Lifestyle of Worship: Die To Yourself...?

When people use this terminology, they may be talking about singing and they may not, but the meaning or point is to create a lifestyle that is focused on God.

When I personally think of a lifestyle of worship, I do fill my mind with worship music because it's what speaks to my soul.
From the time I was young, I was always drawn to music. Though I never really became a "musician" per se, as a little kid, my mom used to show me off to her friends because at a very young age I was doing Elvis impressions and singing pop songs on the radio verbatim.

But a love for music is not what drew me to worship music. What drew me to worship music was what would happen when I would worship God through it.
It was His presence! It was and still is!

When I worship (through music and also read His Word and muse on life with Him in mind) I am focused solely on Him and His presence fills my soul. He begins to take over my thoughts and desires. He begins to give me a Heavenly perspective on my circumstances, my future, my family...

Gal 5:16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."

When I choose daily to give my whole thought life over to Him, I am a different person than the one who chooses not to.
My natural man gives in to temptation, pressures of life, disappointment, anger.... But my Spiritual man is purposeful, thoughtful, loving.

Gal 5:19 "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: [i]immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

But notice this very important key...
The vehicle for ME to "walking by the Spirit" is by doing something that I LOVE! I personally LOVE to worship God through music and other means of MUSing. Those things feed my spirit because they feed my soul...

We have this mentality sometimes that when Jesus said "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me..." He was saying that everything we want or like needs to die - that we're not allowed to be ourselves!
Now there is a truth in that if we're living by THE FLESH, we're not feeding our spirit. But as we read above, the deeds of the flesh are evident.

But He never said "die to yourself." He did not say "who you are - the person that I created fearfully and wonderfully - is worthless." Denying your flesh is completely different than denying your soul!
You were made to worship Him, but you were made to approach Him from WHO YOU ARE. He gave you gifts and talents for a reason.

There's a song we used to sing (and sometimes we still do) called "Surrender" (the Vineyard song, not the hymn) that we used to constantly sing incorrectly.
I would constantly find both worshipers and worship leaders singing the second verse like this:

I'm giving up my dreams
I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride
For the promise of new life

The issue here is that the actual lyrics are actually "I'm giving YOU my dreams..." THIS is the correct approach! He did not call you to squelch everything about you and your passions and start from scratch. But what He does want is for you to present those things to Him as an offering so that He can take those things and tweak them or even bless them!
If I had a dream to become an amazing worship leader or songwriter, why in the world would He want me to throw that away? What makes more sense is that I willingly give it to Him so that He can make it way more powerful and effective than ANY efforts of my own!

We were created to worship Him. But we were not created as lifeless, soulless robots. We were created with passions, dreams, gifts and talents so that we can worship Him from WHO WE ARE!

So what does a lifestyle of worship look like to you? Is it painstakingly boring or hard or is it natural and joyful to your soul?
Consider how you're approaching Him. Ask Him, "what of mine do You want and how can I use it to get close to You?"

Jeremiah 29:13
"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."

He will undoubtedly show you and it can and will transform the way you approach Him and very possibly bring breakthrough in your life.

Much Dialog with God

A young friend that was contemplating being a missionary abroad, remembered my wife had wanted to be a missionary at one time and texted her, asking what changed her mind.

I thought her response was so well put that it was worth sharing:

Much dialogue with God...

-"If everybody goes, who will stay?"

-Realized He has brought the Nations to ME. To my backyard!

-"Blossom where you are planted"... I wasnt accidentally landed in San Diego. it is a harbor city. I have encounters with those from around the globe and because its a vacation spot, many will return with something I help invest into them.

-Me: "I don't want to be just a wife and mom." God:"Why do you despise what I call good?!"

-"Is not America sick and in great need of missionaries?!" and He showed me that it was actually easier to serve somewhere ELSE, that it seems more noble and glamourous to "lay down your life for Christ" there than here, where you don't get the applause for living like a missionary in El Cajon. Where instead you suffer the criticism of "geez why cant you just seem to get it together! Get a second job or something!" He asked me if I can love the sick American culture FOR Him. 

-He showed me that if I go in my youth I am weak and will make little impact. Be a comforter, good but not enough. (offer others survival lifestyle) but if I go in old age (Example: Apostle Paul, or even Al Green) that I've been tested by fire (not burnt by spotlights) and can be sharp and greatly effective. (Offer others power, wisdom, and overcoming lifestyle.)

-I then remembered I was told that in the old days of the church, people were chosen by much prayer and then sent out where they were literally being called. The church would lay hands on them and anoint them to go with the Gospel & the power of His Spirit.

And then, after choosing who would go, there would be those who were called to support them and would give up to half their income in support for their needs.

...a far cry from what happens today!

