TRUE WORSHIP - PART ONE

I am teaching a class tonight on worship and in preparing my notes and lesson I was reminded about a mini lesson that I had recently from the Lord. One evening as I was observing a church service on TV not too long ago, the congregation was singing an old hymn that I cannot recall the name of. I watched as the camera panned the sanctuary and showed the faces of those that were singing. As the people stood there and sang the words, I could not help but notice the faces as they lifted up their voices to God in song. After the song was over, they sat down in their pews and the rest of the service went off like clockwork. As I watched the singers, I could not help but wonder, if they were enjoying what they were singing and if they were truly meeting with God for even a moment, in real worship and surrender. Many, many times, I do believe that we lose sight of what worship really is and means. Jesus told the Samaritan women in John chapter 4 what real worship was. He said that true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. He told her that God is spirit and He must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. So, to understand what true worship is, we need to recognize two very important elements of worship from what Jesus tells us, spirit and truth. Because God is spirit and upon salvation our spirits are quickened or made alive to know, understand and even feel His presences and truth, we are to worship Him through and in our own spirit.   We can do this in 3 steps. We first humble ourselves in humility, then allow our faith to be the vehicle that leads us into a spirit of worship and finally, be willing to be obedient as we prepare to come into His presence. Jesus Himself has set up the system of worship for us to follow. As we enter into worship, we are entering His territory and at that point we must be willing to submit ourselves to God’s will and not our own. This is where humility comes into play. Humility is the first key to any successful time of worship. Throughout the entire Bible, the primary Hebrew and Greek words for worship mean, humility. Without humility you cannot truly worship. Humility means to lower yourself and submit yourself to the will of another. So when you worship, you are coming under submission of the Holy Spirit, and allowing Him to fill you and move in and through you according to what He wants to do. By doing this you are giving Him the liberty and freedom that He needs to inhabit your worship of and to Him. The scriptures tell us in Psalm 22 that God inhabits the praises of His people.  Romans 12 says that you should present, or submit, your body to God as a living sacrifice. So very often in our Churches real worship never happens because the church does not come under the submission of the Holy Spirit during a worship service. More often than not, the worship leaders themselves are not guided or under the influence of genuine worship. There are many distractions that can cause this to happen for all of the worshipers. Whether it be a busy or hectic morning, schedules to keep, announcements to be made, the pastor’s need to be done on time.  All the while the Holy Spirit is waiting His turn to get in on the worship service.  As long as we stay in control, we will have church as usual. But when we let the Holy Spirit takes control we will stop having church and start being the church. When the Holy Spirit is actually involved in the services, watch out, you never know what might take place. A marriage may be restored, God’s people will be truly refreshed and joy will reign in the hearts of the true worshiper. God’s people will love each other, have a stronger desire to serve God and by doing so, the lost will come to Jesus. When that happens, will the services go past noon? Probably, but no one will care! When we choose to worship, we will expect the Holy Spirit to take control of us as well as the service and by doing so, we release to Him the authority and power which is His anyway, to show off, allowing us to see His handi-work. When we do this, the lost will see Him in us and come running to receive what we have. The broken will see Him and shout because they have been healed or restored. The proud and stubborn will see Him and weep in humility. That is true worship my friend! Worship in spirit and in truth! You will know that you have experienced true worship when God has had the freedom to have His way in your hearts. God inhabiting our praises is a principle that works, when we apply it with the right heart attitude and once you have experienced real worship, everything else falls short of the real thing. When the enemy comes at us to strike his blows at our joy, our confidence and our hope and we feel guilt from our doubts, fears and even despair, slipping away in our spirits to worship, will bring relief and refreshment to those that hungers for God. There is a story in the book of Acts about Paul and Silas being in jail. They didn't leave their situation but they sang...and their singing became their weapon ….He never fails sweet friend, we just fall short of seeking Him the right way!

Loving you today,

Bren

YOU CAN PUT TRUTH IN A GRAVE...BUT, IT WON'T STAY THERE!

WHERE DO YOUR DISAPPOINTMENTS LEAD YOU?

Disappointments can creep into our lives robbing us of our peace. The peace that sustains us emotionally and gives us balance between where we are and where we want to be. Disappointments are dissatisfaction's that arise when our expectations are not met by our outcomes. Depending on the size of our disappointments and how we choose to deal with them, our feelings of disappointments may dissipate after a short while or hang over us for extended periods of time. If we do not handle them properly, they can lead us into bouts of depression and even apathy, where we just give up. The reason that we even have disappointments are because we can have a certain passion towards the outcome of something. And with everything in our life there is a cause and effect. As I shared with the ladies in my Bible Study last night for our disappointments, our passion is our cause and our disappointments are the effect. If we did not care about something we would not be disappointed when things go opposite of what our expectations for them are; and while they can be quite painful, regardless of their magnitude, in the end they can take their toll on us.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see….Hebrews 11. When our disappointments cloud our peace and visions of hope we are to be reminded that God Sovereign wisdom and knowledge goes beyond what we can only imagine to be possible. Always battle and replace doubts, worries and fears with Truth….and Truth is what God says about a thing….when the weight of disappointment presses on you with a crushing force, remind yourself that your hope is in the God of miracles, and though you may not can see for while the fulfillment of your prayers answered, remember that He is faithful to bring it to pass.

