Worship in all it’s entirety, is the best evidence to which the God we serve is both living and active. I believe that to worship God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you first have to have an awareness and understanding of who He is. Upon receiving my salvation, I worshipped God because He saved my life from death. He brought me out of confusion, and loneliness and in to a place of peace and comfort I cannot describe with words. My reverence and prostration came from experiencing the presence and love of God, and it was evident that he was, and is alive. Knowing that you are a sinner, and believing God sent his One and Only Son to save you, opens the door to worship.
Thomas Kimber explains worship and writes, “Worship is, in the first place, a complete prostration of the soul before its object; whether the heart of the worshipper be directed toward the vain and imaginations of the heathen, or to the one true and living God.” I agree with this definition, I would even go to say, worship is a whole life focus and alignment to God. It is the act of giving all of your attention, desire, gratitude, adoration, reverence, and importance of who God is in your life towards him.
I think the twenty-first century would define “worship” mostly with music, and hymns. I’m not saying that creating and playing music to God isn’t worship, just another way to worship. Getting in the presence of God is wonderful, and I believe that singing and making music builds a pathway to His presence. However, man’s worship should be more than making music, it should be a whole life focus towards the One and Only God.
Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.”
I believe that worship starts in the heart of the individual, and is a choice that person has to make everyday. There are two choices to be made. Serve God, or serve yourself. Upon choosing to serve God, in that instance, in that moment where you yield your life to His, grace abounds. I think He is looking for people with an attitude of surrender, and humility. After all, He tells us to follow Him. In Luke 14:27 “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Following Him involves a death experience, it involves laying our lives down and letting Him rule and reign.
We are definitely created to worship the Lord. I believe in a church setting, or in a worship service, we should give our praise and adoration by singing, lifting our hands, bowing down, and giving all of our attention to Him. In a private setting, I think we should set away time for prayer and just sit and listen to worship, or play an instrument to give praise to God.
In the scope of things, God is due of our worship. He is worthy and faithful, and that speaks enough. For years, a certain high priest sacrificed the blood of bulls and goats to atone for our sin once a year. But the atonement that was made could never take away the sins of the people permanently. The high priest kept making this sacrifice so that the law would be in effect until Christ came. So God sent his Son born of a virgin, and He lived a life on this earth for thirty-three years without sin. He submitted himself to God and was obedient to death. He was sent, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through himself. God made the ultimate sacrifice, and because of it, because of the blood that came from Christ, we are atoned for forever, we are washed, and we do have a way to the Father. That is enough to revere the Lord, that is enough to give him all our praise. That is enough to worship Him.
John 4:23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Love from my Father
If you know me on any personal level, I would consider myself a good guy. A guy who respects others, and looks out for the best interest of those around me than myself, a guy who loves people, a guy who is committed and disciplined to the church of God, and the vision of the Pastors and Leaders around me. A guy who will do anything for you if you ask me, and who works well with his hands.
I was raised by my father. My parents split up before I turned 2 years of age, so my childhood memories and experiences are of my father. I hear stories all the time of how he held me close, and was so gentle with me, and carried me in his arms so tightly. Those stories however, are not in my memories. The memories I have are working to please him, and gain his love through performance, and good works I did. The more I did, the less rejection I felt. The less I acted out in deeds, the more worthless He made me feel. I grew up for 17 years under his authority, and learning that love didn't come easy, but only with a price. I'm almost 25 years of age, and I am just learning that love has nothing to do with our performance, or works of service we do. People love because God loved us first. I'm just now learning that love is shown to who we are, not what we do. I'm gentle in a lot of areas, and I stick close to humility. Knowing and understanding my work, my good deeds, or my performance for other people can never measure love. Love should be directed and is given based on who you are, not what you do. We for example, hate the sin of people, but love them because they are children of God, and created to worship the King. Yet, we can only love people for who they are, when we know that God loves us for who we are, that His love for us is based not on any condition we might provide, but just that He loves us, and through that amazing love, He gave His Son for us so that we might have eternal life with Him. How amazing is it to rest in that love, a love that doesn't need explanation, or reasoning for its actions, or to be bought with works of service. But, a love that just is. In John 3:16 Jesus says, "He so loved the world that He gave." Love certainly gives.
