A Woman After God's Heart

Committed to Worship ~ Psalm 132

6:00 AM



Today's Scripture: Psalm 132 &  Hebrews 5:7-10 and Rev 21:1-4 again

Psalm 132:7
Before I share the message God wanted me to share today, I wanted to give you a bit of information I learned about Psalm 132. 

Jewish tradition teaches us that this is the psalm that was used for the dedication of the temple, and so it was used by the pilgrims as they arrived in Jerusalem. 
What is neat about this psalm is that it offers two promises: one human, one divine. It begins recalling King David’s determination that he would not be content until a lasting place was established as a “dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob” (v. 5). This is a reference to David’s promise to God and Israel that he was going to build a temple for the Lord. The divine promise is found at the end of the psalm where God promises an oath that a descendant of David would always sit on his throne.

The beauty of this promise stretches from Genesis to Revelation, and conveys that all God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, God has come to dwell in and with His people forever. We have been made priests of our God – clothed in salvation, richly provided for. Just how cool is that?

The human promise is what grabbed my attention. 

Lord, remember David
and all his self-denial. He swore an oath to the Lord, he made a vow to the Mighty One of  Jacob:
“I will not enter my house
or go to my bed,

I will allow no sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,

till I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” - Psalm 132:1-5

I had to wonder just how our passion for God measures up to David's. 
_ Are we currently hungering and thirsting after God as the Bread of Life and Living Water?
_ Are we more concerned about our own name, or the Lord's?
_ Are we as passionate as David towards His church, be it the building or His people?

What made David really great was not his possessions (the wealth and riches), nor his position (anointed as King), nor his privilege, or power (as ruler of a great empire) but his PASSION - his passion for God has been remembered through the centuries.

David lived for God’s glory. He was not a perfect man, but was quick to repent when he sinned and was willing to confess when he failed. The psalms reveal the heart of a man who is passionate to know and glorify God. 

_ If you had to rate your passion for God, and all He is most passionate about on a scale of 1-10 how passionate are you towards your time with God?

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 -7 - 8 - 9 - 10

I'd say David was a 10. 

If we truly want to be a woman described as “a woman after God’s own heart", then we truly need to give our heart completely to the Lord; to love what He loves, hate what He hates, hurt when He hurts, and rejoice over what He rejoices over!

I've come up with 5 ways I believe we can truly become more like David and become women after God's own heart. 

1.) A heart for God begins with our focus on Almighty God.

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

It means allowing faith in God to flourish and living humbly before the Him.

  • _Spend time in prayer.

  • _Spend time in God’s word, and walking in obedience to His word.

  • _Spend time quietly in His presence and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in the stillness of the moment.

  • _Take your eyes off the situation that may be troubling you and give it to the Lord.

2.) A heart for God begins by recalling the times God has blessed you in the past.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, This verse tells us to not forget all the benefits of God." (Psalm 103:2)

Remember the times when:

  • God had answered your prayers.
  • God had worked in your life.
  • God had blessed you or opened a door of opportunity.
  • God had spoken to you through others or in a sermon.
  • God had opened your spiritual eyes and led you to Him.
  • You experienced a peace in your soul and knew that all would be OK during the storms of life.

3.) A heart for God begins by developing a reverence and awe of who God is, and all He has done for you.

"And a voice came from the throne, saying,“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” (Revelation 19:5)

Know with certainty that God is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and there is nothing that is impossible for God.

4.) A heart for God begins with trusting God with your battles.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging... He says, “Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. "(Psalm 46:1-2, 10,11)

5.) A heart for God begins with trusting God with the Timing & Direction in your life.

‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”’ (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

 If you need wisdom and direction in this area I want to encourage you to visit my post on Psalm 77 - Recipe for Relief  and copy my recipe for seeking God's wisdom when uncertain about different things. 

Once more I feel as though I've given you a teaspoon out of the ocean of God wisdom, but the greatest part of all of this is - This is God's will for your life as well! And knowing that, we know He is ready to help!

O Lord, give us a passion for You above all else. Amen

Blessings, 

sue

David

Bursting Out In A Song To God - Psalm 71

11:00 AM


Psalm 71, Isaiah 2:5

When God created man, He gave to us the wonderful gift of song and singing. Music has a power all its own. It invokes emotion, triggers memories, empowers, unites, and divides. I myself come from a family of singers. A long line of beautiful voices. Unfortunately, that’s a gift God didn’t bless me with. For as my Dad would jokingly say, “Honey, you couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!” Yet I love it all the same. And I happily belt out the words to my favorite songs. Especially when it comes to songs of worship.


