5 Ways to Worship

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

 

I do not claim to be an expert on the subject, but I feel that it is not something you have to be an expert on to either DO or talk about…and that’s why I want to talk about it.

 

Worship. It is not just music. It is a lifestyle. I’m not sure if many of us embrace this notion. We go to church and sing some songs on Sunday and think that the worship ends there. Nope, we are called to worship not only with our mouths…but with our lives.

 

Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory. And He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. –John Piper

Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live. –Louie Giglio

 

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship.” –Romans 12:1-2

 

 

So how do we do this?

1. With our Mouths-

The most obvious way to worship is with our mouths, but it does not simply end with singing. We can go to church and raise our hands and sing, but are we speaking words that resonate His truth?

 

2. With our Actions-

We don’t want to say one thing, yet do another. Is your heart filled so that its overflow is God’s love, truth, and mercy? You are truly worshiping when you are living the Gospel.

“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.”–John 4:23

 

3. With our Money-

This is a subject all on its own, but when we give up our money to God, it is telling Him that we Trust in Him. We are living worship, not just saying it.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”–Matthew 6:24


4. With our Lifestyle-

Are we living a life where people can tell that our lives are centered around the Living God, or do we get caught up in the things of this world?

“Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.” –Jonah 2:8

 

5. With our Hearts-

You can go through the motions all day long, but the Lord can see our hearts. You can’t hide it from Him. He wants to capture our hearts. If we give Him that, then everything else (on the list above and more) will follow.

“All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. It is useless to worship me, when you teach rules made up by humans.”– Matthew 15:8-9

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Internal Truth vs External Lies

Posted on July 11, 2011 by admin

Truth in the dark is the same as a lie in the light. The difference between the two is that one is internal and one is external. Internal truth, that is truth held in the darkness of the heart, never comes out through your actions, words, and thoughts, whereas external lies always find their way into your actions, words, and thoughts and slowly seep into your heart. Sadly enough, truth in the heart is never sought out until a lie creeps in. It is not until a lie reduces us into a state of submission that we turn on the light and look for evidence. It’s a sad day in one’s life when a lie is needed to generate the truth.

Acting on truth requires us to take responsibility for what we know to be right. People really think refusing to comply with a true statement somehow makes it false. Do I have news for them! Whether accepted or not, truth is always truth. Denial does not make facts irrelevant. Acting on truth means answering the question, “Who are you, truly?” This is a heart, mind and soul question. It requires three different answers put through the truth filter. It is very important for us to know that separately, our heart, mind and soul can lead us in the wrong direction. It is the common denominator of all three that gives us the true path we must take.

It is time to launch yourself out of your present condition into your true potential. Legitimacy can be the rocket to make that happen. Truth ignited in your heart lifts you to the next level in life. We sometimes pretend to be acrophobic in order to avoid it. Actually, we are not afraid of heights; we are afraid of our reality. You and I are afraid of having truth in our hearts, because once it gets there, it is unavoidable.

Every person is blind until the eyes of their heart are opened.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…” Ephesians 1:18

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Vision Without Sight

Posted on July 5, 2011 by admin

 

 

As a life coach, I have the privilege of working with a young woman who, over time, lost her sight. In our first session, I asked her to tell me about the hardest thing she’s had to face since losing her ability to see. She responded by telling me about a time where she had completely lost sight in one of her eyes, yet able to see out of the other. She expressed that this was an especially difficult time for her because she placed all of her trust in what she was seeing in that one eye that could see. She went on to say “I did not realize what I wasn’t seeing because of the blindness in my other eye.” She said, “I stumbled over many things due to the trust that I was putting into what I was seeing.” I thought to myself –that is just like Christians today. We are constantly stumbling in this life because we are putting all of our trust into things we can see and not really realizing that there are things going on around us in our lives that we are not seeing with our eyes—the things that God is doing. When we are not able to see things with our eyes, yet consciously acknowledge them, is that not faith? Putting trust into the things can’t be seen. How many mistakes would have been avoided, or situations in life that required one action or another, if we if we were to have realized what was going on around us in the spiritual realm and placed trust in that. It makes me wonder. It convicts me. And, I have a newfound appreciation for the lyric, “I once was blind, but now I see.”

