First and Foremost

“We must agree with God’s definition of success. Many agree with lies about what success is and thus, feel like a failure and live aimlessly. They focus mostly on externals (what they do and possess) instead of internals (who they are to be in their hearts)… Jesus corrected those who put their ministry before loving God.”
(Mike Bickle, The Song of Songs)

Revelation 2:3-5 says,
“you have…labored for My name’s sake…Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Christ took the agony of death on the cross in order that we could have relationship with God. In John 17:3, Jesus prays: “…this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

It is only out of that overflow of being filled with Christ’s love, truth and character that we can truly minister to and serve others. If we don’t have intimacy with God and get filled to the fullness with Him, we end up serving and laboring out of our own strength and emptiness, which is of no value to ourselves or anyone else. If it isn’t of God–sowing to the Spirit of God instead of the flesh–lasting results won’t be reaped.

God’s love and truth are of the truest value, and we need to spend time in a growing, intimate relationship with Him in order to be able to give of the love and truth He pours into us.

Continual time in God’s presence grows us in knowing Him and His character, and as a result, we become more like Christ, reflecting His love and living out His ways in our every day lives. As we shine more and more with the glory of God, others’ lives too will be changed as they are drawn near to God! Let it be, Lord!

Filed under: Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, Heart's Cry, Worship , Galatians, greatest commandment, intimacy with God, john, loving God, Matthew, relationship with God, Revelation, sowing to the Spirit

Filled Up With God

Here are some thoughts I wrote down from the sermon at church today. I hope these will spur you on as you seek to know God more and live for Him without hindrance.

“And don’t get drunk with wine, which [leads to] reckless actions,
but be filled with the Spirit:
speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,
singing and making music to the Lord in your heart,
giving thanks always for everything to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”
(Ephesians 5:18-21)

“What is filling your life that is keeping you from the fullness of God?”
God, empty us of all that’s not of You, & fill us fully with You.

Worship is who we are. Are we giving that worship to God or to ourselves and other things?

When we’re truly filled to the fullness with God, we will live lives of worship to Him.

The song of each our hearts from God is the song of one redeemed, a song birthed and alive in the heart of one filled fully with God!

“You have to be in the desert to enjoy the water.” Read Psalm 63 – David knew the desert, and he knew God’s glory.

Being filled with God is being fully satisfied in Him and by Him alone. Only He satisfies, nothing and no one else can.

Only the fullness of God will do, not a little, not a bit here and there, only FULLNESS!

Our life passions should be God, His Kingdom, living like Christ, fully knowing Him and being filled wholly with His Spirit.

May we seek true satisfaction in the only One who truly satisfies. Ask Him to empty you of all that is not of Him, and fill you to overflowing with Him! I pray He will do just that for all of us and that we will continually grow in knowing Him intimately.

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Worship , be filled with the Spirit, ephesians, fullness of God, God's Spirit, Holy Spirit, hunger for God, Psalm 63

I Shall Taste and See

You are so near,
Yet never near enough.

Oh for the day to come
When my eyes fully see,
And my senses fully know
The goodness of You, my God.

Still the hope remains
That just as David prayed,
I shall taste and see Your goodness
In the land of the living.

So good You are,
Endless and matchless always.

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psalm 73:25-26)

Filed under: Christian, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Worship, Writing , 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 13, Christ, God, God's goodness, God's presence, God's Word, Holy Spirit, jesus, Jesus Christ, poem, poems, poet, Poetry, poetry about God, Psalm 27, Psalm 34, Psalm 73, psalms, taste and see, Worship, Writing

Battle Cry (You Are All We Want, God)

song in the night…
(Background: I woke up at 4:00am this Saturday morning while I was attending Zadok House of Prayer’s Keeping the Charge conference because God had the new song below going through my head. Hopefully I’ll record it and post the audio soon!)

(Chorus:)

You are all we want, God. We want You, we want You.
You are all we want, God. We want You, we want You.
All the enemy has stolen — Bring it back, bring it back.
All the enemy has stolen — Bring it back, bring it back.

The distractions are many in this battle that’s raging,
The things trying to take us, to take us from You.
But we’re called to You, God — our Portion forever,
Like Levites we minister to You, holy God.

(Chorus)

For worthy of honor and glory and praise,
Worthy of worship, our hearts we raise!
Worthy of honor and glory and praise,
Worthy of worship, our hearts we raise!

(Chorus)

So come have Your way, Lord, come take us over.
Come have Your way, Lord, come have Your way.
So come have Your way, Lord, come take us over.
Come have Your way, Lord, come have Your way.