The Christian life is meant to be one of joy and celebration. A celebration of all God is and His amazing, unmerited blessings. David knew this well. The psalms he wrote, no matter the subject, were songs from his heart to the heart of his beloved Creator. All in worship to the God who was his everything. No matter what he faced, David had an unquenchable inner joy. A joy stemming from his great love for God. One that put a song on his lips and made his heart burst into singing praises to the Lord. 


As lovers of God, we too should have a song in our heart. One that yearns to burst from our lips and sing the praises of God. For once we were dead in our sin, and enemies of the Lord. Yet from His great love, God redeemed, adopted, and provided a path to eternal life. And if that wasn’t enough, He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives as our Father, Comforter, Provider, and Friend. Knowing all of this, how can we not have that same inner joy as David? How can we not have lips that, “shout for joy when I sing praises to You.” (Ps. 71:23)


Although prayer is a valuable gift in which to praise God, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs helps us glorify Him in a special way. It brings our hearts, souls, and minds, together to focus completely on God. And most importantly of all, it pleases our Father to hear the songs of His children. For He too sings of us. Just think of that! Like our hearts burst for Him, God’s heart bursts for us as He rejoices over us with songs of love! (Zeph. 3:17) And I don’t know about you, but knowing this makes my mouth too want to sing of His great power and righteousness! 


Pause and Reflect - 

Do you have a favorite worship song? When you sing it how does it affect you spiritually, emotionally, and physically? Did you know studies prove that singing creates a musical tone in one’s chest and throat which provides a unique pleasure?


Often times, we think only of singing when we’re happy and times are good, but in Acts 16 Paul and Silas sing for strength while imprisoned. Do you sing not only in times of joy but times of weakness?


Let’s Pray Together -

Our dearest Father in heaven above, hallowed be Thy name. Father we are not worthy to be in Your presence and yet you show Your love for us in everything. Lord, who are we that You would delight in us and rejoice over us with singing? Father we give You all the glory, honor and praise for who You are. We declare that we will sing to You, we will sing praises to You and tell of all of Your wonderful works in our life. We will sing so that all can hear it and see how great You are. Thank You because our voices are a blessing from You. We sing not for ourselves, but to demonstrate Your goodness in our lives. Heavenly Father, thank You that You have been our strength in times past, and You have continued to support and strengthen us through every stage of our of lives. May Your name be glorified forever and ever. In Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen.


Don't' forget to head over to our Facebook group at, https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintheword2 to join in on the discussion. Also check out our public Facebook page at, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083156569388 and give us a like!


I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, and I pray your day overflows with love and blessings.


💖Lisa

Exhalt

He is Exalted! ~ Psalm 47

7:30 AM

Scripture Reading : Psalm 47, Isaiah 2:1-5 & Ephesians 2:19-22 

      

Think of how excited you are when a long-missed loved one returns home. or the shouts and cheers at a sporting event; can you imagine all those emotions going on when we make it to heaven? Surely our Lord deserves far more than what we see displayed in this life!

But, I don't want you to miss the reason for this praise: “For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared.” (v.2) Does that seem to you like a strange reason to shout and clap with excitement—the fear of God?

 This psalm is a song of praise of God’s sovereign rule over all the earth. Notice with me, 

  • He “chose” us
  • He “subdued” peoples under us (v.3)
  • We have received an inheritance (v.4)
  • He is “our King,” 
  • He is “the King of all the earth,” (v.7)
  • He “reigns over the nations,” (v.8) 
  • The “shields of the earth (His tokens of victory from battle) belong to God.”
  • All the earth belongs to Him
And we, Beloved, have found favor with Al-mighty God! This is why the author is calling us to praise God—simply because He is God! He is worthy of all our praise!

But also note that our praise does not add to His majesty; it is not for His sake that we are called to praise Him, but our own.

Did you know that praise, joy and enthusiasm is contagious?  Our praise completes our enjoyment of God’s kingship as people in His kingdom. Our praise rises from a grateful heart! 

We cannot help but to praise Him, and in so doing, we share our joy with others, which only adds to our joy and others. 

Beloved, this is the great experience of authentic biblical worship; we together praise God, for He is to be feared as our is our King.

So, let me ask you: 

_ Does praise come easily to your lips? 

_ Does it flow from a grateful heart that cannot help, but praise God?

_ If not, why do you think that it? Unforgiveness? Anger? 

 As I mentioned before praise becomes contagious. Therefore, I'd like to encourage you today to read this psalm to yourself again. Read it out loud. Play your favorite Christian artists as you meditate on these verses. Speak/shout the truths I've listed above --  "He is the King!", "He chose me!", "He reigns over all!" "And has given me an inheritance with His beloved!" ... Shout and give Him praise, for “He is highly exalted”!

And then come on over to WitW and join us in worshiping Him this morning!!

