God is Eager to Transform Your Life & Situation - Part 2: The Power of Worship

Worship is meant to be transformational. God allows us, even beckons us, to enter into His presence where we connect and become one with Him. In worship we abandon the limitations of our lives and the world around us. We transcend our circumstances and access the throne room of heaven itself. There we meet with the One who loves us and longs for our sincere love, adoration, and praise. As we love Him and worship with all our being (body, soul and spirit) we experience a blessing that is like nothing else in life. He lavishly loves, comforts, and blesses in return.

Our obedience to God makes our praise and worship become an acceptable fragrance and sacrifice before Him. God rewards us for our time, effort and faith in worshipping Him (Hebrews 11:6). Beyond the joy, peace, love we receive from being in His presence we also carry His glory and presence with us after we've spent time with Him. Remember Moses' face which was radiant with the glory of God (Exodus 34:29-35). Worship is indispensable in building a very rich, rewarding and deeply intimate relationship with the Lord.

Because worship causes us to experience God's perfect love, it casts out all fear (1John 4:18). Worship activates and energizes our faith. Because we are in God's presence in worship, He floods our lives with His peace, joy, love, and strength.

Worship frees us from bondages and releases blessing and freedom instead. Worship takes us from the hand of the oppressor and places us in God's protective hands. The devil cannot stand it when we worship God. Satan flees and the dark clouds of oppression leave when we worship. God becomes our rock and high tower. Read Psalm 18.

Our worship touches God's heart and motivates Him to come to our aid. We realize that we are not orphans. Instead, we are sons and daughters of the King with all the rights and privileges. This causes us to walk in victory and strength because we know our God and He knows us - we have His favor and that is better than life itself.

E.M. Bounds once said: "Only God can move mountains, but our faith and prayers move God." Worship releases the Holy Spirit to move on our behalf and causes His anointing to flow into our lives. We can speak a million words to no avail, but one word from God can birth something out of nothing, heal any disease or sorrow, and/or overcome any situation.

When we worship we should boldly and prophetically proclaim God's Word. This will cause mountains to move (Mark 11:23-24), crooked ways to be made straight, strongholds and gates to be torn down (Isaiah 45:1-3), captives to be delivered, healing to flow, and it will literally transform our lives and realities around us.

It may be easy to worship God when we are going well, but it is absolutely necessary to do so when we are going through a dark hour. It seems counter-intuitive to worship in the depths of despair, yet our worship will cause God to break forth the dawn and fortify us with His presence and love until our deliverance comes.

We need to hunger and thirst for worshipping God. Consider David and what he did while in a desert period of his life:

Psalm 63:1-8

 ¹ You, God, are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
   my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
   where there is no water.
 ² I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
   and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
   with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
 ⁶ On my bed I remember you;
   I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
   I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

Worship is one of the greatest ways to become a victorious overcomer in Christ. As we become worshippers, we will know our God with an intimacy reserved only for those who take the time to cultivate it. We will also be transformed by Him, into His likeness, and see Him transform our lives as He unleashes His power and presence in and around us. Let's worship Him with all our hearts and make His courts resound with our praise.

God is Eager to Transform Your Life & Situation - Part 1

Two days ago, while at church, God healed me of a progressive and debilitating injury to my left shoulder that I have had for the last eight to ten months. Healing for this injury has been an odyssey and a process of discovery of God's faithfulness and love.

Just as I had a shoulder injury, all of us have situations or circumstances that beset us and weigh us down. These things make me think about the concept of "entropy" and there seems to be a lot of it in life, things and life itself going from order to disorder, breaking down, etc. Since the fall of mankind into sin (Genesis 2:17), death, which is a form of entropy, is now a part of life, part of the "natural" but broken order of everything around us. Things going from life to death, from strength to weakness. Prior to the fall of mankind into sin this wasn't the case. Originally, God produced life and it was always abundant and fruitful. God's plan was for mankind to live in abundance and fruitfulness - to be living beings, not dying beings (Genesis 2:7)!

Fortunately, God the Father had a plan to overcome the fall and sin. As we know, it was revealed in Christ who came to restore His Father's purposes. In doing so, Jesus came to seek and save the lost. By His sacrifice, we can now enter into relationship with God and receive every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus came to give us life and give it abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus conquered sin and death (Romans 7:24-25). In Him, we too conquer sin and death - "We are more than conquerors through Him (Jesus) who loves us" (Romans 8:37). Therefore, we have the power through Jesus to live this life overcoming the effects of entropy, breakdown, chaos, and death in all its various forms.

