Saturday, April 25, 2009

A Victory Celebration




This is such a great song. For me I just needed something fun and uplifting today. Easter Sunday was amazing! Our service was awesome and then spending time with family and the great weather was an added bonus. Then comes Monday, and back to the grind. Well I wanted to have a good attitude and so I thought singing a New Hallelujah song would be a great start.
Maybe you knew this verse was in the Bible but for me this was an exciting find.
Let look at Ps 149:1
Sing to the Lord a ______ ____________
Is that not the best!! I was so excited to find this verse. God is so Good!!
I want to share what is written in my Bible as the theme of this verse:
Word for Word it says
A victory celebration. We have the assurance that God truly enjoys his people. That is great news.
Lets read all of Ps 149 and look at how we can praise our Lord
Check out three ways we can praise our Lord according to Ps 149
1.
2.
3.
Do you ever get caught in the moment and start singing in your car or at home. Do you ever start dancing?
Ps 149: 3 Lets praise him with _________
Have you ever been at home or at church were you let all the walls down and praised him with dancing?
If not would you want to get to the point where you could start dancing if you were lead to do so?____________________________
I know for me dancing and music in my house go hand and hand. We might be listening to praise and worship music or head and shoulders knees and toes. Kids love to dance and I have to say so do I. Now I am not one to dance in public but I wish I was a little more child like in that area. When we are singing certain songs at our church the kids are dancing and they could care less if people are watching. It is funny how our kids can sometimes set the example of being Christ like.
Lets look at verse 4 why might we want to dance and give praise to our Father?
He _____________ in us. He crowns the humble with ________________.
Two great reason for reverence and praise.
One of the things that has been pulling at my heart lately is genuine worship. Lets close in prayer and ask the Spirit to open our eyes and heart to how we can drop the walls and just focus on him and not the others around us or the stuff in our lives.
I hope you have a great day and Sing a New Song to our Awesome Lord

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Genuine Worship


Take a minute to listen to this great song and have a minute of Praise and Worship
Genuine worship
Don’t we all need a New Hallelujah at one time or another.
So were you ready to stand up and praise or raising your hands .Genuine worship does not require that we raise our hands but it does call for us to follow the spirits leading. Be open to that as you listen to this song if you feel led to stand and lift your arms or dance do so. Follow the spirits leading and you will be blessed!!

Lets look at Luke 19: 40
Who will cry out if we don’t________________________
I have to be honest and say that some weeks in my life the stones have cried out. In those weeks my time in worship is little and the time I do give is not in completely focus on God. How can we prepare our hearts for genuine worship?

I don’t think there is a magic formula and I think what works for me may be different for what works with you.
I know for me that prayer is a big part of preparing my heart. The reason I starting writing is so that I could share with others what has worked for me as a distracted Wife and Mother. Listening to a song before my quiet time helps me put the distractions behind me and gets me ready for my quiet time. While listening to the song my mind might still be thinking about 10 different things but then after I pray and journal my heart is ready.

To end the day lets look at a few verses that have the same message and yet are the heart of how to truly worship. Write down one or two words that stick
Matt 22:37 - What is our instruction from Jesus?
Verse 38 says this is the _______ and greatest _____________
Deut 6:5
Deut 6:6 Says that these commandments are to be upon our ________

If we are called to Love the Lord with all of our heart soul and strength I think that includes are praise and worship time. Together this week lets give him our all. I know that I can only do this through the work of the Holy Spirit so lets pray:
Lord
I am so excited to be in your word and to be reminded of what you have called me to do. I do love you and yet many times I don’t praise you with all of my heart so or strength. Spirit help me this week and forever give my heavenly Father the praise and love he deserves. I LOVE YOU Lord

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Voice of the Savior - Mandisa





Fill my cup
Today is Tuesday about 1:30 and I have to say I’m feeling pretty good, energized and ready to tackle the rest of the day . My girls are napping and I am having a little snack. I have about 1 ½ of quiet and I am trying to decide what to tackle first. Laundry is calling my name, emails to answer, I need to call Shannon, or should I go pick up my room? The list could go on and on. Even as my to do list calls my name I know in my heart what is more important. I need quiet time with my Lord I need him to fill my cup. I am filling good right now, but I know from past experiences that if I go on my emotions I’m in trouble. When 7:00rolls around I will be feeling very empty. To be honest I will be feeling tired and frustrated about 5:00 and that is a few hours from bed time and not to mention tired is not an option at dinner time.
The other option is for me to fill my own cup and sometimes that seem faster and easier. I would fill mine with chocolate and coffee and then maybe an email and then more coffee ….. This will keep me going for a while and maybe even for a day and then I am bound to crash. The sugar buzz and caffeine will wear off and then I am back to the core issue. The world has a way of emptying us and we will try to fill our cup with something , but something isn’t good enough. We need to be filled with our Fathers word.
When I take time to go to the Lord what will he fill my cup with? As I took a few minutes to look this up in his word this is what I found and what he revealed to me:



1st He will fill us with his Love
God is love so when we seek him and asked to be filled he will give us what he is LOVE
Again it will take time but if we are tuned in and take that time with him his love for you and I will be evident.
Check out this verses and get ready to be filled:
Zephaniah 3:17
Roman 5:5 - Where does he pour his love?
Eph 3:17-19


2nd His mercy and Grace in our time of need - Heb 4:16

3rd He fills us with the Holy Spirit - Gal 5:22 - We get many things from the spirit and I feel that daily I need to remember that the spirit lives in me and that all I have to do is ask. Also the more time I spend in the word the more I see the fruit of the spirit in my own life.
I can be pretty impatient, but when I am in Gods word I am continually reminded that it’s God time not my time.


4th Peace and understanding Phil 4:7 Says That the peace of God which transcends all understand will guard our hearts and your mind minds in Christ Jesus. How do we get this peace. The answer is in verse 6 - but in everything with prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. So God will fill us with his peace when we go to him with prayer and thankfulness.


So if we take the time ask God to fill our cup his word says that he provides love, mercy, fruit of the spirit, peace and understanding. If we try to fill our own cup it might me full for a few minute, hours or even a day but at some point we will burn out and when we do there is usually a crash involved. So lets go to our Father and ask him to fill our cup with what is good and right for his Kingdom not what we think is on our daily agenda.


Lord,
I need so much more of you and less of me. I need my cup filled with you. Help me to focus on you and not on my to do list or on the challenges of today. Lord sometimes my quiet time with you seems impossible to fit in and yet I know that I need it please open time in my day to focus completely on you. I love you Lord and thank you