I don't know how to say exactly how I feel
And I can't begin to tell you what your love has meant
I'm lost for words
Is there a way to show the passion in my heart
Can I express how truly great I think you are
My dearest friend
Lord this is my desire to pour my love on you
Like oil upon your feet
Like wine for you to drink
Life water from my heart
I pour my love on you
With praises like perfume
I lavish mine on you
Till every drop is gone
I pour my love on you
Is there a way to show the passion in my heart
Can I express how truly great I think you are,
My dearest friend
Lord this is my desire to pour my love on you
Like oil upon your feet
Like wine for you to drink
Life water from my heart
I pour my love on you
With praises like perfume
I lavish mine on you
Till every drop is gone
I pour my love on you
(Phillips, Craig, & Dean)
May these words become the cry of our hearts!!
9/28/10
9/21/10
Passionate for your Bridegroom
How passionate are you for Jesus, your bridegroom? We must passionately pursue Christ. He is longing for His bride to seek Him. He wants to be our focus, and He should be our goal. We, as the bride of Christ, must seek Him with all our heart. When we become passionate about seeking Him, then He becomes our all in all. We often hear that there is a place in our heart meant only for God; however, the reverse is also true, there is a place in God’s heart meant only for you. He (God) longs to be loved by YOU. A.W. Tozer puts it this way, “God waits to be wanted.” Can you picture that? The God of the universe is waiting to be wanted by you. So, how does he know that you want Him? For those who are married, how does your husband know that you love him? Mom, how do your children know that you love them? You show them. It’s not just saying the words. It’s following those words with actions that back them up. It’s easy to say "I love Jesus", but how do I show Him that he really is my everything? I show him, by passionately pursuing Him, by seeking His will above my own, by spending time with Him in prayer and reading His Word. Those are just a few practical ways I can show Him that I love him. Part of passionately pursuing Christ is to give yourself to prayer and the Word daily. Just like the bride–to-be relishes spending time talking with her fiancé, so we should relish spending time talking with our fiancé, Jesus. We all know that for any relationship to be meaningful, there must be communication. As a mom, a wife, a woman, your role is too important to not spend time in prayer. Make time for it. With prayer, make time to read your lover’s letter to you. Get in his Word; it is his love letter to you. He wants to speak to you - will you be willing to listen? He wants to show you new insights in his word - will you take time to study? Are you willing to tarry with Him? Will you walk through the valley with Him? Will you endure the fire with Him?
I Peter 1:3-7 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Ladies, the bride of Christ must learn perseverence! Life is not a bed of roses, was it for Christ? Was it for Peter? Was it for Paul? I think the modern church is sadly lacking in the ability to simply persevere. The New Testament is full of Scriptures exhorting us to develop perseverance. Romans 5:3-4; Hebrews 12:1; James 1:3 -4 are just a few. In ministry, I see evidence of this lack of perseverance often -- a woman is really pushing into Christ with passion and fervor. Then something happens - be it tragic or just sad and immediately she is off track. She stops pushing into God, and becomes lazy, apathetic, and discouraged. At the first sign of trouble, what do you do? Please don't become lazy! Now is not the time for laziness. The Bible mentions nothing about Christ coming back for a lazy bride. (See the parable of the ten virgins if you need confirmation - five were ready and five were lazy - the lazy ones didn't make it to the ceremony.) Twice in Revelation, John is instructed to praise the church for its perseverance – the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:2) and the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:19). Perseverance is obviously something that God highly prizes. He has even attached a crown to it according to James 1:12.
So what will fuel our passion and our ability to persevere? Our sincere, deep, intimate love for our bridegroom. When we truly love our Lord with ALL that is within us then we will want to pursue Him, and we will be willing to persevere through life's circumstances no matter what. Maybe we just need to fall in love with Christ all over again. If you find your passion for Him is waning and your ability to persevere is lacking, ask God to stir up the flames of love that once burned hot in your life. Dear sisters, be passionate for Him because I promise you He is definitely passionate for you!