My husband is a Trouble Shooter for an Electric Company. His job is to seek out the area where a problem is, determine through his years of experience what the problem is and give the proper instructions as to what to do, to get it fixed. As Christians, we are to take on a similar role....the role of a Spiritual Troubleshooter for our souls. Our tool belt is our willpower to go to God and our knowledge of what His Word has to say  about whatever it is that we are disappointment about.   

When your hopes of deep satisfaction are tarnished, and your dreams appear to be broken remember: God says, ... that He knows the plans that He has for you, and they are to prosper you and not destroy you. Your values, having meaning and clinging to hope will always act as a catalysts, in mobilizing you with the energy and will power that you will need to endure and have victory in spite of your disappointments. While setting your goals, always be mindful that unless our plans are in the will of God, then our plans can become misplaced. King Solomon said in Ecc 2:11 “As I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless…like chasing the wind”. The scriptures teach us that our disappointments can and will build the proper character and patience in us , when allowed to do so. Romans 5:3-4 says that we can rejoice…when we run onto problems and trials because we know they work for our good….they help us to endure, and that endurance is what builds in us the very character of God. Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things for our good for those that love Him. May I say to you sweet friend, that the more we stake our security in Him and what we know about Him, the less power our disappointments will have on us to rob and undermine our hope. The stronger our relationship is with the Father, the greater hope we will have that will empower us to face any disappointment. Let your disappointments lead you to Jesus, who will enable you to endure all things, refresh your attitude and renew a right spirit in you, giving you peace and encourage the hope in your heart that brought you to Him.

Don't you give up sweet friend....run to Jesus!

Loving you today,

Bren 

WHAT IS JESUS ASKING OF YOU TODAY?

Suppose God tells you to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense. Will you pull back and not do it? If you get into the habit of saying no to God, guess what? You will establish a priority in your life that says to Him, ”Lord, I will follow You; but….” Like the men in Luke 9:57-62 did. Once you put your foot to a thing, then never look back nor get side-tracked in doing it or you will once again fall away, or not be worthy to follow at all. While your worthiness does not count for your salvation, the effort you make to follow Christ reflects your affection for Him as well as the spiritual power that you possess to walk in Him. Never doubt in the darkness of your life the truth that God has shown you in those times of light. He is faithful to us, and requires the same from us.

The men in Luke 9 wanted so bad to follow Christ, for they knew who He was and believed in Him. yet when Jesus ask a thing of them, they were just unable to do it. Why? Because the scripture tells us that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. Those men’s hearts were tied to something that they were unwilling to give up, which lead to their rebuke and unworthiness to be a follower of Christ. Like a music or sports fan, we can also be a Jesus fan….yet Jesus wants more of us than simply to be His fan….He calls, yes even demands that we be true followers of Christ, not simply His fan. Where are you today in your walk with Christ? Is He asking a thing from you? What will you decide to do?

Loving you today.....Hold fast sweet friend and don't you dare give up! Do that thing that He may ask of you!

Bren

THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS

Jesus, the Suffering Servant who carried the sin of the world on the cross and who now is exalted, as Lord of Lords and reigns forever as King of Kings! He did for me what I could not do for myself spiritually and I gladly accept it as the propitiation for my sin. That is what I believe the truth about Jesus is. Every soul must determine who and what they believe Christ to be for themselves. Was He mere man that just so happened to be a great teacher? Was He a prophet that possessed a vast amount of wisdom and spiritual insight? Was He a liar?  Or, was He whom He said He was. Fully man and fully God. The Way, the Truth and the Life, that no man would be able to go to God unless they go through Him, by accepting the work that He did on  the cross on their behalf John 14:6. We can sugar coat the Truth all day long to make us feel better and not hold ourselves accountable for it when God sends it our way. But in the end, every soul will have to work out their own salvation, not by their own works or merit but, by what they believe to be truth.

For some people it’s not so hard to believe the Truth. They simply accept it, on its own merit, not because they are simple minded, but because they have worked it out for themselves and understand the principle of the cross  and the work that God did there. For others, they must thrust their hand into the holes, in the Son of God’s side and hands in order to believe, as did Thomas. Either way, God allows us to come to Him and reason with Him. He is always willing to prove Himself to us, if we are honest in our searching. However, some will choose not to accept the Truth on God’s terms, because they fear the Truth to be too hard for them to understand and accept or they simply chose not to seek it, because they believe they have no need for it. While still others do not want God no matter how easy He makes it for them, because they desire and love darkness more than they love or desire Light and the Truth.   

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God John 1:1…while He had many claims,  they all pointed in one direction…Jesus told his disciples upon their asking Him to show them the Father that.... if they wanted to see God, then look at Him John 14:6-11….because His whole life’s purpose was to point and direct men to His Father, restoring them spiritually, back to the original state that they were created to be in; allowing them once again to have fellowship with God. What sin’s bitter consequences had ravished upon all mankind, the blood atonement of God's only Son would finally and ultimately pay as a spiritual covering over all mankind’s sin before God, if man would simply accept His work and repent fo their sin. Jesus would do for all mankind what they could not do for themselves. The Bible says that one day every person will bow before God. At that point... it will matter what a person believed while alive. While many people may doubt that and choose to believe differently, the day of reckoning will surly come…for us all.

Where and or Whom do you put your trust and faith in sweet friend….our lives are but vapors, they appear for a while, and then they disappear. You must work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12, and in the end, you will know if you made the right choice!

Loving On & Praying For You Today!

Bren