What does love look like to you? Are there rules and regulations behind the love you give, is there are contract stating what you should get from love, or is your love based on a condition that it makes you feel?
Love is unconditional in every way, there are no lists of mess-ups, it only gives. And He is faithful if you let Him Love you, with this amazing Love. He will show you what Love is because He is love.
This is the Love of my Father.
I was raised by my father. My parents split up before I turned 2 years of age, so my childhood memories and experiences are of my father. I hear stories all the time of how he held me close, and was so gentle with me, and carried me in his arms so tightly. Those stories however, are not in my memories. The memories I have are working to please him, and gain his love through performance, and good works I did. The more I did, the less rejection I felt. The less I acted out in deeds, the more worthless He made me feel. I grew up for 17 years under his authority, and learning that love didn't come easy, but only with a price. I'm almost 25 years of age, and I am just learning that love has nothing to do with our performance, or works of service we do. People love because God loved us first. I'm just now learning that love is shown to who we are, not what we do. I'm gentle in a lot of areas, and I stick close to humility. Knowing and understanding my work, my good deeds, or my performance for other people can never measure love. Love should be directed and is given based on who you are, not what you do. We for example, hate the sin of people, but love them because they are children of God, and created to worship the King. Yet, we can only love people for who they are, when we know that God loves us for who we are, that His love for us is based not on any condition we might provide, but just that He loves us, and through that amazing love, He gave His Son for us so that we might have eternal life with Him. How amazing is it to rest in that love, a love that doesn't need explanation, or reasoning for its actions, or to be bought with works of service. But, a love that just is. In John 3:16 Jesus says, "He so loved the world that He gave." Love certainly gives.
What does love look like to you? Are there rules and regulations behind the love you give, is there are contract stating what you should get from love, or is your love based on a condition that it makes you feel?
Love is unconditional in every way, there are no lists of mess-ups, it only gives. And He is faithful if you let Him Love you, with this amazing Love. He will show you what Love is because He is love.
This is the Love of my Father.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
thoughts...
Don't be quick to rush in to something you desire, if your expectations are higher than the reality, it will only leave you bitterness.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't let your eyes stray from your present path.
Our hearts are deceitful, and no man can possibly know the heart. Pray daily for the Lord to cleanse and purify your hearts.
Wait on love. If love means anything at all...it means patience.
And finally this evening a scripture from Proverbs 4:23,25-26.
"Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm."
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't let your eyes stray from your present path.
Our hearts are deceitful, and no man can possibly know the heart. Pray daily for the Lord to cleanse and purify your hearts.
Wait on love. If love means anything at all...it means patience.
And finally this evening a scripture from Proverbs 4:23,25-26.
"Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm."
Monday, May 17, 2010
heart cry...
Just let the love of God invade your space, and the Holy Spirit to invade your life. For He is raising up a group of people chosen to speak to this world, a group of people set apart to carry out His will on this earth. I pray that upon reading this, you will receive an eternal perspective that lets your eyes see and understand what the Lord's will is in your life. Instead of fighting against each other, let us fight together this battle on earth, this fight to stand firm in our Lord Jesus Christ. May His light shine upon your faces, and His grace abound and overflow in your everyday lives.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Reflect
I do no have enough time to write everything I want you to read. But, I want to say to you to reflect on the last 3 years of your life. Where were you 3 years ago? take a minute now to think about it. Think about work, family, people in your life, school, and where you were at in your life?
Is God so far away that you cannot see him? It says in Duet "that the word is very near you, its in your mouth and your heart so you may obey it."
Sometimes it takes us being quiet just to reflect on what He is doing. He is such a personal God, who cares about the details in our life, and who takes care of those details.