I Peter 1:3-7 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Ladies, the bride of Christ must learn perseverence! Life is not a bed of roses, was it for Christ? Was it for Peter? Was it for Paul? I think the modern church is sadly lacking in the ability to simply persevere. The New Testament is full of Scriptures exhorting us to develop perseverance. Romans 5:3-4; Hebrews 12:1; James 1:3 -4 are just a few. In ministry, I see evidence of this lack of perseverance often -- a woman is really pushing into Christ with passion and fervor. Then something happens - be it tragic or just sad and immediately she is off track. She stops pushing into God, and becomes lazy, apathetic, and discouraged. At the first sign of trouble, what do you do? Please don't become lazy! Now is not the time for laziness. The Bible mentions nothing about Christ coming back for a lazy bride. (See the parable of the ten virgins if you need confirmation - five were ready and five were lazy - the lazy ones didn't make it to the ceremony.) Twice in Revelation, John is instructed to praise the church for its perseverance – the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:2) and the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:19). Perseverance is obviously something that God highly prizes. He has even attached a crown to it according to James 1:12.
So what will fuel our passion and our ability to persevere? Our sincere, deep, intimate love for our bridegroom. When we truly love our Lord with ALL that is within us then we will want to pursue Him, and we will be willing to persevere through life's circumstances no matter what. Maybe we just need to fall in love with Christ all over again. If you find your passion for Him is waning and your ability to persevere is lacking, ask God to stir up the flames of love that once burned hot in your life. Dear sisters, be passionate for Him because I promise you He is definitely passionate for you!
9/16/10
Becoming a Holy Bride
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (I Peter 1:13-16)
Holiness - it's a pretty tall order isn't it? Living a life of holiness is not about following a list of dos and don'ts. It's allowing the HOLY Spirit free reign in your life. In the original Greek the word be means to begin to be; to come into existence. As we begin to walk in holiness, the Holy Spirit will come alongside us and aid us in our quest. Holiness is a natural outcome of the life fully surrendered to the Spirit. You won't have to strive for it - the Spirit will produce it in you. I Peter 2:4 says, "As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Those are some powerful words written by Peter under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God. As I read those verses I thought of the movie Field of Dreams and it's famous line: "If you build it, they will come." God says to us just the opposite: "If you come, I will build you." Wow! If we will come to Jesus, He will build us into "a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.." How do we come to Jesus? We spend time in His word. We spend time in prayer. We obey what He has told us to do. We rid ourselves of things that are standing in the way of our pursuit of holiness.
I Peter 2:1 gives us a list of five things to get rid of in our lives. They are malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. When we read those words, we may not fully understand all that they imply. In the original language, those words carry much more punch. Malice means wickedness as an evil habit of the mind - not only doing evil but being evil. Deceit or Guile (KJV) means to bait; fraud; craftiness; manipulation. Hypocrisy is defined as to pretend, a sin which glories in misleading another by smooth flatteries; averts holiness. Envy means jealousy; pain felt and malignity conceived at the sight of excellence or happiness; bursts of envy. The New Testament dictionary went on to say that this word envy is incapable of good and is always used with an evil meaning. Slander means blasphemy, defamation, condemnation, accusation, blame, indictment. If the bride of Christ would pursue holiness just in these five areas how different would the church look? How about if we just took one thing - hypocrisy - and pursued holiness in this one area? I believe revival would start as a result. No more gossip, no more backbiting, no more pretending, no more flattery, no more masks - can you imagine? As the bride of Christ we must begin to pursue holiness with all our heart. As we come to Him - our bridegroom - He will build us into His beautiful, holy bride. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
Holiness - it's a pretty tall order isn't it? Living a life of holiness is not about following a list of dos and don'ts. It's allowing the HOLY Spirit free reign in your life. In the original Greek the word be means to begin to be; to come into existence. As we begin to walk in holiness, the Holy Spirit will come alongside us and aid us in our quest. Holiness is a natural outcome of the life fully surrendered to the Spirit. You won't have to strive for it - the Spirit will produce it in you. I Peter 2:4 says, "As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Those are some powerful words written by Peter under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God. As I read those verses I thought of the movie Field of Dreams and it's famous line: "If you build it, they will come." God says to us just the opposite: "If you come, I will build you." Wow! If we will come to Jesus, He will build us into "a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.." How do we come to Jesus? We spend time in His word. We spend time in prayer. We obey what He has told us to do. We rid ourselves of things that are standing in the way of our pursuit of holiness.
