A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Serve With Gladness

 

    Psalm 100:2

Serve The LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! 

    It is impossible to serve The LORD with gladness if there is none in our hearts. We need Jesus Christ living in us and The Holy Spirit's guidance working through us to know what true gladness and joy look like. 

    Lip service is not what God is about. He makes promises that He keeps. For instance, He promised a Savior way back in Genesis 3:15 and kept it in Matthew 1, Luke 2 & John 1. 

    God promises to never leave nor forsake us: 

-Deuteronomy 31:8 "The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

-Hebrews 13:5 "Let your manner of life be without covetousness, being satisfied with the present; for He Himself has said: "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

-Matthew 28:20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

    God is the ultimate Promisekeeper. We can trust Him. Always. 

Trust in The LORD

Psalm 119:9-11

Proverbs 3:5

Isaiah 26:4

Psalm 62:8

Isaiah 12:2

    We can serve God with gladness and come into His presence with singing because we have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We, the church, are the bride of Christ and we are anticipating His return to come and bring us back to the place He has prepared for us. 

    We can serve God with gladness and come into His presence with singing because our sins have been forgiven! Great is God's faithfulness to forgive us our sins when we repent of them. 

    We serve with gladness because the Joy of The LORD flows through us and overflows into anyone who comes near us and/or hears us rejoicing. Our cups overflow. 

Psalm 16:5

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.

Psalm 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

CALLED TO SERVE WITH GLADNESS

Honey In The Rock - Brooke Ligertwood 

I Am Not Alone (Psalm 23) - People & Songs

Trust In The Lord - Babbie Mason

Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus - Casting Crowns

Song of The Beautiful Bride - Paul Wilbur

My Portion - Isla Vista

    

Heart & Soul - - Cleaving To God

 

Joshua 22:5

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1692

Cleave: cling, keep close, hold fast, be joined together

From the Hebrew word 'dabaq' (pronounced daw-bak'). Examples:

Joined Together--Genesis 2:24 (as man to wife). 

Cleave To--Ruth 1:14 (as friend to friend)

Hold Fast--Joshua 23:8 (as a people to their God)

JOINED AT THE HEART

    Psalm 63:8 "My soul follows hard after Thee: Thy right hand upholds me." 

Follows hard after is a phrase which means 'clings tightly to'. Think Gorilla Glue stuck, unable to separate from. 

This is the fourth command in this verse.

1. Love The Lord Your God

2. Walk In All His Ways

3. Keep His Commandments

4. Cleave To Him

5. Serve Him With All Our Heart and Soul

    When we choose to love God above all else (1), the others will happen automatically in the Spirit. Our hearts need to be right with God, aligned in Him according to His Word. (2) Loving God will cause us to want to walk in His ways. (3) Loving God will instill a desire within us to keep His commandments for we will always want to be found in His favor. (4) Loving God will cause us to cleave to Him, wanting always to be near Him, near enough to hear Him speak softly to us, to hear His voice call us. (5) Loving God will give us a desire to serve Him faithfully and with honor. 

    Just as in a personal relationship with our spouses or best friends, we will desire only the best for the other. We speak truthfully and honestly with each other. When we speak as friend to friend in our interpersonal relationships, we not only need to speak the truth, but we need to speak it tactfully at times, so as not to hurt feelings: speak in words of love. 

WHOLEHEARTED LOVE

    Again, in a wedding ceremony where the man declares his love and fidelity to his bride, and she declares her love and fidelity to him, the promise of lifelong commitment is made. A wholehearted commitment to be faithful to each other, to honor the other above all others, to work together in raising their children (seed) in the Love of the Lord. It is a joining together of God plus the husband plus the wife: an intricately woven life, a tapestry of love. 

    Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."

     Psalm 73:25 "Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You." 

    Romans 6:17 "But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed."

    We, the born again, are God's church. He creates us for Himself. Through the blood of His only begotten Son and the power of His Holy Spirit, He woos us to Himself, drawing us close. And when we respond to His call on our hearts, we offer our whole lives to Him, not wanting to hold anything back. We are His beloved and He is ours. 

