September 30

Worship #3

Spiritual worship has come to mean all kinds of things. In Charismatic circles it went through some evolution from emotional worship to a spiritual "mood" worship to a spiritual "shaking" worship, to prove God was in it, and I think now it is maturing to a worship that is emotionally engaging. I don't decry the process. Sure it would be great to begin with perfection and stay there, but in case we haven't noticed, we aren't perfect yet! This means that the church and the individual have to grow into what true "spirit" worship is. Thank God for the folks who engaged their emotions and not just their minds, but Jesus said that there is a lot more still.

When you think about the phrase of Jesus - John 4:21–23 "Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." - it is more simple than we think. Spirit worship is worshipping from your spirit. I am not talking about a dualistic approach (the spirit and the body being totally separate), but a holistic or total person approach that originates in the spirit. Doesn't Paul write (under inspiration) that it is the spirit of a man that knows that man? Aren't our spirits the part of us that was raised from death to life when we were saved? Doesn't the Holy Spirit properly dwell in our spirits? It is the spirit of a person that propels the rest of the person (soul, body) to be completely abandoned and in service and worship to God.

To worship from your spirit is to worship without any non-sense or fleshliness. It is the connection with God by the part of us that is directly connected to God and some would even say, perfected by God! The tricky thing is to not disengage the whole of our lives but to allow the spirit to lead us in all of our lives. It was the Samaritan Woman who talked about worship as an event. All of us need to "line up" with our spirit man so to speak. Worship is not about getting pumped up through jumping around or humbled by kneeling down, it is a way of life that is led by your spirit which is lead by the Spirit of God. Your mind, your will, your emotions, your heart and soul AND body will be led by your spirit to truly worship the Lord. Spirit worship is true worship - everything else is substandard.

Let's not seek a "place" to go worship the Lord, but worship Him at all times through a life that is led by the Spirit.

September 27

Worship #2

Jesus spoke of the concept of truthful worship. He said that the day will come when God will be worshipped in “spirit and in truth”. I suppose there are several meanings that could be and should be applied to this prophetic word from Jesus.

Firstly, Jesus came to reveal the Father. He said if you have seen me you have seen the Father. He came to straighten out people’s image and view of the Father. Their revelation was incomplete and wrong. Jesus was the embodiment of the Godhead and therefore people from His day forward would have a greater revelation and an more easily grasped accurate picture of who God is. That matters with worship because when we worship in “truth”, we must have an accurate view of God, whom we worship. The Samaritans in particular, represented a people of mixed religion because of their past. Here we are, in the year 2011 as Gentiles, and our knowledge of God “could” be so great, but we are in many cases held back by the “unauthorized” teachings of who God is. I am befuddled on how few people want to get into the presence of God and just sit there with Him. Remember that “worship” isn’t necessarily singing, it is coming toward, to bow before, to kiss. You can’t really worship God if you don’t believe, or won’t believe, that you have a place at not only His feet, but at His side – holding His hand! He loves us so! I pray we get this revelation so we can draw near and receive from Papa – but it takes the truth of who He is in order to truly draw “near” and sit on His lap.

If you don’t have that truth about God you will keep your worship as religious as possible, maintaining that God should not be approached without proper sacrifices and denials of self, and then only so close. (Like sitting across the board room from him). The truth of the matter of the worship of that day was that they performed service to God instead of wrapping their arms around Him. He had clearly revealed himself in the gentlest of terms, saying that he walked them out of Egypt by the hand, (think about a dad and a 2 year old walking hand in hand together), and he stated that he carried them on “eagles wings”. He revealed himself so tender, so loving, but they didn’t get it – at least not many of them. He sent His Son to show them His loving care for even their physical bodies, healing all who came to Him, delivering them from demons, preaching the message that they had waited for – but “in service” to God, then killed Jesus. Why? Because their worship was service and not relationship! Services always ends up to be service to your own self and your own self-interest. Without a clear relationship with our loving Heavenly Father, our own service to Him will end up a burden and it will be a self- satisfying act performed for us to feel good about ourselves. The truth of worship has nothing to do with religious duty, keeping rules or automatically (with no heart) generated praise. Worship is an act of the truth of our hearts in devotion and humility giving back the love and the sacrifice of praise of a life that is sold out to the God of all Gods! Hold nothing back – He gave all – it is our ONLY worthy response!