Can we just have faith and believe in something greater? Can we believe in something more?
Why do we settle with what our minds comprehend? Let us hope for greater things, and believe in the Lord Jesus for so much more than what we think this life will offer.
God wants to do great things in your life, all he wants is our worship, and in order to give Him that correctly, we have to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to him.
He only gave everything for us. Why can't we give everything to Him?
Is God so far away that you cannot see him? It says in Duet "that the word is very near you, its in your mouth and your heart so you may obey it."
Sometimes it takes us being quiet just to reflect on what He is doing. He is such a personal God, who cares about the details in our life, and who takes care of those details.
Can we just have faith and believe in something greater? Can we believe in something more?
Why do we settle with what our minds comprehend? Let us hope for greater things, and believe in the Lord Jesus for so much more than what we think this life will offer.
God wants to do great things in your life, all he wants is our worship, and in order to give Him that correctly, we have to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to him.
He only gave everything for us. Why can't we give everything to Him?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
the invisible things
Matthew 14:22-32
verse 30
"but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried to the Lord, save me!"
Peter saw the wind? What!?
The wind is a factor that makes the waves rough and choppy. Something invisible works against something that is visible and stirs it up. The forces against us may shake up waters in our life, and cause storms that will not relent. Though we cannot see these forces, we feel them internally and externally in our life. Of course we are human and will not succeed at everything, but imagine what it would look like if Peter never looked at the wind, he would eventually made it to Jesus, while walking in faith(walking on water cannot hold us up, sometimes we need to have faith that believes what we know will not hold us up naturally, will reach out for Christ and hold us up eternally.)
It is so easy to focus on the things that push on us, and complicated things, especially things that cause waves. The focus in this pursuit of walking in faith is walking through circumstances that war against us, and cause us to sink right into them, without giving into them. Knowing what God has promised, and believing that as long as we keep walking towards him when he calls, our doubts will turn into Great Faith.
Joshua never stood opposed to Jericho. God called him, and he walked around it once six days in a row, and on the seventh, he walked around it seven times and the city walls came crashing down.
Sometimes we might feel like what we are doing is pointless, or unfruitful. Or maybe we feel like where we are in our life isn't of God, even after God has lead us up to this point. Maybe we are tired of walking around this obstacle in our life, maybe we want to give up.
When does faith run out in your life?
I want to give up...
Trusting God seems harder now then ever before...
I am created for God, and by God. I will not sink. The invisible things will not cause me to make a decision based on doubts, or lack of faith. My focus is Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.
verse 30
"but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried to the Lord, save me!"
Peter saw the wind? What!?
The wind is a factor that makes the waves rough and choppy. Something invisible works against something that is visible and stirs it up. The forces against us may shake up waters in our life, and cause storms that will not relent. Though we cannot see these forces, we feel them internally and externally in our life. Of course we are human and will not succeed at everything, but imagine what it would look like if Peter never looked at the wind, he would eventually made it to Jesus, while walking in faith(walking on water cannot hold us up, sometimes we need to have faith that believes what we know will not hold us up naturally, will reach out for Christ and hold us up eternally.)
It is so easy to focus on the things that push on us, and complicated things, especially things that cause waves. The focus in this pursuit of walking in faith is walking through circumstances that war against us, and cause us to sink right into them, without giving into them. Knowing what God has promised, and believing that as long as we keep walking towards him when he calls, our doubts will turn into Great Faith.
Joshua never stood opposed to Jericho. God called him, and he walked around it once six days in a row, and on the seventh, he walked around it seven times and the city walls came crashing down.
Sometimes we might feel like what we are doing is pointless, or unfruitful. Or maybe we feel like where we are in our life isn't of God, even after God has lead us up to this point. Maybe we are tired of walking around this obstacle in our life, maybe we want to give up.
When does faith run out in your life?
I want to give up...
Trusting God seems harder now then ever before...