I Peter 2:1 gives us a list of five things to get rid of in our lives. They are malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. When we read those words, we may not fully understand all that they imply. In the original language, those words carry much more punch. Malice means wickedness as an evil habit of the mind - not only doing evil but being evil. Deceit or Guile (KJV) means to bait; fraud; craftiness; manipulation. Hypocrisy is defined as to pretend, a sin which glories in misleading another by smooth flatteries; averts holiness. Envy means jealousy; pain felt and malignity conceived at the sight of excellence or happiness; bursts of envy. The New Testament dictionary went on to say that this word envy is incapable of good and is always used with an evil meaning. Slander means blasphemy, defamation, condemnation, accusation, blame, indictment. If the bride of Christ would pursue holiness just in these five areas how different would the church look? How about if we just took one thing - hypocrisy - and pursued holiness in this one area? I believe revival would start as a result. No more gossip, no more backbiting, no more pretending, no more flattery, no more masks - can you imagine? As the bride of Christ we must begin to pursue holiness with all our heart. As we come to Him - our bridegroom - He will build us into His beautiful, holy bride. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
8/17/10
Don't let the MOTH eat your gown!
Our study of righteousness as it relates to the Bride of Christ has shown us that we should wear righteousness daily. God uses the word righteousness many times in Scripture and relates it to a piece of clothing. Check out these references if you want to learn more on that topic - Job 29:14, Psalms 132:9, Isaiah 11:5, Isaiah 51:8, Isaiah 59:17, Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 4:24, Ephesians 6:14. Isaiah 51:8 says, "For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my RIGHTEOUSNESS will last forever, my salvaion through all generations." As I studied this verse I thought of the very literal work of moths...what do they do? They eat holes in our clothes! If righteousness is our spiritual clothing, then what sort of spiritual moths might we need to guard against? I have a little acrostic of the word MOTH that I hope will help you evaluate the presence of any moths in your spiritual life.
First, we have the Me, Me, Me Mentality. Selfishness is a killer in our spiritual life. Becoming so wrapped up in ourselves that we fail to even see God working in our lives is a dangerous trap and one that I fear many Christians find themselves. Scripture has tons to say about denying self - Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23, all record the same command from Jesus. "If anyone (man or woman) would come after me, s/he must deny her/himself and take up her/his cross and follow me. Three times that command is recorded in the gospels - from the mouth of Christ. Selfish ambition is described in Galatians 5:20 as an act of the sinful nature. Philippians 2:3 warns us to "do nothing out of selfish ambition..." James 3:16 says, "For where you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." Wow, those are pretty strong words! Evaluate yourself and those in your life. Do you have friends who only talk about themselves, their lives, their children, their job, etc? Are they interested in listening to you or is it all about them? Are you a friend like that? Proverbs 18:1 says, "An unfriendly (wo)man pursues selfish ends." How much of your day is wrapped up in Me, Me, Me?
Second, the O in MOTH is an Overly Sensitive Ego. How easily do your feelings get hurt? How paranoid are you? Prayerfully evaluate yourself and see if you are suffering from an overly sensitive ego. We are not to live by our feelings and yet somehow we let them gain the upper hand in our lives. An overly senstive person constantly has to be stroked and pampered. In our spiritual walk, this exemplifies itself in isolation, jealousy, envy, gossip, and paranoia. The overly sensitive ego is very aware of how it is being treated and also who (in its perception) is being treated better. If your circle of friends is prone to gossip, beware - you may have fallen in with a bunch of women who suffer from OSE! If you think everyone is talking about you, I hate to break it to you, but they probably aren't. To see where an overly sensitive ego will lead you, check out King Saul in the Old Testament. Isaiah 26:3 is the answer to OSE. "You keep him/her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you...." When our mind is set on Christ our ego will take a backseat.
