The True Star

"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." -Revelation 22:16
 

We live in a culture saturated with entertainment. Anywhere you go you can't get away from the stars' faces on magazines in the grocery checkout isle, TMZ news after the regular news, and familiar faces in movies and TV. Celebrity culture has become a part of our lives. But it didn't always used to be this way. 

Before Television made it possible for everyone to view the same thing at one time, local artists entertained local people at a local theater. It was more community focused. And, it is doubtful we had the same type of celebrity-consumer relationship we have today. We see everything we want to see - no flaws, perfect makeup, perfect hair - all while consuming the dramatic aspects of their personal lives. We see them so often on movies and in TV that our brain actually interprets their presence in our lives as a close friend or family member. Is that crazy or what?! 

But, what we need to recognize is these celebrities are just people. If we feel differently about any of them that anyone else we are engaging in idolatry. The true star is Jesus - our Morning Star! 

In the kingdom, we were never meant to be celebrities; we were meant to be lovers of people, and most of all lovers of God.

Do you look to Jesus as your true north star?

Diligent Work

"The diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work."  -Proverbs 12:24

Do you enjoy your job? According to Forbes magazine, 70% of all employees hate their jobs.  That’s a HUGE number!  It seems many of us are in jobs where we either don’t enjoy the work, don’t enjoy the atmosphere, or both. 

I know I have been in jobs before that I didn’t particularly enjoy.  I worked as a server for several years and initially I DREADED the idea.  But you know what’s cool about God?  Even if the job is not our natural bent (I was very shy) or doesn't use our gifts and talents, he can still use that job to shape us and teach us things that we wouldn’t otherwise learn if we were not in that situation. 

Maybe He is developing our prayer life, to pray and interceed for a less-than-ideal workplace.  Perhaps He is testing our hearts with how we respond to tasks we don’t particularly enjoy.  But, even if we are working in a less-than ideal environment, if we work as unto God, we will find eternal reward. 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3: 23 &24

So even if we aren’t in work we particularly enjoy yet, we can know that the work we do has spiritual value in God’s kingdom.  If we carry a mindset of “I am working as unto the Lord today,” we will find that even the most mundane or uncomfortable of tasks can have eternal value.  When we are faithful in the little things, God can promote us to bigger things. 

Are you a diligent worker? 

Worship Battle Plans

"Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.'"-Joshua 6:2-5
 
When we're about to enter a battle in life, it's a good idea to put the armor on. Even more so, it's important to pray & worship to lay the spiritual groundwork for what we're about to encounter. Whether it's an important board meeting, an audition, a Sunday morning service, or what we know might be a challenging meeting with a boss or client, it's vitally important we have times with God where we ask Him to cover us with His mercy and grace, and exalt Him for all that He is in our lives. This is only partially for Him - He knows we need continued reminders of His nature, and an infilling of His presence and love regularly. 

Joshua and his army were about to attack the city Jericho. But God gave them very specific instructions for this battle. He said, "March around the city once every day for six days, and then march around the city seven times on the seventh day, with the priests blowing the trumpets. Have the people shout when they hear the trumpets. When they do, the walls will fall down." (paraphrase of Joshua 6) 

Can you imagine what that must've looked like? Wow!! An entire city's huge stone walls crumbling to the ground. And all they did was follow God's instructions. As they obeyed Him, blew the trumpets and shouted, they claimed the city on behalf of the nation of Israel. 

What instructions has God given you? It's it fervent prayer on your knees, worship and praise to your favorite worship CD, reading a certain passage of scripture, or all of the above? Whatever it is, make sure you listen to the still small voice to prepare your heart for the battle ahead. The battle is already won.

In Everything...

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." -Col 3:17
 
Imagine with me for a moment that every Christian on earth had a revelation of the "in everything" principle. What if we asked ourselves, at every moment, "Is what I'm doing now worshipping God? Does what I do glorify Him?" 

When we see worship as not only the lifting of our hands and voices on Sunday morning, life takes on a whole new meaning. 

Avodah (Ah-voe-dah) is a Hebrew word used in the Bible that has two distinct yet intertwined meanings: work and worship. Colossians confirms this in chapter 3, verses 23 and 24: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ."
 
If we saw everything we did as either an opportunity to worship God, or an opportunity to refuse Him and allow evil into the world, I would hypothesize we might gain a new understanding of what it truly means to be a Christian. 