I am created for God, and by God. I will not sink. The invisible things will not cause me to make a decision based on doubts, or lack of faith. My focus is Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.
Friday, January 29, 2010
The meaning of "grace" in my life
I have always been a compassionate person, in touch with the way I feel, and easily in tune to the feelings of other people. As a leadership group, we are fasting for 10 days. The first 2 days of the fast my body was pissed, I had a headache, and I was easily offended.
God has been dealing with me His grace this year, and as things start to unfold, nothing but blessings and favor have come pouring out this year in various areas of my life. I understand that it is by grace I am saved, that I am to pick up my cross and carry it because I am to die on it. For this Christian life is all about Christ; for He chose us(Eph. 1:4), He predestined us (Eph. 1:5), He freely gave(Eph. 1:6), in Him we have redemption through His blood (Eph. 1:7), according to His purpose(Rom. 8:28). I knew it in my head, and even in my prayers I have been praying a crucifixion of self; recently that has changed as I can recognize myself holding on to my pride, and to the way I think things should go. I am nothing, I have no value in myself, and I don't deserve a thing. I don't deserve to have such a great family, a father and a mother, a great job position, a HOME, a place to go where people care, I don't deserve a beautiful woman of God. I am realizing that without the power and "grace" of God, I cannot move. It is a free gift for us to receive, it just takes faith and believing Jesus died to give us eternal life; and faith comes by hearing the word of God. I have obtained only what Christ has apportioned to me, and all my strength, and all my hope, and all my worth is in Christ who has set me free from a world of chains. By Him and Him only I am who I am.
We are broken when we come to God, we are messed up, and though we grow in the word, through prayer, and the fellowship of other Christians, we are still weak. Now do not think me saying "weak" is a bad thing, for our strength comes from God and its not that we are physically weak, or in a state of weakness. I just mean, that, never by our power or strength can we live for Christ. Why would He say, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" if it had something to do with our strength? You see, there is still a burden, but we are to surrender our yoke and our burden because His is easier and lighter(Matthew 11:30.) What about, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) It is clear that we obtain our growth and nourishment from Christ, how would a flower grow unless it was rooted in something?
The ways of this world try to tell you that its all about your "strength" and to pick yourself up and keep going. Well I believe in picking my self up and to keep going, but it doesn't mean not acknowledging whats going on in my life, and ignoring the circumstances. Were we not baptized into His death so that we might have life in Him? Did we not put off our sinful nature in order to be raised with Christ? Christ says, "I will oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble." He made Himself nothing (Phil. 2:7.) This pattern of doing it on our own, this false sense of strength that comes through pride, and being better than the other person comes from the world. It comes through the prince of the air, and it is a lie. What about the saying, "if you want it done right, then do it yourself?" We are deceived to think we have it all figured out. Paul says, "but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Paul begs the Lord to take his weakness away, and the Holy Spirit says, "When you are weak, I am strong. My power is made perfect in your weakness." Then Paul says, "all the more I will glory in my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me." So what does this say to you? Maybe you have had thoughts of living a life of strength, even in the church; thinking that since you live for God nothing can go wrong, and He holds you in His hand. Adam messed up and and sinned, and being conscience of that, tried to cover himself with a fig leaf. A fig leaf is inadequate to cover yourself up, it is insufficient; God had to kill an animal that was innocent, that did nothing wrong to cover our sin. Yet God came to Adam when he messed up, He didn't shun him, or strike him dead. He came to Adam in his brokenness and covered him. It paints a portrait for what was to come, God killing an innocent human being, that did nothing wrong, to cover us for our sins, in return to bring us back to Him. He has freely given us this, His one and only Son, to display His great love for us. Grace is not to be used by our strength, it is to be used through our weakness. I am not sufficient on my own, and I cannot do anything by my self. I am able to live daily by his bread that He so graciously gives me. I praise Him for my incredible girlfriend, for my job, for my family, for my HOME, for the people that are so close to my life, and for where He is taking me.