(Chorus)

[The Levites, the sons of Zadok] shall enter My sanctuary,
and they shall come near My table to minister to Me,
and they shall keep My charge.
(Ezekiel 44:16)

Filed under: Christian, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Worship, Writing , distractions, God, God's way or no way, god's will, intercession, Keeping the Charge, Keeping the Charge conference, Levites, Poetry, Prayer, prayer song, song in the night, songs, Songwriting, sons of Zadok, Spiritual Warfare, Worship, Zadok House of Prayer, ZHOP

The Dry-Desert Wilderness

Deserts “appear to be lifeless, but surprisingly none are.”
(BBC’s Planet Earth)

Hungry, Thirsty, Weary, Frustrated?

For the most part, desert seasons in our walk with God can seem void of life, but are far from it. God uses these times to grow us, and where there is growth, there is life! Dry times bring forth even more life than if we never went through these times with God.

Change, Change, Change!

Because of the nature of wind and sand, deserts are constantly changing shape. Times when we experience vast amounts of change can also feel like wilderness seasons in our lives.

Remember This!

In the desert, one thing is constant and unchanging — the sun, even when it has set for the evening or when the sandy winds block it from view. Likewise, remember that no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus is always there, even if it feels like He is distant or even absent. Even when the winds of the desert blind us, God is still there.

Ultimate Source of Life

Keep yourself latched onto the Source of life – God Himself. He is your Living Water and Bread of Life, He will sustain you even when you think you can make it no further. Keep pressing on and drawing near to Him no matter what.

Hold onto God’s promises despite how you feel and the happenings around you: God will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8), and He uses all things for the good of those who love Him in order to make them more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). God is faithful and unchanging.  His love is unending and unconditional. He is always with you, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Worship, Writing , BBC's Planet Earth, change, desert seasons, deserts, difficulty, dry seasons, dry times, everlasting hope, everlasting life, fear, God, God's promises, God's truth, God's Word, hardship, hunger, jesus, living hope, Planet Earth, source of life, thirst, trials, true life, weariness, wilderness

Put Your Songs in Our Hearts

The sheer weightiness of God’s presence during our pre-service prayer time blew me away me this morning.

Saturday night I had a tension headache that continued into morning, threatening to make the day more of a fight for focus than usual, but the weight of God’s presence and the focusing of my mind on Him quickly swept it away. What’s such a pointless thing as that compared to the beauty of God anyway?

God awakening my senses to His presence as I entered into worship and prayer eclipsed all else. His glory far eclipses all afflictions, large or small (a headache is nothing compared to other things!) As the lyrics of the song How He Loves go:

“…all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me.”

I’m finding the sweetest moments with God are when He’s refining you in His fire, growing you into a tree with roots planted deep in Him by the streams of His Living Water, and making you more Christlike (Psalm 1/Jeremiah 17). It’s worth it. It will be worth it. It already is worth it. Jesus is the One I want to live for. What else is there? Nothing and no one is better. He’s the fairest of all!

Today I wanted nothing more than to be still & quiet before God’s throne. God both amazed and blessed me at once, and how humbling this is! That God would, firstly, send His Son to take away my sins, though none of us can even love Him without Him! And that He would bless by using the imperfect vessel that is me as His vessel when God needs no one–I mean, one word from His mouth  brought forth creation–why would He even want to use me?

Yet so much does God care, about each one of us! Yes, He doesn’t need us–He’s God, but He does want us! I can’t repeat it to myself or remind others enough, nor can I fathom it fully: God made us to love us and us to love Him, to have a relationship with us. God is love!

I wrote this in magnetic poetry on my fridge yesterday:

lead me to the mountain, Lord,
teach me the language of Your heart.
give strength to my spirit,
and humble me like Jesus.
I rejoice in Your everlasting love!
sing Your freedom songs through me!

He’s been answering that prayer all along, but today He took it to a new level in me for His glory yet to graciously show me who He made me to be as His vessel of love, truth and light!

Lord, You are outstandingly loving, merciful and beautiful! Keep putting new songs and prayers in our hearts and upon our lips, words wholly inspired by Your Spirit! We need the songs and prayers You want sung, proclaimed and prayed more than any others!

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Worship, Writing , God reflections, God's beauty, God's love, God's mercy, God-songs, How He Loves, new songs, poem, poems, Poetry, Prayer, Worship, worship reflections

You Are My Everything

“…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
(Matthew 12:34)

You are my Everything, Jesus. Let it be written on my heart by Your Spirit, God! Let it be truly true! You call me beloved. You call me Yours, made for You and made by You.

You are my Everything, Lord. Write it upon my heart. It’s already there in the Spirit! You are why I live and move and breathe. You’ve given me breath and You’ve given me life.

You are my Everything, God. I live to love You and be loved by You. I live for Your glory alone, compelled by Your love to bring others to know You, too.

