Yesterday morning I went to see my 2nd mom–Lois, my prayer warrior. It only seemed fitting to spend some time with her and her graces since it was mom’s birthday. The day will come when I’ll lose her too for she is already 93 and her birthday is next month. It is so rewarding to have a “mom” you can go to and share the deepest parts of your life and with that, still be loved. I had longed to be able to do this with my own mom. So, God in all of His goodness, gave me Lois. She says she loves our visits and it does her heart good. Maybe this is true, but all I know is how grateful I am for her presence in my life and her permission for me to call her my second mom.
With all of this now written, I got up early today with a good deal on my mind. As I began to journal I had the worship music playing, but my mind was filled with the “worrisome content”. It was then I heard that “still small voice” telling me to stop and let my spirit worship with those providing the worship music I was listening to. So, I did just that. My spirit began to rejoice and the concerns were replaced with trust. It is simply amazing that when our spirit takes the forefront of our mind, I immediately want to surrender it to God’s Holy Spirit–they jive. My spirit knows the weakness of my flesh which my flesh sure doesn’t want to admit.
God is just so AMAZING!
I cannot even begin to describe in words this morning the joy of sitting at my desk and worshipping Jesus with worship songs playing in the background. I had thought it wouldn’t be any big deal to be gone 10 days without this blessing, but I was so wrong! Starting my day in my head rather than in spirit with Jesus is like nothing I can describe. God’s Holy Spirit so wants to join my spirit and yours too. I just cannot create in my mind what takes place when my spirit is awakened to Him.
As I began to read in I Peter this morning, Peter writes in chapter 1:5, …who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”; it stood out that we are shielded by GOD’S POWER. This power comes from God’s Holy SPIRIT.
I wrote only a month or so ago about starting my devotional time with worship music. Well, I took a 10 day break from it and I don’t ever want to do that again. Our minds cannot wrap itself around the truth of scripture for the truth is found in faith, trust, hope…. Only in these spiritual pillars can one find the POWER God promises to us. Our spirit recognizes our frailty in flesh our mind doesn’t want to admit. When we worship in spirit God’s Power becomes ours!
Lesson learned.
As I have the counseling sessions during each week I often remind the client how important it is to live in today. If we allow our minds to wonder/worry into the tomorrows we will be quickly consumed with the “what ifs” the tomorrows carry. Then I sit down this morning and begin my worship music playing in the background and start my journaling. I can’t connect to the worship because my mind is consumed with the tomorrows for me. I even listed them so God “would know what they were”. It was then I was reminded of my own words of advice–stay focused on today for God will take care of tomorrow when tomorrow is today. It was at this point the worship music began to enlighten my own spirit so I then worshipped.
God is so worthy of my worship–our worship. How much I have neglected this critical ingredient in my spiritual walk. I have lived in my recent past thanking God when He and I had a genuine worship moment. Never did I expect that this would become a daily time when God’s goodness would spill over me as I recognize Him in humble worship!
Worship is a powerful tool that I believe is so under used and understood. I am only beginning to see the critical importance of it. I’ve always loved worship music and worship time during a church service, However, having daily worship incorporated into my devotional time has taught me about “spirit” I never had thought. I use the word “thought” because I have always done my devotional time through my mind which is always thought about connected to flesh. It controls my body’s functions and it also mostly controls my actions. So, as I’ve added worship to my devotional time, I now am beginning to find what it is like to have this time controlled by Spirit which is eternal and is so much more powerful than my mind. When spirit takes control of this time my mind relaxes and releases the concerns it has. My whole body just relaxes and I find rejoicing so easy because I just want to rejoice instead of being anxious over anything. One other thing is that the messages for the day become clearer.
God’s Holy Spirit and our own spirit have always seemed mysterious to me even though I knew beyond any shadow of doubt that they were real. In spite of this knowing, I’ve relied on my mind to understand as best I could. Well, understanding Spirit is far more about what scripture has always taught us to do–TRUST, have FAITH, BELIEVE. This is spiritual language and today this language is growing for me!
I don’t know about you, the reader, but I have to admit my human weaknesses far more often than I wish were true. This morning as I was having my devotions I was reminded by Jesus that it is one thing to confess my weaknesses, but along with confession I must make a plan to address them. Then I was reminded that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). If I have faith that I can overcome my weaknesses but I don’t put effort into it, I am simply stuck with the weakness/es.