God has been dealing with me His grace this year, and as things start to unfold, nothing but blessings and favor have come pouring out this year in various areas of my life. I understand that it is by grace I am saved, that I am to pick up my cross and carry it because I am to die on it. For this Christian life is all about Christ; for He chose us(Eph. 1:4), He predestined us (Eph. 1:5), He freely gave(Eph. 1:6), in Him we have redemption through His blood (Eph. 1:7), according to His purpose(Rom. 8:28). I knew it in my head, and even in my prayers I have been praying a crucifixion of self; recently that has changed as I can recognize myself holding on to my pride, and to the way I think things should go. I am nothing, I have no value in myself, and I don't deserve a thing. I don't deserve to have such a great family, a father and a mother, a great job position, a HOME, a place to go where people care, I don't deserve a beautiful woman of God. I am realizing that without the power and "grace" of God, I cannot move. It is a free gift for us to receive, it just takes faith and believing Jesus died to give us eternal life; and faith comes by hearing the word of God. I have obtained only what Christ has apportioned to me, and all my strength, and all my hope, and all my worth is in Christ who has set me free from a world of chains. By Him and Him only I am who I am.
We are broken when we come to God, we are messed up, and though we grow in the word, through prayer, and the fellowship of other Christians, we are still weak. Now do not think me saying "weak" is a bad thing, for our strength comes from God and its not that we are physically weak, or in a state of weakness. I just mean, that, never by our power or strength can we live for Christ. Why would He say, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" if it had something to do with our strength? You see, there is still a burden, but we are to surrender our yoke and our burden because His is easier and lighter(Matthew 11:30.) What about, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) It is clear that we obtain our growth and nourishment from Christ, how would a flower grow unless it was rooted in something?
The ways of this world try to tell you that its all about your "strength" and to pick yourself up and keep going. Well I believe in picking my self up and to keep going, but it doesn't mean not acknowledging whats going on in my life, and ignoring the circumstances. Were we not baptized into His death so that we might have life in Him? Did we not put off our sinful nature in order to be raised with Christ? Christ says, "I will oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble." He made Himself nothing (Phil. 2:7.) This pattern of doing it on our own, this false sense of strength that comes through pride, and being better than the other person comes from the world. It comes through the prince of the air, and it is a lie. What about the saying, "if you want it done right, then do it yourself?" We are deceived to think we have it all figured out. Paul says, "but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Paul begs the Lord to take his weakness away, and the Holy Spirit says, "When you are weak, I am strong. My power is made perfect in your weakness." Then Paul says, "all the more I will glory in my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me." So what does this say to you? Maybe you have had thoughts of living a life of strength, even in the church; thinking that since you live for God nothing can go wrong, and He holds you in His hand. Adam messed up and and sinned, and being conscience of that, tried to cover himself with a fig leaf. A fig leaf is inadequate to cover yourself up, it is insufficient; God had to kill an animal that was innocent, that did nothing wrong to cover our sin. Yet God came to Adam when he messed up, He didn't shun him, or strike him dead. He came to Adam in his brokenness and covered him. It paints a portrait for what was to come, God killing an innocent human being, that did nothing wrong, to cover us for our sins, in return to bring us back to Him. He has freely given us this, His one and only Son, to display His great love for us. Grace is not to be used by our strength, it is to be used through our weakness. I am not sufficient on my own, and I cannot do anything by my self. I am able to live daily by his bread that He so graciously gives me. I praise Him for my incredible girlfriend, for my job, for my family, for my HOME, for the people that are so close to my life, and for where He is taking me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
college small group and such
Once a week, a group of guys gets together and discusses things and new events that are going on in their lives. They pray for each other, encourage one another, and study the Word of God. They have started doing a study on Galatians, one chapter, once a week.
