celebrations, and fellowship as long as you understand the gravity and profundity, as long as you choose to celebrate what Jesus did for you.
Worship is not something you can skip on in your relationship with God, it is the very definition of your relationship with Him. The practice of Communion allows you the deepest intimacy and unity with your Lord as you share in His suffering, death, and resurrection with Him.
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Worship the Lord with Thanksgiving

3/17/2018

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 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34
​I want to remind you that nothing you do could make God love you any more or any less than He already does. He loves you with a depth and breadth that we cannot fathom (Ephesians 3:18-19). The Bible says, “His thoughts of us are more than the sand (Psalm 139:17-18). We do not practice these spiritual disciplines to improve God’s opinion of us, to increase His love, or to earn salvation. Salvation is a gift given by God through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We practice them so that we can know God more, love Him more, and follow Him more closely.
When we know who it is we worship, we are able to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and be the worshippers, God is seeking (John 4:22-24). Today, we will look at the discipline of thankful worship. Worshipping God by our gratitude. Of course, that requires we take note of the blessings in our lives, and we understand that every good blessing is from the Lord (James 1:17).
I believe it is important for a Jesus follower to be remain aware of the Holy Spirit’s work in her life so that she can respond with a grateful heart to all He is doing and giving but also that she can worshipfully live, exalting Him rather than herself for the awesome abundance, power, and goodness of her life. It is too easy to take credit for what God is doing; but giving the glory back to Him allows people to join in your worship.
Thankfulness begins with thankfulness not merely for blessings, provisions, or gifts but for the very presence of God, for appreciating that He is here, with us and He will never abandon us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He calls us His own people and He will never disown us. He has chosen us, and He will never reject us. He has adopted us as His children, and He will never renounce us.
If you are looking for a Psalm to sing to God in thankful worship, Psalm 136 is a great one. It is a Psalm which sings of God’s goodness, greatness, and love and enables a celebratory and thankful heart. Psalm 136:1-3 reads,
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

 
This is thankful worship, seeing and appreciate God’s presence, work, and awesomeness in our lives. 1 Chronicles 16:31-34 is an another example of thankful worship
 
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it!
33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

 
Thankfulness is more than an attitude it is an act, a behavior, it begins with the Holy Spirit, with our permission and in our choice to obey Him, thankfulness flows out and impacts us and the others around us in worship. It brings us closer to who God has made us to be. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 describes living in worship,
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Worship begins with celebration and gratitude, it continues with allowing the Holy Spirit to do what He will. And as we appreciate His working, as we listen to Him speak, allow Him to open our eyes, and appreciate His work, we celebrate even more, we thank Him all the more and worship continues both within the church and in our lives.
Thankful worship is the beginning of prayer and the continuation of prayer; it is the heart of prayer. Philippians 4:4-7 puts it this way,
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
 
With an attitude of gratitude (sorry for the rhyme), even our requests will be made from a heart of praise and worship. Because we will pray knowing that God is good and gives us whatever we ask for in Jesus’ name (John 14:12-14). Gratitude keeps us from bothering with anxiety, there is no worry for the person who lives recognizing the presence of God in her life. There is no apprehension or unease for the person who appreciates the steadfast love of God. The follower of Jesus truly has nothing to be afraid of, worry about, or panic about. We can grow increasingly more into the perfect image of Jesus Christ and we know and trust that this work is already done even while it is in progress. 1 John 4:7-19 in The Message reads,
7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
13-16 This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.
17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
If we know God, we cannot help but proclaim His love and proclaiming His love means proclaiming Jesus Christ who saved us and indwells us with His Spirit. It means knowing we have nothing to fear because God is Good and Holy and Awesome. Believer, if you think you have nothing to be thankful for and cannot think of anything to thank God for, begin with this, Jesus paid the price and took the punishment for your sins. He forgave, wiped out all your sinfulness. He is with you now and forever. He is taking you home to Heaven one day. He is LORD of all. In Him all things were created, find their purpose, and are perfected. 1 Colossians 1:15-24 gives us reason after reason to thank God to fall down and worship with our entire being. This passage in the Living Bible says,
Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, 16 Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. 17 He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. 18 He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything; 19 for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.
20 It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. 22 He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for; 23 the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others.
Thankful worship includes celebrating God’s goodness. Singing, dancing, and praying with a specific focus on God’s gifts, blessings, and greatness to us, with us, and in us. It embraces thanking others, being thankful to others as you recognize their generosity, obedience, or love lived out. It involves being generous ourselves. If we are blessed, we are faithful enough to share those blessings in gratitude and so can propagate thankfulness in others. We can show and sow gratitude to worship the Lord God. Thankfulness requires us to be humble as we acknowledge Christ’s preeminence in everything and allow His love to pour into and out of us.  Colossians 3:12-17 shows this kind of life of gratitude as it affects the people around us,
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
 
Giving to others, giving generously is an act of thankful worship. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 reads,
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
 
And it is not just for the rich, it is for all of us. Generosity is an act of love and worship 1 John 3:16-18 says,
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
 