Jesus said: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Tragically, we tend to focus upon the ..."you will have trouble" portion of this verse because this is what we experience and know in this life - the brokenness that comes with the fall and sin. However, while trouble is "a" reality, Jesus wants us to experience a better, greater transforming reality. That reality is ..."take heart! Because I (Jesus) has overcome the world."

So how do we take heart? And, how do we move from taking heart to seeing God and His Word fulfilled in our lives and situations? God stated in Proverbs 4:20-22: "My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's (or woman's) whole body." Nothing is more important in this life than God and His Word. He is a God of His Word. He is the Word (John 1:1). As we are in His Word; reading it, meditating upon it, praying over and through it, obeying it, saturating ourselves with it, growing in faith by it, He will perform His Word in us. He will do so because, again, He is a God of His Word.

Notice in the above verse the strong admonition to "pay attention", "listen closely". Often times and unfortunately, there are many things in this life that we pay attention to and ought not. However, we need to understand that nothing is more important than paying attention and listening to God and His Word. Sadly, we often frame our ideas about life and ourselves based upon what we see, hear, experience and think. But God calls us to a higher plane - to frame our lives only upon His Word (Psalm 119:105). We are not to let life dictate our faith or determine our circumstances. Instead, we are to boldly stand on the Word of God and let it dictate to our lives and transform/liberate us FROM our circumstances. As we shut out all the noise, listen closely to God and keep His Word continually before us, (allowing it to wash/renew and transform our hearts (Ephesians 5:26)), it will cause life and blessing to flow to us in every way.

Jeremiah 1:12 states: "Then the Lord said to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it." Our God eagerly desires to perform His Word in us. Do not listen to the lies that say He doesn't care or that His Word doesn't apply in all situations or only works sometimes. God is not uncaring. He is not random. He is a God of His Word. He EAGERLY desires to perform His Word in our lives. We serve a God who is eager, alert, active, and watching to bless His children in every way and in every opportunity, if we will believe and receive it.

2 Chronicles 16:9 gives us a wonderful promise when it says: "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are blameless towards Him." We must stand in unshakable confidence that Christ is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). We can have His favor and blessing as we love, trust and obey Him (Psalm 90:17, John 8:31). He is for us, not against us (Romans 8:31-37).

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). Yes, the victory belongs to Jesus and He has given it to us, to those He loves. Accept it, meditate upon the truth of it, bask in it, thank and praise Him for it.

Isn't He absolutely beyond all expectation? All glory and honor belong to Him.


(Note: This article is part 1 of a 2 part series. In the next post, I will discuss how to maintain a overcoming attitude and conquer every doubt and fear.)

Set Your Face Like Flint and See God Provide The Victory!

Isaiah 50:7-8 – Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

There are many times in life when, through no fault of our own, we are at risk of being disgraced in some very real ways. It can be that we are under attack because of our testimonies, trials in our lives, etc. However, God will not allow His children, who love and obey Him, to be disgraced. We are assured that we have His help.

I recently wrote an article posted 5/9/10 on one of my other blogs (www.thepathoffaith.blogspot.com), titled "God is a Yasad". In that article I mentioned that our God, by His very nature, as well as by His actions, is a deliverer/rescuer. He loves us and promises to rescue us. His Word promises that He is a very present help in our time of need (Psalm 46:1). It also says that the Lord is with us so we don't have to be afraid (Psalm 118:6). And, because we belong to Him, we have the victory (1 Cor. 15:57). In addition, God promises that He will not leave or forsake us (Hebrew 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6). Be assured, God is with us, no matter what the situation, to protect and to reveal Himself to us, even in our most difficult hours.

When we go through seasons where life is on the edge, we must take that time as an opportunity to deliberately and wholeheartedly turn to God. By doing so, we turn away and say "NO" to ALL fears, anxieties, and thoughts of impending disgrace and ruin. If we don't do this, we will be overwhelmed and will succumb. I'm not diminishing the reality, seriousness, or enormity of such situations. However, this becomes the appointed hour in our lives to take a stand and refuse to look at the situation, circumstances and the seemingly "inevitable" failure that we face. Instead, we must only look to God. This is how we set our faces like flint. This is also the essence of faith.

