Worship the Holy One

 

Worship is not about the style of music presented at our local church. Worship starts in our spirit and in the privacy of our own home. We begin each day with worship in our heart to the Holy One.

We are filled with praise to our God from the moment we open our eyes until we snuggle into our covers every night. Our spirit will even worship as we sleep; and we will wake with a song filtering through our mind.

We do not wait until Sunday morning and expect our worship team to take us to spiritual heights we neglected all week. Worship is a way of life for every authentic Believer.

This way, when we gather with the Saints at the appointed times and place, we can worship regardless of the song style, musical ability, stage presence or technological advances is the service (Ephesians 5:19-20).

We are already ministering to our Savior and King with songs of praise, filled with love and gratitude for His majesty and blessings in our life, which pour forth from our soul all day long.

Even in trials and tribulation, we praise Him for salvation through Christ, the leading of His Spirit, His unconditional love, His continual provision and His forgiveness for our sins, even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:7-9).

A life of continual praise prepares us for unexpected challenges that meet us during life on this sin-cursed earth. We trust only in the Lord and never rely on our human understanding or assessment (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We see our self as a living sanctuary - pure, holy, faithful and grateful to our living Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16). Set apart for the Lord, we are no longer concerned about the temporal issues of life; but filled with the peace, joy and rest of the Lord (Hebrews 10:10-12).

Prayer:

Father God, help us to understand that our life is the true place of worship to You. Worship is not designed to make our soul feel good or our flesh to tingle, but as our offering to You. We dedicate our life to bringing glory and honor to You, even in the mundane aspects such as what we eat and drink (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Help us to focus on You rather than our self. Remind us to praise You all day long, to think only positive thoughts (Philippians 4:8), to bring You glory and honor with all that we think, say and do. We live with a heart devoted to worshipping only You. We dedicate the music in our heart and on our tongue as a worship to You every moment of every day of our life.

Thought for the Day:

We are true worshippers in spirit and in truth, making music in our hearts to the Lord. - ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­John 4:24; Ephesians 5:19-20

Abundant Living through Christ in Us

 

Life is a struggle…until we realize that we are struggling for no reason. With Christ dwelling within us, the only struggle we really have is to enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:11).

It is a struggle to enter His rest, because it is so hard for human beings to lay down our goals, plans and dreams and to stop relying on our human efforts and talents.

Our goal as authentic Believers is to totally surrender to God in every area of life. Dwelling in Christ allows us to succeed at living in serenity and fulfillment all of the time (John 17:23).

It is useless to dream of or to wish for a problem-free life. In this world, we are guaranteed to have problems (John 16:33). However, they are not our problems to handle. They are God's problem.

Christ in us has all the wisdom and resources needed to meet our problems and to solve them. He turns them into adventures and opportunities for us, and He works them out through us during each moment of our day.

We see life from a different perspective, through God's eyes; and even our trials take on a new meaning. We learn patience through the negative aspects of life as we also learn to praise God in them and for them.

We make our requests known to Him with gratitude in our heart for all He has already done for us. This builds our faith to know that He has our future worked out for us as well.

Allowing the Holy Spirit of God to control our spirit, body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions - gives us the privilege to live an abundant life in Christ.

With His strength and peace, we can face any trial with His praises on our lips and His joy in our hearts (Romans 8:6; Psalm 29:11). He provides all of our needs according to His glorious riches.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, all that You require from us is that we obey Your Spirit's direction, and that we allow You to work in and through us. You desire for us to take a step back and to view the issues of life through Your eyes. We hide under the shelter of Your wings and live with joy in our heart and a smile on our face, no matter how disturbing or challenging life becomes.

The more we allow You to live through us, the easier we walk in this realm of faith and Spirit. We center our mind and emotions on You and we walk in complete peace (Isaiah 26:3-4; John 14:27). You deal with the temporal aspects in our life, as we focus on the spiritual aspects moment by moment throughout the day (Galatians 5:15-25; Isaiah 41:10-13; Matthew 6:33).

Thought for the Day:

“The love of Christ controls us.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14

God's Unfailing Love

From the pit of depression, we call on the Lord to hear our prayers. We trust Him and know that without Him, we would surely die. We ask Him to reveal His lovingkindness with each new morning and to show us what to do and how to live through this latest trial that we are experiencing.