Miracles don’t begin with our seeing what we do not have and complaining about it. Miracles being with gratitude, with seeing what God has given, thanking Him for it, and trusting that He provides all our needs. This was lived out for us by Jesus. Mark 8:1-10 tells is the narrative of what we refer to as The Feeding of the Four-Thousand. It begins with Jesus having compassion on the great crowd who had followed Him and were listening to Him teach. He said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” Rather than worry, instead of complain, He looked for what they did have. The twelve counted seven loves of bread. Seven loaves of bread would have been barely enough to feed the twelve, it was not enough to feed four thousand men. But Jesus still did not whine or complain. Verses 6-7 describe Jesus’ response.
And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them
 
He thanked the Father for His provision, He found more provision and thanked Him for that and generously passed out what God had given to the hungry people. So, what did God do? He made seven loaves and a few fishes into enough to feed four thousand people until they were satisfied! That miracle began with gratitude, appreciation of who God is, love for His people, and the humility to obey God and act in faith that He is Awesome All-Powerful Loving God.
Believer, be thankful in everything, truly notice where your help comes from, who it is that holds it all together and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Be blessed and notice you are blessed, Beloved Children of God.
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Worship and Celebrate Jesus

3/16/2018

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Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.  All nations will come  and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. Revelation 15:4
​We will begin our look into practices or disciplines which will transform our lives into Jesus glorifying lives with the practice of worship. Worship can and should be lived out in our entire lives, it is the first act we do when we are born again and it is how we obey the commandment to Love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5). That is what worship is, it is to bow down, to submit to, adore, reverence, exult, and exalt.
Even before you knew Jesus, you worshipped something or someone. It might have been money, your significant other, your child, your career, or yourself. Maybe it was a saint or person you desired to be like. Whatever it was, whoever it was, there was something you worshipped. Whatever it is you seek to satisfy, devote your time to, and make your priority, is what you have chosen to worship.
Since each discipline we practice earnestly is a form of worship, we are going to look at worship first. We will look at what is considered classic worship and remember that everything we do with an attitude of doing in Jesus’ name is worship. But first, I want to examine what we normally consider to be worship.
John 4:22-24 reads,
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
You must know God to worship Him as He desires. If you worship Him in a way that doesn’t coincide with His will, you worship yourself, your song, your act, not the LORD. To worship God, you must worship Him in spirit, that is with your spirit earnestly joining His and in truth, that is knowing who you worship and why you worship Him. You can’t just dance and think that you are worshipping, you can’t just sing a ‘worship’ song and think that is worship. Worship requires taking the truth of God and celebrating it, applying it, praying it, and giving it back to God.
The first kind of worship we will look at is the worship of celebration. Worship is a celebration. It is a celebration of who God is and who you are in Him. Worship can be a joyful experience. Psalm 16:5-11 reads,
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.

11 You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 
In this Psalm, David  tells the Lord why He is being worshipped; it is a joyful song during difficult circumstances because David proclaimed the truth to God.  This kind of celebratory worship can happen anywhere we choose to revel in God’s Goodness and Awesomeness. When we choice to point out what it is about God that gives us a reason to rejoice and then rejoice it could be during a church service as you sincerely sing, “You are a good good Father, You are worthy, You surround me, You protect and sustain me, You are risen!” It can happen at dinner when you and your friends or family talk about and rejoice in the Lord. It can happen while you are alone delighting in God’s creation, provision, or presence. It can be expressed in a song, a dance, a laugh, a hug, words, or prayers.
Worship is meant to bless God, not us. He does not have to give us a good feeling while we worship, but He so often does, more so, when we are choosing to begin with joy. This kind of worship brings about other results as well. It keeps us in a mind of thankfulness, of optimistically looking for what we have rather than considering what we do not have. It keeps our mind on the presence of God as He is actively with us. The more we practice celebrating Jesus, the more natural it will be for us.
Celebratory worship can take us out of the worst weeping to bless God. What could be more heartfelt worship than choosing to tell God how wonderful He is during a time of deep sorrow. It reminds us that God is always with us, He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5) and His mercies are new every morning. He isn’t just going to drop us and say, “her life is too much for me. It’s too hard.” No! When you recognize that He is with you even in the most desperate times, the despair you feel finds hope and joy. In Lamentations 3:17-18 Jeremiah describes himself this way,
my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

 
But then, he chooses to worship God, to tell God how good He is and proclaim the awesome power and love of God back to Him. Lamentations 3:22-24 reads,
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

 
Jeremiah wasn’t “feeling it” but he declared God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness anyway. He spoke the truth of who God is to God in celebration and his soul went from being bereft of peace and hope to knowing the Lord was all he needed and filled with hope. God always knows who He is, it is us who need reminding.
This is the kind of worship described in Revelation 4
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created.”

The celebration in Heaven is singing out the truth to Jesus and giving Him back the blessings He gives.
Believer, I encourage you today, to find reasons to celebrate Jesus. I encourage you to worship Him, exult in Him, and be reminded of just how wonderful God is.
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    As I read the Bible every day, I take what God teaches me, what He says, and write it out. I then share that with you. It gives me a deeper understanding of the Word and I hope that it will encourage you as it does me, to put your love and faith into action.

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