THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS

Acts 16:25, 26 (NIV)
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

Why me Lord? Where are you now? What's going to happen to me? This isn't fair!

Notice none of these phrases are in the Word? Never does is say that Paul or Silas sat there, drowning in their own pity, despising God, wondering if following Him is worth all this, waiting for the pain to stop. Nope, you won't find those thoughts or words anywhere. What you do find is that after they were stripped, beaten, and then dragged down to the cell and chained, Paul and Silas continued doing what they started before they were accused. Verse 16 says that they were on their way to prayer and continued to preach the word for several days before they cast the demon out that started all this.

True worship is not something we do only when we feel all warm inside because of all the good things He has done for us. Neither is it something that we do when we feel tempted and want deliverance. Nor is it done when we feel a little persecuted or under pressure because we want to push our flesh into acknowledging the great I AM. Worship is done at all these times, but TRUE WORSHIP comes out when you are hurting so badly that you can't move. You're so repulsed by the place you're at that you can't stand to breath. When it comes as easily as your next breath, you've entered into a new realm of being that others recognize you as a worshipper.

The Message translation says that they were singing ROBUSTly. The Amplified translation says they were singing hymns of PRAISE. When I sing robustly or simply sing hymns of praise, I don't do it quietly. If my heart is so full that I'm singing in this fashion, I'm at the top of my lungs. Forceful and loud. Confident and desirous that He hear me. I can imagine no less from this passage regarding Paul and Silas.

What a position to aspire to! To be so full of the Word of God...to be so immersed in His presence daily...to know beyond a shadow of doubt about Whose you are that you leave your own shell and step into that place where you and the Lord Jesus and the Father God all commune as one.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not speaking of some "mystical" or "transcendental" experience. I'm talking about a relationship so close that I know when I hurt, He hurts. One that I know that if this experience means my death, that only means I'll physically be in His presence. One where my thoughts are not centered around me, but on His greatness. We touch on that relationship at times. The key is to get to that place and stay there.

Then take a look at what happens when you enter that place. The power of God comes on the scene. Verse 26 says that the prison shook with a violent, great, and huge earthquake. One so powerful that the chains fell off all the prisoners! Wouldn't you think that if an earthquake came along (even a small one), that the walls would have fallen on the prisoners? And of course their legs and hands would still have been bound.

So this was no ordinary earthquake. It was the power and presence of the Almighty coming to rescue those that were putting Him first.

Matthew 6:32, 33 says: "but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. " (Msg translation)

Jeremiah 29:13 (my new favorite verse) says: "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you..."

Can you imagine a better time for this to take place? AS they sought the King, He found them. And He not only found them, He took care of the situation in a way that there was NO doubt that He was the One and True God. Isn't it amazing how He does that time and time again?

But while we may never be in a physical place such as a dungeon, firey furnace, lion's den, etc., we do have our own places of hard times. The thing to come away with from these accounts is that if God is so powerful to move on these extreme times, think of how easily He can move in times I need him. It's all on me to get to the place of worship and obedience that allows Him to act.

My Life Work ~ Worship

2 Chronicles 29:10
"I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well."

Prior to this time with Hezekiah, the Isrealites had established a lifestyle of regularly worshipping the Great I Am. But as with any of us, they allowed life to creep in and take ascendency over obedience to God and over their own desire to worship. Within time, dust had settled in, covering the beautiful floor of the temple. Cobwebs filled the corners of the sanctuary instead of the Glory Cloud. The doors had stopped being opened and that musty smell crept in (you know, the one you smell in the back of your grandma's closet when you played hide-and-seek as a child) overpowering the faint smell of incense that was used to send the prayers of the people to the heavens. What was once the love of the people for the one that delivered and provided had now become that distant relative long lost and forgotten by the works done to create a life.