Our third letter is "T" and it stands for Trial Immunity. Now you may ask, what is that? It is believing that we are immune to trials! Unfortunately, many Christians believe that when they get saved it's easy sailing. They believe salvation is an innoculation against trials and tests, so when hard times come they are baffled. We are not immune to trials!! I Thessalonians 3:3 says it so clearly, "..so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well we were destined for them." The last time a trial came your way, what was your response? Paul reminds us to not be surprised because trials are our destiny. James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters) whenever you face trials of many kinds," I Peter 1:6-7 says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kind of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." What is the role of the bride of Christ right now? We are to be making ourselves ready. Peter tells us plainly that these trials are coming so that we can be ready to be presented to Christ as genuine and faithful. The bride is not immune to trials. It is by those very trials that we are being made perfect for our bridegroom. Don't resist the trials in your life. Rejoice and thank God that He loves you enough to make you more like Him.
Now for the final part of our "moth" acrostic. The "H" stands for a Haughty Attitude. Nothing kills our witness quicker than a haughty attitude. A haughty attitude is one that is filled with pride, arrogance, and disdain. Scripture records many times that a haughty spirit goes before a fall. Haughty eyes are listed as the very first item in Proverbs 6 of the things God hates. In Zephaniah 3:11 God has a very strong word for those who rejoice in their pride "..never again will you be haughty on my holy hill." A haughty attitude does not display Christ to a lost and dying world. A haughty bride is a poor reflection of her bridegroom. Remember that our righteousness is as filthy rags and that it is only through Christ's righteousness that we are made His bride. It's all about Him! I hope you will do some work this week "moth-proofing" your life. It's easy to let the moths in and we must be as aware and intentional with our spiritual clothing as we are our physical clothing. Remember we are not our own. We have been bought with a price and our purpose is to honor God. (I Corinthians 6:19b-20)
First, we have the Me, Me, Me Mentality. Selfishness is a killer in our spiritual life. Becoming so wrapped up in ourselves that we fail to even see God working in our lives is a dangerous trap and one that I fear many Christians find themselves. Scripture has tons to say about denying self - Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23, all record the same command from Jesus. "If anyone (man or woman) would come after me, s/he must deny her/himself and take up her/his cross and follow me. Three times that command is recorded in the gospels - from the mouth of Christ. Selfish ambition is described in Galatians 5:20 as an act of the sinful nature. Philippians 2:3 warns us to "do nothing out of selfish ambition..." James 3:16 says, "For where you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." Wow, those are pretty strong words! Evaluate yourself and those in your life. Do you have friends who only talk about themselves, their lives, their children, their job, etc? Are they interested in listening to you or is it all about them? Are you a friend like that? Proverbs 18:1 says, "An unfriendly (wo)man pursues selfish ends." How much of your day is wrapped up in Me, Me, Me?
Second, the O in MOTH is an Overly Sensitive Ego. How easily do your feelings get hurt? How paranoid are you? Prayerfully evaluate yourself and see if you are suffering from an overly sensitive ego. We are not to live by our feelings and yet somehow we let them gain the upper hand in our lives. An overly senstive person constantly has to be stroked and pampered. In our spiritual walk, this exemplifies itself in isolation, jealousy, envy, gossip, and paranoia. The overly sensitive ego is very aware of how it is being treated and also who (in its perception) is being treated better. If your circle of friends is prone to gossip, beware - you may have fallen in with a bunch of women who suffer from OSE! If you think everyone is talking about you, I hate to break it to you, but they probably aren't. To see where an overly sensitive ego will lead you, check out King Saul in the Old Testament. Isaiah 26:3 is the answer to OSE. "You keep him/her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you...." When our mind is set on Christ our ego will take a backseat.
