Worship is Everywhere.

Most of us are good at something. But to get there, it didn’t happen overnight. We typically have spent hours, days and weeks perfecting that thing we love in our life.

Following Jesus is no different. This year, if you want a deeper, more rooted walk with the Savior, you’ll have to invest in ways to grow those roots, changing old habits for new ones and revising your day to day walk.

A great place to start is recognizing that worship is a lifestyle (Romans 12:1-2). Traditionally, we are taught we worship on Sunday. While that is absolutely true, it happens on the other six days of the week as well. So to better define what worship is, we’ll need to tease out three ideas that we all possess.

First, we all have 168 hours in a week. In that time we sleep, eat, play, work, and pick up the laundry. But how much of that time do you spend towards God. A great place to start is giving God 1-3 hours every Sunday to come together with a body of believers to publicly praise the Name of Jesus. We also need a time in our daily routine to pray to our Heavenly Father and read God’s Word to discover what guidance and direction he can give us for our lives.

Second, we need to use our God-given giftedness or talent for the glory of the Kingdom. Any time you use your talent for God, it gives attention to God and you shine for him. The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:10-11, that we each have been given gifts by the Spirit and he admonishes us to use those gifts for God’s glory.

Some of us love hospitality. Being a welcoming person at your congregation, holding doors, making the coffee or putting out the donuts are great ways to be hospitable. Some of us love to sing. Being a part of the praise team or band is a wonderful way to give God glory. Some of you love tech so working with the computers or the lighting in the AV booth is a nice way to use your giftedness.

Third, we view our resources as a tool to further the Kingdom story. And it can be scary to release your money or resources back to God when you are not in the habit of doing so. But we grow our faith by trusting God to take care of us when we put him first in our resource category.

In Malachi 3:10, God is speaking to his people and reminding them, you cannot out give God. You make a decision to put God first with your resources and he will bless you in return. Now, we don’t give in order to get but when we trust God, he will take care of us.

Worship is a lifestyle. Worship happens when we work, drive, love our family, or are dining out. It will always cost you something. So whether you are giving God your time during the week or making sure your are using your giftedness for the Kingdom’s benefit or trusting God with your resources, following Jesus will cost you something. Disciples of Jesus are not consumers but givers. This year, may you determine to become a giver and allow God to bless you because of it. Blessings on the journey.

Guardrails.

When you have young children and you and your spouse are going out, kids have questions. “When are you coming home?” “How long are you going to be gone?” “Where are you going?” They have some angst, some worry, some concern. They want to know, how do we get along without you?

I’m guessing the disciples felt the same when Jesus said he was leaving and going back to the Father. And to top it all off, Jesus says in John 16:7, “It’s better that I go away so I can send the Holy Spirit…” Really!!!! It’s better to be without Jesus than with him? Jesus is saying, “It’s better to have God IN YOU than God with you.” Jesus has promised not to leave his followers alone like orphans but the Spirit of God will always be in us for multiple reasons.

When the Holy Spirit is present with us, He convicts us of our sin. Jesus tells us that in John 16:8. The Spirit reminds us we need a savior and his name is Jesus. There are moments we are convicted to say something different or do something different. Some call that our conscious but that’s the Holy Spirit reminding us there is a better way.

How many of us who follow Jesus have spent 6 minutes hammering out a FaceBook response but before we hit send, we deleted it and just said “okay”? How many of us have been tempted to “set someone straight” but held the words back and just smiled? Those moments are Spirit-driven moments where he is guiding us to be more like Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit also confirms our salvation in Christ. He is constantly affirming us to God the Father, reminding us that we are his children. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8 that our spirit joins the Holy Spirit affirming we are God’s children and also in Ephesians 1, Paul uses adoption language to remind us we are God’s sons and daughters.

Finally, the Holy Spirit comforts us in all our troubles. Jesus called him an “Advocate” in John 14 which can also be translated “comforter”. The Spirit provides us the peace that passes all understanding. And you’ve watched other followers of Jesus bear up under enormous pressures. You think that there is no way you could handle what the world is throwing at them. But yet these followers have smiles and joy and forgiveness and a peace. It’s because the Holy Spirit is with them and they are comforted despite the despair.

