RUNNING FROM A TYPHOON AND GOD'S PLAN
Recently the Lord brought back an incident that happened while I was on active duty in the Navy. We were going to sail from the Philippine Islands to San Francisco harbor. We upped anchor and left Subic Bay and headed north through the Luzon straits and then in to the South Pacific. This was an area where some US Navy ships had been sunk by tropical storms/typhoons in WWII. We had the course set for San Francisco harbor but we were also trying to avoid a Typhoon. We were forced off our course, forced to leave our set course so as to be on the outer edge of the the typhoon. For several hours ( sure seemed longer ) we were tossed around like a cork by the wind and ocean waves, and we were a large vessel. Eventually, we left the typhoon behind and with the help of the technology we had, ie, compass and radio weather broadcasts, we were able to come back to our original course and sailed on to the good ol' USA.
The Lord showed me that He has a plan for me, and for each of us, but the devil tries to get us off course. He buffets us and tosses us around so as to confuse and discourage us.
While we trust in the Lord and put ourselves in his care he will see us through. However, sometimes we allow the devil to keep us distracted and confused about what the Lord wants us to do.
Pay attention to your compass, The Bible, and to the weather forecasts, the Holy Spirit, and you can stay on course.
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Saturday, December 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
WAITING IN EXPECTATION
This morning as I was praying and reading I turned to Psalm 5. It spoke clearly to me. I was praying, sighing, and crying out to God. See what it spoke:
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
Now I am WAITING IN EXPECTATION. He heard me and He is moving on my behalf.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
Now I am WAITING IN EXPECTATION. He heard me and He is moving on my behalf.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
THOSE CLAY POTS
The pots. Six pots, set off to the side. I wonder if we have ever really thought about the pots? Here's Jesus at a wedding. His disciples are there. His mother is there, and as the wedding progresses, they've run out of wine.
One thing we have to know is that in this time period,, to run out of wine during a wedding celebration was a major insult to all the guests. It would heap dishonor on the host, and more than likely the host was a friend of Jesus because...well, Jesus was invited, and you don't invite just anybody to a wedding. So here's Jesus and his friends, and it becomes clear to Mary that they have run out of wine.
Mary, on faith goes to Jesus. "They've run out of wine..." Jesus puts her off. "It's not my time." but Mary, her faith in what Jesus can do never wavering, looks to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." And what does Jesus Say? "Take those pots, and fill them with water."
Take THOSE pots? But what were those pots? If you're like me, you think they were pitchers just like you would normally think you would put wine into. Ahh, but that's not what it says. It says, "Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification..." Those pots would have been large, maybe even about 30-40 gallon pots.The Jewish custom of purification. That means those pots are there for the Jews to wash themselves, to purify themselves in order to be clean enough to share a meal.
Notice. Jesus did not say, 'Take them and wash them with Dawn detergent and then go out and fill them with water.' In fact, He doesn't even mention washing them out first. He just says, 'Take them and fill them with water.'
What does this mean to us today>? It's simple. We are not required to get our act together and then go to God. We are those dirty pots (see 2 Corinthians 4:7), yes, we are those dirt pots - full of filth of our lives, even the filth of our own attempts to wash our sinfulness away with our religions, our rules and our rituals (un-biblical).
Those rituals can never save you. Even if you live by the rule you are still unclean. You still need to wash and to be washed. And then Jesus comes along and without requiring you to get clean first, He points to you and says, 'Fill that one with my water.' The living water that He refers to later on. 'Fill her with my water. Fill him with my water.'
And then, as if that's not enough, He tells the servants to take some of what has come out of those pots to the head waiter who will judge the wine, the fruit that comes from these dirty, filthy, stinking pots. Think about that. All these people have washed themselves in these pots, and now these servants are going to take what they know was dirty water only minutes before to the ultimate judge to seek his approval to share it with the others. Those servants had to be fearful for their very lives!
Isn't this just like you and me? We are those pots, once filthy and dirty, but now not only filled with the living water, but filled with the wine of a new life. And the fruit that has come out of us is now taken to the ultimate Judge. Does the Judge take one sip and spit it out in horror at our filth? No...you know the end of the story. He praises the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last.
Jesus is the new wine. He is the best, and He wants to fill you right now. Not when you get your act cleaned up, not when you've gotten yourself presentable (by your own standards). Right now. He is standing here calling you to be filled with His new wine. The question is: Will you let Him do it, will you do whatever He says, or are you still going to try to do it on your own? It's your choice.
