True Worship

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

- John 4:23-24 (NIV)

Oh, I had a wonderful time worshiping the LORD this morning. You do not have to be at church to worship the LORD (though that is fabulous too). You can worship God anytime, anywhere.. because wherever you are, HE IS THERE. I have a wonderful time worshiping the LORD with my church family. I also have a phenomenal time worshiping God right at home or in my car. Sometimes, it's much easier to "let loose" and worship God more freely when God is the only one watching. He loves it when we pour out & give it all to Him. I love to start my time with the LORD in the mornings with worship music. I have had some of my favorite worship sessions alone with God. Twice in the last week, I have been so filled with the Spirit of God that I was dancing in the Spirit across the living room floor. If you have not received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, you are missing out. There is nothing in the world like it. And I'm not crazy, either. This is all 100% Biblical. Read the book of Acts. Also, check out 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, & 14 (This is explains several different manifestations of the Spirit. i.e.: speaking in tongues, interpretation, prophecy, etc.). God desires that all of His people receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. He says that in the last days, He will pour out His Spirit on ALL PEOPLE.. But God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), desires that we all be filled with His Spirit continually, like those in the Early Church in Acts. In Mark 16, Jesus says the speaking in tongues is a sign that will follow believers. Nothing can fill you up as wonderfully as God's Spirit can when you let Him have His way. Oh, there is unspeakable joy, comfort, peace. There's no words in Webster's dictionary that can describe this phenomenal feeling. I imagine that being filled with the Holy Spirit is the closest we will ever get to experiencing Heaven in our earthly lives.

A little something I wrote when I was so overcome by the Beauty & Majesty of our LORD this morning:

Oh, my God, I am overcome by You this morning--- by everything that You are. By the depth, height, length, and width of Your love that envelopes the hearts of those who seek You, those who pour out their heart's perfume upon you, who have given it all up that they may gain Christ. After all, after we have tasted and seen the goodness of the LORD, everything else pales in comparison. God is irreplaceable. Nothing can fill me up like His Spirit. No person or sin can satisfy like the one who created You can, if you let Him. 

Thank You God, that those who seek You find You & that You love those who love you (Proverbs 8:17). We know that we demonstrate our love for you by keeping your commands (1 John 5:3). It's not that complicated to keep Your Commands when we indulge in Your Presence every day.. when we make diving into You our first priority.. nothing else can hold a candle to you. We know that when we sin, we are separated from You.. even if only temporarily (temporarily if we repent & turn back to God .. eternally if we don't turn back to Him). After we have fallen head over heels in love with Jesus Christ, the absence of Your Presence is excruciating. No. No sin is worth such agony.

Thank You that You do not show favoritism (Acts 10:32). Thank You that you do not reject any one who comes to You with a heart full of repentance, those who turn from their sinful ways because they realize knowing You is immensely better. What is greater than Your Love? Is life? Is death? Is drunkenness? Is pleasure? Is temptation? NO! Sin is not great at all, though social media glorifies it. Those who indulge in sin believe living in sin is more fulfilling than serving You. Oh, my LORD, these people have not even caught a glimpse of You! They have not seen a portion of Your vast holiness, Your Never-Ending Love, Your mercies that are lavished upon us anew every single morning. They have failed to taste and see how good, loving, and forgiving You are. Oh, how it brings me grief that they have not known my Lord. They have not allowed Your Spirit to fill them, because if they had, they would see that there is nothing else that can fill the void in their hearts. Oh, if they had only given my Lord a chance, they would see that they can only be complete in Him. You alone can save them, heal them, deliver them. LORD, You alone, can give them the desires of their hearts when they delight themselves in You (Psalm 37:4). 

It saddens my heart that those who let sin rule over them believe they are "living it up". The righteous let you rule them & we are not deceived, for we know Your Word. We know what the world has taught "living it up" & "enjoying life" by living according to sinful ways only leads to destruction (hell). We know the only way to truly live is to be alive in Christ, to be a new creation in Him, to fulfill Your Will for our lives. Only in the center of Your good and perfect and pleasing will can we find joy unspeakable... peace in every situation... fulfillment & contentment.. all these things come from knowing You alone. Oh, the world is desperate for happiness, peace, to be fulfilled.. but because they are looking for it in all the wrong places, they remain unhappy... and will continue to come up empty every time until they take heed to the voice of the Lord God & repent. They seek these things the ONLY You can give.. in a bar, in the bottom of a bottle, in pleasure.. oh but they always come up dry & do not know why! May the eyes of their hearts be opened to the way sinful pleasures drain them & take them farther away from You! Show them how sin only enslaves them, how the devil only betrays them. Reveal to them the goodness of Your Love, Mercy, and Grace. Let them understand how You yearn to set them free from the bondage that has entangled them. Show them how You can change them if they come to You.
In JESUS' Powerful Name,
Amen. 

I heard an awesome TRUE story based off the knowledge of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says,
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!" At one of our revivals at church, Evangelist Peter Dobie shared this story with us. This happened in South Africa, where the tribal people take the Word of God very literally, as we would do well to learn from. A man named Joe heard the Gospel and got saved. His friends mocked him & reminded him of his past, of all the things he used to do. Joe boldly inquired, "Who are you talking about: the Old Joe or the New Joe?". Let us all learn from Joe. Your past does not have to be your future. You can become new in Christ. New on the inside. A changed person. Sometimes, I feel so much guilt when Satan reminds me of who/how I used to.. but I have to remind myself that he is referring to the old Rachel. I am a new creation in Christ. I have been made new. The old Rachel has gone! The new is here! Believe me, I never thought I would be a preacher.. But God changed me. And He can change you, too, if you let Him.

In His Overwhelming Love,

Rachel Marie