If we're worshipping God in our work, we're not cheating on the expense reports. If we're worshipping God in school, we're not cheating on a test. And if we're worshipping God in our marriages, we're not cheating on our spouse - we're loving them as Christ loved the church, His people. 

Are you worshipping God... in everything? Pray today that God would give you the strength and courage to serve Him in everything.

Supernatural Productivity

“…If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” – Exodus 33:15

Do you want to be more productive in your life?  It seems there are more books written, blogs created, and seminars conducted on increasing personal productivity than ever before.  After all, if time equals money, then our best asset would be to increase the amount of time we have, and decrease the time it takes to accomplish various tasks.  In America, we are a particularly performance-driven society.  Anything that could save us time definitely grabs our attention!

But, are we missing something when we look merely at better ways to get things done?  Sure, this is helpful and practical, but – are we missing some sort of “x” factor or special sauce we keep searching for in the realm of producing more and becoming more effective?

I believe as Christians you and I have a special advantage.  We do have that “x” factor, that “special sauce.”  He is the Holy Spirit.  Paul Cuny, in his book Secrets of the Kingdom Economy describes the relationship between our worship to God and our personal productivity: 

One morning the Lord woke me very early to pray. This has been a regular occurrence for me over the years and the part of my day that I cherish.  For over 20 years, I had run a demanding business, and at God’s direction, I began a process of re-structuring my life to spend more time in prayer, study, writing, and fulfilling the two assignments He gave me in the mid-90s. In many ways, this was my time of activation, so to speak.

…That morning the Lord said two words, activity and presence.  I pondered those words for some time and finally asked the Lord if He would explain what they meant… He said something that has profoundly impacted my life:  “Activity will never produce My presence.  My presence will always produce focused, productive activity.”  -Secrets of the Kingdom Economy, pp. 45-46.

Jesus did only what the Father showed him to do. He manifested the Father’s presence in the area of His calling by spending time with Him. Do you need to make more room for God, so that He can in turn make you more effective?  Set aside time to pray, to worship, or to journal.  See how God will increase your productivity when you do!

The Work Behind the Scenes

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." -Matthew 6:5&6

 

J. John, a gifted and creative Christian speaker told a story once about preparing the way for a sermon he was going to preach. He felt the Lord impress upon him to pray fervently the night before the meeting. In the morning, as he began to think about what he would share, the Lord told him, "The work is already done." 

"How could the work already have been done?" he asked God. But as he got up to speak, he only needed to speak several words that the Holy Spirit had impressed upon his heart, and the entire place was completely overtaken by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because he had been obedient in prayer in the secret place, God moved mightily in the meeting, with many coming to repentance that day. 

Banning Liebscher, a youth preacher for Bethel Church and Jesus Culture music, describes the importance of meeting with God in the "secret place": 

"The first call on our life is to be with Jesus. The foundation of a leader is intimacy. It is the 'secret place' lifestyle. You're called to give yourself to a life of prayer; to a secret place lifestyle that no one else knows about... What you put in at the beginning greatly impacts what comes out at the end." 

Sharon Gerlach, intercessor for Divine Exchanges prayer ministries describes this phenomena as being like an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is the ministry we see. But the other 80-90% of the iceberg, the part beneath the surface, is the spiritual work in prayer that makes a big difference. 

Are you engaging in your worship, prayer, reading God's word, and building your relationship with Him behind the scenes? This is the first call on our lives. The quality of everything else in our lives rests on this. We need to be sure we are building our relationship with Him in the secret place, so that we might have maximum impact in the world.

Planted Like A Tree

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." -Psalm 1:3

I was in the gym with my husband when Flyleaf's song All Around Me came on. As I started to hum the tune under my breath I had a thought. Worshipping God on a continuous basis brings life to our lives. Worship is like breathing in God's presence when we praise Him. Being without God's presence results in a static, lifeless faith. Every day we have this new opportunity to develop our relationship with God, and thus strengthen our faith in Him. It is something that brings us closer to Him and gives us more of His life in our lives.

Then I began to think about the trees, and how they provide oxygen to the rest of the world. One tree produces enough oxygen per year to support two human beings through the process of photosynthesis!* When trees convert sunlight into energy, this results in the production of oxygen. When we run in the natural, we require more oxygen. Therefore we need more of His presence and more faith to "run the race" He intended for us.