The key to survival in this world is to give our self completely to the Lord. We run to Him and hide our self in Him. When we do, He rescues us from our enemies. We trust Him with each moment of our life.

We know that we are not guaranteed a future. We only have this one moment of time in which to live. Do we really want to waste it in remorse over the past or fear of the future?

Do we really want to spend this one moment of time in any mindset other than singing the high praises of God? We may not live one more moment. We may be in heaven with our very next breath. O glorious day!

God teaches us to do His will and His gracious Spirit leads us on solid ground as we trust in Him. He preserves our life for His glory and for His name's sake.

Through His faithfulness, He brings us through the darkest trial into His glorious light. He silences all of our enemies and destroys everyone who comes against us because we love Him with our whole heart and soul (Psalm 143:7-12).

We serve God with our life and make Him our only priority. We work in the vocation to which He calls us and serve Him in the church to which He leads us. God's unfailing love delivers, encourages and nurtures us.

  

As we totally surrender to His will for our life, He empowers us to overcome our depression, addictions and shortcomings and to accomplish all that He planned for us to do before we were even born (Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for Your restoration and healing, which allows us to break down the walls we erect in our life. We forge better relationships with people and enter a more intimate union with You than we ever thought possible. 

Life's trials are not challenges; they are great adventures with You at the helm of our life. Even if we experience future wounds, loneliness and dark valleys, we are assured that You are traversing them with us and working them all our for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). 

Thought for the Day:
When we choose to give God the obedience, preference, attention, love and praise to which He is due, He makes victories possible for us and triumphs and successes the normal order for our life.

My Life Was a Wreck - Part 1

A few decades ago, while running an errand for work, I found myself on an unfamiliar country road after dark. There were no street lights, and the street signs were scarce. 

One particular stretch of the road curved, but I did not realize it. I continued going straight. Thanks to God, there was a dirt road ahead. 

I smiled in relief that I was safe. Just then, my back tire punctured on a small rock and blew out. This sent me careening toward the high dirt embankment lining the side of the road.

I pumped my breaks, but was concerned about fully engaging them, since the car was swerving back and forth. Seeing the wall of dirt ahead, I thought it would safely stop me, since I was going so slowly.

To my surprise, my front tires went up the embankment, and the car tilted up and over until it flipped and the roof of the car hit the dirt road and smashed in. The car slid down the road for several feet with me hanging upside down by my seat belt.

I was in total shock. I paused for a moment to digest what just happened. I unbuckled my seat belt and immediately fell onto the ceiling of the car. I tried to open the door, but it was compressed out of shape and stuck shut. Squished into a coffin-sized space, I started to panic.

Frantically grabbing the handle for the window, I attempted to roll the window open to climb out, but it would not budge either. This is when panic really set in, and sent a jolt of adrenalin through my body, which was no help at all.

I quickly reminded myself that God always had everything under His control and He knew exactly where I was and what I needed. Engaging the Lord in prayer, I asked for guidance.

I breathed deeply and God's Spirit calmed my anguished soul. The Lord clearly reminded me that I was upside down and the window handle would only turn in the opposite direction. 

Of course, that worked perfectly. Once free from the wreck, I leaned up against the car for support. God sent a nurse driving by at that very moment, and she stopped to take care of me.

She took me in her car to the closest house in the neighborhood and examined me all over. No broken bones, concussion or scratches. The owners of the house called the policeman, who wrote his report and gave me a ride home.

As I walked through my front door, my nerves finally reacted and I started shaking all over from scalp to toes. My husband fixed me a cup of tea with honey, and I gulped it down. I sought solace beneath my covers, and slept until the next day.

Accompanying my daughter to the chiropractor, I was surprised to find out that I did not have one scratch or bruise. There was not one bone or spinal disc out of alignment. 

The car was totaled, but I escaped unscathed and perfectly cared for every moment of the ordeal and beyond.

Prayer:
Father God, that wreck was a milestone in my life. It taught me that Your hand was on my life regardless of what Satan tried to do to end it. I cannot thank You enough for building up my faith in Your faithfulness through that nightmare.

This experience gave me the strength I would need to face some trials, which lay ahead for me in my life. Your works are perfect and all of Your ways are just (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Thought for the Day:
God works out even the most life-threatening challenges for the good of those who love Him and live in His purpose for their life. – Romans 8:28