But Hezekiah came in with a fresh breath and zeal for God. He was determined to find that relationship again. To restore the faithfulness and obedience of the children with the Father. I love that the Message translation indicates that they have a life's work of worship. Because worship is not just a matter of coming into the presence of God and singing a few hymns, saying a few prayers of thanksgiving and adoration, or lifting your hands in surrender to his awesomeness. These are all right and proper, but they are only a small part of the act of worship. They should be an expression of the things you do daily in adoration and realization of WHO He is. Worship is a part of every breath you take. Underlying in every thought and plan you make in your normal and daily life. It's only by making it as central to your life as I've indicated that you will create this lifestyle of worship...but it's what my heart longs for and pushes me to attain.

Worship ~ Reflected In My Wife

I once heard a minister say that the glory of the husband can be found in the face of his wife. In other words, if he is doing everything he should be doing as a man of God Almighty, then his wife's face will come to life when she looks at him, talks about him, or thinks about him, regardless of who is around her or even if she is alone at the time. You'll see the devotion he has for her in the sparkle of her eyes; the tenderness he shows her in her smile.

There's actually a television commercial that comes to mind that directly demonstrates this thought. A young man is walking down the street and his cell phone rings. His face is basically emotionless until he hears the voice of the person calling ~ and then he breaks out into an infectious smile. You could only imagine that the person he is speaking to has his heart.

I think of the words of that minister when I contemplate what kind of husband I've become. I know when I'm on target when I look into Tracye's eyes and see my love for her returned to me with the softness of her gaze. Likewise, I know that there are problems in Eden when I look at her and see that something I've done or said has brought hurt or if I really listen to what she says in passing conversation and comments. Like when she gets frustrated with herself and rushes because she doesn't want me to lose my patience...wow. Don't get me wrong, I know there are changes in my life as a result of my repentance and obedience in the last year. I know that some of those changes are in the form of patience. I also know that I must have caused some deep hurt for it to still affect Tracye the way it does and that it will take some time for that to heal.

Patience.

A fruit of the Spirit.

Evidence that I'm living and walking in the Spirit according to Galatians 5:25. The Amplified translates this passage by saying it demonstrates that we are controlled by the Spirit. The Message goes on to say "Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its (all the fruit of the Spirit) implications in every detail of our lives." By doing just that, working out its implications in every detail of my life, I become more and more a true reflection of the Christ within me. And as I become a mirror image of Christ, my worship for Him becomes more upfront and real.

A Deeper Experience of Worship

I'm going to start writing about what the Lord has been dealing with me about and pray that it comes across clearly...

Sunday morning, during Praise and Worship, I felt the Holy Spirit impress on me that the Father wanted me to enter into a deeper experience of worship with Him. I remember feeling that I wanted more, but didn't quite know how to proceed. He took me to 2 Kings 5:1-14, where Naaman went looking for healing from the Prophet Elisha. In this encounter, Elisha sent instructions for Naaman to go to the river Jordan and dip himself seven times. Naaman puffed up at that because the Jordan river was filthy. He told his servants that if Elisha told him to dip into the rivers of Damascus, at least he would be clean from the soil of the world when he came out (even if he didn't get healed...Jim's interpretation).

Naaman's servants reasoned with him that he would have willingly and probably gladly done that, but the plan isn't what we always think it should be. We have to trust in what God tells us to do without question.

So I'm left with the question of how does this work with entering into a deeper experience of worship?

Last night, at Intercessory Prayer, Brendan led us to a scripture that helped. Isaiah 58:6-8 says:

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage."

What I hear the Lord instruct me through this passage is that He's more interested in me developing a LIFESTYLE of fasting than the occassional denying myself of something and then giving it back. Don't get me wrong, fasting in that fashion is biblical and necessary, but He wants an everyday, conscious effort, total heart committed, unwaivering determinated sacrificial lifestyle of being more like Him. Verse 6 talks about spreading the gospel that frees the captive and breaks the chains of bondage. Verse 7 talks about putting others first even at your own discomfort.

Again...what does this have to do with Naaman and what does Naaman have to do with a deeper experience of worship?