Later on I want to talk about those servants doing their daily routine and what they got to be a part of.
Be filled!
With you on this journey He has set us on.
Troy
One thing we have to know is that in this time period,, to run out of wine during a wedding celebration was a major insult to all the guests. It would heap dishonor on the host, and more than likely the host was a friend of Jesus because...well, Jesus was invited, and you don't invite just anybody to a wedding. So here's Jesus and his friends, and it becomes clear to Mary that they have run out of wine.
Mary, on faith goes to Jesus. "They've run out of wine..." Jesus puts her off. "It's not my time." but Mary, her faith in what Jesus can do never wavering, looks to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." And what does Jesus Say? "Take those pots, and fill them with water."
Take THOSE pots? But what were those pots? If you're like me, you think they were pitchers just like you would normally think you would put wine into. Ahh, but that's not what it says. It says, "Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification..." Those pots would have been large, maybe even about 30-40 gallon pots.The Jewish custom of purification. That means those pots are there for the Jews to wash themselves, to purify themselves in order to be clean enough to share a meal.
Notice. Jesus did not say, 'Take them and wash them with Dawn detergent and then go out and fill them with water.' In fact, He doesn't even mention washing them out first. He just says, 'Take them and fill them with water.'
What does this mean to us today>? It's simple. We are not required to get our act together and then go to God. We are those dirty pots (see 2 Corinthians 4:7), yes, we are those dirt pots - full of filth of our lives, even the filth of our own attempts to wash our sinfulness away with our religions, our rules and our rituals (un-biblical).
Those rituals can never save you. Even if you live by the rule you are still unclean. You still need to wash and to be washed. And then Jesus comes along and without requiring you to get clean first, He points to you and says, 'Fill that one with my water.' The living water that He refers to later on. 'Fill her with my water. Fill him with my water.'
And then, as if that's not enough, He tells the servants to take some of what has come out of those pots to the head waiter who will judge the wine, the fruit that comes from these dirty, filthy, stinking pots. Think about that. All these people have washed themselves in these pots, and now these servants are going to take what they know was dirty water only minutes before to the ultimate judge to seek his approval to share it with the others. Those servants had to be fearful for their very lives!
Isn't this just like you and me? We are those pots, once filthy and dirty, but now not only filled with the living water, but filled with the wine of a new life. And the fruit that has come out of us is now taken to the ultimate Judge. Does the Judge take one sip and spit it out in horror at our filth? No...you know the end of the story. He praises the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last.
Jesus is the new wine. He is the best, and He wants to fill you right now. Not when you get your act cleaned up, not when you've gotten yourself presentable (by your own standards). Right now. He is standing here calling you to be filled with His new wine. The question is: Will you let Him do it, will you do whatever He says, or are you still going to try to do it on your own? It's your choice.
Later on I want to talk about those servants doing their daily routine and what they got to be a part of.
Be filled!
With you on this journey He has set us on.
Troy
Monday, February 24, 2014
DIN'T LET THE DEVIL KEEP YOU IN BONDAGE
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done - and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, debt, fear, hatred, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, pornography, etc.), whatever it is, you need to know that God saw the whole thing. He has seen our whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that your are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you. The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives you, but He forgets.
Remember that is is by God's Grace and Mercy that we are saved.
Remember that is is by God's Grace and Mercy that we are saved.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
WORSHIP
So, I believe that we have established that Praise is different from Worship. They are two different things. Praise is something we do as an outward expression. Worship is something that goes on in our hearts and is not necessarily displayed outwardly. However, it can be, through the expression of words, song, bowing down, etc...that lead us into His presence. To quote David Wilkerson again, "...worship cannot be learned! It is a spontaneous outbreak, the act of a heart overwhelmed by a revelation of God's glory and His incredible love."
I'm going to wind up this posting on Praise and Worship. However, I know that this will be an ongoing series of revelation in my life. I'm going to share some thoughts and quotes here and believe that the Lord will confirm the revelation in your heart as He has in mine.
I am of the opinion that we should separate the phrase Praise and Worship from any musical connotation. While music is an awesome gift from God and a wonderful way to express our love for Him, Praise and Worship are not musical terms.
Pastor Jack Hayford, shared how the song, "Majesty" came into being. I copied this from his site, www.jackhayford.org. "So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne - now! He is fully worthy. "Majesty" is also a statement of the fact that our worship, when begotten in spirit and in truth, can align us with His Throne in such a way that His Kingdom and authority flows to us - to overflow us, free us, and channel through us."