Therefore, if many go out in the church's weakness, the nations would get our watered down gospel, but if those who are in this for the long haul can stay and devote their lives to the unseen and unvalued job to heal the church and restore the keys of the kingdom back to wherever we were planted (SD for me for now) then those sent out will have the signs and wonders gospel we were intended to inherit!

The time will come when I travel, but for now, my family needs me more. (yea, build a family! It's the laboratory of life!) Now, should I leave them as spiritual, emotional, mental orphans to reach orphans? Or train them to parter with me (while still ministering to others) as they train me to value what our hopes are for those we minister to... to love one another. Family. Restore hearts back to the "Father." His idea was family... A large part of my privilege is to demonstrate FIRST what heaven's ORIGINAL design of family looks like on earth (back to The Garden life) and then to offer THAT to the broken and lost. (You can't give what you don't got!)

Real Love

What does REAL LOVE look like?

We're all familiar with the 1 Corinthians version... Well, maybe we're not. Here, just in case:

1 Corinthians 13:1-8 "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;..."

(By the way, we should really chew on this... DAILY)

But the point at which we tend to let go of love is in the face of adversity. Jesus did not tell us us love our friends and hate our enemies. He didn't tell us to love people until they piss us off or until there is blame found among them or until they've sinned.

The very core of love, much like all of Jesus' principles, is the opposite!

Remember the "love your enemies" speech? 

Well the only way... THE ONLY WAY to see real, long lasting change around us is this...

Romans 12:9-14 "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."

It is to mirror God's covenant love with us. It doesn't end. It is not "fair weathered," but is steadfast and real.

Our Father has not given up on any one of us. But He stays true to His word. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Do not relent in showing the Father's love. Do not give in to the flesh. Do not give up on love.

...because LOVE NEVER FAILS.

The Great Lie

"Original Sin" has had a much greater effect on humanity than we give the devil credit for.

When satan offered the possibility that Adam & Eve could know what God knows, see what God sees and have control over their destiny, it had a virtual timeless effect on us all. (I say virtual because, Jesus and eternity are factors that change the rules.)

I meet Christian after Christian, let alone seekers of truth, that just will not be satisfied unless they understand everything. When they hear the word "faith," the first preceding word that comes to their mind is "blind."

The term "blind faith" is not a Christian term, let alone a biblical one. Somewhere along the line, because people have become more and more reliant on instant proof or personal experience, the everyday Christian does seem to think that we're to follow Christ with our eyes closed. This just is not the case! If that we're true, then we would not be given the bible as a reference of God's goodness! He gave it to us for a reason. It is a God-breathed book of solid truths about His character, yet we still rely on things like our feelings, human reasoning, personal experience or a single preacher. But He gave us His Word as THE standard by which we measure all things. 

What does it say that the definition of faith is? 

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

The words "assurance" and "conviction" are not terms based in blindness or even the unknown. It's based IN the KNOWING! 

Yet we need to understand that faith is not a human attribute. It is a gift from God. It is revealed in the hearts of those who hear the good news and believe it. We cannot conjure up greater faith on our own. Faith grows through our allowance of God's continual revelation in our hearts, and that through intimacy with the Father.

The bible says, "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." Galatians 6:8 

We as Western Christians have embraced and even helped reciprocate a culture of sowing to or "feeding" the flesh, to which we see corruption & death. Yet in our own lives we ask "why am I not seeing a breakthrough?" Or we say "I just have a hard time trusting God or everything the bible says."

The first question then is, what are we feeding?

Stepping back, lets look again at original sin. What exactly happened there?

Adam and Eve walked freely in the garden WITH God, uninhibited, unafraid, unashamed... It was a natural, God-centered life. It was a life FULL of blessing because they had FULL access to His provision, His goodness & His love toward them.

But when satan sowed the seed of distrust, it became discontent even BEFORE the fruit was eaten! They had RECEIVED the seed even before their act of disobedience. That  distrust and discontent opened up the possibility that not only was God keeping something from them, but even holding them back from something so much greater - SELF trust, SELF reliance, KNOWING EVERYTHING.

Now before this, had Adam & Eve had enough experience with God to have FAITH in His words over Satan's? We might at first say, no possibly not... But in reality, the primary thing that they did have, again was ALL that He created - the whole earth - was for their pleasure. But that blessing had but ONE condition. "Trust Me." To obey is to trust. To disobey is to distrust.

So what do we say to all this? So what... are we screwed?! NO WAY!

Here's where it gets good... 

Romans 5:8-11 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation..." and so on and so on. 

That cross, on which Christ was crucified, becomes the very instrument by which we are now given full access to that once torn relationship with our Father. That cross becomes our bridge, from the dead, dry and lifeless habitation, over the great chasm created through sin, back into the beauty of His blessing. 

