True Worship
Many people think of worship as music. For those of you who can sing, you don’t mind this. For the rest of us, it’s not fair.
People would describe me as a prison singer. I’m always behind a few bars and I can’t find the key.
Fortunately for me, worship is more than music, is a lifestyle. It’s more about who you are than what you do.
Romans 12:1 – And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
What you SACRIFICE for is what you are worshiping.
We are all limited human beings. We have limited time, energy, and resources. As a result, we pick and choose how we spend our time, energy, and resources. Do you sacrifice your family for your career? Maybe in your worship of golf or sports you sacrifice your marriage.
Exodus 20:3-5 – You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
Do you spend your time focused on entertainment or developing your relationship with God? Do you sacrifice worshiping Sunday morning for the chance to sleep in?
If there is anything you have put before God? What is it that you worship?
Tomorrow Is A New Day
A few weeks ago my two older brothers and I went camping with each of our wives and kids. There were 16 of us and 5 were kids under 3 years old. Yeah, pretty crazy! It was back when the temps were hitting 105-108 day after day here in DFW.
When we planned our trip the weather was supposed to be nice (according to averages) where we were going. Was it? No, not so much. It was hot, muggy, humid, cloudy, and drizzly – It was so humid that when Angela washed Addison’s blanket it didn’t even dry after 3 days. Each day we would say, “Maybe tomorrow will be better.”
Finally, on the last day, the freakishly abnormal heatwave broke and when we left around noon, it was in the low 70′s. It is amazing. What a difference a day can make!
It doesn’t matter how bad things have been, how impossible the situation may look, or how long things have been bad. God can turn it all around.
1 Peter 1:6 – The Apostle Peter tells us that any troubles or hardships that we may have, they are only for a “LITTLE WHILE!”
There is always HOPE! Refuse to accept that something will never change. Joshua 3:5 tells us tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.
No matter what you have been through, or are going through, how hopeless it may look, tomorrow is a new day. Lamentations 3 tells us that God’s mercies and compassions are new every morning.
In Joshua 11 we read about what seemed like a hopeless situation. In verses 1-3 we see that at minimum 14 Kings join forces to destroy Joshua. If ever there was a time to give up hope, this would be it. But instead of giving up, he trusted God. Look at what God said to Joshua.
Joshua 11:6 (New Living Translation) “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over…” Then verse 8 says – And the Lord gave them victory over their enemies.
No matter how hopeless it seems or how long it has been that way, God can turn it around in a day. Whatever you’ve been facing, whatever heartache you feel, tomorrow is a new day. You can have hope. It’s not over. This is not the end of your story. There is still more to be written. God is not done with you, and you should not be done with God!
Outwit Worry And Fear
3 Ways To Outwit Worry And Fear
1. Don’t forget what God has already done
In 1 Kings 19 Elijah was afraid of Jezebel because he forgot how God had delivered him before.
Look at how the psalmist remembered what God had done.
Psalm 107:6-9 (New Living Translation)
6 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. 7 He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. 8 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 9 For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
The entire chapter lists all these times when God came through! Then the last verse says:
Psalm 107:43 (New Living Translation)
43 Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.
2. Think the right thoughts
You have a fight with someone, the more you talk about it the angrier you get. Whatever thoughts you give attention to the stronger they will grow.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (New International Version)
…We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Telling yourself to NOT think about that will NOT work. If you tell yourself to not think about a big blue elephant, you’re going to be thinking about a big blue elephant. You have to replace the wrong thoughts with the right thoughts.
Jesus warned us about thoughts of worry for our life. He tells us that we should not worry about all the details of our life and goes on to tell us what we should be thinking about.
Matthew 6:32-34 (New Living Translation)
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Paul tells us the types of thoughts that we should meditate on:
Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
3. Give it to God
When I worry, I maximize my problems and minimize God.
When I trust God and give it to God, I maximize God and He minimizes my problems.
When I worry, I place the problem in my box and say I’m more capable of handling it then God.
Proverbs 3:5 (New Living Translation)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Whatever is outside of our ability to fix, belongs in the God box.
Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
It’s Up To Us!
This isn’t going to come as a shock to most of you, but we are limited. There is only so much that we can do. When we come to the end of our ability, if you are like me, you ask for help.
God, on the other hand, is all powerful. We are told in the Scripture that nothing in impossible for our God. There is no limit to God’s strength.
But because we understand that God is all powerful, often times we lose sight of the fact that He wants our help. He wants to include us in accomplishing His plan.
