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7/22/2015 0 Comments Jesus in Disguise Worship is a tool that we can use to be able to hear the voice of God, our Shepard. Psalm 95:7 says, “For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” And because we are the people of His pasture the flock under His care, worship is the appropriate response to God’s care for us. It’s the way we recognize Him as our God, it’s the way we respond to His care for us. And for us to respond to his care we need to be able to hear recognize Him and His voice. But I think at times we fail to recognize Jesus in the ordinary, and we must open our eyes in those divine appointments and opportunities He gives us. Many times our Father speaks to us in many different ways, through his Word, through others, and sometimes through experiences that we may not prefer to go through. Many times when we go through trials and tribulations we may think that God is not with us, we pray and ask God "where are you?" when in reality, It is just "Jesus in disguise" trying to speak to us and send us a message through the relationship, the trial and tribulation. We never know where Jesus may show up, or how He will speak to us! To be in the know, we must be in a constant state of worship so that we come to develop the attitude and relationship where we really hear God’s voice and knowing who He is. Being in worship puts you in a place where you can hear his voice. We come into God’s presence through our praise and thanksgiving. When we are in his presence, it would not be surprising if he has something to say to us! In worship, we position ourselves in front of God in such a way that understands that He is God and we are not – that He is the ruler of the universe and we are not. This is the type of fear that we are to have – not terror, but awe and respect. This puts us on the path to hearing his wisdom and understanding. Worship attunes us to God. Our praise and thanksgiving opens us up to receive all that God has for us. Worship is about knowing who He is when we hear and see Him. When you go into worship, consciously enter into God’s presence and be open to hearing and knowing Him in the innermost parts of your soul! Enter into Worship
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7/15/2015 0 Comments This Place of Joy The person that I am today did not exist years ago. My days were often filled with gloom, worry and despair. I walked around with a constant cloud of woe and sadness. I seldom found the good in any situation, and actually expected things to always get worse. Although I had temporary moments of happiness, they were few and far between. I knew there had to be more to life, and I felt as though I was a lost cause. Most of my family and friends had grown tired of "dealing with me" and I was glad, because this meant they would leave me alone with my sadness. Depression had become so familiar that I wore it like my favorite coat. It went with me everywhere. So when I wrote the following post on my Facebook wall yesterday, I wonder if the past me would be surprised: What an amazing day to be alive! I've been waking up with so much joy, happiness, and peace. I can't explain it. I don't go to bed with worries, hate, bitterness, anger or unforgiving. The people around me are truly amazing, positive, and encouraging people, good people, who genuinely pour into me, and I willing reciprocate. I've attracted my heart's desires, both public and secret desires, by taking control of my thoughts and focusing on what I DO want and not what I don't want. I feel like anything I can imagine I can achieve. Everything in my life at this moment, is not here by accident, and I'm blessed because I simply believe. But its not about the material stuff, because I've learned to be happy with or without it. I may not worship God in traditional, extremely religious ways, but I know that God is real, and exists. Stop complaining, and start doing. If you can't do it, change your thinking, that's where it all starts. Thoughts become actions, you are what you attract. What brought about this complete change? I wish I could say it miraculously happened over night, or it was easy. But that's simply not true. I first had to realize that there was a problem, and only God could do in me what I had desperately tried doing my entire life. I knew that I was not living my ultimate life, and I wanted something more than momentary happiness. I wanted JOY! True everlasting, internal, and eternal JOY! The JOY of the Lord! During the Month of August I'll share with you my Journey to Joy in the Worship Wednesdays Newsletter. I look forward to sharing this journey with you! The Sanctuary Weekly Contributor Chaun Archer 7/9/2015 0 Comments I want to say Thank You Lord! Here is a searching spiritual question as we focus on Worship this Wednesday, in your worship: Are you cultivating and becoming a more rejoicing, grateful, thankful person? Would your work associates say that you are in a constant state of gratitude and thankfulness? What would your spouse, children, and close friends say? Or would they say that you are generally negative, gloomy, complaining? Would you say that your prayer life is increasingly characterized by praise and gratitude? Or is it dominated by whining requests and demands? If you could record the last month's thoughts of praise and gratitude vs. envy, self-pity and complaining, what would the replay ratio be? Cultivating a lifestyle/disposition of praising and thanking God is right at the heart of the new worship that was discussed in the New Testament. Hebrews 12:28 says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." Hebrews 13:15 states, "Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." God’s desire