"GOD DESERVES 1ST PLACE IN OUR LIVES"

Good Morning again Everyone! 

First let me say, I couldn't resist this picture.  The first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was "Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord!  So adorable!

As promised. my next topic is from (Psalm 73:25 KJV)  Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

The devotion read” I have given you so much in this world to enjoy, and I'm so glad you take pleasure in it. What you genuinely enjoy reveals the deepest truth about you and matters forever. That is why I am giving you a heart to enjoy Me above All else. If you try to live the Christian life with all of the right beliefs and practices but with no real passion for me, you'll find yourself continually frustrated and unfulfilled. I want something better for you.

Having faith in Me is a good thing, but desire is the heartbeat of faith. Faith is power to enjoy Christ above all else, in the world. Faith is believing not just what I can do, but what I am worth.

I created you to glorify me by enjoying me above all else. I want you to desire me as an end in myself, not as a means to some other end. I will not be used. I will only be loved and enjoyed as the desire of your heart. I am claiming your heart as a sacred place of deepest love, where no one else may go.

This hit home with me. Not because I don't LOVE HIM, but it took me to places that brought to mind how I put Him “on the back burner” of my desires. I continually say I love Him, I continually profess my faith in Him, but in reality, where does He sit in my heart?

Rather than reading His Word, I play computer games, watch television, read other books (all though they are Christian and spiritual-growth) they are not the same as His actual Word.

I'm not saying we can't do other things, but we need to make sure that God is always first.  My Pastor who is a very wise man, said  that any time we place more value on something such as money, computer games television or such like than we do spending time with God, then "that thing" becomes our object of worship.  We would all do good to remember that.  These things are ok, but we need to keep our priorities in order.


Rather than spending a specific time in prayer, I spend time doing the things above and when I think about it I might say a prayer of thanks to Him. The only time I spend a length of time in prayer conversing with Him is for someone's healing. That is when I get totally serious. Why is that? Is it just because I know it is for someone else? Is it because I know He will do it for them, but I have doubts about myself? I don't know. These are the attitudes I need to change.  I need to come to God with all the vigor and zeal I have no matter what  the case.  Whether it is praying for God to guide me through the day with my decisions (which we all should do), praying for our country which is definitely in dire need of prayer, praying for my own healing, or someone else's needs.  They all carry the same weight and should be taken seriously. 

We should also take our praise and worship to Him seriously.  For He sees and hears everything we do.  He inhabits our praises, so the more we praise Him, the closer He will feel to us.  (Think about that for a minute).  We need Him in Every Aspect of our lives, and if we continually have a prayerful spirit, praise Him for all He is and all He does, just think how close we would feel to Him!

The point that I am trying to make about this devotion is that we need to remember WHO He is, Who created us, What He did for us and be thankful. We need to give Him our love, our thanks and our devotion.

We need to put Him back on the FRONT BURNER of our thoughts, our priorities, our love and our desires. As He stated in His Word, the order of our priorities should be GOD FIRST, family second and everything else will fall into place.

If we will just remember this and put this into practice, “our world” will be a much better place to live in.

Have a Wonderful Day, and May God Bless!

 

"WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT TITHES AND WORSHIP?"

Don't forget to check and see how you did on the Bible Challenge from last night. The answers are at the bottom of this post.

Good Evening to You All!

I am continuing in my quest of Holiness and Christian Living, however I am going to do it a little differently. I fear that I may have tried to give too much information at one time for anyone to digest all at once, so I will try and shorten each subtopic up a bit, and cover more than one.

Just so you know, I will be including some of the actual word for word scriptures, but for length's sake, only some of them which are 1 or 2 verses. Any long passages I will just give you the scriptures and hope you will look them up. As my Pastor has always said, it's not good to just take a person's word for "gospel". Always read it for yourself as well. Check it out to make sure what that person is saying is true.

The first being the fourth subtopic of this discussion and it is the Giving of tithes and offerings. Tithing began before the law of Moses and continues after it. Abraham and Jacob paid tithes. Tithes are ten percent of "increase" (income) and are used to support the church. Offerings are any additional freewill gifts. Let me just add a little to this. When it says "income" it means any increase. For example if you get a one hundred dollar Christmas bonus, then $10.00 of that 100 should be given for tithes. If you get twenty five dollars as a gift for your birthday, then 2.50 should go to tithes.

The scriptures which back this up are Matthew 6:1-4; ; 1 Corinthians 9:7-14 as well as the following:

"Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." (Luke 6:38 NKJV)

(10) He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (11)Therefore if you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (12) And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's who will give you what is your own? (13) No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other . You cannot serve God and mammon. (mammon being wealth or money)
( Luke 16:10-13 KJV)

(8) “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, in what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. (9) You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. (10) Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. (11)“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the LORD of hosts; (12) And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,”says the LORD of hosts.
(Malachi 3:8-12)

I know this is a touchy subject. My husband even gets aggravated when I make the mistake of mentioning paying my tithes. The thing is, this is not my money to begin with. I wouldn't have it if it weren't for God. He provided me with the jobs, and makes sure that the clients have enough money to pay me. Therefore it doesn't kill me to give 10 percent for His purpose. After all He has allowed me to keep 90 percent. It's not like someone is going out and blowing all the money taken in. It goes to support the church in different ways and a small percentage goes to the "shepherd" as his wages.