2 Peter 1:11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 

Solitude or Isolation?

Recently I've been coming across friends and acquaintances who have been challenged in one way or another, drawing them to a place of deeper contemplation over life and their place in the Body of Christ, etc. Some of these challenges are encouragements, sort of a "spurring on," and some are very tough trials that challenge their heart or thinking. But the common denominator is that they're experiencing a sort of separation... from friends, family, peers.

Now we do know that solitude in many ways is a good thing. It's an opportunity to be undisturbed, to focus and muse on life, etc.
We know Jesus many times would slip away from the crowd and be by Himself...

Mark 1:35

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there" 

There, Jesus would find solace, direction and most likely some peace and quiet! But we also know of other times when He slipped away by Himself...

Luke 22:41, 44-46

"And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,

and said to them, "Why are you sleeping?"

Two things to note from here...

1. This wasn't just a time of solitude. This was a time of great challenge. Was His faith challenged? Maybe. But the point is that this place of solitude became a place of isolation.

2. Imagine coming out of a time of deep anguish in solitude to find your friends "sleeping," seemingly unaware of what He was going through, let alone caring... That's when it become isolation.

Another example of solitude becoming isolation is in the story of Job.

We know from the story that Job was rich, had many possessions, a big family, and probably a lot of people who surrounded him because of it. (when was the last time you saw a well known rich guy not having people hounding him for money, let alone schmoozing for some place of favor?) 

We also know that God was very impressed with him and showed him off to Satan, whereas Satan of course found an opportunity to do what he does best... torment Job. 

Job lost EVERYTHING... Not only were his possessions and his family wiped out, but he was then given boils! (Job 2:7) Don't tell me that didn't cause a bit of isolation from the rest of society!

But the worst part of Job's isolation was through his well-meaning friends. Job's friends were very quick to offer suggestions of what he must've done to deserve this horrible thing, even to the point of demanding he repent! 

There are a number of stories of God's people in isolation (David, Noah, Paul...) but another worth mentioning was Jonah.

While we know of Jonah's story of running from God, being swallowed by a whale, preaching repentance to Nineveh, etc. we rarely mention how his story all ended...

Jonah 4:5-8

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it . There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant . But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."

Jonah decided to isolate himself and sulk. After all that he had gone through, he still was selfish and indignant over the situation and God rebuked him! (vs. 9-11)

For those of you who've found yourself in a new place - a place of challenge or of hardship - a place of deep anguish and sorrow or a place of renewal - yet, alone... Know this:

Numbers 16:9

"...is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them" 

It is in the isolation that God meets us. It is in the solitude that we can hear Him. It is in the intimacy that we know Him... and we become His partners. We become His trusted ones, because we trusted Him.

What Does Revival Look Like?

"And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed." (Acts 4:31-35, 5:1-5, 11-16 NASB)

**When a unified move of God began, it was a sovereign thing not to be taken lightly. Those who understood it, gave their possessions to the body to be distributed as needed. Not one person held back as they all understood that it belonged to The Lord... Except one. Ananias & his wife, had they succeeded in only bringing their partial offering, it would've become a seed of discord, jealousy and selfish gain. The Father could not have it nor tolerate it.
1. They had to be removed swiftly before it had the opportunity to affect this sovereign move
2. The awe of God, instead, was replaced and increased...
So much so that those who did not understand it, stayed at a distance for fear. Most likely it was a fear of judgment because there was also a fear of laying down EVERYTHING for the sake of the gospel.

People did get saved and multitudes were added to the church, but the miracles and favor happened among those who cashed it all in for the sake of the cause.

There is always a unified community and continued sense of awe when a sovereign move happens. Yet as soon as some hold back or selfish gain enters the picture, it dies off.
There is also always those who never fully enter in for fear, but instead stay at a distance - reaping the benefits of those who've cashed it all in, yet losing out on its fullest life changing potential.

We continue to cry out for revival, but there is a price...
Well, I truly believe we ARE on the verge of a move of God in our land, yet much of the effect will be measured by our willingness to lay down EVERYTHING for the sake of the cause.
Will we stifle what He is doing for selfish gain? Or will He find us faithful enough to sustain it?

Let us seek The Lord with our WHOLE heart.
Ask and find what it is He wants of us. Do not hold back what is already his, but release it to Him for the sake of His cause.
Let revival spread once again in our land & restore us to our God given heritage.

All He Wants is for Us to Truly See Him

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Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart..."

The heart of our Father is one who longs to be seen and believed in. All that He has for us is at our fingertips if we only believe. His amazing love, provision, healing and restoration are ours upon believing and merely asking.

Luke 10:21 “...I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight."

(Anyone who's seen this in full will get this)