I attempt to give thoughtful advice to those who come for counsel. And, every once in a while, I am reminded that what I had just said, God wants me to put into my own practice. I then have to tell the one sitting across from me that “we can work on this together”.
As I have added worship music to my devotional time I am finding a renewed effort to confront flesh with Spirit. As my spirit awakens through worship it is accompanied with a passion beyond myself that I know is God’s Holy Spirit. He is the very One who will fight this battle, weakness, for me as I release my struggle to Him through my worship of Him. Worship is far more than singing a favorite chorus or hymn. It likely starts there, but God’s Spirit speaks to us in these times if we allow ourselves to listen. I am a newbie at this, but I want to continue growing for God’s Holy Spirit to be in full control of my everyday life.
What in the world would we do without Jesus? As I’ve listened to the worship music this morning while having my devotional time, I’ve needed to just stop and let the spirit of worship sink into the depth of my being. Jesus–there is just nothing like him except God Himself and The Holy Spirit. The one exception is that He came into our world just like you and me and He did it all just for you and me. There just isn’t any greater example of love than this!
Helping others find Jesus in the midst of their strife is a commitment I’ve made in stepping into this counseling world. However, I’m also finding that keeping Jesus in the center of my own self is a critical element. How can one help others if Jesus isn’t the center of oneself? Starting the day with worship music playing in the background of my devotional time has been a game changer for me. If you haven’t listened to “I Speak Jesus” then please dial it up on YouTube and let it minister to you. It speaks loudly the entire purpose of living out the life of a christian in the name of Jesus! “I just want to speak the name of Jesus!”
As our small group of men met yesterday morning we began a lesson which needs to be done in two sessions. It was just too deep and too much to complete in one session. The topic is bringing the importance of worship into one’s worship and warfare praying. This very topic is what I have truly never understood until I started experiencing it. Starting my devotional time with worship (songs of praise and thanksgiving that quiet my flesh and allows my spirit to be overtaken by God’s Holy Spirit) has awakened me to a reverence I’ve only known once in a while through my lifetime. I’m now beginning to see my need for this worship each and every day. Being in spirit while I read God’s Word allows HIs Holy Spirit to bring meaning to the Word I’ve missed so many, many times. What is even more humbling to me is the tender, intense solidity of God’s Spirit’s grounding. As I pray I don’t need to pray in fleshly hope, but in the hope of assurance God IS in control of every aspect of life–not just for me, but for everyone for which I pray.
I hate to confess this, but I need too. As much as I love music, I even more so love quiet. Starting my devotional time with a worship song/chorus seemed invasive and I wouldn’t do this at first. Lately I’ve taken the step to do what the assignment said rather than avoid it. This simple step of obedience has been overwhelmingly insightful. In so doing I now know what entering into genuine worship during my devotional time does. It transforms this time into much richer meaning and confidence for what God wants me to know from Him. This carries into my day even when my flesh wants to control a portion of the day.
Oh, the importance of simple obedience!
I wrote yesterday about the session in the morning would be the last one for the week re-engaging all of them. The session was with the young men I’ve written about in past using the material titled: Every Man A Pure Warrior. The lesson title was Aggressive Worship. That title bothered me somewhat in that I’ve always seen aggressive as a negative rather than a positive. Doing the lesson ahead of time was enjoyable, but going through the lesson yesterday brought about some awakening I have needed all of my life.
Worship has always been an important time for me. It is easy for me to lose my flesh self momentarily and let my spirit soar praising God and letting His Spirit be mine. A line in the lesson said, “Offer your body and body parts to God as an act of worship and clothe your body with the armor of God.” During the lesson time we discussed the part of clothing oneself with the armor of God as a part of worship. I’ve never once thought of this act as a part of worship until this became a talking point. This morning while journaling I was expressing my question mark to Jesus. It was then He pointed out that when my spirit joins The Holy Spirit and I allow the Holy Spirit to be my spirit I begin the opportunity to do as the phrase above says–offer my body and parts to The Holy Spirit which then allows Him to be my Armor of God. If I have this right, it is in Spirit I find strength of God becoming my own strength. I’ve never found God’s Strength maintained when I approach it in my flesh–my mind. It is when I approach this in my spirit that I find God’s Strength. Good grief, God is Spirit so why has this been such a mystery until now? I’m going to be spending a good deal more time allowing this to manifest itself in me.
Well, the journey does continue!
Living the life of an heir rather than an error.
Earnie Lewis 