What's your motives for worship?

Hebrews 13:15-16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

    As you look at the power point on Sunday and sing along with the praise band, remember, God is not listening to the tone of your voice or the words you sing. He is listening to your heart. Is it turned to Him in worship and praise and adoration? Or is tuned to the distractions of the world? Are you thinking about His goodness or about the person you promised to meet at the mall later in the afternoon?
    When life suddenly falls apart, people begin to search for answers. At times, it seems as if they are willing to search anywhere but in the presence of God. Many cult's are growing in large numbers, because they see the followers devotion to a unknown God. Meanwhie, we as Christians continually decrease, because the lack of devotion shown to our Creator. This should get your attention, we as Christians are decreasing because we have become totally devoid of God.
    Unless we have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we can’t know our true identity. This is because our identity is in Christ. Each one of us was created in the image of God...not by a human philosophy or culture. We were shaped for His worship, to stand in the presence of God’s holiness and not in the dark, and lonely halls of sin and fear.
    The songs of our lives need to reflect our love and faith in the Savior who died so that we might have eternal life. Praise and worship songs are wonderful to sing, but our heart is what God looks at. You can praise with all your heart, and then be distracted during worship. 
     
When it comes to worship, sometimes we spend so much time on the appetizers that we forget to enjoy the main course.

Giving God your All

 

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 

   Have you ever wondered how an Olympian gets ready for the Olympics?  How about how the way Michael Jordan was unstoppable, even when everyone knew He would be the one taking the "Big" shot?  How in the world does a pitcher, in baseball, hit the tiny target that the catcher provides over and over?  Why does a kicker, in football, hardly ever miss- even with huge men running at Him? All these athlete's are under tremendous pressure, usually inflicted by us.  How do they withstand the pressure?  Why do these athlete's rarely crumble under the strain of it all? 

   All the athlete's mentioned have one thing in common...... they give it their all!  A lifetime of dedicating their mind, body, and soul to accomplish there goal. We could all take a page from these athlete's book. What if we prepared ourselves constantly for the Olympics of life?  Could we reach greatness?  The baseball player that wants to be the "best ever", didn't arrive there over night. The Olympian that wanted to be the "best in the world", didn't reach that goal without a life long dedication to their craft. What if Michael Jordan never spent countless hours working on His craft? Would we have seen Him accomplish greatness? NO! What about the football player, that aspires for greatness? Does it cost Him anything? Can He accomplish this without spending hours in the film room? Could He get by without working out? NO! NO! NO!

   God wants ALL of you. He wants you to prepare for life with Him the way these athlete's prepare for the game. The only difference is.....Your life is not a game. How can you give God your all of your heart, when there is someone you always put in front of Him in your heart?  How can you give God all of your soul, when you let the devil entice you with the things of this world? How can you say you are giving God all your strength, when you work so hard to do things on your own? Is it easy to live for God at a high level, like these athlete's show in their skill? NO? The good news is, God does not ask you to prepare alone. He is willing to be your "personal trainer".  It is going to take a lifetime to polish your relationship wit God, but the longer you try at it, the closer you will get to your gold medal- Eternal Life. Are you willing to give Christ your whole heart? Can you give Him your complete soul? Would you lay down your agenda for God's agenda? The prize for a lifetime of hard work, and dedication, will surpass any of these athlete's achievements. You will be rewarded with eternal life. Are you ready to start your training, or do you just want to sit back and watch the other athlete's receive their prize?

  

Trials and Temptations

James 1:2-18New International Version (NIV)

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

All to often, we have situations in our life that test our faith, our confidence, and even our self control. Many times we fail these test, and unfortunately, some of us turn their backs on God. Read the scripture again! God is not the one that tempts you.
Our savior has provided the clearing for you to be successful in your faith. The choice is yours. You can pass the test, or feel sorry for yourself, and find the nearest person to blame for your situation. The enemy would love for you to fall to his strickery, so he can have your soul. The rewards for enduring trials are wonderful- a deeper faith, closer relationship to God, and a sort of Godly confidence that can only come through the enduring of trials. Trust the Lord for your hope, strength, and perseverance. God is in control. He's on the throne of Heaven, and He waits for you to draw near to Him.

 
Ephesians 6:10
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iyyB0VTuME

DO YOU LOVE GOD?

 

Mark 12:30

New International Version (NIV)

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

I love this scripture! It can evoke a stronger, passionate, relationship with Christ. How often we all fall short of this?  Too often I'm afraid. What does this even mean? You might say "I think about God", "I love my God", "He is inside of me!  What do you love, think about, and invest your time in when nobody is watching? God needs your full commitment to draw closer to you.

Let's break this down together.....

All our hearts-

John 14:20-23

New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

²³ “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

Ouch!  It says if you don't keep God's commands, you do not love God. Does that mean we will never mess up? No! Does that say that you should be perfect? Certainly not, we are all born of a sinful nature, so we will always slip up. The best way to understand this is to apply it to our everyday life. Think about the time in your life that you were in love with someone. You know, the gaga eyes, kind of love. You would do anything to please that person. You never wanted to disappoint that person, because you were in love. Your outward actions described your inward affection for that person. This is the kind of relationship God wants to have with you. So, if you really do love God as much as you say you do, your outwards actions will show your affection for Him. Just as a relationship with a person has it's ups and downs, so will your relationship with Christ. You will get distracted by the things of this world. You will upset Him. You will make Him cry, but just as your mate forgave you, God will always be there with arms wide open. His love never fails, His love is perfect, so it will be up to us.

All your soul- 1Timothy 6:11 speaks about “godliness” ,being devoted to God. It is saying to CHOOSE to love God, an attitude of self-devotion to love. It is an exercising of the will (part of the soul) to love God in all situations of life.  Choose to do what is right and do it with the right attitude.

The feelings (of the emotional part) of a person’s make-up will get out of control without a direct use of the will. Many stay in anger, bitterness, resentment, self-pity, hatred, fear, being covetous and such like because instead of loving God “with ALL their soul,” they have aligned their soul against God. This is confirmed by what 1Corinthians 13 says about what love is: Willfully turning your emotions and attitudes by an act of your will.

Instead of retaliating and showing the person who hurt you “how it feels,” you choose to be kind in the midst of showing them what they have done wrong and how they have hurt you. Instead of giving up hope in a situation, you choose to hope and seek a way through regardless of whether or not it turns out exactly as you want. Instead of choosing to be angry, you choose patience, long suffering and endurance. THIS, is loving God “with all your soul.” 

All your mind-  Our mind is our intellect the place where we analyze, figure-out and plan things. The place where knowledge and understanding are analyzed and manipulated to bring about a conclusion or decision.

Loving God “with all our mind” means:

• That EVERYTHING we put in or allow in our minds is right, true and moral.
• That we align our conclusions and decisions based upon the commandments of God and the written Word of God in all situations.

 All Your Strength- Loving God “with all your strength” speaks of the “ultimate expression” of our heart, soul and mind being released together through our bodily functions. It is the outward expression of what is going on within ourselves to the outside world through our sight, speech and physical actions. Loving God with all your “strength” is not just having a strong determination to do something. It is a combined focused forceful excursion of the activities of the heart, mind, soul and will expressed through the physical body toward something or someone until the goal is carried-out or the situation is turned to your favor. In other words, it is the full energy of your heart, what is most important to you, your emotions, will and reasoning ability. Together, with all your knowledge, wisdom, talents and skills specifically focused to carry something out. We can see a formula forming here: God does not want us to love Him with just “parts” of our being, but  will ALL our being, every single moment of every single day. His Great Commandment for us “to love,” is a display of His own personal love for us.