When we let God's light and life shine through us, we can create an environment of faith whereby people can experience (breathe in) God's presence, even if they don't know Him yet.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:5

Problems arise when we're not fully connected to Jesus, or when we're not planted next to a water source. Trees need water to survive. Also, they need the light of the sun to grow. Without these two things, a place of refreshment (a house of worship), and the sun (Jesus), a tree can't have a successful, fruitful life. Trees that are plated together overlap in their root systems, so that their roots are that much stronger, being less likely to fall, especially when storms come.

"By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?" -Matthew 7:16

As trees, we need to make sure we're planted in the right place so that God's life in us can flourish.  Are you planted like a tree?

* http://chemistry.about.com/b/2010/04/22/how-much-oxygen-does-one-tree-produce.htm

Glimpses of Heaven

"Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty - the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.'" -Revelation 4:8
 
Have you ever wondered what heaven is like? I definitely have. I've heard there are streets of gold, houses made of fine gemstones, and angels that are greater than twenty feet tall. Could you imagine creatures that were covered in eyes? That would be so intense!

"The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst." -Revelation 21:18-20
 
The book of Revelation gives us several clues about what heaven, and heaven on earth is and will be like. God is so creative, and is not limited to our natural world - or our natural mind. Can you imagine what kinds of things we will see when we get to heaven? It is incredible to think about.
As we walk through our daily lives, we shouldn't get too caught up in only the things we can see, the things that make sense to our natural minds. God desires that we have a greater vision. Hollywood often portrays the dark side of the supernatural, but I would love to see more movies portraying the reality of heaven!

Through the Bible, God has given us revelation to see just a glimpse of heaven.

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Kat Kerr is a woman who has had visions of heaven. Don't believe it? Read the story for yourself!

What Is Tithing?

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”  -Genesis 14:18-20

What is tithing?  Many people might argue that tithing is outdated, that it is an “old-fashioned” idea.  But is it?  Why did God want His people to tithe?

In Hebrew, the word “tithe” actually means 10%.  Tithing is giving 10% of all our “increase” (what we get paid) to God as an act of worship to Him.  We do this for various reasons - most of which are beneficial to us versus God.  God doesn’t need our money, but he does want our obedience.  Tithing is an act of worship meaning we agree that everything we have is His.  We are managers of all that is entrusted to us.  What we have is because of His goodness.

Craig Hill, founder of Family Foundations and author of several bestselling books on money cites the following 7 reasons why he believes each of us should employ the practice of tithing as a part of our worship to God:

• It builds faith in our hearts for God as our Source of provision
• It breaks the power of greed: “money managing me” vs. “me managing it"
• It breaks the power of fear of lack
• It establishes discipline
• It distinguishes between the Source of provision and channel of provision
• It provides support to kingdom activities
• It qualifies us to be trusted with more of God’s resources

Where should we tithe?  Malachi 3:10 talks about bringing the whole tithe “into the storehouse.”  Since we don’t have physical storehouses today, we can relate a storehouse to a place where we are being spiritually fed. More that likely this is a local church, but could be more than one place.

Have you employed the practice of tithing?  Pray and ask God how you might incorporate the practice of tithing into your life. “Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” -Malachi 3:10

Our One True God

"But the LORD is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations cannot stand up to his wrath." -Jeremiah 10:10

From the time Israel was released from bondage to Egypt until the time of Jesus, the Israelites struggled with idolatry.  Even though they had been given a set of instructions by Moses (the 10 Commandments), they still rebelled against the guidelines God gave them and set out to live the way they wanted.  As such, they began to worship idols, starting with the golden calf, when Moses was on Mt. Sinai getting these instructions from God.  (Exodus 32)

We humans have always had the same nature, trying to fill the voids in our lives where God should be.  But, the fact of the matter is, God is our only hope.  He is our only TRUE God. And He loves us more than anyone or anything ever could in our entire lives. 

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  -John 3:16

Too often, we can find ourselves in a similar situation that Israel did.  If we’re not worshipping the one true God, we’re worshipping something.  We were designed for worship!

Is God the only true God in your life?  Ask Him today if there are any idols in your life that may need to be put aside.  Our lives function best when He becomes our one and only God.