is that we praise and thank Him for our benefit, not His. God is pleased when we thank him for the same reason that good parents are pleased when their child thank them—not because it validates them as parents, but because it shows that their child is maturing. An attitude of thankfulness toward God is the most reliable indicator of your spiritual health. Are you spiritually healthy? Gratitude is the normal and natural response to one who has received grace. “Grace” means undeserved charity. In fact, “gratitude” comes from the Latin word for grace (“gratio”). A biblically grateful person is someone who appreciates both how undeserving he is before God and how charitable God has been to him. An ungrateful person feels he is deserving, and therefore expects God to give him his due. If lack of gratitude indicates that one is spiritually unhealthy, one can improve their spiritual health by cultivating a grateful attitude. And cultivating a grateful attitude will result in experiencing more true happiness. You can cultivate gratitude by prioritizing thanksgiving in your prayer life vs. letting it get crowded out by petitioning. You should always include it, and sometimes focus on it alone. You should take note of “small” blessings and actually express thanks to God for them vs. taking them for granted, acknowledging without expressing thanks. Warmly thank people who bless you daily, even if it's “small.” This will complete your enjoyment of the blessing, and it will increase your capacity to see other blessings. Ask God to sensitize you to internal negativity and complaining. When He does this, promptly turn away from these thoughts and replace them with thanks in the related areas. Set aside time to reflect on how God has worked through past negative situations for good in your life. This will help you believe that He is doing so in present negative situations—and thereby help you to thank Him now. Finally, utilize spiritual songs. They often have power to lift my eyes and heart when nothing else does. And on this Worship Wednesday, as you enter into The Sanctuary, allow this song of worship to bring "Thank You's" to your lips and let them flow to our Heavenly Father's ears; as your continual praise of gratitude and thankfulness will surely be pleasing to His heart. Enter Into The Sanctuary to say "Thank You"! 7/2/2015 0 Comments Lean on The Rock! Anyone feeling overwhelmed today? Most of the time, at least in my life, when I’m feeling overwhelmed I have procrastinated or wasted time. I have worked my hardest, trying to focus on what is important and still I find myself well, stressed. Anyone with me? We have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. We know our family is important, so we make time for them. We know work is important, so we make time for it. The important things are a priority in life and still there is just not enough time in the day. So what do we do when we are focusing on the BIG things and we still feel overwhelmed? Life is full of situations that can overwhelm us. First of all, let us look at how the dictionary defines the word “overwhelm”:
“From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!” Psalm 61:2-4 (NIV) David needed a rock of protection, one that was higher than his troubles, a divine protection. He was physically and emotionally drained, so he cried out to the "rock that is higher than I", knowing this was a place of safety with God. David was not literally at the end of the earth, but he was in a place where safety and deliverance seemed obscure. We've all walked, or will walk, through days of that we felt like work was too much, the marriage was too much or the children were too much. During those days, weeks, or years, we must cling to God or sink further into desperation. Just like David, we must learn to “encourage ourselves in the Lord” (1 Samuel. 30:6). The next time you’re at the end of your rope in the marriage, the job, or your circumstances seem to be swallowing you up, and life is overwhelming you, be sure to run to Him in prayer. No amount of wishing and hoping and positive thinking will rescue you, you must cling to the rock through your days of trouble and He will grant you peace. When you feel overwhelmed, when you begin to feel hopeless, when you lose heart, cry out to the Lord. Remind yourself that the God you serve is a mighty God. He will protect you. He will keep you safe. And He will deliver you. Always! We’ve all felt overwhelmed and hopeless at one time or another. But it is not okay to continue feeling that way – not when Almighty God is your Father and He promised to carry our burdens! The clarity that He is our Rock gives us strength. All of this lets us find endless comfort and hope in the words, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. If you cling to the Rock, you will be on top of your problems and see your circumstances from a far different perspective as you will be standing on the Rock who is higher than I. He is your Rock, your Strong Tower, your Safe Refuge from the storms of life. Call to The Rock! |
What is Worship?
The Apostle Paul described true worship perfectly in Romans 12:1:
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship." Worship is first of all an experience. It may express itself through certain forms, but it is not primarily a form. It is an experience. It is a consciousness of the presence of God and a response to that consciousness. Worship expresses itself as an outreach of the deepest emotions of the soul in adoration, reverence, homage, exaltation, and praise to the Almighty. We hope that our Worship Wednesday creates a deeper more meaningful worship experience for you. Visit our other inspirational blog
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