Our third letter is "T" and it stands for Trial Immunity. Now you may ask, what is that? It is believing that we are immune to trials! Unfortunately, many Christians believe that when they get saved it's easy sailing. They believe salvation is an innoculation against trials and tests, so when hard times come they are baffled. We are not immune to trials!! I Thessalonians 3:3 says it so clearly, "..so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well we were destined for them." The last time a trial came your way, what was your response? Paul reminds us to not be surprised because trials are our destiny. James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters) whenever you face trials of many kinds," I Peter 1:6-7 says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kind of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." What is the role of the bride of Christ right now? We are to be making ourselves ready. Peter tells us plainly that these trials are coming so that we can be ready to be presented to Christ as genuine and faithful. The bride is not immune to trials. It is by those very trials that we are being made perfect for our bridegroom. Don't resist the trials in your life. Rejoice and thank God that He loves you enough to make you more like Him.
Now for the final part of our "moth" acrostic. The "H" stands for a Haughty Attitude. Nothing kills our witness quicker than a haughty attitude. A haughty attitude is one that is filled with pride, arrogance, and disdain. Scripture records many times that a haughty spirit goes before a fall. Haughty eyes are listed as the very first item in Proverbs 6 of the things God hates. In Zephaniah 3:11 God has a very strong word for those who rejoice in their pride "..never again will you be haughty on my holy hill." A haughty attitude does not display Christ to a lost and dying world. A haughty bride is a poor reflection of her bridegroom. Remember that our righteousness is as filthy rags and that it is only through Christ's righteousness that we are made His bride. It's all about Him! I hope you will do some work this week "moth-proofing" your life. It's easy to let the moths in and we must be as aware and intentional with our spiritual clothing as we are our physical clothing. Remember we are not our own. We have been bought with a price and our purpose is to honor God. (I Corinthians 6:19b-20)
8/12/10
The Bridal Gown
In our study of the bride of Christ we have taken an in-depth look at the role of true worship in the life of the bride. This week we turn our attention to the bridal gown. Revelation 19:7-8 describes the fine linen given to the bride. "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (KJV) Our bridal gown is righteousness. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." God, is in his great love and mercy, sent his son to earth. Jesus, the Righteous One, died so that we might be made righteous according to 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." As we put on righteousness as a bridal gown we reflect Jesus to a lost world. But how many of us believe that we are righteous? When I posed this question to my Sunday School class, I got very few raised hands. Our enemy has so brainwashed us that we believe we are not righteous and that we are not even worthy to be the bride of Christ. We have forgotten that our righteousness comes from Christ and it has nothing to do with how we feel about ourselves. Romans 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Because of Christ's redemptive work, we can be made right with God. The original Hebrew word for righteousness has both a masculine and feminine form and is used multiple times in the Old Testament. The masculine form of the word is sedeq and it means "justice; right relation to an ethical or legal standard". The feminine form is sedaqah. This word means "justice; right actions and right attitudes as expected from both God and the people. It describes the attitude and actions God had and expected His people to maintain. We are to sow in righteousness and our lives are to reflect righteousness and integrity". Scripture tells us very clearly that our righteousness is as filthy rags, but don't lose heart - it's not about our righteousness. Hosea 2:19 says, "I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion." God chose you to be His bride. When you accepted Jesus you became his betrothed and he clothed you in His righteoueness. Your filthy rags were replaced with fine linen, a beautiful robe, and precious jewels. Clothed in his righteousness you are a radiant bride. Reflect HIS righteousness today!
8/10/10
Results of True Worship
We followed up our lesson on what true worship looks like by discovering the wonderful effect that true worship will have in our life.
True Worship results in --
Wholeness
Open eyes to see God in a clearer way
Right Relationships with God and others
Sincerity and transparency in our motives, actions, and attitudes
Healing
Intimacy
Purpose
You will find that as you truly worship God each of these things will begin to take place in your life. It is a cycle that leads to even more truth in our worship.
