As I spent time worshiping the Lord today, one thought that seemed to stick with me was how much better I know Him now as opposed to before I began worship. Something has been happening to me over the past months that I did not realize, I have grown in my knowledge of who God is to me. When I close my eyes and begin to worship Jesus I don't have to struggle, as I did before, to focus my attention on Him because He is so much clearer to me now. I remember when I first began to separate myself for worship. I would spend so much time just trying to focus my attention on Jesus or the Father and now I know why; who they were to me on a daily, moment by moment basis was vague and almost not real. It's like knowing you have a heart beating inside of you, but until you focus your attention on it, it remains an abstract idea to your mind and not a living reality. Suddenly, Jesus and the Father have become real to me.
Not only have they become real to me, but I now find myself, especially during times of worship, considering things that before were not important to me. For example, the New Heavens and the New Earth we are told will replace what now exist have become more real to me. It is like His thoughts are becoming my thoughts as I spend time with Him. Think about it, how much of your time do you spend absorbed in trivial things that really have no merit in comparison to your life in eternity which will last forever, and yet most likely your life there gets little if any consideration. Please don't feel condemned in any way, but realize if you will that life here is only a breathe and then it's gone. How will you spend that breathe? I want to spend it getting to know the One I will be spending eternity with and doing here what is important to Him and not me.
All of this has happened to me so gradually. I look back and try to figure out when I began to experience these changes and I really don't know. All I can say is I know that the person I am today is not the person I was before I began spending extended times worshiping Jesus. Little by little His thoughts are becoming my thoughts. What is important to Him is what is becoming important to me. Here it is, the revelation of private worship, "I am becoming like Who I worship."
We all know that we become like the person or even the object we spend time with the most. But, who would have guessed that by spending time worshiping our Creator that we can become more like Him. Thinking the way He thinks. Putting higher priority on things of life that are truly important and less priority on the trivial things that will pass away. Actually contemplating our life in eternity while still on this earth and doing things now that will add to our life then. Who thinks that way? Anyone who is willing to take the time and worship Him. Yes, we can become more like Him if we will continue to separate ourselves and worship Him.
~
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Every Time Matters
I just completed what my soulish man considers to be one of the most uneventful times of worship I have had thus far. If my soul could grade today's time of worship on a scale of 1 to 10, it would grade it in the negative numbers. But, it is not my soul that will ever benefit from spending extended time worshiping Jesus. Only my born again spirit will ever benefit from times of worship.
This is one of the main reasons for this Blog. This Blog is to show you that no matter who you are there are going to be those times like I had today. What you need to understand is that even in the driest, most boring times of worshiping the Father and Jesus you are affecting change. The bottom line then is this, every time matters. Not only does every time matter, but every word that you speak matters. From the moment you begin till the moment you end, every single word of adoration offered to God matters. Not one word spoken to Him is without benefit.
Some of you are saying to yourself as you read this, "But I only have 'X' number of minutes to give to Him in worship and that can not be enough to really matter." I say again every word matters, every minute matters, everything matters. Stop allowing the enemy to minimize your efforts in your own eyes. The enemy's objective is to make you stop and he will lie to you and tell you anything he thinks will convince you to stop. But, I'm telling you that all those reasons you have been allowing yourself to believe that keep you out of worship are all birthed straight from the pit of hell.
One of the enemy's greatest weapons is this thought, "You are too busy today wait for tomorrow." Pretty soon a month of tomorrows go by and then the enemy hits you with this thought, "Oh, it has been too long now to try to go back into private worship, just forget it." I'm telling you that if he has not yet tried this one on you it is not far away. The best thing you can do when you hear this devilish suggestion is stop and take 5 minutes and worship God, or whatever few minutes you have just to come against those demonic thoughts. If you have already fallen prey to that particular attack just get back up and start again.
Starting a second time or a third time or a twentieth time into private worship can be a challenge. I suggest you begin by praying in tongues a while and step from tongues into worship. Jesus is not going to be standing there asking you where you have been and why you have been neglecting Him. Again, those are the thoughts that originate from the pit of hell.
Jesus will be there with open arms waiting to hold you and love you. There will be no condemnation for the missed opportunities only joy that you have chosen to spend time with Him. Our problem is that we just have no idea how much Jesus loves us. Really, I believe that is what this private worship is all about. I believe it is going to be through this private worship that we finally come to understand at least a fraction of His love for us.
In closing, just stay with it. If you have allowed some time to go, or if your mind has become a play ground for the enemy's lies, cast down those thoughts and take the next 5 minutes to worship Him. It will possibly be the best five minutes you have spent today. Just start.
This is one of the main reasons for this Blog. This Blog is to show you that no matter who you are there are going to be those times like I had today. What you need to understand is that even in the driest, most boring times of worshiping the Father and Jesus you are affecting change. The bottom line then is this, every time matters. Not only does every time matter, but every word that you speak matters. From the moment you begin till the moment you end, every single word of adoration offered to God matters. Not one word spoken to Him is without benefit.
Some of you are saying to yourself as you read this, "But I only have 'X' number of minutes to give to Him in worship and that can not be enough to really matter." I say again every word matters, every minute matters, everything matters. Stop allowing the enemy to minimize your efforts in your own eyes. The enemy's objective is to make you stop and he will lie to you and tell you anything he thinks will convince you to stop. But, I'm telling you that all those reasons you have been allowing yourself to believe that keep you out of worship are all birthed straight from the pit of hell.