 

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Golf Tournament Photos!

Posted on June 27, 2011 by admin

Just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who came out for the Golf Tournament last month! It was such a wonderful event. I really appreciate everyone involved and all the effort that went on behind the scenes! Thanks again! Here’s a few snapshots of the rascals that came out…

 

Photography by Andrew Walden

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Interest vs Belief

Posted on June 21, 2011 by admin

I remember my first year in a public school system. You see, because I was classified as mentally disabled, they did not allow me to go to school until they found out that I was more intelligent than they thought. So, I when I was in a resource class I happened to mention my intention on going to college. My resource teacher, bless her little heart, had a big interest in my life. Because of this, she informed me that college wasn’t in the plans for my life. You see, the plans were to teach me basic living skills, socially promote me from one grade to the next, send me to a trade school, and hopefully someone would give me a job. However, I wasn’t interested in being socially promoted, I believed in the honor roll. I had no interest in a trade school, I believed in a degree. I had no interest in getting a job, I believed in building a career.

 

Now let’s fast forward to my college years, when I decided to inform my family on my decision t move from Baton Rouge, LA to Atlanta, GA. I wasn’t afraid that my mom would tell me no, even though she did. I wasn’t afraid that she would think I was crazy, even though she did. What I was afraid of was the facts she would use to prove her case. She had a lot of valid points. You see at a that time, I had never been away from home. My disabilities made it difficult for me to wash, shop, clean up, and transport myself. I knew my mom would present facts that I could not argue with.

 

In both cases, I had to find the success from within to take on the challenges I was facing. It was time for me to have a face-off with the difficult things in my life. A voice deep down in me stood up against the acts and began to say to me, “it doesn’t matter what’s difficult right now. You have to learn how to wash. You have to learn how to shop for yourself. You have to learn how to clean up. You have to learn how to find a way to transport yourself.”

 

Was it hard? Yes.

 

To get to a HIGHER level, you must go through a rain cloud.

 

I had to give myself a chance to be educated, to grow, and to be rewarded. Every problem in our lives is personal. We need to be real in order to face those problems on a personal level. If we take the time to really understand our thoughts, feelings, and actions in different situations we will begin to see what is needed to better ourselves. There is nothing that I could educate, grow, and reward you better than taking on the challenges of life. This begins when we ask ourselves one important question.

 

Do you have an INTEREST in what you are doing or do you BELIEVE in what you are doing?

 

What is interest vs. belief?

 

Interest is temporary, it means to…

 

Be curious about something

Be concerned about something

Ave a small level of good intention

 

Belief is a commitment, it means to…

 

Have complete confidence

Have a firm conviction

Accept what is true

Deny what is false

 

 

The only thing on God’s earth that can keep us from succeeding is ourselves. Our opinion about ourselves is a key factor in success or failure.

 

What we believe will either DESTROY us or SUSTAIN us.

 

Therefore, we have to make sure what you and I believe in comes directly form our hearts. You see, our belief decides our actions. In other words, what we believe about ourselves can either rescue us or drown us.  What are you choosing to believe?

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Living Above the Circumstances

Posted on June 13, 2011 by admin

“ But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,” Luke 24:1-6

 

The women that went to the grave, to look for Jesus, went to the right place. They had every reason based on the circumstances of His death to find Him in the grave. But the Bible says that the angels themselves proclaimed He had risen! He was no longer in the grave.

 

We must realize that there is a deeper message in Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. The message is:

 

Life with Christ is ETERNAL. The word eternity launches way past PHYSICAL life. The life that God gives us, outlasts the fading of STRENGTH in old age and what the world calls DEATH.  Things of this world are not powerful enough to RESTRICT the life that God has ordained and appointed to each one of us.

 

If someone looked at your circumstances where would they find you?

 

Would they find you trapped in BONDAGE, to something that the Father has given you the power to be FREE from?

 

Where would they find you, Christian? Where would they find you, praise and worship leader? Where would they find you, who believe that you can make it on your own without God? Be honest with yourself tonight, this is not a time for pride. It is a time for relocation. It is a time to rise above the circumstances of life. This is a time to apply truth to your life. The truth is, the grave did not hold Jesus back! My question is, are you at the point in your life where you are ready to rise above your circumstances?