You are my Everything. This is what fuels me and what I want to fuel my life.

True life is making You my Everything, loving You and living for You alone. True life is given only by You. True life is living worthy of Your calling. True life is being driven by the desire to live for the glory and praise of You alone.

Help me to love You and live for You alone. You are my Everything, Jesus!

“I want to sow to the Spirit that I would reap from the Spirit – everlasting life.
Am I sowing to the Spirit or sowing to the flesh?
I’m doing one or the other all the time.”
(Justin Rizzo, Song: Indwelling Spirit)

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Worship, Writing , All-in-all, Christ, Christian, christian life, christian living, God, Heart's Cry, Holy Spirit, jesus, living for God, living for God's glory alone, living for Jesus, Lord, loving God, Matthew 12:34, my Everything, prose, Savior, Writing

Fragile, Yet So Strong

We are broken yet whole. Our God has saved us and is restoring us. When our Savior King returns we’ll be wholly restored. No more sin, no more death, no more pain, no more tears. Just us and our Bridegroom God whose love never ends.

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
(2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NLT)

We are Your vessels, Lord. Not our will but Yours be done.

Filed under: Christian, Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Heart's Cry, Worship , broken, fragile, God's vessels, only God makes us whole, treasure in earthen vessels

Vessels of Love, Truth and Light

I want just to go to the mountain with You,
I’m tired and I’m weary,
But I know I’m to stand firm, firm in You,
A tree planted by the water with roots growing deep -
Set aside to be Your vessel of love, truth and light.

Fill me with Your strength and Your Spirit,
Romance me away from the cares of this world.
Even with battles around and enemies on each side,
All I’m to do is fix my eyes on You,
To be Your vessel of love, truth and light.

All I’m to do is wait,
Then yield to You – at the appointed times,
To live for You from the depths of me,
Letting words pour forth -
Living Water from a vessel of Your love, truth and light.

Everything’s wholly Yours,
And all is in Your hands;
So set Your Spirit upon me – fill me up,
Let me pour forth for Your glory,
Consecrate me as Your vessel of love, truth and light.

“Prepare the way, prepare the way,”
I sense Your return at hand;
“Prepare our hearts, prepare our hearts,”
Put down all that exalts itself above You.
“Raise them up, raise them up,”
Those who will seek after Your heart,
“Let us seek, let us seek,
To do His will whatever the cost.”

To do justly and love mercy,
To walk humbly with our God:
Anoint us for Your glory,
Compel us by Your love,
To truly be Your vessels of love, truth and light.

Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor,
And the day of vengeance of our God:
Pour out Your Spirit upon us,
And let us stand firm in You, God,
Your wholly consecrated vessels of love, truth and light.

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Worship, Writing , End Times, forerunners, God, God's Word, Heart's Cry, living for God, loving God, poem, poems, Poetry, Prayer

Intercession

Awesome and mighty You are, God! God of the universe, God of the impossible, God of all! Father, Spirit and Son — three-in-one, incomprehensible to human minds, the Uncreated One, our Maker!

Full of love and truth, full of mercy and justice. So holy and compassionate that You gave Your Son’s life to take away our sins! And Jesus, You rose again to life by the same Spirit that lives in us! Thank You, Lord!

Come! Come, Lord, do what only You can do by Your Spirit! Pour out Your Spirit as You promised!

Set the watchmen on the wall, Lord. Send them in! Send the intercessors, the prayer warriors, the worshipers of You. Every believer is called to pray; so, Lord, give us hearts to pray, to pray without ceasing.

Prepare the way, God, that we would live fully free in Your love and worthy of Your calling. Prepare the way for the lost to know Your salvation. Prepare us and help us to prepare others.

Prepare our hearts for revival, that we would seek revival Your way, not ours, for Your glory. Help us to die to ourselves, our preferences and desires, knowing that to live for You is true life! Let Your wants and desires consume us like a fire, all others erased.

Teach us how to live in step with Your Spirit, not gratifying our sinful natures, and strengthen our inner man to do so every moment. Help us abide in Your love and bear much fruit of Your Spirit.

Help us to be people genuinely after Your heart like David was: Not perfect, but repentant and seeking to be made more and more like Christ.

Help us to pray and fast like Daniel. Let us be unafraid of doing all You ask just as Noah did, building the ark despite no appearance of rain as he prepared for the flood.

Help us live knowing Your return is so close, and seek first Your kingdom and righteousness.

Let us expect the unexpected because You are God of the impossible!

Help us to contend in prayer for the lost to be saved, the oppressed to be delivered, the captives to be set free, and Your truth and love to prevail.

Set the wrong things right, remove the darkness and bring Your truth and light. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Heart's Cry, Worship