Worship

Spirit & Truth

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John 4:24

24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

In order for God’s children to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, we must accept His Son & surrender to His Spirit.

For without Jesus, we cannot come to the Father, know Truth or have life.

John 14:6

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

And without the Spirit, we cannot love Jesus, obey God’s commandments or help each other.

John 14:15-21

15 “If you love me, obey[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.[c] 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[a]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[b] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[c] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

If we were to be completely honest with one another, I’m sure we would discover that each of us gravitates heavily towards Truth – or the Spirit. But, relying on one and not the other is like climbing on to the seat of a teeter-totter with no counter weight on the other side. Inevitably, when we sit down our dairy air is going to come crashing down against the ground, inflicting pain all over us (I know this from personal experience!) But, if we climb on the playground equipment with Jesus on the other side, He will bring the balance of a life lived as He modeled, in Spirit and in Truth.

IMG_2961When we neglect the Truth, found in God’s spoken and written Word we are setting ourselves up for a crash- and consequently, a lot of pain. All of us, whether we want to admit it or not, have areas of darkness in our soul, where we have been deceived by the evil one…..and as a result, we continue believing his lies about God, ourselves and others. Sadly, all too often, because of our fear, shame, pride (fill in the ___________) we stifle/quench the Holy Spirit, thus denying Jesus to deliver us from the darkness, so that we may live in freedom AND help others to do the same!

1 Thessalonians 5:19

19 Quench not the Spirit.

“The voice of the Spirit is as gentle as a zephyr, so gentle that unless you are living in perfect communion with God, you never hear it. The checks of the Spirit come in the most extraordinarily gentle ways, and if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your personal spiritual life will be impaired. His checks always come as a still small voice, so small that no one but the saint notices them…Whenever the Spirit checks, call a halt and get the thing right, or you will go on grieving Him without knowing it.”

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

“By warning us not to “stifle the Holy Spirit,” Paul means that we should not ignore or toss aside the gifts the Holy Spirit gives. Here, he mentions prophesy; in 1 Corinthians 14:39 he mentions speaking in tongues. Sometimes spiritual gifts are controversial, and they may cause division in a church. Rather than trying to solve the problems, some Christians prefer to smother the gifts. This impoverishes the church. We should not stifle the Holy Spirit’s work in anyone’s life but encourage the full expression of these gifts to benefit the whole body of Christ.”

Life Application Study Bible

Father,

I repent for quenching your Spirit, whom you sent to help lead me into all Truth. I ask that you shine your light on the dark areas of my soul so that I may know and worship you. Enable me to use the gifts you have given me so that I can do my part in the Body of Christ.

May your Kingdom come, may your will be done.

Amen

Have Some Breakfast

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John 21:1-17

21 Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”

“No,” they replied.

6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?[e]”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

I am no stranger to burn out. In fact, almost annually I find myself in the same unending cycle of serving, serving, serving, with no hope of ever finding rest. If the cycle continues for too long, my body eventually refuses to perform at its optimum level by succumbing to infection or exhaustion. My emotions also tend to become unstable, ranging from overwhelming anger to intense sadness. The most damaging symptom of burn out for me however, is a spiritual disconnect. Although my mind knows I should be still before God, my heart struggles to engage with Him. Reading The Word becomes a chore, my prayers sound rote and my worship feels superficial.

My knee jerk reaction to all of these symptoms is to eliminate EVERYTHING on my schedule–immediately! Although this way of quickly controlling the situation does provide me with more free time, it rarely compels me to allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity to reveal the reason why I continue in this destructive cycle of performance.

All of us have a deep desire to be known- and loved. It was birthed in us by our Creator and was designed to be satisfied by Him alone. The unfortunate thing is, we sinners often look to other people to fill us with a sense of purpose, worthiness, acceptance and love. And since all have sinned and fallen short, others can never satisfy the need we have for our soul to be filled up by our Lord. Thus, we are left feeling disappointed, empty, unappreciated and unloved.

“If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat.”

Oswald Chambers

How then do we love, care for and feed God’s sheep without becoming exhausted?IMG_4033

We must love Jesus Christ personally and passionately BEFORE we serve humanity.

How do we do that?

Every day we must put our tunic on, jump out of the boat and swim to shore. We must allow the Holy Spirit to nourish our soul by sitting and having some breakfast with Our Savior (and it can’t be a bowl of artificial colors and flavors – we can’t live healthy lives on that! We need life giving sustenance to keep us going; eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit and Starbucks coffee!!!).

And…..

