When the Music Fades

John 4:23-24 (NKJV)
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Many times, we associate worship with slow music or song, however the first place worship was mentioned in the Bible, was when the Lord asked Abraham to go sacrifice Isaac. After he arrived the foot of the mountain, he told his servants “I and the lad will go yonder and worship”. 

Genesis 22:5 (NKJV)

5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

Worship is beyond music, it is a heart attitude of complete surrender and obedience to God, irrespective of the circumstances around us.

Another example we see in the Bible about worship is Job, who when he was confronted with the news of the calamity that had befallen him arose and worshiped. 

Job 1:20 (NKJV)

20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

God created us primarily for His glory

Rev 4: 11(AMP)

“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they exist, and were created and brought into being.”

As we walk through life, let us remember that our God deserves our worship and our complete obedience and surrender to him is an act of worship.

Romans 12:1 (AMP)

Therefore I urge you,  brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

Song

When the music fades 

All is stripped away, 

and I simply come 

Longing just to bring

Something that's of worth

That will bless Your heart

Bridge:

I'll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself

Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

Chorus:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about You, all about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

When it's all about You, all about You, Jesus

Matt Redman

The Transforming Power of God’s love

John 15:2 (NKJV)
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

God’s purpose for us is to be transformed into the image of His son – Jesus

Romans 8: 29 (NKJV)
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren

As we bear fruit in the kingdom, there comes a time, when our loving Father begins to prune us, the result is to bear much fruit for the kingdom. Read post on Fruitfulness

In our walk with God, certain areas of our lives that do not conform to the image of Christ would be highlighted, when the light of the Holy Spirit begins to shine in those areas, our response is to yield and not to make excuses. As we behold him, we are changed.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
He loves us too much to let us continue with our selfish ways.

Song for the day
Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I found in You.
And Lord I've come to know
The weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love.

Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side.
And as I wait
I'll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love.

Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me.
Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
In the power of Your love.

Songwriters
BULLOCK, GEOFFREY/BULLOCK, GEOFFREY

The Word of God

Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Photo credit: http://www.truthandcharityforum.org/

I’m currently reading a book “Outliers – The story of success” by Malcolm Gladwell, in one of the chapters of the book, he talks about the 10,000 hour rule, which when applied in learning or practicing a skill, one gains mastery.

As we spend time studying God’s word and meditating on it, our lives begin to change, our thoughts and words changes. The enemy of our soul does not want us to spend time studying God’s word, he will rather us get occupied with “legitimate” things than the important thing which is studying God’s word. When Jesus visited Martha and Mary, Martha was preoccupied with serving, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, just to listen to His words.

Luke 10:38 – 42 (NKJV)

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

In my fourth year in the University, I decided to go on a “Bible excursion – reading & studying the Bible from Genesis to Revelation”. That year, my life really changed, I used to have challenges in my thought life. I could think about twenty things in five minutes and sometimes end up confused, especially when I wanted to make a decision. I struggled with my will power but it didn’t work.

As I began to study and meditate on God’s word daily, my thoughts began to change, I discovered that the enemy wanted to occupy my mind with other things than the Word of God, after reading the scriptures, I found myself naturally thinking about what I had read that day. The Word of God became so sweet to my soul, the Lord gave me an unusual hunger for His word.

By the time I got to my final year, my vocabulary and discussions began to change. I remember my room-mate once said to me “Constance, you have a beautiful mind” at that time, I realized it could only be the Spirit of God that had done it, through His Word, if only she knew where I was coming from… 

Ephesians 4:23 (AMP)

23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]

Psalm 119 gives us a bird's-eye view of how invaluable studying God’s word is.

As we face trials in life, the Word of God which we have stored up in our spirits, helps us to overcome, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. You can imagine a soldier in a battle without a sword or weapon of attack, that is what happens when we don’t study the Word, we become easy prey for the enemy.

Eph 6:17 (NKJV)

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Prayer

Father give me a fresh hunger and passion for your Word, a strong desire to study and meditate on your Word. Grant me grace to yield, whenever I’m prompted by your Spirit to study your Word. 

God is our Refuge

Isa 59:19b (KJV)
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

Last week, on my way to work in the staff bus, the enemy of our soul started bombarding my mind, with thoughts of “what the Lord is yet to do for me”, past failures – which God had forgiven me and forgotten about, my inadequacies, etc, it was like a deluge. If I were at home or somewhere secluded, it would have been easier for me to command him to stop in the Name of Jesus, or loudly declare who I am in Christ.

