The Power of Worship

The Holy One calls me this morning and I find that He has placed a song in my heart. This is odd for me since  I have no great voice for singing and  since the trials of my life weigh so heavy upon me.  But there is  song...and it is worship.  A little off key and not too melodious in expression, yet a song none-the-less.


The Holy One has over and over taken me through the battles I face, to the great battle Jehoshaphat was facing in 2 Chron 20.  Spoken by the Spirit through a Levite in the great assembly, the Lord told King  Jehoshaphat and all who lived in Judah and Jerusalem, "Do not be afraid nor discouraged because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours but God's."  He went on to describe the Lord's directive, "tomorrow march down against them."  He told them where the enemy would be.  He affirmed that they would not have to fight this battle.  He told them, "take up your positions and stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.  Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged, go out and face them and the Lord will be with you."


So convinced of the Lord's promise of victory, King Jehoshaphat declared to the people the success that their faith and God's Word would bring.  After consulting with the people, it was decided to appoint men to sing praise and worship the Lord for the "Splendor of His Holiness."  Those worshipers went out at the head of the army, singing "give thanks to the Lord for His love endures forever."

What a unique strategy for battle, sending men out at the head of the fighting men, armed with praise and worship to the Holy One.  Arms lifted up, not in defense but held high in praise.

When facing such a potential for destruction and even annihilation, how amazing that the people were, given over to praise and  given victory without a sword leaving it's sheathe.

The scripture says that while God's people began to sing and praise Him, the Lord set ambushes against the 3 (not just 1) armies coming against His people.  The Holy One has shown me a great weapon in the war, a powerful weapon with which to enter a "battle" against evil and that powerful weapon is worship

The song He has placed in my heart will grow and become a symphony of praise.  Prayerfully my voice will improve through use, but the most overwhelming point He has made to me today is that worship and praise belong to the One who calls me to battle for His Honor and His Kingdom.

As a battle strategy,  the praise of God's people was simultaneous  to the Lord setting ambushes for the enemy's armies, all of them.  Praise keeps our eyes on the Splendor of His Holiness and off the threats that the enemies of our life are trying to impose.

Praise is our labor of love while God does what we cannot.

Praise is a hard thing to remember to do when it seems that evil is compressing us from all sides.  But praise and worship is the one thing that can catapult us out of our despair and into the very Presence of the One who holds all things in his loving and capable hands.

Expending my energy in praise and worship while God fights the battle, is an amazing strategy for victory.  I am so thankful that He has taken me to this place. 

Our God is worthy of all our praise, just because of Who He is, but then to realize that our praise to Him defeats the dark forces arrayed against us makes for a double portion of delight. 

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."  Psalm 37:4  No wonder there is a song in my heart......

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

Intellectual Faith***

The Spirit calls to me from deep within my sleep state.  The first  thing I hear is, "Beware of intellectual faith".....As I am getting my first look at the clock, it is still dark outside, but the Holy Spirit continues...."the faith that remains in the mind only....the faith that comes out of knowledge brought to the mind but never makes it into the heart.  The "knowledge" of God is different than the "experience" of God." 

As I began processing His profound statement, I realize that for faith to be real, it must have personal experience from which to draw.  Each one of us, called to live a life of faith, must have a personal experience with our Lord.  We each must have a personal testimony that brings together all the knowledge we have "about" our God, as we live to see and feel the wonder of a life "with" our God.

The enemy, the ancient foe of mankind attacks the mind and debates the knowledge of the Holy One.  Since the very beginning of man's days upon the earth when Eve fell and enticed the first Adam to follow her lead, the curse we bear is the knowledge of good and evil.

The fruit of that tree opened the door to our minds, where the enemy of our souls could challenge and question our thoughts and plant lies about our Creator that would repel man and separate us from our God.    This ancient foe goes by many names in scripture he is called "Nebo" or "Nebu", the Babylonian god of learning (education) and is found referenced in Isaiah 46:1.

The heart and the mind are two different things and I see that there is knowledge in both.  We can have  heart knowledge that comes from experience, and have head knowledge that comes from a book.  Paul spoke of it in Eph 3:17-19, "and to know this love that passes knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God".

The Sovereign God of all Creation who sits enthroned above the Heavens, desires to be in a personal relationship with each in of us and is willing to orchestrate all the personal experiences we need to have heart knowledge of Him. He has given us His Word, the Bible, but The Almighty has also made the way through the Person and life of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us, His Beloved, to experience and enjoy a personal relationship with Himself.

Jesus came to show us the Father.  Jesus came to assure us that the One who has given each one of us the breath of life, desires to be personal; so personal that He wants to dwell within our hearts.