    Sometimes marriages dissolve. Even God divorced His beloved Israel. But for good reason: she left Him first and worshiped other gods. In other words, Israel whored herself out to the service of idolatry. (Jeremiah 3:8). Yet, still God loved Israel and Judah. He called them to repent of their wicked ways and return to Him. (Jeremiah 3:11-20). His people had not cleaved to Him and their relationship was severed; not with a finality, but with a promise of restoration of only she would repent and return to Him. 

WORLDLY vs WORDLY

    A worldly heart will make worldly decisions and also follow through on those decisions. But a heart that has chosen God needs to make Wordly decisions and follow through, stand strong, in those decisions. Which includes the decision to LOVE GOD and CLEAVE TO HIM ONLY. He wants an exclusive relationship with us. 

    Have you made the decision to cleave to Him, to be in this exclusive relationship with Him? He's calling your name even now.

CLEAVING TO GOD

 

Intelligent Worship -- Serve God -- Part 9

 Intelligent Worship brings us into the presence of God through service to God. Part 9.

Re-reading through today's subject verses and digging just a little more deeper into what the Word says about service is interesting. 

Psalm 2:11 

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. “For our God is a consuming fire.” (quoted from Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.")

Psalm 100:2

Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Both Psalm references mean "to work", while the verse in Hebrews means "I work". One is a generalization and the other is personal. One is instructional, the other is accountability. Both apply to us. For we must always be ready to receive instruction from our Lord and we must take responsibility for our actions towards our Lord. 

But this word 'serve' has many definitions in the Word. In Genesis alone it is translated 'cultivate' or 'till'; 'enslaved, enslavement, servitude', depending upon whom the verse is speaking of. 

In both the Old and the New Testament this word 'serve' can also mean 'worship'. When we serve God the way God wants to be served, we are worshiping God with our hearts, our actions, our words. We are blessing God by surrendering ourselves to His service. We no longer submit to our natural desires but we submit ourselves to God's desire, God's will, for us. We truly do "Serve the Lord with gladness". 

Blessed Who Wait For Him

Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:15
Consider also that our Lord's patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.


Isaiah 26:8
Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.

I used this shade of blue as it was the closest to sapphire blue I could make. There are two verses in Ezekiel that describe the throne of the LORD as being sapphire or lapis lazuli (depending on which version of the Bible you read). And while sapphire comes in more colors than blue, I have always been drawn to blue sapphires. 
Ezekiel 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And, again, in Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

Blue is the color of grace. It is the shade of bruising upon Christ's body and face as He was beaten in the courtyards before being whipped 39 times across His back. Blue, cerulean blue, is one of the colors of thread used in the curtains in the tabernacle which separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle rooms. 

So, when I picture a sapphire throne on which The LORD sits, that is the color I see. And why does He sit on that particular throne at this time? He is seated at the right hand of The Father, interceding on behalf of His people. Why do we need interceding? We are not perfect, we are sinners, all of us. We make mistakes, errors in judgment and fall short of the glory of God. 

We needed a Savior who would know that we are feeble and unable to make it on our own, so God sent us His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to live and example for us, and die in our stead that we would not die in our sins. After Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave in that two day period in which He was sealed in the tomb, God rolled away the stone and Jesus walked out of the grave, having risen from the dead, giving all who believe this eternal life through Him. 

And after a few days, Jesus ascended into heaven to be with His Father again, waiting until that day when God says, "Go". "Go get Your church, Your people and bring her home." 

Isaiah 25:9


And in that day it will be said, "Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."

My Full Potential

If the life you are living is not pleasing to God, 


then you are not living up to your full


potential. ~Me


What do you see 
when you look at me?
Am I a reflection
of God's redeeming grace?
What do you see 
on my face?



Am I living up to my full potential in Christ?

My heart is right with Christ.

I am saved from eternal damnation.

I am filled with the Holy Ghost.

