January 10th Reading
I think God is reminding me of something after today's reading and yesterday's word from Northridge's Worship Pastor, Paul Black.
In Matthew 8:2 it stated A leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord if you are willing, You can make me clean."
Yesterday at church the message was about how God is looking for true worshippers. I was challenged yesterday with a statement that said...
"The object of worship is based on what we spend a majority of our TIME, TREASURE and AFFECTION on."
Now I will be honest, I try to regularly listen to God by getting into His word, talk with God, Point others to God, sing to God and Give to God by serving. However I am in a war every stinkin day friends!
I am so easily distracted and can slowly drift from regular acts of worship. Does anyone else drift easily or am I the one and only?
I know Jesus was distracted by the devil on several occasions But Jesus said to him, "AWAY FROM ME SATAN! FOR IT IS WRITTEN: WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY."
I may sound nutty but I have to repeat this many times lately! I feel the more I dream and step out in the will of God the more the enemy distracts me and desires for me to drift!
Drift from the will of God and the amazing DREAMS.
My desire and key word for this year is STEWARDSHIP. If I do not learn to steward the will of God and the Dreams God has placed into my heart I will drift and the enemy will own those dreams!
Idols will rob us of Gods greatest blessings. In Jonah 2:8 it states "Those who CLING to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." In other wards you FORFEIT THE DREAMS God has for you!
I certainly have idols that I need to work on because I DO NOT want them diminishing Gods best.
I began to think about what I worship....
If I worship decorating my house it steals from my other priorities
If I worship DREAMS I may confuse them with Gods DAILY plans
If I worship a TITLE I may miss the towel in which I am to serve and wipe an others feet.
If I worship MYSELF and all I want to do I become selfish and miss Gods best for me
If I worship money I will become greedy.
If I worship power I will become controlling
What do you spend most of your time, treasure and affection on? This will determine what you worship.
Ladies I know decorating is FUN but for me personally I have to be careful that it does not steal from what God has for me that day. I have to be a good steward of the will of God and that means daily I need to Love God with my whole heart(will), soul (emotions), mind(brain) and body(strength). If I can practice to live this out regularly by balancing the fun things in life and the priorities then the DEVIL will not get the best of me.
If I only show up for church on Sunday and then revisit it all the following Sunday I WILL DRIFT BIG TIME!
God wants us to become stewards of His dreams for our lives.
I challenge you to become a true worshipper in 2011.
How often do you get into Gods word?
How often do you talk with God?
What do you worship most?
Start with these couple questions and I promise if you make changes in this area NEW things will unfold in your life. The leper in the book of Mathew had needs in his life that may have been destructive and deliberating. God knew that he was a true worshipper and met those needs accordingly. Like I said God has blessings for you and me but we cannot allow an idol to rob us of Gods blessings!
Happy worshipping,