So much more in my file that could be shared but let me add two more things here. Look at the choruses of these Worship songs.
"WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR HOLINESS" by Wayne and Cathy Perrin. "The reason I live is to worship you."
"COME LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN" by Dave Doherty. "Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God and Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hands."
"HERE I AM TO WORSHIP" by Chris Tomlin. "Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me."
I end with this from a friend and fellow pastor. Using the illustration of our triune being and the Tabernacle or Temple, showing the Seven Steps to Worship.
FLESH - Symbolic of the Outer Court
*Door - Flesh enters through the Door - Jesus
*Altar - Recognizing the Blood sacrifice for our sins
*Fire Laver - The Holy Ghost, washing of water by the Word.
SOUL - Symbolic of the Holy Place or Inner Court
*Show Bread - The Word or Jesus revealed
*Candlestick - Anointing, fresh oil daily, and wicks trimmed, the revealed Word illuminated
*Alter of Incense - Our Praise is a sweet savor unto God
SPIRIT - Enters the Holy of Holies
*Worship - God is light, total transparency of ourselves
I encourage you to consider these verses on Worship. Romans 12:1; Genesis 24:25-27; John 4:23-25.
With this I encourage you to do your own study of Praise and Worship. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what it is that He wants you to glean. But more than that, Praise Him at all times and in all places and Worship Him in your inner most being.
This study has been fun, encouraging, uplifting, enlightening, and has brought about within me a strong desire to Praise and Worship our awesome, powerful, loving, etc., Heavenly Father.
Your fellow traveler on this Journey.
Troy
I'm going to wind up this posting on Praise and Worship. However, I know that this will be an ongoing series of revelation in my life. I'm going to share some thoughts and quotes here and believe that the Lord will confirm the revelation in your heart as He has in mine.
I am of the opinion that we should separate the phrase Praise and Worship from any musical connotation. While music is an awesome gift from God and a wonderful way to express our love for Him, Praise and Worship are not musical terms.
Pastor Jack Hayford, shared how the song, "Majesty" came into being. I copied this from his site, www.jackhayford.org. "So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne - now! He is fully worthy. "Majesty" is also a statement of the fact that our worship, when begotten in spirit and in truth, can align us with His Throne in such a way that His Kingdom and authority flows to us - to overflow us, free us, and channel through us."
So much more in my file that could be shared but let me add two more things here. Look at the choruses of these Worship songs.
"WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR HOLINESS" by Wayne and Cathy Perrin. "The reason I live is to worship you."
"COME LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN" by Dave Doherty. "Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God and Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hands."
"HERE I AM TO WORSHIP" by Chris Tomlin. "Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me."
I end with this from a friend and fellow pastor. Using the illustration of our triune being and the Tabernacle or Temple, showing the Seven Steps to Worship.
FLESH - Symbolic of the Outer Court
*Door - Flesh enters through the Door - Jesus
*Altar - Recognizing the Blood sacrifice for our sins
*Fire Laver - The Holy Ghost, washing of water by the Word.
SOUL - Symbolic of the Holy Place or Inner Court
*Show Bread - The Word or Jesus revealed
*Candlestick - Anointing, fresh oil daily, and wicks trimmed, the revealed Word illuminated
*Alter of Incense - Our Praise is a sweet savor unto God
SPIRIT - Enters the Holy of Holies
*Worship - God is light, total transparency of ourselves
I encourage you to consider these verses on Worship. Romans 12:1; Genesis 24:25-27; John 4:23-25.
With this I encourage you to do your own study of Praise and Worship. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what it is that He wants you to glean. But more than that, Praise Him at all times and in all places and Worship Him in your inner most being.
This study has been fun, encouraging, uplifting, enlightening, and has brought about within me a strong desire to Praise and Worship our awesome, powerful, loving, etc., Heavenly Father.
Your fellow traveler on this Journey.
Troy
Sunday, February 2, 2014
MOSES WORSHIPED
I got this over email just this week and it fits right in with my studies on the difference between Praise and Worship. I share this from the late David Wilkerson written before his death in 2011. This is the whole devotion as he wrote it.
When Moses saw the revelation of God's glory - that He is good, loving, caring, gracious, forgiving - he quickly fell to his knees and worshiped "Moses made haste, bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped" (Exodus 34:8).