God can use anything to accomplish His will. In Numbers 22 God spoke through a donkey, and in Matthew 17 God used a fish to provide money for the taxes that were due.
While God can use anything to accomplish His will, He prefers to use us.
John 4 tells us that Jesus was baptizing more people then John the Baptist. Verse 2 says, “though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them, his disciples did.”
This is the last prayer recorded in John before Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested to be crucified.
John 17:18 - As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
The ministry that Jesus started, we are to continue. The Apostle Paul understood that God wants to use us to accomplish His will.
2 Corinthians 5:18 - And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
If you are a follower of Christ, are you just holding on for the ride waiting to get to Heaven? Or are you going to be an active part of what God wants to accomplish in the world? Yes, God is all powerful and mighty, but he desires to use you to fulfill His plan.
Sneak Peek At Zip It pt3
I was just sitting here going over my talking notes for tomorrow and thought it would be cool to give you a sneak peek.
The first two talks of Zip It were about conquering complaining and kicking criticism. (Trust me, it was a lot more fun than it sounds.) The last two weeks we have learned that our words not only affect us, but they also affect others.
Part 3 is going to examine what can be gained by simple strategic silence.
Mom used to always say, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Many times in life we would be better off Zipping It and keeping our mouth shut rather than saying what’s on our mind. When someone wants to “give me a piece of their mind”, I usually think they need all they can get and really should keep it for themselves.
There are times in your life when being silent would serve you well.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
You have the right to remain zipped. Anything you say…
Maybe your life would be better if you would observe your very own “moment of silence” every once in a while. Selah
Excerpt From Zip It
Taken from Zip It Pt1, Conquering Complaining.
Side Effects of Complaining
#1 Inaction
Instead of spending your time, energy and resources doing something that would make the situation better, you spend your time complaining how awful it is. The person complaining about how it can’t be done should not get in the way of the person who is doing it.
“If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
#2 Self Pity
Why did this have to happen to me? My life is so bad. Nothing ever works out for me. Why would I ever expect anything good happen to me? I’ll never get to have that. Complaining will often turn you into a “victim”. Paul and Silas could have complained and felt sorry for themselves.
#3 Tunnel Vision
The more you complain, the more your vision will be tuned to see things in a negative way.
Complaining will warp your perspective.
It’s like the guy who went out to his garage to get his saw and realized it missing. He then remembered that his neighbor’s boy built a ramp for his skateboard the week before. Knowing that the kid must have stolen his saw, he started noticing suspicious behavior. The way the kid walk, what time he left the house, the friends he hung out with… Then a few weeks later he discovered the saw had only fallen behind his workbench, the kid’s behavior suddenly returned back to normal.
Begin to look at the things that you have been complaining about, but look at them from a different perspective. Rather than zeroing in on all of the negative and on all the bad, and God knows you can find that stuff. You don’t have to look that hard, but instead, take a step back and look at the same things that you have been complaining about, and look at them from a different perspective.
#4 Death
If you want to take an an otherwise healthy marriage and kill it, start complaining. Just complaining about everything your wife does. Or at work, start complaining about the moron of a boss you have, that they don’t pay you enough. Or with money, complain about all the bills, how expensive everything is, about your debt…
Mom used to say, “You can have what you say, is that what you want?”
Life and death are the consequences of your tongue.
If you are not fully miserable, let me tell you how you can hate your life. Complain about everything, everything, I mean everything…complain and complain and complain and you will be miserable.
The words are only a symptom of the real issue that takes place in our heart. The heart is the main issue. Your words reveal the condition of your heart. All of us, the words that we speak reveals the condition of our heart.
Matthew 12:34-37 (New Living Translation)
34 …For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
Your Words Guide Your Life
In Mark 11:14-24 we read about how Jesus’ words affected a fig tree. Just like Jesus’ words changed the fig tree, our words affect our lives.
Proverbs 18:21 (New Living Translation)
21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
Consequences are neither good nor bad. They are neutral. You can do things right and get good consequences or you can do things wrong and get bad consequences. According to Proverbs 18:21 life and death are the consequences of what you say.
The words you say will directly affect your self-esteem. YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF MORE THAN YOU BELIEVE OTHERS!
Proverbs 15:4 (New Living Translation)
4 Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
Your words will bring life if they are good, but destruction if they are not. Here are 6 words you should remove from your vocabulary right now.
1. Can’t – Phil 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
2. Never – Mark 9:23 …“Anything is possible if a person believes.”
3. Quit – Gal 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
4. Depressed – Phil 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
5. Hate – Rom 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6. Broke – Phil 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.