One of the enemy's greatest weapons is this thought, "You are too busy today wait for tomorrow." Pretty soon a month of tomorrows go by and then the enemy hits you with this thought, "Oh, it has been too long now to try to go back into private worship, just forget it." I'm telling you that if he has not yet tried this one on you it is not far away. The best thing you can do when you hear this devilish suggestion is stop and take 5 minutes and worship God, or whatever few minutes you have just to come against those demonic thoughts. If you have already fallen prey to that particular attack just get back up and start again.
Starting a second time or a third time or a twentieth time into private worship can be a challenge. I suggest you begin by praying in tongues a while and step from tongues into worship. Jesus is not going to be standing there asking you where you have been and why you have been neglecting Him. Again, those are the thoughts that originate from the pit of hell.
Jesus will be there with open arms waiting to hold you and love you. There will be no condemnation for the missed opportunities only joy that you have chosen to spend time with Him. Our problem is that we just have no idea how much Jesus loves us. Really, I believe that is what this private worship is all about. I believe it is going to be through this private worship that we finally come to understand at least a fraction of His love for us.
In closing, just stay with it. If you have allowed some time to go, or if your mind has become a play ground for the enemy's lies, cast down those thoughts and take the next 5 minutes to worship Him. It will possibly be the best five minutes you have spent today. Just start.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Just another day of Private Worship
Something I have discovered about God is that He likes to "sneak" up on you and surprise you when you least expect Him. That's what happened to me today.
Today's worship time began with praying in tongues to help clear out some of the junk from my mind and then I started to worship Him. Nothing special, just the ordinary words that I have said a thousand times before. At times it just seemed like I was talking to the wall. I have had to train myself over time that I am speaking to God, whether I feel like I am or not. Feelings just don't matter at all. I am worshiping Him and He is receiving it, period.
So, I went on like this for a while and the next thing I know my words of worship have trailed off into sleep. Yes, I have nodded off. It happens to the best of us. Once I regained consciousness I got back to worshiping Him again. Why share this with you? Because, you are going to have the same fight as I do. It is inevitable. But, whatever you do, don't allow the enemy to beat you up about it. Oh, the enemy will try to tell you what a sorry excuse you are for falling asleep. That's because he is just mad that you are not worshiping him. More than that, the enemy can't believe that something so precious as worship has been made available to humans. Before his fall, the devil had a leadership position over heaven's worship and now he can only watch us common humans undertake this holy practice.
Finally, my head was clear and I got back to worship. Nothing else seemed different. My words were the same. My feelings and emotions were the same. It was dry. But then suddenly these words seemed to flood my spirit. It was like I could hear them and see them at the same time. "Son, I am so proud of you." This was followed by what I can only describe as an "embrace" by the Father. It was only for a moment, but what a moment it was. All the feelings were there. All the joy was there. For a moment, I could sense His pleasure for staying in there and worshiping Him.
My question to you then is this, What is it worth to you to have a moment like this? Is it worth fighting through the fatigue? Is it worth the hours of watching your words hit the floor? Just to hear your Father tell you He is proud of you is worth every moment. There is so much more to this Private Worship than we have realized. Our Father and Jesus must receive some kind of awesome blessing from our worship. All I know is that I am not going to stop. I want to find out where this will take me. I believe it has endless possibilities.
Today's worship time began with praying in tongues to help clear out some of the junk from my mind and then I started to worship Him. Nothing special, just the ordinary words that I have said a thousand times before. At times it just seemed like I was talking to the wall. I have had to train myself over time that I am speaking to God, whether I feel like I am or not. Feelings just don't matter at all. I am worshiping Him and He is receiving it, period.
So, I went on like this for a while and the next thing I know my words of worship have trailed off into sleep. Yes, I have nodded off. It happens to the best of us. Once I regained consciousness I got back to worshiping Him again. Why share this with you? Because, you are going to have the same fight as I do. It is inevitable. But, whatever you do, don't allow the enemy to beat you up about it. Oh, the enemy will try to tell you what a sorry excuse you are for falling asleep. That's because he is just mad that you are not worshiping him. More than that, the enemy can't believe that something so precious as worship has been made available to humans. Before his fall, the devil had a leadership position over heaven's worship and now he can only watch us common humans undertake this holy practice.
Finally, my head was clear and I got back to worship. Nothing else seemed different. My words were the same. My feelings and emotions were the same. It was dry. But then suddenly these words seemed to flood my spirit. It was like I could hear them and see them at the same time. "Son, I am so proud of you." This was followed by what I can only describe as an "embrace" by the Father. It was only for a moment, but what a moment it was. All the feelings were there. All the joy was there. For a moment, I could sense His pleasure for staying in there and worshiping Him.
My question to you then is this, What is it worth to you to have a moment like this? Is it worth fighting through the fatigue? Is it worth the hours of watching your words hit the floor? Just to hear your Father tell you He is proud of you is worth every moment. There is so much more to this Private Worship than we have realized. Our Father and Jesus must receive some kind of awesome blessing from our worship. All I know is that I am not going to stop. I want to find out where this will take me. I believe it has endless possibilities.
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