For example, as I begin to worship God in spirit and in truth He will open my eyes to see things about Him I didn't see before. Then, as I see these new facets of God, I will enter into an even newer level of true worship. Each result leads back to true worship. What a mighty God we serve. He knows that when we worship Him - truly worship Him - He will fill us with Himself and that's where we will find satisfaction, peace, and purpose. I challenge you to become a true worshipper of God and I promise that He will transform your life.
True Worship results in --
Wholeness
Open eyes to see God in a clearer way
Right Relationships with God and others
Sincerity and transparency in our motives, actions, and attitudes
Healing
Intimacy
Purpose
You will find that as you truly worship God each of these things will begin to take place in your life. It is a cycle that leads to even more truth in our worship.
For example, as I begin to worship God in spirit and in truth He will open my eyes to see things about Him I didn't see before. Then, as I see these new facets of God, I will enter into an even newer level of true worship. Each result leads back to true worship. What a mighty God we serve. He knows that when we worship Him - truly worship Him - He will fill us with Himself and that's where we will find satisfaction, peace, and purpose. I challenge you to become a true worshipper of God and I promise that He will transform your life.
7/27/10
True W-O-R-S-H-I-P
A couple of Sundays ago we started looking at the different facets of true worship. I came up with an acrostic to help us get to the heart of the matter. Now, this is by no means an exhaustive list of what worship is all about - in fact, it's just a starting point. I believe that we can use the acrostic to help us evaluate our worship.
I become a true worshipper when I:
W - Want Jesus more than anything else in my life (Matthew 6:33)
O - Offer myself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)
R - Renew my mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:2)
S - Seek God's will above my own (Luke 22:42)
H - Hear God's songs of love over me (Zephaniah 3:17)
I - Increase my ability to see Christ (Isaiah 6:1 & Psalms 27:8)
P - Praise God even when I don't feel like it (Acts 16:16-34)
True worship is not just a "feel good" moment in church. It is choosing to tithe even when it looks like the money isn't there. It is moving out of my comfort zone when all I want to do is stay put. It is making the decision to turn off the "noise" of this world and get in the Word of God. It is fulfilling my responsibilities even though I am weary and feel overlooked and underappreciated. It is so many more things than this, but, I promise it is so worth it. Adopting a lifestyle of true worship will garner the attention of heaven. Remember, worship is not a means of manipulating God into doing what we want done - God forbid that we adopt that philosophy. Worship is about becoming more like Christ. Living in the center of His will, we will find everything we could ever want or need. Next week, we will look at the results of true worship in our lives....you don't want to miss that! Until then, become a true worshipper.
"Worship changes the worshipper into the image of the One worshipped." (Jack Hayford)
I become a true worshipper when I:
W - Want Jesus more than anything else in my life (Matthew 6:33)
O - Offer myself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)
R - Renew my mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:2)
S - Seek God's will above my own (Luke 22:42)
H - Hear God's songs of love over me (Zephaniah 3:17)
I - Increase my ability to see Christ (Isaiah 6:1 & Psalms 27:8)
P - Praise God even when I don't feel like it (Acts 16:16-34)
True worship is not just a "feel good" moment in church. It is choosing to tithe even when it looks like the money isn't there. It is moving out of my comfort zone when all I want to do is stay put. It is making the decision to turn off the "noise" of this world and get in the Word of God. It is fulfilling my responsibilities even though I am weary and feel overlooked and underappreciated. It is so many more things than this, but, I promise it is so worth it. Adopting a lifestyle of true worship will garner the attention of heaven. Remember, worship is not a means of manipulating God into doing what we want done - God forbid that we adopt that philosophy. Worship is about becoming more like Christ. Living in the center of His will, we will find everything we could ever want or need. Next week, we will look at the results of true worship in our lives....you don't want to miss that! Until then, become a true worshipper.
"Worship changes the worshipper into the image of the One worshipped." (Jack Hayford)
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