The revelation of God's nature overwhelmed this man. He saw how merciful, long-suffering and patient God is with His children, including stiff-necked people, idolaters and those who grieve Him. Moses was so stirred by this revelation that he ran out from behind the rock, fell down and worshiped Him!
It is important to note that this is the first mention ever of Moses worshiping. Prior to this revelation of God's glory, we find Moses praying and interceding, weeping and pleading with God for Israel, talking with Him face to face. We hear him singing the Lord's praises on the victory side of the Red Sea and calling on the Lord at the bitter waters of Marah. And we hear his desperate cry to God at Rephidim, when the people were ready to stone him for not providing water. But his is the first time we read the words, "Moses worshiped."
I believe this one verse tells us much about the church today. It says a Christian can pray diligently without ever really worshiping. Indeed, it's possible to be a prayer warrior and intercessor and still not be a worshiper of God. You can plead for your unsaved children, pray for the needs of an entire church, be holy and meek in seeking God's burden - and yet never truly worship Him!
I don't want to add to the multitude of definitions of what it means to worship. There are already too many books published on the various techniques of worship. But, in short, I will say this: worship cannot be learned! It is a spontaneous outbreak, the act of a heart overwhelmed by a revelation of God's glory and His incredible love.
Worship is a response of gratitude. It recognizes how we should have been destroyed by our sin long ago, incurring the full wrath of God for all our failures and faults but, instead, God came to us with the powerful revelation, "I still love you!"
When Moses saw the revelation of God's glory - that He is good, loving, caring, gracious, forgiving - he quickly fell to his knees and worshiped "Moses made haste, bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped" (Exodus 34:8).
The revelation of God's nature overwhelmed this man. He saw how merciful, long-suffering and patient God is with His children, including stiff-necked people, idolaters and those who grieve Him. Moses was so stirred by this revelation that he ran out from behind the rock, fell down and worshiped Him!
It is important to note that this is the first mention ever of Moses worshiping. Prior to this revelation of God's glory, we find Moses praying and interceding, weeping and pleading with God for Israel, talking with Him face to face. We hear him singing the Lord's praises on the victory side of the Red Sea and calling on the Lord at the bitter waters of Marah. And we hear his desperate cry to God at Rephidim, when the people were ready to stone him for not providing water. But his is the first time we read the words, "Moses worshiped."
I believe this one verse tells us much about the church today. It says a Christian can pray diligently without ever really worshiping. Indeed, it's possible to be a prayer warrior and intercessor and still not be a worshiper of God. You can plead for your unsaved children, pray for the needs of an entire church, be holy and meek in seeking God's burden - and yet never truly worship Him!
I don't want to add to the multitude of definitions of what it means to worship. There are already too many books published on the various techniques of worship. But, in short, I will say this: worship cannot be learned! It is a spontaneous outbreak, the act of a heart overwhelmed by a revelation of God's glory and His incredible love.
Worship is a response of gratitude. It recognizes how we should have been destroyed by our sin long ago, incurring the full wrath of God for all our failures and faults but, instead, God came to us with the powerful revelation, "I still love you!"
Saturday, February 1, 2014
WORSHIP IS DIFFERENT FROM PRAISE
I've spent some time on what Praise is and none on what Worship is. That is deliberate on my part as I want to establish that Praise is more an outward showing with hands raised, clapping, dancing, bowing and singing, that is, something we do.
Worship on the other hand is something much deeper. It is where we are offering our bodies, our selves, giving them to God to have His way. Kind of like the Potter and the clay, Clay doesn't tell Potter what to do with it. No, the clay, us, in Worship are saying to God, here I am, do with me as You want to. Lord, I surrender all. All my wants, desires, needs, goals, everything I surrender to you.
A couple of quotes to illustrate: A. W. Tozer, a great pastor, was asked in 1954 what he thought would awaken the church from its complacency. His answer is doubly relevant today as it was then. "In my opinion, the great single need of the moment is that light-hearted superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with His train filling the temple. The holy art of worship seems to have passed away like the Shekinah glory from the tabernacle. As a result,we are left to our own devices and forced to make up the lack of spontaneous worship by bringing in countless cheap and tawdry activities to hold the attention of the church people."
Warren Wiersbe offers a broad definition, "Worship is the believer's response of all that he is - mind, emotions, will, and body - to all that God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience, and its practical side in objective obedience to God's revealed truth. It is a loving response that is balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better." (emphasis is mine)
Jerry Solomon puts it this way, "Worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection."
