"Anointed For A Purpose" 5-10-08

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be anointed by God for a purpose? Have you ever wondered what it takes for you to be chosen by God to truly make a difference in the world? Read on, and find out. This passage is from 1 Samuel 16, where the Lord sends Samuel to anoint a king over Israel. This is what the Lord's own criteria is for a man of God:

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV)

This is great news! The outward appearance of a person matters not to God: it is the heart that He sees, and it is the heart that He responds to. Regardless of your skin color, your stature, or your physical strength, God can make you into a great man or woman of righteousness.

So let me ask you, do you want to be anointed by Him? Do you really want to make a difference? If you do, submit your whole heart to Him; leave nothing unchecked. Let Him dig deep and change even those things that you never thought could be changed. Let Him purify your heart; let Him bring the sins of your flesh to light, so that when He looks upon you, He sees a heart covered in the blood of His Son, made pure by His death and resurrection, ready for a life of blessed service.

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God."(John 3:19-21 ESV)

Blessings in Christ,
Andrew

"The Spirit of Worship" 5-9-08

Worship. Most of us know about worship in Church, how we stand and sing praises to His name. But did you ever consider the reason why we worship?

Last Sunday our little Christian Band put on the Worship Service for my Church. At first I wondered how they would deal with us "rock" kids leading worship. (Ask me why I was stuck on what they might think again? Bother..silly me).

It was in fact so anointing in that room, the Spirit was moving all about us. We weren't doing it, God was. We all came together with possibly different views, and praised God together. We gave Him sincere thanks and our love for Him was shown. What a feeling to be felt.

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:23

9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Psalm 96:9

5 Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool——He is holy. Psalms 99:5

To me, we are worshiping a God who not only created us, but also died on the cross for all our sins, and to an awesome God who loves us unconditionally. He is more than just deserving. He is most Holy.

We want to give God the glory, and we want Him to know that. So when we worship, worship with all your heart and soul, and in our own way we are telling our Abba Father, 'Thank You, thank you for dying for me, thank you for creating me, thank you for loving me even though I don't deserve it. Thank you sweet Jesus.'

So when you worship, are you making a joyful noise until the Lord? Are you giving Him the Thanks that we need to relate to Him? He wants to hear us, for it is a 'pleasing and wonderful sound'. Oh and who cares if you think you can't sing or not. God isn't picky in His music and song selections.*

Let's worship together,
Whitney

The Poor In Spirit - 3/24/08

Here is today's verse:

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:1-3)

As I reflected upon this verse this morning, I must admit, it had me a bit perplexed. It didn't seem to make sense. "Why," I asked God, "would you say the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, if there are people today who are poor in spirit, yet do not know You? Are they blessed, as this verse makes clear?" And then, as I was praying about it, the Lord brought me to this passage:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them,"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:18-21)

And then the answer hit me: yes, they are blessed, blessed beyond measure! Even those who are poor in spirit, yet do not know God, are blessed. This is because Christ has been anointed to preach good news to such as these - these broken, battered, poor wretches who have come to the end of themselves and realize their own poverty of spirit. Until we come to the end of ourselves and see the truth of who we are - sinners with no hope of righteousness apart from Christ - there is no hope of us becoming anything more. Being poor in spirit enables us to hear, understand, and apply the gospel which Christ has come to preach. Whether we end up doing so or not, it is not possible for us to cry out to Him without first being poor in spirit. See what is said of those who are not poor in spirit in the book of Revelation -

You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Revelation 3:17)

If we are never poor in spirit, then we never realize our own wretchedness, pitifulness, poverty, blindness, and nakedness; and thus, cannot cry out for the Savior to come in and heal our broken souls and restore us to a right relationship with God (Isaiah 6:10). I hope that we can all echo the words of this prayer here, finding completion in our brokenness and poverty through the greatness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

"Here I am, at your feet,
In my brokenness complete." ~Unashamed, by Starfield

Blessings,
Andrew

The Inward and Outward Appearance - 3/14/08

In the book of Ruth, let's focus on love, devotion, and trust, as well as the effects of a good role model (or the Inward and Outward Appearance).

Ruth impressed me by her love and faithfulness towards her mother-in-law Naomi in the first Chapter. We see this more in the following Chapters. Naomi loved Ruth as though she were her own daughter; she wanted what was best for Ruth. So she gave her advice, such as how to gain favor from Naomi's kinsman Boaz. And how does Ruth respond to this? "I will do whatever you say". She was willing to submit to Naomi's advice, because her mother-in-law knew best; they were Naomi's people, and they had certain ways of doing things that often differed from her own. To get right down to it, Ruth had a lot of love for Naomi, putting all her trust in her.

One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do." "I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. Ruth 3:1-6

Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working..... Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed." So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. Ruth 2:19-23

It is interesting to me to see the noted line "And she lived with her mother-in-law." Perhaps this little line was added to further establish the relationship between Naomi and Ruth.

Now let's see about the qualities of Ruth.

Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband——how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." Ruth 2:11

(Also read Ruth 3:10-13)

Boaz, who we meet in the second chapter, is struck right away by the good qualities of Ruth. Everyone spoke very highly of her. This makes her even more of a good role-model; she not only had good qualities, she lived them too.....

This is how people tend to measure other people: by first impressions. What we see from a person, in physical appearance and by the way they act, forms what we think of them. Of course we ought to get to know them more, for one encounter is never enough to fully understand someone.

But you see, if we judge others this way, others will judge you this way. As Christians, we should live a Christ-centered life, both in our appearance and by our actions. People are constantly watching; let us shine Christ's love and compassionate qualities. Ruth did, and became an inspiration for those around her. She was spoken of highly, respected, and loved despite her being a foreigner. Her first impression was a good one, but instead of just ending it there, she made it a point to practice it all the days of her life.*

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7b

Will your actions reflect your heart for the Lord?

Whitney