Passionately Pursuing Purpose: STONE #1: WORSHIP

Friday, January 13, 2012

STONE #1: WORSHIP

"Worship is to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God!!!"

Websters dictionary defines "Worship" as: worthiness, respect, reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence; a person of importance; extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.

Websters dictionary defines "Magnify" as: to cause to be held in greater esteem or respect; to increase in significance : intensify; to enlarge in fact or in appearance;  to have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they are : to exaggerate.

God's "Worship" purpose for us is to "MAGNIFY" Him with our life!!! Does your life magnify Him...in what ways?  What things(issues) in your life would not pass the test if God were to place His magnifying glass on them? A magnifying glass is a lens or combination of lenses that enlarges the image of an object not readily seen to the naked eye. What does God really see when we worship? Have we ever stopped and asked God if our worship (our life) is pleasing to Him? His response may shock us all! Worship is not just a song or a feeling or a posture before men, it is our everyday, one on one private relationship with the Almighty God. The question we must ask our self is "Do I worship God with my whole heart engaged steadfastly for Him?"

HOMEWORK:

1. We are studying the purpose of "Worship" which is defined as magnifying God with our life. What in your life does God want to place His magnifying glass on so that you are set free to magnify Him? (ie. fear, anger, sound mind, trust issues etc.) It is not until we are healed that we can be made whole in Him. Find scriptures concerning that issue and begin to pray the word of God over it until it becomes part of your DNA. Choose one of the scriptures from your list and read the entire chapter to see what events (context) surrounded the scripture you chose. What was the outcome of the situation? What revelation did you get from what you read? How will you apply that revelation to the issue you face today?

2.  How does God define Magnify? His definition matters most. Provide scripture to support your answer.

3. Take time to just sit in God's presence and get to know Him. Make Him priority by giving Him the first of your day...everyday, even if it's only 5 min. It's like any relationship...what you put into it, that's what you will get out. God is waiting for you!!!

Now that we have laid our first stone of "Worship" and established the need for a personal relationship with God, lets look at taking the next step under worship..."Expecting The Desires of Our Heart". His word says "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) Do you expect God to give you the desires of your heart? How will your desires bring God glory? If we are honest, 'our desires have more to do with our happiness and security than with God's purpose and our holiness.'With desires comes passions and the need to surrender everything to God. These stones may uncover some deeply conflicted feelings within, but rest assured...God has something wonderful in store for us as we step out in "FAITH"!!!

One of the most asked question when it comes to desires is "How will I know if what I desire is of God?" The answer to the question lies in... does your desire tempt you to sin? If so, it is not His desire for you. God wants you to have the desires of your heart but His desires are godly ones!!!!

EXERCISE:
Take a sheet of paper and create 3 columns. The first column name it "DESIRES"; the second column name it "PASSIONS"; the third column name it "SURRENDER". Now you might have to find out the meaning of each one in order to complete the assignment. Under desires...what do you really want God to give you? Under passions...what do you do so well that you would enjoy doing it without pay? It will be the spark that needs only a little breeze to ignite into a raging fire! Under surrender...what will you have to let go, give back to the Lord in order to see what you long for, desire, and are passionate about... come to pass?

4. Recommend...read Chapters 9,10 from Pathway to Purpose! For those who do not have a book, I will list some of the questions from the book.
   **Ask questions or share revelation from the above chapters...we will discuss in greater detail!

5. Scripture for thought: Luke 1:26-56; I Samuel 1:1-2,11,17

Blessings,
Evangelist Sonya

No comments:

Post a Comment

GOD WINK

January 10, 2011

The God of All Wisdom and Knowledge loves to grant wisdom to those who ask...God loves a wise seeker!!!

January 13, 2011

God gives you the freedom to choose, but He does not give you the freedom to change the consequences!!! Joseph Prince

January 31, 2011

What you do reveals what you believe about God regardless of what you say!!! Mary Southerland

February 2, 2012

Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth! When you speak, Jesus hears. And when Jesus hears, thunder falls. And when thunder falls, the world is changed. All because someone prayed. Max Lucado

THE VISION

This journey began 3 years ago on Christmas day as I cried unto God "Lord, what have you created and called me to do? What is my purpose in life? I know there has to be more than this? I had become desperate for change...not just any change, but a God breathe, Holy Ghost inspired CHANGE! As I sat in my bed waiting for God to answer with an audible voice, my mother called for me from the bottom of the stairs to come here. As I got up to go to see what she wanted, she said she had forgotten to give me one of my Christmas gifts. Unwrapped, she handed me a book and said...I was just led to get this book for you. Honestly, I thought she was trying to be funny when I read the title..."Pathway to Purpose" for women by Katie Brazelton. Thinking to myself, what are you trying to insinuate about the state of my life? Was she trying to give me a hint? I went back to my room, put the book on my dresser, and waited for God's audible voice to speak! Yet no response came. About the 3rd day after receiving the book, I cried out again to God. He lead me right back to the book. I realize, this was not going to be a quick fix...it was going to require some work on my part. So I began to read and came face to face with myself. I began sharing with a friend, my journey to a purposed filled life and she linked arms with me to passionately pursue God's purpose together. God's word says there is power in agreement!!! Before I knew it, two turned into four women seeking purpose through this book. We started out great, or so I thought. I was trying to make it structured, within a timeline...you know a typical six to eight week study. You go, get it and then your gone...on to the next study with no change to show for it. God had something else in mind for the 4 of us! Right towards the end of us finishing up the book, life happened to us all. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. No matter how hard we tried to finish the last few chapters of the study, the door kept closing. So I released and let it go! Yet the thought of the study never left the recess of my mind as I continued to be drawn back to the book. Last year a movie came out that stirred up the passion to pursue purpose once again. The movie was the book of Eli with Denzel Washington. Here was a man who heard from God that his purpose in life was to deliver the last known bible, the Word of God, to a specific place so that it could be reproduced for generations to come. He was FOCUSED and DETERMINED to fulfill his God ordained purpose in life in spite of distractions and limitations that came his way. He was not going to die until what he was purposed to do by God had been fulfilled. After he completed his God ordained purpose, he said it is finished and died. I was shaken to the core...that is what I desired. To know beyond knowing my God ordained purpose and walk it out to completion. John the Baptist knew his purpose...to prepare the way of the Lord! Jesus knew his purpose...the cross(for without the shedding of His blood, there would be no remission of sins). What is my purpose? What is your purpose? God called the four of us back together again this past October 2011 and I can say alot has happened since we first began. I'm not in such a rush to just get it done. God wants it to be a lifestyle change and that takes time. So we are allowing God to lead us in what ever direction, for how ever long it takes, as He so desires and changes us from the inside out as He sees fit. In the past couple of months, we have seen God move powerfully in our lives as we journey together to be delivered and set free while passionately pursuing our God ordained purpose! We invite whomsoever to join in with us on this journey of purpose. As you surrender "ALL" (your will and way) and say YES to God's will and way...know that your "YES" will cost you something, but I assure you it will be worth it!!! Below is a video that captures the passion of Christ as He pursues His God ordained purpose for us...How much more does your "YES" mean to Him?

Blessings,

Evangelist Sonya