What I've come up with is this...there's an old saying that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." In other words, there is no better way of telling someone how much you admire (or worship) them than by being like them. Worship is an expression of your love to the Lord for who He is. To be like him through sacrifice and obedience to His Word is the ultimate act of worship.

Naaman comes in to this in that I need to be sensitive to His direction so that I don't haphazardly ignore something that He tells me to do because I don't think it is worthy of my time or energy. I want to keep attentive to my spirit so that it "perks up" whenever it hears from the Lord and thereby keeps me in that deeper experience of worship.

SIMPLE OBEDIENCE

2 Kings 5:8-14 (The Message)

8 Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he'd ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, "Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he'll learn that there's a prophet in Israel."
9 So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha's door.
10 Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: "Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you'll be as good as new."
11-12 Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, "I thought he'd personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I'd at least get clean." He stomped off, mad as a hornet.
13 But his servants caught up with him and said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn't you have done it? So why not this simple 'wash and be clean'?"
14 So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.


Isn't is amazing at how simple obedience can appear when pointed out, but how hard it seems when we allow our flesh to be in control? When Naaman first heard of what he needed to do in order to become healed, his flesh was not only the physical problem, but the spiritual one as well. His pride rose up and wouldn't allow him to experience his healing. His ego stepped in and became offended because Elisha didn't come out personally to speak to him. His stomach recoiled because he was disgusted with the water that would bring his healing. His understanding was halted because nothing mystical" was done to cause the disease to go away. His pride was hurt because it didn't even require anything of him that would make others recognize the sacrifice he had to make. He simply had to dip his body in a dirty river.

His servant understood simplicity in obedience. He understood that if you are told to do something by a person in authority, you did it without question. He understood that sometimes those instructions are given second-hand and not directly from the mouth of the man to your ears.

Praise God for that servant! For the boldness he had to stop his master (angry even!) and speak truth to him. We need to be willing to do that more in each others lives. We need to be willing to stop our brothers in their tracks, point out their sin and help them see the truth that will bring deliverance.

The Lord doesn't require us to do anything on our own to bring deliverance because he knows that by our own hand we fall significantly short. But by our simple obedience of following His words, our total deliverance comes immediately.

I pray that I continue to remember that obedience from the heart is not a hard task. The ultimate decision to be obedient gives me the strenght and courage to follow through. And as I follow through, the way is open for the promises of God to take place in my life.

My Life of Worship...The Realm of the Spirit is Real

I'm entering a new level of my Spiritual Walk...It's time (at least for now) to focus on taking all I've learned from trust and obedience, and begin to worship Him daily...to create a life of Worship. That will be the focus of my studies for a while...

I'm discovering that the realm of the Spirit is real ~ and has been in existence longer than the natural realm that we now reside in.

John 1:1-3, 10 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made…He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

We can see that God existed before the world was created. Because of that, we can see that God did not need to create the world, He chose to do it.

So we have to ask ourselves – why? Because God is love. You can’t express love unless you have something or someone to express it to. We were created for the sole purpose of having a loving relationship with the Creator of the universe.

Romans 9:25 (The Message) “I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out ‘you’re nobody!’ they’re calling you ‘God’s living children.’ Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled ‘chosen of God’, they’d be numbers still, not names. Salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us, He calls us by name. Arithmatic is not His focus.”

You see God loves us. He created the world – universe – galaxy – for US! Because He wanted to create a species of being – man – to pour His love on. A species of being to love and be loved by. By exchanging this act between creator and the created, a relationship is developed. That’s His purpose – to create a being for the purpose of relationship. The reason the relationship is so important is because it allows the expression of love to flow from the Father to us and from us to the Father. It completes both parties of the relationship.

By now you’re probably thinking, “…where is this going? What does that (the creation of man) have to do with worship? They are two different anomalies…”

Creation of man and the act of Worship may be explained independently, and they are both worthy of independent study. But to truly understand worship, you must understand relationship. You can’t have relationship without worship following nor can you have worship without a relationship first.

