God Sings Over Me!

What an amazing thing to begin to understand that the God of the Universe, the Living God, sings over me!

"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

"The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me—A prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:8

"You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:7

I believe that this happens in the spiritual realm from which we experience the benefits. But I also believe that He uses His people as His voice. Such an incredible opportunity to be used as the Lord's voice! I pray that He would use me to sing His song over individuals in an empowered way that would invite the Lord into the situation and usher in the power of the Holy Spirit to collide with the hearts and the needs present for His glory!

This is a great article on the subject entitled "Sing Over Me" by Dennis Jernigan:
http://www.navpress.com/EPubs/DisplayArticle/2/2.39.3.html

Being Passionately Loved by the Lord

Lately, I have been struggling with the concept of being loved and valued by the Lord. In my head, I understand that God loves me and my identity is set in Him. I know that, as Psalm 139 says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." I could not adequately describe what I was struggling with or why. But one scene in the movie, Prince Caspian (Narnia), especially was moving to me. It was the scene in which Lucy meets Aslan (a type of Christ). She runs to him, and he delights in her and embraces her.

"That's what I desire," I thought, "for the Lord to delight in me, to enjoy me."

Skimming through Terry Teykl's book, The Presence Based Church, has given language to my struggle. I have been approaching the Lord with a Mary heart but through Martha's eyes. (See Luke 10:38-41). I have a heart passionate to sit at the feet of Jesus and worship. However, I somehow thought He was seeing me as a Martha--having good intentions, but needing correction and not quite good enough.

Alicia Britt Chole also brought clarity through some audio CDs from her Women's Bible Study material on Choices. Father God values us regardless of what we do or what we look like, but simply because we are . . . His Creation and meant to worship Him! In that way, my perceptions of myself and the Lord impact my perceptions of others and the Lord.

So from Teykl's material . . . . I want to break away from loving Jesus and working so hard to please Him and move to being completely dependent on His Holy Presence in my life.

“David was a private worshiper throughout all the phases of his life . . . And because he worshiped personally, the Presence spilled out from his spirit and overflowed into his public life. David, like Moses, had a habitual hunger for God.” Teykl p. 170

“The Presence based church, like Mary, ‘gets’ Jesus at a whole different level—it is a church so overwhelmed by the revelation of His Presence in their midst that they can’t help falling at his feet in worship at every opportunity. They share with Jesus a unique love relationship. They don’t count the cost nor worry over their own reputation as they lavish upon Him their love and adoration. They are the offering, humbled and smitten by the Lord of glory. So extravagant is their love that they will expend any or all of their resources just to minister to Him. In return, Jesus defends the Presence based church and bestows on it His favor and blessing. It is special to Him because it ministers to Him in a way that only He really understands.” Teykl p. 234

That's My King

I often feel so limited in vocabulary when it comes to praising the Lord. I have been able to listen in to a few others who seem to have a greater understanding of the character of God from which to praise Him. I want to grow in that area, and so have started looking at His Names in Scripture and Descriptions about Him.

The story goes that an African-American pastor by the name of SM Lockridge was asked to comment on the Lord, and for 3 minutes began to extemporaneously extol the Lord with wonderful descriptions! Whether it was prepared beforehand or Spirit-led, this praise to My King is still very powerful. Watch it on YouTube.

"That's My King" by SM Lockridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upGCMl_b0n4

Growing in the Lord's Completion

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work

in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" Philippians 1:6

Such an interesting season of my life right now. I feel like a caterpillar in a coccoon struggling to break out. I know there's freedom close by--just beyond my reach--and soon I will fly as a beautiful butterfly. For now, I struggle with believing . . . really believing with a heart of faith in what I read in the Living Word of God. When I come into His presence and read His Word, I know His Truth--and I know it's real. But back in the grind of life, I lose sight again and revert back to old ways of thinking. "But I’m learning to believe in/The promise of Your Word." I am so encouraged tonight by the lyrics from this song by David Olinger!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Deliverer by David Olinger from MorningStar Ministries
Watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYeDSHVL26E&feature=related

Not so sure about this journey
It’s an awfully long way
Gotta cloud by day, fire by night
But I still feel so afraid

But I’m learning to believe in
The promise of Your Word
And I’m walking out of Egypt
Into the freedom of the Lord

My Deliver
Is the great I AM
My Deliver
Is the great I AM
My Deliver
Is the great I AM

You are I AM
And I believe that You are
Your Words are true
I trust with my heart
That You’ll never leave me
You brought me thus far

There’s an army fast approaching
And there’s a sea up ahead
Lord, I can feel the East wind blowing
I see a path of dry land

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am also challenged by this explanation of intimacy with the Holy Spirit that I read tonight. My desire is to really realize the role of the Holy Spirit and practice it in my life as I develop intimacy with God, so that I can experience the fullness of God--not just certain aspects that seem comfortable or familiar. "Whatever you do, Lord, don't leave me the same." (Joanna Weaver)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I spent time honoring the Holy Spirit, building a friendship with Him and developing intimacy (for example, saying His name over and over and welcoming Him, and more) my whole walk with God came up to a much higher level. I always made (and make) every effort to say, “I can’t even get into the presence of God without You. I can’t even say ‘Jesus is Lord’ without You. I can’t even get to the Father unless You draw me. If I’m going to get close to the Father, I can’t get there without You, Holy Spirit, so let’s go! I can’t even feel the love of God without You putting it in my heart! The only way I can feel the presence of God is because You make it possible!” Todd Bentley from his web article, "Intimacy with the Holy Spirit."
http://www.freshfire.ca/index.php?Act=read&status=teaching&Id=231&pid=954&bid=955

FREEWARE Bible Software

This is a wonderful free resource available for download. I use this Bible software to take notes, copy definitions from the original language (Strong's dictionary), and research topics and Scriptures. BibleGateway.com is a great additional resource for multiple translations!

http://e-sword.net/index.html

"E-Sword is a fast and effective way to study the Bible. e-Sword is feature rich and user friendly with more capabilities than you would expect in a free software package. The fact that e-Sword is free is just one of the blessings and does not speak of the quality of the software. "

Some friends of mine also use BlueLetterBible.org. Enjoy!

Praise to Our God

What wonderful praise is in the 4th and 5th chapters of Revelation!

“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 4:8b


“You are worthy, O Lord,

To receive glory and honor and power;

For You created all things,

And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 4:11


And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,

And to open its seals;

For You were slain,

And have redeemed us to God by Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

And have made us kings and priests to our God;

And we shall reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10


“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

To receive power and riches and wisdom,

And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5:12


And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,

And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13