The indwelling Presence of God, Himself, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, wants to make our heart His home.  The intellectual mind cannot fathom such a mystery.  The Who, the how, even the why is beyond our mind's imagination and the human intellect cannot begin to explain it.  But the heart has the ability to accept it as Truth.

With this mystery that the heart can accept, comes supernatural intervention into our lives that give us our tangible personal experiences with the One who is Spirit.  God orchestrates and ordains the circumstances whereby He reaches into our lives and becomes strangely visible.  The impossible happens, the unlikely occurs, desperate needs are fulfilled where there is no viable means on the horizon. Miracles, we call them miracles and rightly so.

To experience Divine intervention and gain heart knowledge, means that we must live at risk. The human demand for control is turned upside down when God moves in our lives and most try to live within well defined comfort zones.  Trials come and threats to our security abound, but it is at those times when, in desperation, our hearts cry out.  When the human mind has no answers for our dilemma.  When everything we understand with our mind unravels. It is in those times that our hearts begin to know.  As the Almighty begins to act in our behalf, then we begin to gain the heart knowledge of His Presence.

I ponder why the Spirit has brought this up.  I think He is warning about a move by evil in these end times to corrupt the "knowledge" of the Holy One.  I believe the warning comes to make sure my faith is based on  knowledge and experience together. Like the man born blind who was given his sight at the hands of Jesus said,  "Whether he is a sinner I do not know, but what I do know is this, I was blind and now I see."  John 9:25.  Heart knowledge, experience, a miracle from God that changed his life forever.

Are we living in the anticipation of daily miracles, and life changing experiences that are a standard against the lies of evil and doubts about our God?  Are we willing to live at risk so our Lord can demonstrate His Presence in our lives not just for our own sake but for the sake of His Glory made visible to the world around us?   Or are we hanging into an intellectual faith, that won't be needed until the last day we draw our breath here on earth?  A faith that remains within the limits of our human mind and reason, but never makes it to our heart.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Patience In The Process

The Spirit calls to me this morning. A strategic victory has been won and a long standing prayer answered.  The Spirit reminds me that even in the rejoicing over a great battle won, the work must continue until the last day and the Lord Himself returns for us. "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."  Phil 1:6  "Do not grow weary in doing good."  Gal 6:9

His words help me to realize that the moment of great victory in a battle fought and won pass quickly and are to be savored and celebrated, yet are not the end.  Once saved, the battles we face are part of the process.  The ultimate goal is to bring each one of us into the conforming image of Christ Jesus Himself and bring Glory to God in the transformation.

The Spirit calls me to look back over my life and trials.  In each one, the pattern was similar:

The trial hits.  Shock and confusion permeates my heart and mind, the heat turns up, the questions swirl.  God, where are you?  God, why is this happening?  God, what do I do?

But the trial continues.  No quick fix comes.  I gain my footing and get up.  I know myself well enough to understand, it is not by my own strength that I find a place to stand.  It is the Lord Himself who has begun to lift me up.

But the trial continues.  Battle lines are drawn, the enemy of my soul keeps the arrows coming.  Relentlessly he assaults me. God's Word and His promises are my only comfort.  Thanksgiving comes out of the storm for this place of relief.

But the trial continues. Faith, hope, trust, love are all challenged from within my mind,  Even the promises I hold onto seem like dandelions in the wind, blown and scattered.

Then the Holy One finds my ear.  He takes me to the one verse that has helped me weather trials in times past.  Isaiah 54:16.  A familiar friend speaks, "See, it is I who have created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for it's work.  And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc."

Out of context, and all alone, this verse would seem to paint my loving Creator as a cruel and heartless Being, bent on my destruction, sending the enemy on a search and destroy mission against me.  And, the evil one wants me to stop right here in my thinking and understanding of why I am suffering.  The enemy tries to use this scripture to discourage me. For it is, after all, the Word of God.

But as I read on, the hope comes, "no weapon forged against you will prosper.  You will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord".

I am reminded that each struggle, each trial, each battle, each heartache has a purpose and a point know to the One who created my inmost being.  I am a work in process.  I was not born in the image I was destined to have.  Changes need to take place.

Resolution of my trial is not the end goal.  Transformation of my heart and mind is.  The trial is only a means through which the Holy Spirit of Christ can work me into His image.  The "battle"  for me, is the place of perspective, where I must choose priorities and decide what is worth fighting and dying for.

For me, the battle must be fought for the Holiness and Righteousness and Honor of my Heavenly Father, and for the Glory of my King Jesus. 