Pastor Rod Parsley said in Praise, the Ultimate Experience, Worship the Ultimate Relationship, “Worship is acknowledging God for who He is. Worship is all that we are, rightly responding to all that He is. To worship Him, you must know Him.”

Jesus was ministering to a Samaritan woman in John 4:23, 24 when He said “Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Notice the end of verse 23. It says that the Father SEEKS those who worship in Spirit and in truth. He created all that is so He can have relationship. We can’t sincerely worship something we do not intimately know. He seeks those who will walk in this relationship – in His presence – every day. That’s how we begin to know Him – to hear His voice – to touch Him and be touched by Him.

Elijah

What can I say about the last month. God truly blessed us with a beautiful grandson on December 4th. Elijah James Russell came into the world wonderfully made and perfect in every way...then Satan came in to steal him away. Elijah walked into the arms of Jesus just two weeks later. It was a hard fight. I came out of it with what felt like a few bruises, but let me tell you, I left my mark on him as well. I may not have been much of a threat in the past, but he knows my name now (Acts 19:15). I couldn't be more proud of Aaron, Katie, Glen and Mary (Katie's parents) and Tracye. There were prayers and intercessions going up in faith around the clock. Pastor Ron and Betsy, Brendan, Fran, Dawn and Jason were our rocks.

Through all this, my faith grew to levels I never thought I would need, let alone expect to have. God never failed me. His grace was and is sufficient for me. I praise God Almighty for the vacation in Colorado that caused me to get alone with Him; for Pastor Ron speaking directly into my life; and for the time I have had to prepare for this walk in the last months. If it had not been for these events in my life, I'm convinced I would not be walking with the Lord today. My mom's death was hard on my faith...this would have destroyed it. I'm pretty sure that Tracye and I would not have survived this blow...I would have walked away from everything and everyone...I had gotten to that level. But PRAISE GOD, my ROCK, my FORTRESS, my STRENGTH, my COMFORTER, my ENCOURAGER. I know that I know HE LIVES. My founding scripture that got me through the week was from Hebrews 10:26 through 11:3 (Message):

"If we give up and turn our backs on all we've learned, all we've been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter. God has warned us that He'll hold us to account and make us pay. He was quite explicit: "Vengeance is mine, and I won't overlook a thing" and "God will judge his people." Nobody's getting by with anything, believe me.

Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn't touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back.

So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion. It won't be long now, He's on the way; He'll show up most any minute. But anyone who is right with Me thrives on loyal trust; if he cuts and runs, I won't be very happy. But we're not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We'll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see."

My plan at this point is to be around for the promised completion ~ which is the experience of eternal life. I am not a quitter and I have learned what loyal trust is...what an established heart is. My firm foundation is my trust in God!

During the time Elijah was in PICU, we had Brother Kenneth Hagin's healing scriptures being piped into his little body (by way of an MP3 player thanks to Ann). I had a dream the night we finally got the chance to sleep. In the dream, Elijah and I were walking along in heaven, hand in hand, when we heard some voices behind us. Elijah looked up at me with a smile and said "Papi, I know that voice!" We turned around and there was Brother Hagin, teaching a class under a tree beside a stream. What a blessing to know that the two of them are together now.

There may be thousands of reasons why Elijah wasn't healed, but even though he wasn't, it doesn't mean that it was God's will or that He isn't the ultimate Physician. I was praying shortly after the funeral and finally allowed myself to ask God "why?". He told me "There will be a day when I will know the answer to that question, and on that day I won't care. Elijah will be in my arms, smiling and holding my face in his hands, and giving me all the love he has for me." What a day that will be...

Papi loves you, Elijah. I'll see you in my dreams and when I look into your daddy's face. I'll feel the warmth of your love in your mommy's smile and your Nanna's hugs will comfort me until I am able to hold you again at last.