The late David Wilkerson wrote, "The revelation of God's glory should be the wellspring of all our worship. We ought to regularly lay claim\to His glory, testifying, "Lord, I know You're holy and just, and You won't wink at sin. But I've also seen Your glory and I know You're not out to destroy me. You don't condemn me in my struggles. On the contrary, You show me how loving and long-suffering You are toward me. I know I deserve rejection. I've failed so often I should be cast aside completely. But You reveal to me that You are merciful, gracious, tenderhearted!"
OK, so I used four quotes.
I admit that I have never really stopped to consider the importance of Worship.
Why should we Worship God? To put it simply, we should Worship Him because of who He is - God. In Revelation 4 and 5 we see some descriptions that should help us. He is "the only God, the highest, the Lord God, the Heavenly King, the Almighty God and Father, the Holy One". "in Worship we simply tell God the truth about Himself."
Jonathan Edwards, American pastor, philosopher, theologian of the 18th century, tells of an experience of worship during a time of contemplation and prayer. He sought to focus on God, and God responded in a dramatic way. "The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception . . . which continued near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud".
Is there a difference between Praise and Worship? Praise is something we do, while Worship is "a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better."
I know I've spent time on quotes, but I feel that it is important to see what others are saying about the subject of Worship.
I'll cover more in my next post. Leave a comment so others can be in on our 'conversation'.
May you know God better as you study His Word for yourself. May you have that "deepening response as you come to know Him better". May your response be what Paul said in Phil 3:10, "I want to know Christ..." to have an intimate and deepening knowledge of Him.
Your fellow traveler
Worship on the other hand is something much deeper. It is where we are offering our bodies, our selves, giving them to God to have His way. Kind of like the Potter and the clay, Clay doesn't tell Potter what to do with it. No, the clay, us, in Worship are saying to God, here I am, do with me as You want to. Lord, I surrender all. All my wants, desires, needs, goals, everything I surrender to you.
A couple of quotes to illustrate: A. W. Tozer, a great pastor, was asked in 1954 what he thought would awaken the church from its complacency. His answer is doubly relevant today as it was then. "In my opinion, the great single need of the moment is that light-hearted superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with His train filling the temple. The holy art of worship seems to have passed away like the Shekinah glory from the tabernacle. As a result,we are left to our own devices and forced to make up the lack of spontaneous worship by bringing in countless cheap and tawdry activities to hold the attention of the church people."
Warren Wiersbe offers a broad definition, "Worship is the believer's response of all that he is - mind, emotions, will, and body - to all that God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience, and its practical side in objective obedience to God's revealed truth. It is a loving response that is balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better." (emphasis is mine)
Jerry Solomon puts it this way, "Worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection."
The late David Wilkerson wrote, "The revelation of God's glory should be the wellspring of all our worship. We ought to regularly lay claim\to His glory, testifying, "Lord, I know You're holy and just, and You won't wink at sin. But I've also seen Your glory and I know You're not out to destroy me. You don't condemn me in my struggles. On the contrary, You show me how loving and long-suffering You are toward me. I know I deserve rejection. I've failed so often I should be cast aside completely. But You reveal to me that You are merciful, gracious, tenderhearted!"
OK, so I used four quotes.
I admit that I have never really stopped to consider the importance of Worship.
Why should we Worship God? To put it simply, we should Worship Him because of who He is - God. In Revelation 4 and 5 we see some descriptions that should help us. He is "the only God, the highest, the Lord God, the Heavenly King, the Almighty God and Father, the Holy One". "in Worship we simply tell God the truth about Himself."
Jonathan Edwards, American pastor, philosopher, theologian of the 18th century, tells of an experience of worship during a time of contemplation and prayer. He sought to focus on God, and God responded in a dramatic way. "The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception . . . which continued near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud".
Is there a difference between Praise and Worship? Praise is something we do, while Worship is "a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better."
I know I've spent time on quotes, but I feel that it is important to see what others are saying about the subject of Worship.
I'll cover more in my next post. Leave a comment so others can be in on our 'conversation'.
May you know God better as you study His Word for yourself. May you have that "deepening response as you come to know Him better". May your response be what Paul said in Phil 3:10, "I want to know Christ..." to have an intimate and deepening knowledge of Him.
Your fellow traveler
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