September 20

Worship #1

In John 4 Jesus and the woman at the well talk about worship. She talked about where to worship and Jesus talked about how to worship. She divided people and Jesus united people. She talked about religious protocol and Jesus talked about worshipping truthfully and with our spirits.

There has been so much talk about “how” to worship, meaning the “type” of music we play at church. I think it is funny that it is only the “church” music that is discussed rather than an emphasis given to our whole lives. Worship – coming near to (towards) God, is so under-emphasized. There are people that I know that always have a song on their lips, and some of them can’t carry a tune in a bucket! However, they carry an attitude of coming towards God, to bow before Him, to kiss Him and to adore Him throughout their day. Worship must not be an exercise that we only perform on Sundays or Wednesdays! It has to be a way of life. As I write this, the lyric is being sung, “come be the fire inside of me, come be the flame upon my heart”. May that be our cry all day long. Let’s decide that we aren’t going to be like the woman at the well who had decided where to worship (kind of), but let’s be a people who worship the Lord all day long. As the Word says:

Ephesians 5:19 (NIV84) — 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Colossians 3:16 (NIV84) — 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

September 16

Jesus said "lift up your eyes and look" to the dicples. He was talking about the fields of souls that are ripe for harvesting. The NIV puts it "see and look". It is an amazing thing for Jesus to say because He is talking about seeing with our eyes, but really He is talking about looking with our Spirit. There is a connection between our physical ability to see and our spiritual ability to see. It is not that the physical influences the spiritual but rather the spiritual that enables the physical!

To see with our physical eyes and see through our flesh (our human ability) is to disregard our spirits. Jesus in John 4 say we must worship in spirit - why? Because the spirit realm is what is real and lasting. Our physical bodies worship, but they only reflects our spirits.

We have got to listen to our spirits which have been born of God and stop looking and seeing through our eyes and our flesh. Life is in the spirit! So see with you eyes and look with you spirits what God is doing in the realm of the spirit. There you will find truth and life.

September 10

I have been meditating on this verse today:

You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever. (Micah 2:9 NIV84)k

I have been thinking about "taking away my blessing". That is not a concept that we often hear about. We hear how to attain the blessing of the Lord, but I would like to postulate that we (if you are His kid) already HAVE the blessing in many things! We not only have the opportunity to block the blessing that is already ours but we have the ability to hinder the blessing that is supposed to be passed on to our children. It sure puts some pressure on us - right? I don't think so. If we would live and trust God and do not turn away from Him then the blessings would not only be realized but caught by our children. We have the power!!! We can't blame God for not seeing the blessing through when we have already inherited it! Let's stop trying to earn them and stop praying like they aren't already released!

September 6

In Mark 14 Judas gets offended at a woman pouring expensive perfume on Jesus. That was it for him, he went to the chief priest and plotted to give Jesus up. Judas regularly helped himself to the "ministry fund" and now he was upset because someone else was extravagant in their giving to Jesus. Hmmm.....

Judas was religious and not a true follower even though it looked like he followed. A religious person (really a religiously spirited person - if you know what I mean) gets upset when others are extravagant in their giving or service to God. We have got to keep alert over ourselves and watch for this insidious attitude and thinking. May God purge us of the spirit that would criticize others when they are going all out for God , no matter how "out there" it may seem to us.

September 3

Now rather than abstract, let me share from the heart about the challenge of the Word of God.

Mark 4:24–25 (NIV84) — 24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Have you ever come to a point of "I quit"? I mean you have been standing and having done all to stand you have continued to stand and then when it seems like it was going to turn around you were laid out like a boxer who just got hit in the sweet spot. You are on the ground and unable to put together what exactly happened and NOBODY is coming to see how you are or to help you up. Of course God is there, but nobody else. Have you been there? I am.

