Tonight begins Psalm19’s Worship Explosion – a two day event of worship, teaching and fellowship. We have our regular Friday Fellowship tonight (open to all) and then tomorrow have two sessions with lunch between catered by John Hernandez, Chef. It is going to be a grand affair. It is to be held in the Church of the Resurrection Fellowship Hall, due to the availability of a kitchen. It is air-conditioned and a wonderful place to meet for this Summer Event.
Robyn and Diane, an outstandingly anointed and gifted group from the Liberty, NY area will be with us and ministering for the majority of the time. They are an unusual group and you will enjoy the exposure to what the Lord does through them. I have linked you with their site, so you can hear some of their work. Gentle and powerful, lively and worshipful – all describe the time we will be having in our Jesus.
Lauren Godfrey will be doing some mini-teachings (short in time, but powerful in anointing) between the worship sessions. If you are in our area at all, or are willing to drive a couple of hours, come on and be blessed with this very special Worship Explosion!
I will be present, Lord willing, and enjoying seeing you there!
A few weeks ago when my daily reading schedule (Bible) had me in Joshua 1, the Lord reminded me of His instructions to Joshua about being successful as the leader of Israel were not simply suggestions to follow. They were directives. If Joshua was to be effective as a leader of the army, nation, people of Israel these things were required:
6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” NKJV
Now I have read this over many, many times – yet when the Lord instructed me about it, life came and understanding came. Joshua was to consider what God said as his own thought and mediation subject matter. His mouth would follow what His thoughts consumed. It is always true: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” He was to be consumed with the thoughts, spoken and written thoughts of God in the Scriptures.
Current events of our day are not to be our concern (that sounds almost like blaspheme). My families’, friends (or whomever) problems, the fear that everyone fears; on and on. We all let these matters consume our thoughts, emotions and energies – yet we can do little about them. However, when we take the instructions to Joshua seriously, everything changes and the future opens into a backdrop for the action and power of God in and through all.
I am working on this – remembering these are instructions for success – not suggestions for success. The work of the Kingdom in our hands is to be successful – there is a way.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.”
1 Timothy 2:1-6
Precious Prayer Warriors and Co-Laborers in the Kingdom,
We celebrate our national birthday tomorrow and it is big in me that we do so according to the Word. Let’s not make this a political rally day, but a day of prayer for our country and for her leaders according to the Word.
In Acts 23 when Paul reacted harshly to a leader who turned out to be the current High Priest, he was rebuffed by another leader. Paul let them know he did not know the man was High Priest and then he said, “…for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.” He was quoting the last part of Exodus 22:28. Now Paul continues that for us. We are not to be like the people without such a wonderful God who will work all things for our good and His glory; those who complain and rally against people in leadership. For we have a God who hears our prayers and honors our walk – in fact He walks with us.
So if we are not to be complaining about our leaders and not complaining about our lot in life, for that is what we have in Jesus, what then are we to spend our time doing? I think the Scripture is clear, “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority;. . .” It is not about who is right or who is wrong. It is about trusting the Lord – even with the politics of our nation.
Beloved, our instructions are the same, no matter what country we live in. We are to pray for our leaders, obey the laws (as long as they do not conflict with the Word), and pay our taxes. Beyond that, do as you are led in voting etc… But we must not be those who cause division in the Body because of our own political beliefs. The Roman Empire, under whose flag the Church first began, was a very godless (every god and every king was god), immoral, wicked nation, with wicked, wicked rulers. Yet, Paul gives these instructions to the first century Christians. Pray, trust God. They were never taught to be a part of a political movement of any kind. One can certainly run for office – if the Lord so leads, etc…. According to the Lord’s leading is the way we live life.
However, we need to celebrate what our God has done with our freedom all these years – the missionaries sent, the people saved, on and on — not be complaining about the leadership He has appointed. (Romans 13:1)
I say this in love, Dear Ones. Let us truly be people of the Word – in our speech as well as in our mission zeal.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6 NKJV
I have purposely made the word “together” bold in the quote above. As I was reading this section of scripture this morning, I noticed that this word was key in understanding the entire passage. The emphasis is that this was done, not just for us, but with us. We are good to understand these things were done by our Lord Jesus Christ, for us. However, this is not what the passage says. These things were done “together,” that means “with.”
When I understand something wonderful was done for me (and we do have that in scripture), then we can be eternally grateful and live in reference to the action. However, when we begin to understand and receive that these awesome things were credited by God – seen by God – counted by God – as have been done “with” me. It was not a separate action apart from us, but an action to produced for the Father many children who had died (2 Cor. 5:14), been resurrected, and empowered to live a life of divine royalty based on the work done in them through Christ Jesus. “…and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:15)
It seems, it was not our Father’s intent to make us forever grateful only. But instead to create for Himself “one new man” (Eph. 2:15) able to interact with Him face-to-face, with the power of God released through mortal flesh. Moving into our inheritance as His sons and daughters, fully empowered to live and move as He does in this world – is a trust in the Word that is seldom seen – certainly not generally lived in.
I believe the Word of God. My call in life is to teach what this Word says. These words are true words. Lord enable us to enter, to receive, and then to walk in the faith that releases your sonship in our lives.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 KJV
I am amazed at how much in my life does not build faith. All of us read, watch TV, engage on the net, on and on – and of course none of that is wrong – but neither does it build faith.
Now the personal interchanges we have, may indeed encourage us toward faith, but the only thing that will build that trust in Jesus is deeply hearing His word. That means more than skimming it, or hunting through it to teach a lesson, or just reading — all of those help, but will not in and of themselves build our faith. We must actively engage ourselves in the process – allow our lives to rest on the Rock which is Jesus, and receive His words as true. Our circumstances will lie to us. Much about us (including the news) will interpret matters wrongly.
He is truth and faith in that truth is found through an active engagement in His word. This is not a dull exercise – but a Spirit breathing matter which brings life. May we actively engage in His Word, whether by memory or by reading and registering what is being said. May we saturate ourselves with His truth, so the lies that surround us become a dim voice while the truth in Him becomes the loud roar of reality.
We had a wonderful retreat at Stella Maris Retreat Center last week. I have developed a couple of slide shows for those who would like to see the day in picture form. Diane Hernandez does a fantastic job of recording our events in photo. We are very blessed to have such a history in pictures of the work the Lord is doing in and through Psalm 19.
Lauren led the worship ensemble for the morning session and I spoke. Tina Hook led the ensemble for the afternoon session and Lauren spoke. The entire day was wrapped around Psalm 91 and choosing to believe the word of God.
How blessed we are to have such joy – worshiping Him and teaching His word.
I tried to put it here, but no soap, so you will have to go to the Psalm 19 web site to study with me. Several of you have been wanting to be present at our Friday Fellowship meetings but are not able to do so – some due to several states between us. So just go to this page, get your Bible, notebook and plan on studying with me for a bit. http://www.psalm19ministries.org/psalm19ministries/Videos.html
Mannaword 