Joyful Worship

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2

We’ve recently been studying about God's Character in Sunday school. It has made my heart full and reminded me how wonderful, holy, loving and mighty God is. He deserves our praise and worship given by all that we are. In fact in Mark 12:30, Jesus tells us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He stresses every aspect, leaving no question that every part of who we are is to be entirely for God. If we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as we are commanded, wouldn’t we worship with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?

Psalm 9:2 "I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name. O Most High."

Psalm 35:9, 10 "Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. My whole
being will exclaim, "Who is like you, Lord?" (Emphasis mine)

Psalm 86:12 "I will praise you, Lord my God, with ALL my heart; I will glorify your name forever."

Did you notice the word "rejoice" in both the first and second verses? And "with all my heart" in the third?  Our worship time, especially with other believers, should be a joyful time of rejoicing in the Lord and we should praise him with all our hearts. Yes, we may come to church with burdens and heartaches, but worship is about God, not about us. When we lay ourselves aside in order to worship God, everything else fades in comparison to our realization of who we are praising. God is still God, no matter what problems we are facing. He still deserves our praise and worship.

When we come together in worship to sing praises to God, let's prepare our hearts, really listen to the words of the songs and remind ourselves that God is so worthy of our praise. He
deserves our ALL! To prepare our hearts, reading scripture about praise and worship is a good place to start. So is studying about God's character.  Try using the Bible app or other resources to suggest verses to read. When we take our minds off of ourselves or others around us and put our mind on God and his goodness, we glorify him and fill our hearts as well.

With Jesus

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Wow, that is a powerful thought! They took note that they had been with Jesus…Oh how I want that to be said of me! Not for bragging rights or to “toot my own horn,” but to know that my life reflects Jesus in such a way that others know it is Him in me.

As we look at this scripture, we see the religious and governing leaders didn’t think there was anything extraordinary about Peter and John… except their courage. Peter and John had been arrested for teaching that Jesus had been raised from the dead. They had healed a man, and they proclaimed that is was by the power of Jesus Christ. As they stood in defense of the “charges” brought against them, their accusers saw that there was nothing special about these men, but because of their courage in defending their faith during their difficult circumstances, they knew they had been with Jesus.

That’s when God is able to receive glory. When there is nothing special about us, but because we spend time in his presence, he graciously lets his glory shine through us. What a privilege!

Yes, we may fool people sometimes. We may put on a fake smile and use “churchy” lingo, and we may get by for a while. But what is inside will come out. What is in our hearts will radiate through our eyes and be spoken from our lips. (Luke 6:45) I want to be like Moses when his face shown with the glory of God because he had been in the Lord’s presence. (Exodus 34:29)

There’s so much that can be said of us, but for someone to take not that we have been with Jesus, what an honor!

Teach Me, Oh God

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. Psalm 143:10
 
Life often has much to throw at us, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Many times we are torn between knowing what we should do in different situations. We often have so much on our plates that life becomes hurried and difficult. The important things in life often take a back seat to other things. Many times, Satan uses this to turn our attention away from what is right and good to what may seem better to our human nature.
Sometimes it isn’t necessarily something bad, but it is not God’s will for us right then. We often settle for the “ok” instead of striving for the “best”. Often times, though, it is sinful, but our spirits have been weakened by a lack of intimacy with God that we fall prey to Satan’s lies. This verse is actually a prayer that we too can pray. “Teach me your will, for you are my God.” I would think that this prayer from a sincere heart would be very pleasing to God. Can you imagine how you would feel if your child asked you sincerely to teach him/her what you wanted him/her to do? “What, really, did I hear you right? You actually want to know what I want you to do?” How great it is when our children are eager to obey. I know God is pleased when we are eager to know his will and obey it. 1 Samuel 15:22 says that obedience is better than sacrifice. How many bad choices would we avoid if we actually asked him to teach us His will?
“May your gracious Spirit lead me on a firm footing.” When we know God’s will for us and obey it, his Spirit leads us on a firm footing. Being lead by his Spirit is superior to being lead by our own desires or judgment. Better a firm footing, than a shaky one. When we follow God’s will, our foundation is solid. When we follow our own, it is not. Following our own desires is often a recipe for disaster. Even if our flesh tells us it won’t hurt anything or it will make us happy, God’s way is always better. The outcome of following God’s will is peace, and who doesn’t need that? (James 3:17) So, let’s ask God to teach us His will. He is much wiser than us. (Isaiah 55:9) He also wants the best for us. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Rest For Your Soul

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. Psalm 62:1 NLT
 
Sometimes I find myself running here and there doing, doing, doing. I feel like I am doing the right things...good things. Often though, at the end of the day, I still feel like something is missing. Do you ever feel that way? I am sure we all do at times. I think we expect that if we do what we feel God wants us to do, our hearts will be full and our minds at peace. Why is that not always the case?
Doing and serving is not enough. There is a difference between doing and sitting in the presence of God: quiet, still, and at peace, soaking in His presence with no other agenda than just being with my Lord. I don’t know about you, but that’s hard for me. I am not use to being silent and still unless I’m asleep! I don’t like lulls in conversations and too much silence makes me uncomfortable. But I am beginning to see that sitting quietly before God is where I will receive my victory and fulfillment. Allowing Him to speak to me and putting everything else out of my mind while I focus on Him fills that void that all the other “good stuff” doesn’t.
So, when you feel like you are starting to run on empty, even though you are doing all the right things, find time...no, make time, to sit quietly in His presence. According to our key verse, that is where we will find our victory.
 
Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him. NIV

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
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What is Our Desire?

Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Psalm 73:25-26
 
A while back, I was having some dissatisfied, bluesy feelings that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, so I didn’t know what was going on in my mind and heart. I prayed to God one morning to speak to me so that I could feel His peace. The scripture above is what He gave me. He is the strength of my heart and yours. Whatever may happen in our lives or whatever feelings may come and go, He is always present. He is mine (and yours) forever. Our goal should be to live up to the first part of that verse, to desire God more than anything on earth. I think that was the root of my unidentifiable longing. I needed more of God. I need to spend more time with him. Our spirits become dry and thirsty when we don’t spend quality one on one time with our Father. Everything else in our lives depends on our relationship with Jesus. Nothing else that we desire can even come remotely close to God. We should desire Him more than anything else on earth. That may already be the longing of your heart and you don’t even realize it. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.      Mathew 5:6
 
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you.O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Psalm 42:1

Who Does God Say We Are?

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called--his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:8

Paul wrote these words to the church at Ephesus. He was thankful when he heard of the people’s strong faith in Jesus Christ and their love for people. He prayed that God would flood their hearts with light so that they would understand and be confident in the hope of Jesus Christ. He reassured them that they are indeed God’s holy people and they were called by God. If you are like me, you don’t feel holy. Thankfully, it’s not about our feelings. We are made holy through Jesus Christ, certainly not of our own accord.  If we have been saved by believing Jesus is God's son, believing that He died and rose again, and making him Lord of our lives, this is for us.
So what does this verse mean for us? It means that we are children of a Holy God. We can come before His throne unashamed. Yes, we still sin and need to repent, but we don’t have to live in bondage to sin. We don’t have to live defeated lives. We are a part of God’s family and He loves us. We are not to be prideful but thankful. We should live our lives like we appreciate what Jesus has done for us, with lives and attitudes that are pleasing to Him. How do we know if our lives are pleasing to him? Through prayer and the Bible. We should ask God to reveal to us anything that isn’t pleasing to him. David prayed in Psalm 139:23, 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” God will not only point out what needs to be changed, He will lead us in changing it.
We can be confident that Jesus Christ is ours. We need to let the word of God bring light into our lives so we can understand this. We belong to Him and all that he is belongs to us. Every need we have can be met through Him. There is nothing too big or too small for our Lord. We can be confident that he cares for us and wants to intervene in our lives as we give him control. We have to be willing to work with him and obey him.
He is our confident hope: our hope for salvation, eternity, and the here and now. Let’s live our lives like we believe this. Let’s relinquish our lives to him. Let’s allow Jesus to shed his light into every aspect of our lives. This includes our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, our marriages, parenting our children, our jobs, our service to him and the list goes on. Nothing is hopeless with Jesus because he IS our hope.

Love Never Fails

Mama and Daddy on their 50th Wedding Anniversary

Today has been a month since my dad passed away. It doesn’t seem like it. Although, if I asked my mom, I’m sure it has been a long month. My mom and dad were married 50 years, 6 months and 12 days. A month without him has probably seemed so much longer than a mere 30 days.

As I have mentioned in other posts, my dad was very sick. ALS had taken away all of his physical capabilities and left only his mind to function. He was trapped inside his body, and after he could no longer communicate, he was trapped in his mind as well.  He suffered so much. When he died in his sleep and went to be with the Lord, his pain ended.

I saw true love in action the last year of his life. My mom was his primary care-giver and she saw to his every need. There at the end, all he could do was grunt to call her, but she would go to him and try everything she could to make him comfortable. At 71 years old, she bathed and dressed him. She fed him and got up all hours of the night to see about him. My brothers and sister and I tried to help as much as we could, but he wanted her. The last 2-3 months, he wanted her right there with him almost all the time. She even slept (what time she could) in the recliner close to him at night because he didn’t want to be left alone. He had to sleep in his wheel chair in the living room. It was the only way he was somewhat comfortable.

When young people marry, the words, “in sickness and in health, for better or worse” can often be just words to get through in order to kiss the bride and be pronounced husband and wife. We often don’t think about the difficult circumstances that may follow. Who would? A couple’s wedding day is about joy and happiness. No one wants to think about the bad stuff that may or may not happen. Unfortunately, it will. It is inevitable that we will have trouble in this life.

True love is sacrificial, like the love of Christ. It’s when the hard times come, that our love for each other is truly put to the test. My mom and dad have been there for each other through a lot of ups and downs over their 50 years of marriage. Though nothing has been as hard as the last 15 months. Their golden years didn’t turn out like they had hoped. My dad’s sickness changed everything, everything but their love. Even when my dad could no longer speak words that were understandable, he could tell my mom, “I love you.” And my mom rolled up her sleeves and took care of him right to the end. That is true love.

One day they will see each other again. She lives with that hope. He died, but their love didn’t. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.                 (1 Corinthians 13:7)