Oh God please Come to ME and to my Rescue make haste!

So I write a lot about David. I think thats because I am able to compare myself to him a lot! I get in these moments where I am high on God, all I can do is talk about singing his praises. (Psalms 33) In these moments nothing can seem to bring me down, I am walking on air. Then there are days that I depend deeply on God....and I need him to help me with every step I take. (Psalms 59) On these days I feel helpless but not alone. I just need the Father to hold me! There are days that I feel lost, and alone.....Today is one of those days! (Psalms 22) I know that God is always faithful, but in theses days I feel that he is so far away! I feel as if it has been an eternity since I have felt his embrace, and all of my efforts are in vain.

Oh God please Come to ME and to my Rescue make haste!

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.
6When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches,
7For you have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
PSALMS 63:1-8(NASB)

WORSHIP

We were not created because God needed us to worship him, but that we were created because of God’s grace and mercy. I have always had an issue with people saying that we were created because God needed worship. If that was the case what did he do before he created us? Why didn’t he just make more angels? The fact that God did not create us out of his need to be worshiped, but he did create to worship is astounding! God is not, in my opinion the one who should be grateful because of our worship. It is us who should be grateful that we are able to worship such a great God. David said in Psalm 33:1, “Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the up right. Everything we do in life should be worship to God. It is my opinion that whether we are singing, or mopping the floor it should be done with the mindset of, “I am doing this for Jesus.” I say that without trying to sound too cliché. I also like what David says in Psalms 34:1, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

My Praise!

For years in darkness I roamed

But you beckoned

You would not relent

When hope ceased to encircle me

You reached down

From despair you lifted me

From bondage you freed me

I am forever changed

Surrounded by your light

My praise for salvation

WORSHIP! A Sacrafice, A Lifestyle, A Community Effort

What is worship? Worship is defined by Dr. Moffett as the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do, and all that I ever hope to be in light of a chosen/choosing God. Dr. Moffett also showed the first biblical example of worship, which is found in Genesis 22:5. In the story that Dr. Moffett said was the first example of worship in the bible is told the story of Abraham’s trial to sacrifice his promised son Isaac. The verse is quoted as follows, “Abraham said to his young men, ‘stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you (NASB).”’ I am not trying to be a biblical scholar but for some reason I feel that Abraham considered his sacrifice worship. See I feel that true worship is sacrifice, because you will worship God in truth, and when you truly worship you will sometimes have to sacrifice. Our worship is also or should be our lifestyle. David sets this example in the 34 Psalms, verses 1 and 2, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice.” Dr. Moffett also said that worship should be an experience shared by those in a congregation together. David also gives an example of this in the 3^rd verse of the 34^th Psalm, “O magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together. (NASB)”

Point blank God is a God who desires worship. He desires us to live worship based lives. Sometimes the day’s toils doesn’t warrant a worship-like mentality, however if we can muster a David-like mentality it will be possible to worship the Lord. I believe that true worship comes when we get the understanding that we are not worshiping God because of what he has done, but rather we are worshiping God because he is God. Psalm 66:4-6 says it like this, ‘“All the earth will worship you. And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.’ Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds towards the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the rivers on foot; there let us rejoice in Him! (NASB)” “God is spirit and those who worship Him, must do so in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 (NASB)

GOD's time and way is not MY time and way!!

John the Baptist is known as the forerunner of Christ, the second greatest prophet, and the last Old Testament prophet. John the Baptist’s greatest sermon was the announcement of the kingdom of God. This is discussed by Craig Van Gelder on pages 77 and 78 of The Essence of the Church. In his discussion Van Gelder makes a few interesting statements about John’s view of the importance of the coming messiah. Van Gelder states, “John viewed the coming Day of the Lord as the decisive moment of human history when God’s eschatological blessing on the redeemed would begin (the baptism of the Holy Spirit), and his judgment of evil would be complete.” Because john had such a wrath-based view of the coming of the Lord Van Gelder says that John often question if Jesus was the messiah. John Like many christens tried to hard to understand the time frame and working of God. I am not denoting the greatness of John, however I am saying that he was human, and as I have done and seen people do many times, John was trying to but his on conceptions and timetable on God’s plan. John believed as did many of the Jews that the Messiah would come and wipe out all of the enemies and immediately create a new kingdom. They could not see the great thing God was doing that we now call grace and salvation. Often times we fail to see God’s grace and salvation in the world we live in. When we go through a trial or test we often want to hurry through it, or we question why God has let something so bad happen to us. Sometimes I think we should just take a breath and take into our vision what God is really doing in our lives. Many of the Jews in john’s time missed out on the greatest gift of all because they were too busy trying to put their own ideas into God’s plan. I think in times when we don’t understand the way God is working situations out in our life we should take the advice Moses gave the Israelites in Exodus 14:13-14 to heart. “But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent’” Exodus 14:13-14(NASV). Just stand still, sometimes that’s all God requires is for us to watch him move. We may not understand the reason things are going the way they are, and we may not understand why he chose to work this way; this is when we just lift our hands in surrender, and say your will, and your time, not my will, and not my time for you alone are God.