Let's pray:

O Father, I want to worship You this morning, for You are worthy of ALL our praise and worship today and for all eternity. Therefore, I bow before you in reverence. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. You have dominion over everything in the heavens and on earth. Yet you still care about even the smallest details of my life. That’s why I want to rejoice in you each day. You are worthy!

All glory belongs to you. I come to you in prayer to glorify your name - You are my Abba Father. Your unconditional love for me stretches to the highest mountain peaks and reaches to the depths of the seas. It is beyond anything I can fathom. Your love never ends, and great is Your faithfulness!  I love you with all my heart, soul, and mind! Thank you for your faithfulness that endures forever. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Blessings, 



Jesus

Kiss the Son ~ Psalm 2

9:00 AM


Today's Reading: Psalm 2 & Hebrews 1:5
 
Welcome to our first week of our journey to becoming a woman after God's own heart!! I am so excited to get started!!! And I cannot think of a better place to begin than with verses 10-12 in Psalms 2,
 “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2:10-12). 

In this second psalm, David presents two “ways” similar to Psalm 1—the way of human rebellion versus the way of submission to God. 

(Have you ever wondered why The Lord chose to begin the Book of Psalms this way?)

Pictured here in verses 10-12, is a kiss of reverence and submission. Not a kiss of betrayal like Judas (Luke 22:47-48), but a gesture of devotion, surrender in recognizing our helplessness and complete dependence on our Lord.

Far too many today imagine that they can reject the will of God and ignore the Lord’s grace and mercy He offers us because of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Although they may choose to rebel against Him, the psalm makes it clear that all resistance to the One who “sits in heaven” is foolishness.

So, how about you? Which "way" have you chosen? Have you kissed the Son?

Surrender is actually a battle term. It implies giving up all rights to the conqueror. I believe it is summed up best in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

"There are different levels of surrender, all of which affect our relationship with God. Initial surrender to the drawing of the Holy Spirit leads to salvation ( Acts 2:21). When we let go of our own attempts to earn God’s favor and rely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, we become a child of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). But there are times of greater surrender during a Christian’s life that bring deeper intimacy with God and greater power in service. The more areas of our lives we surrender to Him, the more room there is for the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we exhibit traits of His character (Galatians 5:22). The more we surrender to God, the more our old self-worshiping nature is replaced with one that resembles Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)."*

I truly desire to be wholly surrendered to the King of kings and Lord of lords, and wholeheartedly "kiss the Son". How about you?

Pause and Reflect:

_Have you surrendered to the lordship of Christ?

_What do you believe this looks like in your life?

Let's pray: 

Heavenly Father, every day we see people waring against You; plotting against Your Son and Your people. But You, O Lord, are enthroned in the heavens. You laugh at the rebellion of the nations, for You will judge them all one day. 
     You have established Jesus as Your Son and You have given Him the nations as His inheritance, the ends of the earth for His eternal possession. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank You, Father that you have revealed Your truths to each of us!
     Father, we pray that Your Gospel will spread throughout this world through Your church and bringing many to repentance. Give us a holy confidence in our King who reigns forever, and a boldness the world cannot intimidate away. Bring many to repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; may they kiss the Son and be saved from perishing. Thank You that we have found refuge in Jesus. May others find refuge in Him, as well! In Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Blessings,





Fall Study

New Fall Study - Becoming a Woman After God’s Own Heart - A Journey through The Psalms

6:28 AM

The book of Psalms is filled with songs from believing hearts in every imaginable situation. It’s is a collection of lyrics that can help Christians deal with anger and depression, joy and hope, fear and doubt, life and death, hatred and love. And a common chorus to many of the psalms is, "I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears" (Psalm 34.4) Are you ready to cry out to the Lord for help? Then join us here at WITW for our new fall study. Starting August 29th, we’ll begin, “Becoming a Woman After God’s Own Heart - A Journey through The Psalms.” Monday through Friday we’ll be writing a daily devotional. On the weekend, Sandra will be posting an exercise helping us wrap up the week. So get ready to go through one of the most cherished books in the Bible, and be blessed by the fellowship, worship, and study! Head on over to our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintheword2 to join the discussion!

Adoration

A Psalm Of Adoration (Psalm 138)

12:30 PM





The Psalms are songs of praise and adoration.  David had a close relationship with God and I believe a big part of that was because David knew how to magnify God. When we look through a magnifying glass we see things closer, bigger, and in more detail. David saw the grand scale of who God was in all of His majesty and at the same time the grand scale of God’s boundless love toward man. If we want to know God we must learn to see Him with wonder, awe and adoration. 
As A. W Tozer said,
"We must never rest until everything inside us worships God." 

Expressing Adoration for God is:
-A Whole Heart Experience-
“I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;”

-An Expression of Gratitude-
“I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,”

-A Recognition of God’s Supremacy-
"for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

-A Dependence and Trust-
“On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.”