I couldn’t even pray in tongues out loud, because I was in the bus on my way to work. Guess what, the Holy Spirit my Helper, came to my rescue, He said to me, the enemy knows your position in Christ, you are under the rock where he can’t get at you, but can only taunt you.
Suddenly a song swelled up in my spirit and I began to sing… 

I am under the rock
The rock that’s higher than I
Jehovah hides me, I am under the rock
Go tell my enemies, I am under the rock
Jehovah hides me, I am under the rock
                                                     ...Donnie McClurkin

I could sing softly in the staff bus, even though I couldn’t pray out loudly or command the enemy to stop his barrage of attacks on my mind, I’m sure the enemy thought he had boxed me in. It is written…

Psalm 89:22 (NKJV)
22 The enemy shall not outwit him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.               
This happens to be one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

As I continued singing, all of a sudden, there was a great calmness in my mind, all the barraging thoughts had disappeared. I was so joyful, that the Holy Spirit, my best friend had given me another strategy to overcome!

No matter the battles of life we face, we are more than conquerors, the Holy Spirit is always there to help us overcome, we can never be boxed into a corner, He will always make a way for us, Hallelujah!

God Answers Prayers

James 5:16b (NLT)
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Last week, I received a call from a family friend, and he began to tell me what the Lord is doing in his family, the wife had agreed to support him in the ministry, after waiting on the Lord for three years, he now has four children already, a new job, and many more. I was so excited about the news, it was like cold water to a thirsty soul. I have been praying for a long time for this family to fulfill the call of the Lord upon their lives. The Lord has done much more than I asked.

Prov 25:25 (KJV)

25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

I’ve learnt that the Lord never gives up on us, sometimes we give in especially when praying for people and we don’t see immediate results, but the Lord never does, He is patient. He sure answers prayers, no matter how long it takes, His Word would not return to Him void. 

Another family has been blessed with a baby also, been praying for them for four years. It gives me a lot of joy, when I see prayers answered.

Are you believing God for a miracle? Don’t give up, keep trusting Him, He sure will answer you and at the right time. 

1 Thessalonians 5:24(NKJV)

24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 

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Abraham waited for twenty-five years, Joseph for thirteen years, and David also had to wait before He became king of Israel.

The promises of God are yea and Amen. Hang in there, do not give up, the enemy will try to get you to lose focus and doubt God’s promise, but he is a liar and we must not believe his lies.

The TRUTH is that God will answer you. Choose to believe the TRUTH of His Word.

There is Power in the Name of Jesus

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

On Wednesday last week, I was resting in my room in the evening, when I heard my little son screaming, I called his older brother who was playing with him in the sitting room to find out what the matter was.

He told me he accidentally poked David’s right eye with a pen, while playing. I ran out to the sitting room and behold, the eye was bleeding. Immediately, I held him close to me, put my right hand on his eye and commanded the bleeding to stop in the Name of Jesus. I took him to the bathroom and washed off the blood on his face. 

The eye had stopped bleeding, but he couldn’t open his eye, he said “Mummy I can’t see” I began praying in tongues, I called him by his name saying “David, you will not go blind, you will see.” I took him to my room, my mind was racing, what do I do next? Should I call my hubby who had gone for a prayer meeting or should I call the doctor? Which hospital can I quickly take him to that has a consultant ready to attend to him right away. In the middle of all this I kept on praying in the spirit and also saying to him “David, you will not go blind, you will see.”

I gave him some pain medication and cuddled him close to me still praying. Suddenly, he said to me “Mummy I want to play with the iPad.” I looked at his face and there was a little swelling at the corner of his eye, he said “Mummy, I can see now” I want to play. In thirty minutes, he was already playing around the house again, no more bleeding, no more pain, the swelling had almost disappeared. 

By the time my hubby returned from the meeting, we were already asleep. The next morning I narrated to him what happened and he said at about that time, a brother had raised a prayer request for children, that the Lord will protect our children, especially during the summer break.

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I thank God for His faithfulness, and the courage He gave me to trust Him, in the midst of that situation. Honestly I believe the Spirit of the Lord took over the situation. I thank God that instead of fear, I was filled with faith and boldness to confront the situation.

The Lord took charge of the situation when the disciples feared they would drown, He got up and rebuked the wind and there was a great calm. Like my Saviour, I rebuked the bleeding in His Name, and it stopped! My journey to becoming more like Him continues, not just in character, but also in the demonstration of the Spirit and power.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (KJV)
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Let Your Light Shine

Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV)

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14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Lord expects us as His ambassadors to be shining lights in the midst of the darkness in the world today.

How do we let our light shine?

Where there is strife and hatred let the love of God flow through us

Where there is turmoil, let the peace of God flow through us

Where there is sadness, let the joy of the Lord spring forth through us

Where there is despair, let Christ in us the hope of glory manifest through us

Where there is unbelief and doubt, our faith in Him must rise above circumstances

May we become His body indeed here on earth, able ambassadors of the Kingdom of God!

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.