At the beginning of every fishing season we must ask God, “what do I need to eliminate from my schedule so that I can have breakfast with you every day? What, or who do I need to say “no” to so that YOU are once again the priority in my life?” Once He answers, we must be willing to drop our nets and trust that He will provide others to pull in the fish while we are away.

Idols

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Ezekiel 6

 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, turn and face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Proclaim this message from the Sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. 4 All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed. I will kill your people in front of your idols.[a] 5 I will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you live there will be desolation, and I will destroy your pagan shrines. Your altars will be demolished, your idols will be smashed, your places of worship will be torn down, and all the religious objects you have made will be destroyed. 7 The place will be littered with corpses, and you will know that I alone am the Lord.

8 “But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. 9 Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins. 10 They will know that I alone am the Lord and that I was serious when I said I would bring this calamity on them.

11 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands in horror, and stamp your feet. Cry out because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have committed. Now they are going to die from war and famine and disease. 12 Disease will strike down those who are far away in exile. War will destroy those who are nearby. And anyone who survives will be killed by famine. So at last I will spend my fury on them. 13 They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols. 14 I will crush them and make their cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah[b] in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

IMG_2963At a glance, some of the Old Testament seems to portray only an angry, vengeful God. Upon further examination, however, and through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, these passages about God’s judgment illuminate His fierce love for His people. Our God is a jealous God. He created us for Himself. Therefore, He has every right to be angry when we turn our back on Him and devote our lives to the worship of idols.

The idols of today may look different than the carved images referenced in the book of Ezekiel. The heart behind them, however is still the same: rebellion against God through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

At a glance, my life may seem to portray only a perfectly devoted follower of Christ. Upon further examination, however, and through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, one would see that I too can be guilty of worshipping idols.

Each day I have a lengthy list of things to do as a:

Wife

Mother

Home-school Teacher

Marriage Mentor & Teacher

If I’m not submitted to the Lord in them, they will quickly become all consuming, and I will take ownership of every one. Refusing to acknowledge that GOD is the One who placed me in these roles for His purposes and His glory alone will confirm that my soul is worshipping these areas of service- or the people in whom I serve.

So, how do I continue to uncover any hidden idols in my heart?

1)   Read God’s Word

2)   Pray; asking the Holy Spirit to reveal any pagan shrines

Once God has identified the idols, I then have the choice to:

a)   Continue worshipping them

This option will lead to death… not necessarily a physical death, but an emotional and/or spiritual death will occur in my relationship with God -and others. Left abandoned for too long, those relationships will begin to rot away until there is nothing but an empty life “littered with corpses…..”

b)   Clap my hands in horror, stamp my feet and cry out to God to forgive me for these detestable sins!

This option will lead to life and freedom. God will destroy every shrine, and I will escape the destruction that was planned for me. And once again, I will know that HE alone is the Lord and HE alone is worthy of all honor and glory and praise.

Great Wealth

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1 Timothy 6:2-10

Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. 3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.

6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

I grew up in a stereotypical affluent city in Southern California. Many of the kids I went to school with came from wealthy families who lived in huge houses (they were mansions to me), drove top of the line cars and wore every name brand item that hung on the rack. Unbeknownst to me, my dad made pretty good money back in those days, but like many kids in America, I felt neglected because my parents refused to give me everything my little greedy heart desired. Still, I always had enough food and plenty of clothing…

25 years later, Doug & I are now the parents who are trying to train our children (Proverbs 22:6) to be content.  Fortunately, God’s Word provides all the answers we need. Unfortunately, however, there is much division among biblical teachers & preachers in regards to how God’s truth is to be applied. According to some, we, God’s children are heirs in His Kingdom; therefore, we should have faith for wealth, health and prosperity (just to name a few). Because, after all, God loves His children and wants to bless us…right?

According to Matthew 7:7-11, God DOES love us and wants to give us good gifts, but these gifts are of His Spirit, not treasures that are temporal (Matthew 6:19-21).

So what if all this great wealth is a test for His children, instead of a platform for an inspirational teaching about the accrual of treasure?

Imagine if we, His heirs chose to worship Him by giving 10% to the church to Advance His Kingdom in our communities, nation and throughout the world. Imagine if we also gave above the tithe to others whom God has prompted us to serve. Imagine if we were good stewards and spent less than the numbers on our paycheck each month.  Imagine if we saved for the future. Imagine if we paid cash for big purchases instead of accruing a larger balance on our credit cards. Imagine if we stopped comparing our lives to the Jones’ (whoever they are) in the Kingdom and in the world and choose to be content with what God has given us!