 

James Dobson said, “A man will never earn enough. A woman will never be beautiful enough. Clothes are never fashionable enough. Cars are never nice enough. Gadgets are never modern enough. Houses are never furnished enough. Food is never fancy enough. Relationships are never romantic enough. Life is never full enough.”

 

Sad to say this is the way we think about life. For some reason we think there is another path, another pleasure, or another road we can take that will somehow satisfy us. If the situation is not the way we think it should be then we sit and hope for something else. Having hope for a situation does not mean we have to wait for everything to change. A good life is not waiting for another one. It is believing God is able to do the very thing we are hoping for and moving on with the life He has called us to live. We have to stay true to the calling that He has on our lives in spite of the situation.

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Three Things to Add to Your Life’s To-Do List:

Posted on June 6, 2011 by admin

1. Understand God’s Grace

Grace is the favor God has for mankind.

”For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14

Grace is everything for nothing. It’s helping the helpless, going to those who cannot come in their own strength. –Lehman Strauss

Grace is a very essential characteristic of who God is. God established grace with the understanding that we will need it. The biggest gift known to man, is when God looks at us, sees us as we are, and still has compassion.

Grace is an act of kindness granted to you and I by God, in spite of what we truly deserve.

Repentance, forgiveness, mercy, and salvation are all a product of grace. We are undeserving people in need of help. God’s grace in our lives protects us from His justifiable wrath.

Grace was given to us because God knew that we would fail at following The Law, as well as, His Commandments.

2. Receive God’s Grace

“Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Grace turns lions into lambs, wolves into sheep, monsters into men, and men into angels.  –Thomas Carlyle

Giving us what we need in spite of what we deserve is the heart of God. There is not a better way to express deep love for another person than forgiving them for their mistakes and giving them a second chance to be a big part of our life. When forgiveness and the second chance are given to a man, a chemical reaction occurs inside of him and releases his spirit. True liberation comes through grace. It allows God’s people to receive freedom.

God’s Grace is a spiritual release from the bondage of the world.

The attitude in which we ask God for His grace, should be one of humility and repentance. To request grace in our life, we have to embrace the fact we are dependant on Him. We cannot live our lives without it. Grace to men is very  much like water is to a plant.

Grace allows us to Live and Grow in Christ.

3. Appreciate God’s Grace

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Romans 5:20

God’s grace is what helps us carry the burdens of the mistakes that life imposes on us. To appreciate this, we must understand that anything within us that is good, noble, or pleasing to God is because He has given us the grace to make those things possible. An individual that is experiencing God’s grace can look back and see the fingerprints of God touching there lives and pulling them out of the situation.

Our reaction to the grace of God should come out of the understanding that He has chosen to allow us to experience grace out of His sovereignty.

When you truly receive God’s grace in a certain area of your life, you become humble in that area. Grace also causes the repentant heart to praise and worship God out of thanksgiving for all things He has done for us in spite of the condition of our heart.

 

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Taking the Un-Prideful Spirit Up a Notch

Posted on May 31, 2011 by admin

1 Peter 5:6-7

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.”

C.S. Lewis once said, “The first step to humility is to realize that one is proud.”

Humbleness is taking an un-prideful spirit to another level. It is the foundation of good character.

 

It is one thing for me to admit I am disabled; that would be an unprideful spirit. It is another thing for me to admit I need help because of my disability. Let me bring this a little closer to home. It is one thing to admit we are sinners. It is another to admit we need the power, grace, and forgiveness of God for our sins.

 

To accomplish this it requires the mighty hand of God. Man can break down another man’s pride; no problem. To actually come to a point where we decide to live a humble life; the hand of God must touch our heart.

 

Luke 18:9-14

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

A humble man knows that greatness is not IN me, but flows THROUGH him.

 

For a Christian, humility is carrying out in conduct what they profess to believe in Christ. A person of humility is willing to be in a low place for the gigh all-mighty God. We have to rejoice in the fact that God works great things through the weakest, littlest, poorest of men on Earth.