All of a sudden this verse comes back to my mind with full force and I am obligated to interact with it and make a decision. Do I, knowing full well the potential for me to get knock down again or even knocked out, get up, wipe off my gloves and get ready to fight again? Or do I look to my corner and pray they throw in the white towel signifying surrender? Right now I want the white towel, but I know it is not an option. It would not just mean that I give up, it would mean that I am not going to apply the Word of God to my life! It would mean that further revelation would be hindered, and it would mean that the revelation I have right now very well may be taken away.

We have but one choice - apply the Word of God, believe against all odds (according to this world) and contend for the miracle - the change - the win! My heart is saying it won't happen, but my spirit is screaming trust God! I want more of God, so I must stand and fight. Come Lord Jesus.

September 2

Isaiah 7:9 (NIV84) — 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ ”

We have a decision to make don't we? There is either standing firm or not standing. It really struck me - the absoluteness of this statement. Stand of fall. Trust or be crushed.

We all wonder from time to time about when God doesn't move, or at least it seems like He isn't. I wonder how many of those times people (or myself) , were not standing in full assurance of God coming through. I understand that there are other reasons why the perfect will of God isn't enforced, but instead of getting bogged down in that, let's reason together according to the scripture. We have to stand firm in faith in order to not get knocked down! I don't say this in the abstract, I have to live it too and it is NOT EASY! But that is our choice.

September 1

It is incredible how God will give you revelation, have you meditate on it and then, thinking you have it all figured out, give you a fresh revelation because you are painfully applying it to your own life.

At first the revelation was for people who are been saved for years and are still stuck in the same place they have been for years. It seems that only their Bible knowledge has grown. Then it broadened as a principle for life that would bring life! Then it was a challenge for my own life - whether I would stand in faith based on the revelation I have received or not. So here it is:

Mark 4:24–25 (NIV84) — 24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

When God gives us revelation into His Word, will or Kingdom, we need to carefully consider it and not just file it for a game of Trivial Pursuit or a church member discussion. We are supposed to USE it! If we use it, we will be given more! If we don't use it, even the revelation we have will be in a sense "taken away". It's not that we won't "know" it anymore, but we will consider it something that needs to be put on a back up drive rather than in our RAM (memory that is quickly assessable for application). It is therefore incumbent on us who want to GROW into the image of Christ and live a life of victory after victory to USE what we have been given.

They say that if you don't exercise, you will lose function at some point. They also say that if you don't use your mind in certain ways (reading, logic problems, memorizing) that you will lose some functionality. This passage is clearly saying that if you don't use what God has given you it will be like you never got it. The converse of this is that Jesus tells us if we DO use it, we will get even more!

August 24

I was in the church and denied myself the pleasure of opening my email, straightening my desk or tending to any business except for writing down what came to mind that had to be accomplished today. Why? Because I was being drawn to spend time with Papa. For an hour or so I spent time worshipping, crying, praying and reading Nahum. I didn't pray for my family or the church, I communed with God.

As I write this I still almost feel guilty because I lavished my love on the Savior of my soul and thought about Him - Him and me. I would like to suggest that if you don't have those times then you will cease to be a lover of God and end up in a partnership. Don't get me wrong, I am His partner and He is mine - but that is not what defines my relationship with Him. What defines our relationship is the love that we share.

There has to be times where we stop doing for anybody but Him - in fact stop "doing" for Him and just enjoy Him. Weep at the thought of His great love and let your soul long for more of Him and to be more like Him for the simple fact of being able to love Him more.

August 23

On September 18 I will preach a message for the many people who will be coming back to church. It is "Back To Church Sunday" which was created as an outreach opportunity to connect with all the people who have "fallen" away from God. (I have always found that phrase "victimesk"). Today's reading will most certainly be used as one of my Biblical backdrop to show that God is a God of second chances.

Jonah 3:1 (NIV84) — 1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:

Same word. Same speaker. Same hearer. It is not too late for you to hear God's Word to you and to act on it. You could always wait to spend some time in the belly of a beast of some sorts that vomits you up at God's intended destination, but you don't have to! Just do what He is asking and save yourself the bath in stomach acid! It's gross, but you know I am right!