How could those few things change the world for Christ? I can only speak from personal experience and say that it has radically changed my husband’s life and mine. When Doug and I were DINKS (Dual Income No Kids), we made good money, but squandered most of it. When I became a stay-at-home unpaid mom, we were somehow able to live on less money with more people to support. We were able to tithe 10% of our gross income to our local church. We were able to give to others out of an overflow. We were able to sacrifice our wants to get out of credit card debt. We were able to pay cash for unexpected emergencies. And we were able to afford to have a little fun, too.

How were we able? By loving Jesus.

John 14:15-21

15 “If you love me, obey[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.[c] 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

I wish I could say that I am no longer tempted by great wealth. I am. Comparison to the Jones’ can do that to you…but thankfully, as I continue to pursue an attitude of gratitude towards Our Provider by daily surrendering to His will through Worship, Prayer & His Word, I have been able to avoid all kinds of evil.

Father, would you help me know your truth about wealth and how that applies to my life? Thank you for blessing me with the gifts of your Spirit- and for the abundance of food, clothing and material objects we possess. May your Spirit always keep my heart content, whether our bank account dwindles or expands.

Amen

The Reason for the Season?

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If Jesus is the “reason for the season,” why do I invest so much time, energy & effort in:

-picking out and trimming a tree?

-stringing lights, garland & bows all over the yard?

-going to 3 different malls to buy the perfect gifts for family & friends?

-attending every holiday party I’m invited to?

-listening to Bing Crosby sing “White Christmas” on Pandora all day?

-cooking & baking an absorbent amount of food & desserts for family reunions?

-going to see the same Christmas lights every year?

-decorating every inch of the house with holiday decor?

-watching the same holiday movies over and over and over?

-buying new clothes and taking 400 pictures of the family to send a photo card to people we never see?

Tradition.

Matthew 15:1-9 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents.[c] And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

9 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

“The Pharisees and teachers of religious law came from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish authority, to scrutinize Jesus’ activities. Over the centuries since the Jews’ return from Babylonian captivity, hundreds of religious traditions had been added to God’s laws. The Pharisees and teachers of religious law considered them all equally important. Many traditions are not bad in themselves. Certain religious traditions can add richness and meaning to life. But, we must not assume that because our traditions have been practiced for years, they should be elevated to a sacred standing. God’s principles never change, and his law doesn’t need additions. Traditions should help us understand God’s laws better, not become laws themselves.” – Life Application Study Bible

Father,

Thank you for sending your Son into the world to be born of a virgin, suffer, be crucified, buried and raised to life so that I may know you. Help me to remember that He IS the reason for this season- and every season of my life. May I honor you with my lips- and my heart. May my worship be genuine and my life reflect your commands, not man’s traditions.

Thief

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John 10:10

10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

During a recent trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement, I decided to buy a new bird feeder to replace our broken hummingbird feeder. While looking through the various designs, our son offered a bit of wisdom “Mom, you need to get that cone thing like Mema & Papa’s so the squirrels don’t eat the food!” “Nah,” I replied “we don’t need that…I’ll just hang it somewhere they can’t get to.”

Lesson #1: Don’t ignore a warning

Yesterday morning, as I gazed out our kitchen window I watched in horror as an obese squirrel hung upside down from the branch of our dogwood tree, eating all the bird seed out of our new feeder!!! “UHHHH!” I yelled. “That dang squirrel has stolen all the food!” Maguire confidently replied “I told ya Mom…you need that cone thing. I already scared ‘em off 3 times this morning.”

Lesson #2: Don’t be naïve to think that you can avoid a thief

After Doug went out and chased that pesky squirrel away, he didn’t come back for quite a while. In his absence, the hungry little birds, whom the feeder was intended, darted back and forth for a few nibbles of food. Eventually, however, their enemy returned. By the time he was finished stealing all the seed, his belly was so full he could barely climb down the tree!

Lesson #3: You can’t chase an enemy away a handful of times and think he’ll stay gone

After watching the scenario between the squirrel and the birds unfold before me, the Holy Spirit whispered “this is exactly how the enemy works in your life.” My loving Father provides me with all the seed I need to sustain not only my physical body, but my soul and spirit as well. All I have to do is flap my little wings over to His feeder and gulp Him in through worship, prayer, bible study, etc…and I have a rich and satisfying life. BUT, if I make the mistake of ignoring His warnings about the enemy I open myself up to being robbed. Then, if I choose to pretend he’ll leave me alone, He’ll take even more from me. If I finally face my fears and boldly stand up to him, he’ll flee…but he won’t stay gone for long. For his sole purpose is to steal, kill and destroy my life because he hates the One who feeds me.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Thankfully, all I need to do is return to the feeder for strength to fight my great enemy- for the battle is the Lords…and HE will save me from every attack.

2 Timothy 4:18

18 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.