 

A man’s heart must match his posture.

 

Humility cannot be counterfeited. In order to be grounded in humility, we must look at the character of God. Christ came to serve mankind, to help the poor and give hope to the hopeless.

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What giving up control looks like.

Posted on May 23, 2011 by admin

2 Cor. 11:30 “If I have to boast I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.”

Through recognizing our weakness we are able to take a good realistic look in the mirror. This self-examination will result in dependence on God, appreciation for His Grace, and allows us to acknowledge that all of the Glory is God’s. When we acknowledge our weakness it will allow us, along with others, to see our need for God. This recognition causes God’s power to become extremely evident.

The greatest weakness of all is the fear of appearing weak–fear is crippling.

We need to overcome this fear with action. We need to…

Give up control–Submission.

You could say that I have no credibility talking about giving up control. Yes, I have some control, but never really full control. I do not even have control over the things that I want to accomplish in a day. The truth is the things I want to accomplish today and tomorrow rely on the help and availability of someone else. So no, I do not know what it is like to have to give up control in that sense, but hear me out. The areas that I do have control over, the areas I am weak in, I have found His strength to be perfect and sufficient.

So what does it look like to give up control?

1. Giving up control is seeking God’s will in spite of your abilities.

Giving up control of your life is not a power struggle—it’s a faith issue. You do not have to deny your strength, your knowledge, or ability. But, at the end of the day when it is all said and done, and the chips fall where they may; you have to trust in God’s sovereign will.

2. Trusting in God’s sovereign will is choosing to embrace a slavery lifestyle.

How do we embrace a slavery lifestyle when we have been given freedom?

Ephesians 6:6 “Not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

3. Embracing God’s Sovereign will is giving a heart for God’s will in your life.

People sometimes ask me that if I could change one thing about myself what would it be? Before growing closer to Jesus, I could not answer this question. I could not narrow it down to one thing I would change. Now that I have grown in Christ I have no problem answering that question. There is nothing I would want to change. People have a problem with this answer because they know the difficulties I must go through being disabled. However, over the years I have developed a heart for God’s will and not my own objective. So I guess I’ll just leave you with the question, are you living with a heart for God’s will or your own?

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Two Biggest Worship Mistakes

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

First, let’s all understand that we were CREATED to worship.  Everything was created to praise him. You can see examples of this all throughout scripture. Here are a few:

Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. –Psalm 69:34

Shout for Joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O Mountains! –Isaiah 49:13

The people whom I formed for Myself, will declare My praise. –Isaiah 43:21

Mistake #1

UN-acknowledgement: not acknowledging that we should praise Him when He is doing something or not.

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles, which they had seen, shouting:”BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” –Luke 19:37-40

Right here we have to read between the lines. In other words, He is saying “I am going to get My due Praises. I am going to be recognized for the miracles I have performed in these people’s lives whether you like it or not. However, I would rather receive it from you rather than a rock.” Jesus telling us that He is going to get the praises for the things He has done in our lives one way or another. So, shouldn’t you be the one who praises Him? So the question is not, “Will God get the praise for your life?” The question is, “Will you be the one to give Him praise for the things He has done in your life?”

Note that the disciples were praising Him for the miracles they had seen, not heard about but seen with their own eyes and in their own hearts.

How many of us can look back at our lives and see the hand of the mighty God working miracles but still are not praising Him like we should?

Now I know some of you are thinking “I don’t mind giving God the praises, but I am just waiting for Him to do something, which brings us to our second mistake.

Mistake #2

Waiting: waiting for a reason to praise Him.

“I’m just waiting for Him to fix my finances. I am waiting for Him to do something in spiritual life, or my home life.” What you are actually saying is “I have not yet seen His miracles.” Maybe God is waiting for you to praise Him before you receive your miracle, because you TRUST Him.

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. –Acts 16:25-26

Some of you are sitting there waiting to see God’s miracles in your lives before you praise Him. Paul and Silas praised God in the midst of their captivity. When we begin to praise God no matter what the situation is we will experience God’s Spirit and the Bible says where the Spirit is, the captives are set free.

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