Galatians is huge! There is a lot of information in Galatians about being justified through faith, and not the law. It makes it very clear, that by observing the law no one will be justified. By trying to live your life by works and self effort, you fall from grace. It is by Christ we live and are justified by grace through faith in HIM. We have obtained His spirit through faith in Him. So many christians try to live "right" by the things they do, but fail to recognize that its not about the things we do which makes us righteous. There is no code, or list of things to check off in your life which sets you up for success. For if righteousness could be obtained by the things we do, then Christ died for nothing. He clearly chose to reveal Himself to us, to save us and make us holy in His sight. It is by our faith in Him that we receive His spirit, totally grace people. Nothing we do, or say can obtain this undeserved Love.
I want to hit on a couple things that stuck out to me(comment if you have anything else on this.) In Chapter 4 verses 21-31 Paul brings up Abraham and Sarah. He describes 2 situations and concludes with saying we are sons of the free woman. Well there is a ton of information on Abraham and Sarah, but in these few paragraphs, it deals mainly with their 2 sons. On one hand, you have a promise of God; things that are definite and true, and on the other you have self dependency; not knowing whats going to happen. God made a promise that Abraham would have a son, and through him, he would have as many descendants as stars in the sky. Well Abraham was a little over age, and so was his wife, so he had a hard time believing God. Well in Abraham's impatience(along with his wife's consent) he laid with their servant woman, and she became pregnant. She was a slave, she had nothing to do with God's promise. Abraham, in his human logic and thinking, thought that this might work out the promise. Well it didn't, and to this day there is constant war between the Jews and the Muslims. Abraham did have a son with Sarah, and he was the son of the promise. What's interesting to me, is it goes to show you that never by self effort can we work out our lives. It should be a full trust in the Lord, and dependency on Him to work out all things in our life. When we wait on Him, His promises become evident in our lives, and our fruit shows it. It's absolutely beautiful theology. It is Life.
In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 It says, "Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will continue to deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..."
It's all about Him, so let us continue to focus on Him and not ourselves.
Galatians is huge! There is a lot of information in Galatians about being justified through faith, and not the law. It makes it very clear, that by observing the law no one will be justified. By trying to live your life by works and self effort, you fall from grace. It is by Christ we live and are justified by grace through faith in HIM. We have obtained His spirit through faith in Him. So many christians try to live "right" by the things they do, but fail to recognize that its not about the things we do which makes us righteous. There is no code, or list of things to check off in your life which sets you up for success. For if righteousness could be obtained by the things we do, then Christ died for nothing. He clearly chose to reveal Himself to us, to save us and make us holy in His sight. It is by our faith in Him that we receive His spirit, totally grace people. Nothing we do, or say can obtain this undeserved Love.
I want to hit on a couple things that stuck out to me(comment if you have anything else on this.) In Chapter 4 verses 21-31 Paul brings up Abraham and Sarah. He describes 2 situations and concludes with saying we are sons of the free woman. Well there is a ton of information on Abraham and Sarah, but in these few paragraphs, it deals mainly with their 2 sons. On one hand, you have a promise of God; things that are definite and true, and on the other you have self dependency; not knowing whats going to happen. God made a promise that Abraham would have a son, and through him, he would have as many descendants as stars in the sky. Well Abraham was a little over age, and so was his wife, so he had a hard time believing God. Well in Abraham's impatience(along with his wife's consent) he laid with their servant woman, and she became pregnant. She was a slave, she had nothing to do with God's promise. Abraham, in his human logic and thinking, thought that this might work out the promise. Well it didn't, and to this day there is constant war between the Jews and the Muslims. Abraham did have a son with Sarah, and he was the son of the promise. What's interesting to me, is it goes to show you that never by self effort can we work out our lives. It should be a full trust in the Lord, and dependency on Him to work out all things in our life. When we wait on Him, His promises become evident in our lives, and our fruit shows it. It's absolutely beautiful theology. It is Life.
In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 It says, "Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will continue to deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..."
It's all about Him, so let us continue to focus on Him and not ourselves.
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