Receiving real, eternal life

Before I got up and prepared to lead worship on Sunday, I awoke with a verse in my spirit. Turns out, it was Galations 6:7-8:

"Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life." (The Message)

That morning, I was focused on a spiritual harvest - people's response to God in worship. But the question I had to ask myself was, "Have I planted in response to the Holy Spirit or the desires of my flesh?" All too often, we desire spiritual results/life/fruit/blessings while having acted to the please the desires of our flesh. This is where we can come back to the first part of verse 7: "Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest."

It's a simple meditation, but important - we need to plant spiritual seed to harvest real, eternal life. I believe we can do that through prayer, study of God's Word, and serving others (as Paul goes on to say in the same passage). Like Pastor Toran said on Sunday, make prayer and reading the Word your daily practice, and you'll see growth in your life. Grace and peace! - Peter

Through the night

Hey everyone,
As I've been going through a personal trial over the last couple months, God has led me to Psalm 46. It's been an excellent source of encouragement to meditate on how God covers us with His strength. Allow me to share one revelation from verse 5:

"God is in the midst of [His people], [they] shall not be moved;
God shall help [them], just at the break of dawn."

The Holy Spirit pointed my attention to this verse, and I realized that at times we have to endure the night before we see God's deliverance "at the break of dawn." Psalm 30:5(b) enforces this: "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

As we endure through the trials of life, know that God's salvation and help will come - not always when we want, but right on time. Grace and peace...

Worthy

One of the themes I continually revisit in my own worship is the concept of Jesus' worthy-ness. It was a repeated theme of David in the Psalms...

"I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies." - Ps. 18:3

"For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods." - Ps. 96:4

"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom." - Ps. 145:3

Anyone in relationship with God can attest to His greatness. And actually, "Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse," writes the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:20.

However, there is a specific reason Jesus is worthy, and we can see it in Philippians 2:6-8:

⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus fulfilled His mission, giving Himself up to die. Because of that, God the Father exalted Him, and the name of Jesus is supreme. To that Name, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord!

In Revelation 5:12, the angels echo this sentiment:

In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and...praise!"

I Give Myself Away

Hey everyone,
We've sung this song a couple of times now, and it's a great devotional song for the start of the new year. Seems like a genuine worship artist. Enjoy!

Adoption!

This morning I attended an adoption hearing as some of our family members were adopting two girls, a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. We listened as the witnesses (parents, children, adoption agent) shared about the incredible love that has formed in the new family. As the judge finalized the proceedings, he said two things. One, the girls had a new last name. Two, they now belong to new parents. As I watched the four of them beem at each other, I saw a picture of our heavenly Father's love for us. As He adopts us, he changes our name (Is. 62:2) and places us in a new family. The troubles of our past are now in the rear-view mirror, and we look forward to a glorious future. It's great to be adopted!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
1 John 3:1

I will rejoice

This blog entry - something simple, but a necessary reminder. Have you taken time lately to enjoy your life? This question occurred to me recently as our family endured a home renovation project. We were doing a lot of extra work, getting by on less sleep, and putting up with a constant mess. While I always knew the end was in sight, I also realized that life was still going on and we were missing it for those couple of weeks.

How do we enjoy life? I think the answer lies in taking time to be thankful for everything we have and giving time to relationships. The first relationship is, of course, that with our Creator (this is a worship blog, after all)! After that, we'll have everything we need to overflow into other relationships.

Everyone certainly has particularly busy days where they're just trying to stay afloat. Still, let's enjoy God and everything he's given us!

This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
- Psalm 118:24

'Tis So Sweet...

Hey everyone,
A few weeks ago in church, I shared a testimony about a particular song, then played the recording. The testimony is that while worrying about a personal finance situation this summer, my iPod fell on the fall, went into "shuffle" mode, and then...out of hundreds and hundreds of songs, began to play..."'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus..." Convicted, I offered my need to God. When I arrived home, I found a letter from my employer stating I would receive an unexpected stipend in the coming year. What a God!

The recording was made by Shea Norman - click here to view it in the iTunes store.
Grace and peace.