THINK ABOUT THIS!!!!

Aren't you glad Christ isn't like this?

What is the use? The workings of the Holy Ghost and its purpose!

In class recently we have been on the topic of evangelism and salvation. Dr. Bayles raised the question the other day asking what happens to the people who have never heard the gospel when they die. This question has struck me pretty deep. Another question however has risen in my heart. It is not concerned per say with world evangelism. My question is this, “If a Pentecostal/charismatic church has what we call a “good” holy ghost filled service, and no one is saved was the true Holy Ghost their?” This question could also be extended to the absents of healings, desire to evangelize, and the release of the captives. In acts1:8 Jesus says the following about the Holy Ghost, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you ; you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the world”(NASV). If we really have the true power of the Holy Ghost, which doesn’t entail just speaking in tongues, we will be the witnesses of Christ. Jesus told that we would have the power to witness, not just the desire. I do believe that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence, (I cite the 2^nd chapter of Acts, and the events following to back this claim up) but there are also others way to tell if someone has the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Paul discusses the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law” (NASV). I really have a problem with churches shouting, when souls are dying by the thousands, even millions and going to hell. I wonder, if all the souls are going to hell, then what good is the church? Where is the power given to us by the Holy Ghost to be witnesses in all the world? How are we fulfilling the Great Commission if we never even evangelize to the people living right beside our churches, let along the people in Africa, South America, and the remote parts of Asia, and Europe? I heard a saying once that echoes in my mind while I ponder these questions, the saying was one a billboard in my home town, and it read as follows, “What on earth, are we doing for heavens sake?” What are we doing? Let us be up and about the Father’s business.
Time is running out.

Do we use our praise to bargain?

In the beginning chapter two of Awakened to a Calling, the author discusses art, and it’s importance to God, and worship. I like this, and it really stuck out to me. He discusses the shack town in Cape Town, South Africa, and how even though there was nothing there, except shack made out of scrap metal, carpet and wood, there was a little girl with a radio who was dancing. This to me stood out for several reasons. One reason a person should not base how they praise God on their circumstances. David teaches us this in the 22^nd Psalm, verses 1-5, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet you are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted and you delivered them.” David probably was probably having a pretty crappy time (excuse the expression) but he didn’t use that as an excuse not to praise God. It is the same thing with the little girl living in a shack in South Africa. She is in the depts. Of poverty, but she can still dance because she has a life, she woke up that morning. It is my opinion that sometimes Pentecostals base too much on emotion. We praise if we feel like it and give if the sermon was great, but this is wrong. I have developed the mentality of David, If God never answers another prayer, if I never see my dreams come to fruition, I am still going to praise God, because He gave me life, and because he gave me salvation. I understand that it is hard not to base our praise on circumstances, but I think it is wrong to use your praise as a bargaining technique. One passage in the bible that underlines to me the true essence of praise is the story of the Shunammite Woman from the 4 chapter of 2^nd Kings. In this story the woman who offered a room to Prophet Elisha, when her son dies she carried him to the prophet and when asked how she was she said all was well. To me this is amazing, the woman had just lost her son, but because of her faith in God she could say it is well. I believe that God honors unselfish praise, he desires the praise of his people. I think so many times we as humans are used to bargaining, that we try to place this same trait onto God. He doesn’t need our praise but he desires it. This is why I have come to the conclusion to have a David like mentality.

Where is God

So we have been discussing the whereness of God in time, in my Mission of the Church class.
It is kind of mind blowing to realize that God see all time at once. The 7 days of creation are as present to God as the Day of the Rapture. I guess the fact is is that we can not comprehend God, because we are not supposed to.