The trials of life will continue.  Battles will be fought and won.  But the end comes when the King comes.  Until that day, we will continue to be in the process of refinement, in the process of being transformed into the likeness of the King Himself. 

He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Love Requires Performance

The Spirit calls me this morning. In my personal life, much work had been done in my marriage and the covenant of love has been on my mind a lot. The Spirit calls me this morning and speaks of the covenant between my Lord and I. So today, I take the time to remember the covenant I entered into WITH my Savior when I asked Him to BE my Savior.
 

I see how a "covenant" is a mutual agreement between 2 (or more) parties. I see how many have failed to grasp the truth, that the covenant relating to our salvation is a mutual agreement between an individual and the Most High God of all Creation. Many have accepted God's end of the covenant but failed to grasp their individual responsibility in the covenant. I see that many do not see the truth that a covenant is a 2 way contract with obligations and privileges from both parties.

Jesus came to die for all mankind, to pay the high cost of sin against a Holy God. But, each one of us must ask that His death and sacrifice be counted as the one paid in our own personal behalf. Someone has to die for the sin of mankind and personally atone for the personal sin of each one of us who ever walked the earth. Each one of must choose to ask that Jesus be our own personal Savior.


  

Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth and in an outrageous act of love, paid that price for all of us, dying to save each life. God acted out His love for me and I entered into a sacred romance in covenant with Him. Now I must reciprocate acts of love unto my Beloved.

Non believers are not obligated to love God back. They have not yet entered into the sacred romance and Holy Covenant like unto a marriage. But for those of us who have embraced the love of God and accepted the action He took to prove His love, for us, there is an obligation in love, to act out demonstrations of love.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands" John 14:15. "If you love Me". Jesus is Asking all who love Him to act in a way that reflects our love FOR Him.

The Spirit is saying to me, "What will you do to act out your love for Me?"

Opportunities abound in this fallen world to demonstrate and act out our love for Jesus. Do we consciously perform acts of love for our Beloved? Does the world know we love Jesus by our actions and then do they know that we act in such a way because of our love for Jesus, and not just because we are a "good person"? Is our love relationship glorifying the King of Glory who first loved us?

Sometimes I forget in the day to day struggles touching my life, that my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, is looking for me to act out my deep love for Him as I respond in this earth realm to earthly challenges. Some are love actions that come easy but some go so deep that I do what I do only because He has asked it of me, and only by His Spirit living within my heart, which is Glorifying to Him not me.

I am very aware as I look around that many have accepted Christ's promise and responsibility in the covenant I.E. He died to pay for their sin, providing the assurance of Heaven as their final destination, but then they fail to take up their personal responsibility and promise in the covenant I.E to proclaim to the world, Jesus as their personal Savior and also to submit and surrender to Him as Lord and Master, in obedience to His commands.

As the day approaches when Jesus will return to earth for His people in all His Glory, maybe it's time to go back and remember the covenant we entered when we first got saved. Maybe it's time to remember our first love and perform those important acts that reflect our love for our "covenant" Savior.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Responsibility of Maturity

The Spirit calls me this morning, as I look at where I am and ponder why all the craziness is pressing down on me. As gentle as a spring breeze blowing through the forest, the Spirit said,
"It is the responsibility of maturity to model My Son".

The words were not spoken as a challenge for me to buck-up and stop whining. Nor as an indictment of all my past failures and lessons taught over the course of my life. Today, the sweet voice of the Shepherd of my soul, gives me an answer, an explanation and a time to pause in humble gratitude for a new perspective.

True Vine-live is living and growing to produce more fruit, to the Glory of our Father in Heaven. As the years in the Vine pass, sometimes the growth is so subtle that we don't track the reality that we are maturing.

The pruning hurts; the cutting back and off of useless twigs that seem to just appear out of nowhere. That wrong attitude, that deceitful motive, that inappropriate response that grieves the Holy Spirit. Snip, snip, snip. We whine, we cry, we plead for relief, but the work by the hand of the "Tend-er" of our soul continues. John 15:1-2.

Looking back at where we have been and where we are today is the one way to chart our maturity. Looking back one day is not a long time to chart our growth, but looking back one year or one decade and things become clear. The process is agonizingly slow. The human heart and mind takes time to renovate and be renewed.

I am thankful that the One who calls me to "remain in Him" and the One who tells me that "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5), is faithful to continue and complete the work He began in me so long ago. Phil 4:6

As we continue on our Journey with Jesus and growth in the Vine, can we see all the transformation in ourselves and our lives taking the shape of the Son of God? Can others see it in us?