Abraham is a wonderful example in this regard. In Genesis 15, God promises him a son and an heir, Isaac. Though Abraham's body was as good as dead and Sarah's womb was dead, he had faith that God would do exactly what He promised (Romans 4:19). Romans 4:18 says: "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…" Abraham refused to waiver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He promised (Romans 4:20-21).

The stakes were very high for Abraham. What a magnificent promise, yet seemingly so impossible to believe in, at least from a human point of view. Abraham had to choose what or who he would believe in - his fears or God. Abraham exercised some very real courage and chose to fully trust God and His promise, no matter how improbable hope may have seemed for his situation, at that time. By doing so, he set his face like flint against all doubt, fear and unbelief. He was absolutely undeterred in believing that God would be anything other than faithful to His Word. Because of his faith, Abraham received a very big reward. Not only did he receive a son and an heir, but his descendants are as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:12).

Rather than weakening in his faith, Abraham's faith strengthened during this trial, according to Romans 4:20. This verse also says that he gave glory to God, meaning that he thanked and praised God for the promise, even before it was fulfilled. That is biblical faith! It is also the appointed way God has given all of us to obtain our victories. Psalm 50:14-15 says: "Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me".

Just as Abraham was strengthened in his faith during his trial, we too can experience great victory in any situation, no matter how dire, by doing the same. When we do, we will see God do amazing things in our lives – things that will take us to a deeper level of blessing and bring greater glory to Him.

God Wants You To Be His Delight!

Did you know that God not only loves you (John 3:16-17), has forgiven you (Romans 4:7-8), and has a future for you (Jeremiah 29:11), but He also wants to delight in you?

When we turn from our sins and trust completely in our God He sets in motion a whole series of blessings that cannot be contained. First, He chooses to not remember our sins anymore. He literally erases them from His mind and will never bring them up again. Hebrews 10:17 says: "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." By doing this, He restores us to the position of being able to receive from Him.

Second, He makes Himself known to us and gives us access to Him. John 14:21 states: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Third, He restores us and shows us His mercy. Deuteronomy 30:2-3 says: "and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you..."

As a matter of fact, Deuteronomy chapter 30 provides us with a great understanding of the progressive restoration process God places us in when we forsake our sins and turn to Him. The truths in this chapter of scripture provide us with deep insights into the heart of God and His intentions/plans for us.

Fourth, He renews our love for Him by healing the deadening effects that sin has had in callousing our hearts. We don't have to worry about how to love God and how to conjure up emotion and feeling for Him. He is the one who gives us a new love for Him. Deuteronomy 30:6 states that: "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

Fifth, God promises to prosper us and what we do. Verse 9 states: "Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land." Simply everything about our lives is blessed by God because He is a God of all blessing and He shares who He is and what He has with His children who love and obey Him.

Sixth, God promises to delight in us. In other words, He will take great pleasure in us and our lives. Also, He is full of joy for us, and is greatly satisfied with who we are. Verses 9b-10 say: "The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your fathers, if you obey the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul".

God desires, with all His heart, to delight in us and to bless our lives. As we delight in Him, He will delight in us. What a beautiful Savior, what a wonderful God! Read and meditate upon these truths in his Word, be blessed and experience His delight!

The Lord Really Is Our Rear Guard

I've been going through some very real stresses lately that have driven me even deeper and further in prayer. I think I have a pretty good prayer life, but it is getting better.

God spoke to me last night, after a very trying day, and led me to Isaiah 50: 7-8a which says: "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near".

It is a wonderful truth that God will not let His children, who love and obey His commands (Jn 14:21), to be vanquished. He is the one who upholds us by His righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 gives us this wonderful promise and hope in stating: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand". After meditating upon this truth for about an hour, I entered into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. As a result, I truly was not encumbered by the effects of my very trying day. I became victorious because I entered into the presence of the Victorious King.

Isaiah tells us in 50:7b to set our faces like flint. God's presence changes our hearts which, in turn, causes us to change our disposition, which include even our facial expressions. Because the Lord helps us, we must dictate to our natural man/woman (our emotions and will) how it will act, regardless of the outward circumstances and situations. We overcome by entering into God and His Word, confessing His Truths, and then proclaiming it to our circumstances. Either our lives or circumstances (or both) will change because all things come under the authority of the Word, as we surrender those things and our lives to the Father. Watch Him change us and the world around us, when we take our stand on the Word of God.

God is our rear guard, side guard and vanguard. He is the one who preserves, protects, and causes us to live in victory.