August 22

I have been thinking about the Nex-Gen service yesterday. There was such a anointing on the whole thing that it is hard to narrow down my comments to one particular thing. Today however, I am struck by the sheer power of the Holy Spirit that was present. I personally think that it was our best service this summer! By that I don’t mean that it all went off without a hitch, because it didn’t. The sort of problems that we experience on Sundays were present. When I say best I mean the presence of God was present in a more tangible way and the ministry of His Kingdom went forward in a greater degree. Please don’t interpret that is a slam on anybody else, these are just the facts.

Acts 4:32–33 (NIV84) — 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

There was a simple unity among everyone who ministered that morning, and by ministered I mean they worked (exerted energy to accomplish a task). The speakers were in early praying and worshipping, the worship team was in early practicing, and nearly everybody was on time and ready (and excited), to minister for the Lord. They all were for one another, in unity and they had much grace among them. The power of God was in the worship, in the preaching and even in the prayer for the offering. There was a prophetic mantle on the whole service! And we haven’t even talked about the 30+ minutes a powerful ministry time!

Honor. They were honored to serve. They were honored to do their part. Sometimes we forget how honored we are to be able to serve a cup of water in the name of Jesus, take an offering, lead, teach and minister, partnering with the King of Kings. It really is quite honoring. Just think how honored you would be to throw the first pitch out in a playoff game in the major leagues. How much more to serve one another and the King of the Universe.

Aug 16

Now that we are half way through revelation, don’t you feel like you are reading about a train wreck from a dozen different perspectives? My goodness, as I read I said to the Lord, how is anyone supposed to understand this book? I mean really? Men and women through the ages have come up with different understandings of it and what is the common man suppose to make of it?

Revelation 1:3 (NIV84)
3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Notice it didn’t say, “blessed are those who understand fully what this book really means.” Read it and take it to heart. That means we are to first read it, and then let it permeate us. Why? So we will be affected by it! Even if we don’t understand a trumpet or a bowl or what order that it will happen, we are suppose to be impacted by the immensity of the calamity that is going to come on this world! This thing is crazy! There is within us, a natural expectation of the end and this book, among other things, is supposed to stir us up! Let it stir you and spur you on to the Father’s business. With an event (or events) like this coming, we have got to stay on fire!

August 14

I have come to a fork in the road in my life and in the format of this blog. It was the beginning of this year, actual the end of 2010 that God spoke to me about an emphasis on prayer. I sensed that at the end of the first half of this year, I was supposed to transition to a different type of blog. To be honest, it was easier to continue doing what I had been doing for 1 ½ years than to change. Another reason not to change things up was I didn’t want to discourage anybody from reading the Bible through because I value it so highly. But the more I get into this half of 2011, the more I sense that I have disobeyed my Lord, and with that I am going to change the blog a bit. Doing what God says, even if it seems harder, is where the MAX life is – and I want maximum life for myself and for those who read this blog. I also want to obey because He deserves it! I do sense that the life will go much further those of you who read it and spread out into the church and hopefully even further than that.

The subject of my blogging will now be according to God’s Spirit. As I have found out as a teacher, teaching through a book is much easier that teaching topically. The biggest reason is that when you are teaching topically, you really have to hear from the Lord on where to begin and which direction to go as opposed to teaching on the next verse or chapter. That means that the blog will not be necessarily themed or linear. Some days I will blog on the scripture, (I will still be reading through the Bible) and some days it will be the insights God is giving me, still other days it will be encouragement from a shepherd and others it will be statements of faith with some cheerleading. Honestly, I don’t quite know what to expect myself except that God will tell me what to write. If I am not getting it or not hearing it a particular morning, then you will find nothing written, I don’t want to be a rambler.

It has been my practice for quite some time to spend 30-60 minutes with the Lord each morning reading and talking about that reading with God. Sometimes as I write I get the revelation that even surprises me! My practice won’t change much, just what I write. I pray that you not only enjoy it, but that it brings you life and something to meditate on for the day.