Looking back, I can see it now, and I pray that you can too.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him

A Time To Remember

The Spirit calls me even as the enemy's sabres are rattling in my ear. The battle is raging, the victory out of view, and the lies of evil pummel the battlefield of my mind.

He says, "Come away with Me for a while. I want to talk to you about altars and memorials and the importance of remembering what the Lord has already done in your life."

The old testament is full of accounts of altars and memorials to the Lord being built as reminders for the people lest they forget what the Almighty, Sovereign God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has done for His people in times past. Altars of sacrifice, memorial stones along the way, to identify, celebrate and give praise to the Lord for His Divine intervention, rescue, protection, provision, and promises fulfilled.

Gen 8:20, Noah built an altar after exiting the Ark of his deliverance.
Gen 12:7, Abram built an altar after receiving a visit and a promise.
Exodus 17:15, Moses built an altar after a long victorious battle
Judges 6:24, Gideon built an altar after a personal encounter with God's angelic messenger.

Joshua 4:4-9, Joshua, at the Lord's command chose 12 men and 12 stones to be taken out of the Jordan at the place where the Lord parted the waters and the nation of Israel crossed over into the promised land. The twelve stones were to be a lasting memorial to the people of Israel and that future generations would be told how the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

As I sit in the quiet of His counsel room, the Spirit takes me back in time to previous personal battles, where I can recall amazing miracles of rescue and deliverance by the mighty hand of my God.

A kaleidoscope of life experiences. Trials represent testimonies and year after year, the Lord has provided a myriad of trials and enabled me to gain a storehouse of memories; altars and memorials in my mind and journals that testify of His love and faithfulness.

Today is a day to sit with the Holy One and remember His miraculous intervention and loving care for my life. As I sit and reflect on the past and ways the Lord has brought me though other desperate times, I find the peace just knowing He will do it again.

The battle rages but my heart has peace. The threats of evil are overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.

I am thankful that the Holy Spirit knew exactly what I needed today. A walk through some old reminders of His powerful protection and Presence. I am thankful for all those altars and memorials to remember. For unless I can recall those victories in the past, the current battle might just overwhelm me. How gracious of Him to remind me.

The Lord my God has been faithful over all my life. He never changes so I will not be destroyed. Malachi 3:6

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Where Does Your Allegiance Lie?

The Spirit calls me today as I am watching the shake up of my world. The battle rages and lines are being drawn. Jesus has said, "I did not come to bring peace but a sword" and that sword will divide some of our most cherished relationships. Matt. 10:34.

The question we face is where does our loyalty lie? To whom will we pledge our allegiance when the battle comes to our door or worse yet when it strikes our closest relationships?

We, in America, know little about the "rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world" or the "Spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms" spoken of in Eph 6:12. The strategy of evil here in America seems to be to neutralize the Church and her Warrior calling.

The enemy tries to drown out the call to war coming out of Heaven, with polite and pleasant "works" while administering sleep inducing sedatives. He is deceiving the army of God with perks and benefits that would cause them to trade in their powerful weapons and "beat their swords into plowshares" before time, while the battle is still raging.

The Spirit speaks daily about the danger of "unholy alliances" we are tempted to enter into. Today He calls me to consider the original call to compromise that was made in the Garden of Eden.

Eve was the delight of Adam's heart and made in a likeness of beauty that pleased all his senses. She was given as a gift and the flesh and blood completion of him as a man.

All was well until temptation to disobey God's only command and reject His stark warning was presented and, in an act of her free will, Eve chose the fruit of dark rebellion. Once the act of disobedience was complete, Adam was invited to join in Eve's wickedness and partake of the forbidden fruit.

Adam's decision was a different one. Beyond the forbidden fruit, Adam had to choose between his relationship with His Creator God and his relationship with Eve. Adam's allegiance was tested and it fell to his flesh. We all may well say, "well, who could blame him?" Yet, looking back, generations of people since that day would likely say, "Why did you throw away your amazing life and future just to please your senses?" (For Adam it was an issue of failed leadership but that is a subject for another day.)

Betrayal of the Creator may represent the ancient dilemma that caused the original fall of man, but that is the same dilemma we will all face in our lives today.

Compromise threatens all of us and not just in doing things that call us to repentance. The real threat of compromise is in the place of our allegiance and loyalty to the One who died for us.


The Spirit is calling, asking, in the battle that is raging, "Where does your allegiance lie?" When the sword of Christ begins to divide and decisions of loyalty must be made, where do we take our stand? Does our Lord and Savior have His rightful place in our life and does He have our undivided, unwavering loyalty, where we will forsake all others and stand with Him? Or do we forsake Him and align ourselves with those who walk in the ways of this fallen world?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?