The second subtopic tonight is Worship. According to God's Word Christians must worship in spirit and in truth. Scriptural expressions of worship include private devotions, group worship, praising with loud noise,, singing, playing musical instruments, praying aloud, raising hands, clapping hands, weeping, and dancing before the Lord. I must say I like the way that first sentence is worded. "in spirit and in truth". I have heard people talk about this verse and reference the word "spirit" as in the Holy Spirit. If you will notice, the word spirit is NOT CAPITALIZED. It is talking about our spirit. He wants us to worship with passion and vigor. Just as a person would show "spirit at a football game, God was the same spirit and passion shown when praising and worshiping Him. After all, He has done a lot more for us to get excited about than any sports game or concert.

The scriptural references are : Psalm 100:1-5; 1 Corinthians 14:26-33, 40; 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. (Psalm 111:1 NKJV)

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NKJV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV)

Psalm 22:2-3; 47:1; 141:2; 149:3-5; 150:1-6; Acts 4:24-31 .

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; (1 Timothy 2:8 NKJV)

(18) And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, (19) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (20) giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (21) submitting to one another in the fear of God.
(Ephesians 5:18-21 NKJV)

Needless to say these are just a few verses which call on us to praise and worship, in demonstrative ways as well as in quiet reverence. When I was a child, I used to attend churches that were very "stiff" in their worship. You notice I didn't even use the word praise. It seemed like EVERY SONG WE SANG was a sloooowwww beat. (if there was a beat at all). Now that was in the adult church. In children's church we sang fun songs like "Do Lord", A Wise man built His House upon the Rock, This little light of Mine and so on. I never understood why the the difference.

Anyway, as I got older, I moved and changed churches (and denominations), but it was the same. Very quiet and subdued atmosphere, and very slow songs.

No wonder people are shocked (in a good way) when they visit our church. We ENJOY praising God. We ENJOY Worshiping. We put our hearts and soul into it and give Him our all.

I have to say though that I have heard that even some of the "denominational' churches are finally understanding, and even some receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. I think that is so neat! God's Word says in Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"

The answers to last night's Bible Challenge "Who Was I " Part 1 are as follows:
1. d) Sanson's (Judges 16:4)
2. b) Naomi's daughter-in-law (Ruth 1:3-4)
3. b) Jeremiah's ( Jeremiah 36:4, 45:1)
4. b) temple musicians (1 Chronicles 6:31-44)
5. a) King David's wife (1 Samuel 25:43)
6. c) Saul (2 Samuel 3:7)
7. d) Joab (2 Samuel 19:13-20:13)
8. c) Ahasuerus (Esther 1:19)
9. a) the high priest's servant whose ear was cut off as Jesus was being arrested (John 18:10)
10: c) helped carry Jesus' cross (Matthew 27:32)

I hope you enjoyed doing this challenge as well as doing well on it.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"WORSHIP WITH YOUR WHOLE BEING"

Good Evening to All!

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mark 12:30

I have been reading a Bible Study book called Loving god with all five senses. She brings up the fact about touching. I can't help but feel that this word and this sense has a special meaning to God. A common phrase is we want to "get a touch from God. God touched me, and so forth.

She said it well, a touch has to happen before a feeling comes. The sense of touch affects the whole body.

Worship comes from deep within us. It's not just a shallow surface action. Worship is more than a 20 or 30 minute song service on Sunday morning and Wednesday night. It is more than spending 15 or 20 minutes in prayer. Worship is a lifestyle. It is how we show God our love with our whole being, body, mind and spirit. The best kind of worship is when we don't really "feel" like worshiping, but we put our "feelings" aside and do it for God anyway. Just like getting up and going to work even though we would rather sleep in because we need the job to pay our bills.

Our worship definitely should not depend on how WE feel, because it's not about us, it's ALL about HIM. He deserves our worship and praise no matter what, just because of who He is.

Personally, I love to worship. No matter how bad I'm feeling when I get up in the morning, if I will push my self to start praising God and worshiping I soon feel much better. There have been many times when I really didn't "feel like going to church because I didn't sleep well the night before, or maybe I was even sick, but I would go anyway. Shortly after the service started I would notice how much better I was feeling. I totally believe it was because I got my mind off myself and was concentrating on worshiping God. It's like I'm in my own little vacuum with God when I worship. I don't pay any attention to anything else going on around me. It is an amazing feeling.

I do disagree with her on one point though. She says that we must be cautious that we not try to "work up" those feelings of worship. She's talking about getting in tune with the music and stirred up emotionally, but never reach the heart of God. in true worship. First of all if I'm just keeping beat with the music, and not concentrating on God, that isn't worship at all, that's just plain enjoying the music. I will say however, that a lot of times when I walk in the church doors I may not be in the frame of mind yet to worship, but when the music starts, and I start listening and singing the words to the songs, my focus hones in on God and I truly begin to worship Him and praise Him.

I've heard it said "don't let your feelings or emotions rule your worship. Well, the only thing I can say about that is , love is an emotion, and worship comes from love, so wouldn't that be letting love rule my worship? Besides that, according to the above verse, my love or worship is to consist of my whole being, heart, soul, mind and strength, so to me that would include emotions, as well as movement, and praising with my mouth. That's all part of worship. I saw this and wanted to call your attention to the word spirit. I looked up the verse in the Bible, and in this picture, they mistyped it. Where it says God is a spirit, the word Spirit is capitalized in the Bible, yet the last spirit is not capitalized in the Bible, because it is talking about OUR spirits. In other words we are to worship Him with our whole heart, our spirit, as well as our mind and our strength.

I know this is a bit different than the way I usually post, but it was just what I had on my heart.

Good night to All and May God bless,