-A Humble Submission-
“For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.”

-A Pursuit of Victory-
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. “

-A Perspective of Purpose-
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

When you view God, just what do you see? How intimately do you know Him? To know Him is to love Him and to be aware of just how much He loves you! The more you magnify and praise Him, the more your awe and adoration will increase. You will come to seek and appreciate Him from the depths of your heart....a heart that beats because of Him and for Him. 


discipline

SoulSearching Sunday~The Language of Heaven

12:00 AM

Sunday, December 23, 2018



Week Fifty-two...

Welcome!  We pray that you have all had a precious time worshipping the Lord this morning!  Below you will find some thought provoking questions that will provide you a starting point to your journal writing to complete this week.  We hope that you will find this time soul satisfying!

 I personally want to thank you for your commitment to all the reading, studying, and journalling you have done this year! To God be the Glory!

Our reading this week was Revelation 1 - 22 (22 will be read on December 31)

 1. Examine your heart today. How welcome is Christ in every part of your life? He wants to be central in your thoughts. He wants to be your closest friend. Are you letting Him? Today in worship, invite Him into the areas you have been guarding behind closed doors.

 Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. (Revelation 3:20)

 2. How can you develop the discipline of communing with the LORD moment by moment? Make it your practice to mix prayer with a life sacrificed to the glory of God.

 Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. (Revelation 8:3-4)

 3. What is your favorite hymn or praise song? What makes it so meaningful to you? Write a few lines of praise that you could sing to God.

 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. And no one could learn this song except those 144,000 who had bee redeemed from the earth. (Revelations 14:3)

God

Why is Jesus Worthy of Our Worship? {Rev 6-8:5}

8:30 PM


 
One of my all-time favorite traditions at Christmas is to read through the Book of Revelations!  While the rest of the world celebrates His coming to earth as a baby, I love to look ahead to all we have to look for to, and this being the day after our Christmas celebration, I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on just why Jesus is worthy of all our worship!

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” – Revelations 7:9-12
Yesterday, in Revelation 5 we discovered that Jesus was the only…the ONLY One who was found worthy to open the scroll and break the seven seals. Now today we’re invited to look on what John saw happening in heaven. We’re actually being called to join with the multitude of angels and other creatures in worshiping our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I pray we each will pause for just a few moments as we wrap up our study and Christmas celebration, to reflect on just a few reason why He is so worthy of all our worship!  

Jesus is ...

__Our Creator:
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”- (Genesis 1:26)
We owe every breath to the One who has made us.
__God the Son, who laid aside His divinity to come rescue us
Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness. – (Philippians 2:6-7)

__The Savior who took on human-form and died to save us.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8)
__The only One who revealed God the Father to us.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” – (John 14:9)
__The Son of Man, who chose to identify with us and die for us because of He loved us:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”- (John 1:14)
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
 Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die.  But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8 emphasis mine)
__The Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world
The next day he [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29)
__The Lion of Judah, who will return as the judge, the ruler, and the authority over all.
“Then one of the [twenty-four] elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look closely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome and conquered! He can open the scroll and [break] its seven seals”. (Revelations 5:5)
These are but a few of His attributes. I can echo John’s words in John 21:25, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”
 But any and all of these attributes should be enough to motivate us to praise and worship the King of kings and Lord of lords! The Great I AM! Who set aside all His heavenly rights to come down to earth to be born as a babe, so that He could save us all from our own sins, in order that we would one day be able to be with Him in paradise for all eternity!

Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 
 for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice, 
 “Do not harden your hearts... (Psalm 95:6-7)

believers

SoulSearching Sunday~Remember

12:00 AM

Sunday, December 23, 2018


Week Fifty-one...

Welcome!  We pray that you have all had a precious time worshipping the Lord this morning!  Below you will find some thought provoking questions that will provide you a starting point to your journal writing to complete this week.  We hope that you will find this time soul satisfying!

Our reading this week was 2 Peter 1 - Jude...

 1. Using the theme of forgetting and remembering, write a poem about “applying the benefits of God’s promises” and living a life that demonstrates that God has “cleansed you from your old life of sin.” Praise Him for what He has done.

 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to you life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence…But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin. (2 Peter 1:5,9)

 2. You have an enemy who wants to steal your affection from God by deceiving you. What areas of your spiritual life are vulnerable to His attack? Which of his deceptions do you most easily fall into? Ask God to keep you watchful and focused on the prize.

 Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward. (2 John v. 8)

 3. The Body of Christ - the Church - in a specific area includes all believers in that community, regardless of their church affiliations. Thank God for the blessing of fellow believers to encourage you as you follow Christ. What can you do to build His Body in your community?

 Some of the brothers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living in the truth. (3 John v. 3)