The Joy of Worship

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.                         Psalm 100:1-5 (ESV)

Who said Sunday morning was easy? I mean breakfast isn't even finished and you are already stressed out! Your pre-school son refuses to get dressed, insisting on wearing pajamas to church. Your grade-school daughter can only find one shoe and the baby just spit-up all over her dress. Everyone is finally dressed and out the door and on the way to church: the kids are fighting, the baby is crying and you just realized you didn't bring anything for the potluck after the service. As you pull into your normal space, you tell everyone to put on their smiles and walk in calmly. You greet everyone with the standard, "Hello! How are you? Doing fine." But, inside your head, you're screaming, "Is this really the way it is suppose to be?" 
Sound typical or bring back memories? Psalm 100:4 says to enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise, but how often do we do that when we go to church? What value are we placing on corporate worship when we fake it? Friend, there is joy to be found! When we truly seek to worship God, by placing our focus and attention on Him, we can experience the joy the of the Lord that is our strength - to admire His power, to praise His goodness, to rejoice in His mercy. We do this through prayer, song and hearing His word proclaimed in our church gatherings and we encourage one another in the body of Christ to stand strong in Christ. So the challenge is, how can we change our patterns and habits to make corporate worship joyful for our families? We must plan ahead and remember that our focus is "the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever..."

The Risks of Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.      I John 4:7-11(ESV)

Let's be honest, loving others is not easy. It requires a lot of effort and sacrifice on our part and it may or may not be reciprocated or even acknowledged. There are many things we risk if we are really willing to love others - our time, energy and money. Do our kids see us willing to sacrifice these things? Are we ready and willing to feed the hungry and give money to the poor? Kids get so caught up in "I want" and "I need" but they rarely  have a case of "let's give". We need to teach our kids to be generous not just by being an occasional giver, but by making a lifestyle habit out of loving others by sharing what we have. What if we take it a step further? If we are willing to get out of our comfort zone and love others besides relatives and friends, then we may also have to risk our agenda, position, or safety. It is easy to give money to a non-profit  or serve a meal at a shelter to strangers and faces without names. But, what if we really invested in someone in need: welcomed them into our home, got to know their family and situation, shared the gospel and took them to church? As I John says God loves us so much that He gave His only Son to be the payment for our sins. If God loves us like that, shouldn't we do everything we can to share that love with others?

A New View of Love

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.     I Corinthians 13:4-8 (ESV)

There are many opinions about what love is - is it a verb, emotion, feeling, expression? The best definition I have found for love is from Voddie Baucham's book, Family Driven Faith, which says, "Love is  an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object" (57). This may sound complicated, but let's break it down a little bit. The world views love from a "Cupid" point of view. This view sees love as a force that is random, overwhelming, uncontrollable, and sensual- meaning we can't control who we fall in and out of love with or when it's going to happen and it's all based on romantic feelings. I don't think this is the kind of love the Bible teaches. This "Cupid" kind of love doesn't work in real life because it's not applicable to all relationships. If we really want to love our spouse, kids, friends and neighbors, we are going to have to change the way we think about and act out love. Based on the definition above, in order to love we must be willing to put others' needs/desires/wants in front of our own. It is a choice that has to be made daily (or sometimes moment by moment). This kind of love is not based on feelings that you may or may not have for a day or even season of life. Love is always about someone other than yourself. Consider how God loves us (John 3:16)...


Quote from: Baucham Jr., Voddie T., Family Driven Faith. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007.)

Theme of my Life

Every year around my birthday in December, I come up with a "Theme for my Life" for the upcoming year (I got the idea from event speaker, Naomi Rhode). I do this to focus on an area of spiritual growth or to watch how God is working in my life throughout the year. Then I read books and journal about that theme all year. Sometimes I go back through my journal to see how I've grown in my faith and all the things God has taught me along the way. Some of my themes have been:

• Jesus Loves Me - Longing for Passion
• The Ways of God - Following the Narrow Path
• A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart
• The Love Dare
• Growing an Orchard: Living out the Fruit of the Spirit for my kids
• Anointed: Daily Living Through the Power of the Holy Spirit
• A Healthy Lifestyle: Inside & Out

Try picking a theme for the year - you might learn something about yourself, who God is and how you should respond to Him. Leave a comment and tell me your theme ideas, I'd love to hear them!

The Ways of God are Sovereign

God is sovereign over Creation
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:4-8 


Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. Daniel 2:20-21 
 
God is Sovereign over Worry
"When believers worry, they may actually be trying to control a situation or believe that the situation is too difficult for God."(58)
"God's purpose in working through us is not to help us be successful or even worry-free, but to use our lives as a means by which He reveals Himself."(59)

God is Sovereign over Circumstances
"The difference between the daily lives of believers and those who are not Christians ought to be an incredible sense of peace."(61) 

 God is Sovereign over All We Have
"Having faith and trust in God is a choice. We can either worry or trust God who is sovereign. We can insist on going our own way or we can accept His wisdom and His guidance to know what to do. (67)


If we truly believe that God created and controls all things - there's no room for worry, only trust. When we can really let go of worry and start trusting God, He fills us with a peace that can only be experienced in Him. This kind of peace is not a "health and wealth" kind of thinking. It is a "no matter what the situation, may God be glorified in me" attitude.


Quotes from: Blackaby, Henry T. & Roy T. Edgemon, The Ways of God. (Nashville, TN: LifeWay, Church Resources, 2001.)

The Ways of God are Supreme

 Several years ago I did a Bible Study called "The Ways of God" by Henry Blackaby & Roy Edgemon. In reviewing my notes, I underlined and highlighted so much of the book that really I just recommend you read it for yourself, but here (and in the next few posts) I will share some of my favorite quotes and insights on understanding the ways of God.

"We are flesh and blood, created by God to serve God, and placed in the context of time by God."(9)
"When God speaks, He is already in the process of doing what He says." (13)
"Faith is the confident expectation that God will do what He has said He will do." (14)
"Holiness is the moral excellence of God." (17)
"Unbelief is significant. Do not treat lightly what God treats seriously. God alone is truth. What God says is always true-with no exceptions." (19)
"God's ways measure only our obedience or disobedience in doing His will. The ways of God do not accommodate substitutes. Substitutes are the reasoning of the world." (26)

 My (former) Ways:                                                 Obeying God's Ways:
1. Complain about extra work/feel overwhelmed      1. Accept challenges to bring glory to God
2. Daydream about a different life                            2. Be thankful for family who care about me
3. Expect credit for accomplished goals                   3. Humbly let others receive recognition
4. Be grumpy because it didn't go my way               4. Praise God for His perfect plan & timing
5. Gossip & grudges toward people I don't like       5.  Show appreciation to everyone



Quotes from: Blackaby, Henry T. & Roy T. Edgemon, The Ways of God. (Nashville, TN: LifeWay, Church Resources, 2001.)

The Ways of God - Following the Narrow Path

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

I once was a little girl with dreams
I hoped would come true someday
Of being a ballerina
Or the princess in a parade
Maybe I'd be the president
Or just mayor of my town
I would be a teacher
Or a doctor with a cure to be found
But as I grew up my dreams began to change
The things I once thought possible
Are now completely out of range
God had something else in mind
A place for me in His will
If I seek after Him with all my heart
My desires He will fill
The world is more complicated
Than I ever thought that it could be
But thanks to God's eternal plan
His ways are higher than me.