So how do we connect in such a way as to allow the Spirit to give us that peace we long to have? Well, you certainly have to be intentional about the relationship. You have to place yourself in a spot where you can experience and feel the “wind” of God. So rather than constantly being on your social media, carve out some intentional time to be present with the Spirit. Instead of right before bed and right when you wake up needing a screen in from of your face, why not create quiet moments to be still before God?

The truth is when you’re intentional about the relationship, you don’t get more of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gets more of you. So the challenge is to carve out time everyday to be in the Word, to be in prayer, and to be receptive to the Spirit of God in your life. Don’t do it tomorrow; start today. Blessings on your journey.

Time for lavish living is now!

When you’re young and in junior high, you are searching for yourself and ways to fit in, be cool, grow up. I lived in Glenwood, AR in the 7-8th grades and I was searching for myself. About 3 years ahead of me at church was a guy named Doug and he seemed way cool. He had long hair, drove a cool car, seemed to know what he wanted in life. I wanted to imitate him, hang out with him, be him. I’m certain he had many flaws (which I did not see) but one he had I began to imitate. He cracked his fingers. So I began doing that because I thought it was cool. Now, I’m 51 and I still crack my fingers all the time. I wished I had set me sights on loftier things to emulate.

It makes me think about our goals for what we want to emulate. What is it that we truly desire? Who do we want to look like? What habits are we latching on to that will help move us toward where we’d rather be?

It’s time. It’s time we lived in a way that screams “we love Jesus”. It’s time to live lavishly so the world will take notice. It’s time to literally live in a state of worship to God everyday of our lives, not just on Sunday. Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, “…give yourselves to God because of ALL he has done for you…YOU be a living sacrifice for him.” Paul is calling us to imitate Jesus with our very lives. We realize to do that, we’ll need to worship him every day of the week, not just on Sunday mornings. So, how can we worship every day?

Well first, we must submit our schedules to him. Give him time, which includes coming together as God’s people on Sunday. But you and I must also commit to daily prayer and reading God’s Word if we are going to discover how we are called to live in this world and know how to imitate Jesus from Nazareth.

Too many do not submit their calendar to God and pay the price of shallow follow-ship. We all want to be followers of the risen King not just traveling with him. Find a rhythm in your daily journey to be in prayer and be in God’s Word, the blueprint for how we are called to live.

Secondly, we are to use our gifts, our talent to serve other people. The Holy Spirit has gifted us with at least one talent. Some of us have multiple talents. But whether great or small, use what you’ve been given for God’s glory every single day. Let your light shine for him. We must become less so that he becomes more. Find a way to serve in ministry at your local church, in your community or at your workplace. Worship Jesus with your servant heart.

Lastly, use your resources to spread the story of what Jesus has done for all of us. If you’re not giving to your local church, then you’re not submitting to the leadership of the church you are a part of. Our call as people who follow Jesus is to share in multiple ways the story of God and how much He loves this world he created. It’s a scary thing to give up something you’ve worked so hard for but doing so will remind you that you trust God to provide for your needs while you are helping someone else discover that Jesus cares for them just like he cares for you.

You see, worship is more than a Sunday morning event. It’s something we do Every. Single. Day. Worship will cost you something. It may cost you time, the use of your giftedness, or your resources. But that’s our call as people who follow a risen Savior. Every day, live lavishly as you sing your praises for what God has done for you by the way you live your life! Blessings on the journey.

With all your soul.

Jesus calls us to love him with all our soul or Spirit in Mark 12:30-31. You and I have to create margins in our lives so we can hear the voice of God calling us into our purpose. In 2001, I had questions about whether or not I was truly following my calling. At a church camp in New Mexico that summer, I asked the difficult question of God to reveal to me explicitly that I was hearing him correctly. Was I following my calling to work with teens and parents in the local church? In fervent prayer and Bible study that week at camp, God revealed twice that I had heard him correctly. But I had to be intentional to hear.

In order to hear, we have to make room or margin in our calendars and days. How do you take time to allow yourself to hear God speak? When do you create margin in your day to listen to God’s voice washing over you? If you are having difficulty answering this question, give yourself some moments this week to reflect. You and I are called to make Jesus the most important thing in our lives. Give yourself permission to stop and create the space needed to hear the voice of God in your life.