I am serving in God's kingdom.

Tomorrow, March 8, is International Women's Day. 

It is a celebration of how far women have come in the history of the world.

It is an acknowledgement  of how much women have accomplished in their countries.

It is an awareness of the lack of women in business and industry;

of women in politics and science; of women in leadership positions.

The Day is focused on Women Around the World 

and their desire to improve their world 

by having women involved in decision making processes 

that would change the world for the better.

But, in all the articles I have read, from around this world I live in,

not one is written from a Christian woman's perspective.

Though a few were written by women, most articles were still written by men.

And a couple of these articles were dehumanizing to women.

Where are the daughters of God?

I am the handmaid of the Lord. ~Joel 2:29

Our voice is not silent:
In Ministry:

http://bigbible.org.uk/2012/02/strengthened-to-serve-simon-peters-mother-in-law/#.T1fkHsAfSCw

http://www.iamawomanofgod.com/ - shopping

https://www.facebook.com/abundantpeace

http://www.joycemeyer.org/

https://www.facebook.com/AboutChristianity

https://www.facebook.com/unveiledwife

https://www.facebook.com/Katherine.Damore.H.I.S

https://www.facebook.com/pages/She-That-Prays/107991435912978

http://dailychristianquote.com/dcqwomom.html

http://www.ladiesforjesus.com/

http://womenofvalorministry.org/wimba0.aspx

http://graceforwomen.blogspot.com/2009/01/rebekah-virtuous-woman.html

In Music:
http://rsjames.com/
http://nataliegrant.com/#!/ss:facebook
http://www.francescamusic.com/
http://www.barlowgirl.com/
http://amygrant.com/#!/ss:facebook
http://www.brittnicole.com/
http://www.nicolecmullen.com/
http://www.jacivelasquez.com/
http://cecewinans.com/
http://sandipatty.com/#!/ss:facebook
http://www.twilaparis.com/
http://audreyassad.com/desktop/
http://heatherwilliamsmusic.com/
http://www.jamiegrace.com/

In Comedy:
http://www.anitarenfroe.com/
http://www.chonda.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Barnes/134674643271548?sk=wall
http://www.christiancomedyacts.com/Kelly-Swanson/
http://www.christiancomedyacts.com/lena-green/ ` love her!

The daughters of God are actively seeking to improve the lives of all women.

We are joined at the heart in Spirit and in Truth.

We are raising our voice in shouts of Triumph..

Our hands are on our Sword as we wage war on

social injustice, poverty, abuse, addiction.

We are the Overcomers by Faith in the Power of God

to change our world one person at a time together.

We learn from each other.

We teach each other.

Our desire to change the world we live in is expressed by our actions every day.

As we learn from God, through the power of His Holy Spirit,

how to change our lives, we share our values, our journeys,

our joys, our wisdom, our tears and our pain,

our words reach millions on the internet.

And their lives are changed for the better.

God empowers women by calling them, also.

We, too, are called to serve in God's kingdom.

I am His servant.

And I will change the world.

Decision Determines Destiny

Decision Determines Destiny

Joshua 24:15

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY

WHOM YOU WILL SERVE; whether the gods which your fathers served that were

on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land

you dwell: BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.

Colossians 3: 1, 2

If ye then be risen with Christ, SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE,

where Christ sits on the right hand of God.

SET YOUR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE,

not on things on the earth.

As we read our Bibles, we need to remember that every word of God applies to all of us, not just some of us. So, when we read the Word of God, read it as applicable to yourself. For example, the first verse given is plain and simple: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We choose not to serve the gods of our ancestors, nor the gods of this land where we live. My household chooses to serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We choose to live under God's authority and God's mercy. My house chooses to serve in God's house.

The second verse, Colossians 3:1, 2 reads to me: I am risen with Christ, and my affection, my love is on the things of God which God desires for me. The things of this world will pass away and god of this world will cease to exist.

By choosing to place my hope in Christ and my faith in God, my decision has determined my destiny.

What is your decision?