Wanted: True Worshipers

“But the time is coming – indeed it's here now – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is spirit so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” — John 4:23-24

“Let us come to Him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to Him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. … Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel down before the Lord our maker, for He is our God. We are the people He watches over, the flock under His care.” — Psalm 95:2-3, 6-7

Jesus took every opportunity to show and tell the heart of the Father. A very poignant example is Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus went out of His way to meet her – traveling through unwelcoming territory with hostile conditions – on His way to Jerusalem. He sought her out, even though she was a social outcast because of her race and lifestyle. Jesus was not concerned about what others would think, even those who were closest to Him.

Jesus wanted her to know that He could meet her physical and spiritual needs. He wanted to reveal Himself to her and the heart of the Father for her. Jesus came to offer her new life. By drinking/accepting this “living water,” His Spirit, she could know the Father and His love for her. Here was her opportunity to walk away from her unfulfilling life path to the one the Father had lovingly planned for her long ago. In this new life, she could fully experience, through His Spirit, the joy and true love of her good, good Father – and respond as a true worshiper.

The Samaritan woman would no longer worship what she did not know. She would no longer go through the motions of worship, simply out of tradition, obligation or routine. She would engage in true worship of her Father, through the Spirit and in truth, as a response to the One who would always love, watch over and care for her.

Today, Jesus is still going out of His way to find true worshipers. He comes to all people, wherever we are, so He can reveal Himself to us. Through the Spirit, Jesus wants to transform us. He desires to change our praise of a great God we have heard or read about, to worship of our loving Father who we know. Abraham, Moses, Joshua and David worshiped with abandon a faithful God during times of uncertainty, and when they dealt with difficult people, insurmountable foes, betrayal and grief. They would remove their shoes and fall on their knees with their faces on the ground in true worship. Their position signified a life that was totally submitted and surrendered to God.

Each day, as I read my Bible and pray, I reflect on my lifestyle of worship. Am I willing to become a true worshiper who worships Him in spirit and in truth? Am I willing to let the light of His presence shine in my life and reveal those things in me that inhibit my worship? Am I willing to surrender my desires, dreams and plans, while totally submitting to His? Today, through His Spirit, my answers are yes. I want to live as a true worshiper who expresses an all-encompassing devotion to God out of love for Him and an all-consuming passion to please Him. How about you?

Our God hears,
Nonna Neal

Subscribe via RSS

Worship in Relationship

“You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.” — John 4:22

Sometimes I think our closest moments with the ones we love are the times we can just be together, not even needing to say a word – when the silent space does not have to be filled. Simply just being with each other is enough. I believe this is the type of connection God desires with us. In Genesis 3:8, we read how God simply walked with Adam “in the garden in the cool of the day.” According to researcher and author, Brene Brown, even neuroscience proves that we are wired for connection. We were made for relationship, both with God and others.

In Psalm 139, God tells us that He knit each one of us together in our mother's womb. When I think of this act of knitting,  images of attention, intention, a skillful hand and a purposeful heart come to mind. God has uniquely knit each of us together. We each have our own personalities and ways in which we personally connect and share. I believe God has called us to know Him within this context. 

In John 4:22, we read Paul's response to the Samaritans, warning them they do not KNOW who they worship. To truly worship God, you must know God. To know God, we cannot limit Him to a set of rules, a certain place, a particular object or a set of people. We can only know Him in and through a relationship with Christ. This relationship is available to each of us, no matter what we look like and no matter our past.

Friends, wherever you are at today on the relationship spectrum with God, there is no shame or guilt here. Each of us will always be able to go deeper in our relationship with God. In your First 20 today, ask God to meet you where you are at. Connect with Him just as you are. There are many ways in which we can connect with God speaking to our unique make-up. In addition to the essentials of reading your Bible and praying, here is a sampling of ideas:

Listen to worship music with God.

Dance with God. 

Sit silent with God and listen.

Meditate on Scripture with God.

Write to God – share feelings, insecurities, frustrations, joys and dreams.

Draw, paint or color with God.

Walk outside and enjoy nature with God.

(Fill in the blank) with God. 

Embrace the freedom that Christ has given us through relationship versus the bondage of trying to fulfill the law (checking off a box). It's not about ritual, it's about relationship. May you know the One you worship! 

We would love to hear from you. How do you personally connect with God? 

Our God hears,
Jennifer Cardinal

Subscribe via RSS

Wholehearted Worship: Whenever and Wherever

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” —Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.’” — John 4:20-21 (ESV)

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it.” — Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

For seven centuries, the Jews and Samaritans debated frequently and fervently about the correct place to worship. Jesus’ response to the Samaritan woman who encountered Him at the well was that all the Jews and the Samaritans knew of worship would be making a way for something new. Once the veil of the temple was torn in two, a new way to worship was made possible. Believers were given full access to God, so that He could be approached for worship anytime and anywhere. Once the Spirit of the Living God ignites our spirit by His holy fire, our hearts become personal chapels where His Spirit dwells. Therefore, we can never go anywhere without Him! When we cultivate a holy habit of thinking about the Lord often, we can live in joyful awareness of His blessed presence.

The Living Water from the fountain of God’s grace is meant for everyone who is willing to hold out an empty jug. Creating us for Himself, having designed us to worship Him, what God wants most is for us to have hearts on fire for Him (Hosea 6:6). Giving ourselves to Him in complete surrender is the heart of worship.

Realizing we have been created uniquely, Christian author Gary Thomas identifies nine possible “sacred pathways” that may encourage us to draw closer to the Lord in wholehearted worship. There is freedom in allowing our hearts to respond to loving God as different individuals. Some of his examples of avenues to worship include that we may prefer praying by ourselves versus with a group. We may enjoy worship while walking in the woods or in an art museum. Perhaps our faith is energized by studying the Word with a group or alone. Some of us may want to take extra time to bathe in the ocean of Jesus’ love like Mary of Bethany. Once we understand our spiritual temperaments, we can explore new places for worshiping to nourish our intimate relationship with Jesus.

True worship begins with a humble heart and a sincere love for God. Worship pleasing to God grows as we spend time allowing Him to make Himself known to us. His Spirit prays for us, teaches us through Scripture and tells us we are loved. 

Examples of wholehearted worshipers are found throughout history. Because Noah took pleasure in God and obeyed Him completely in the 120-year project to build the ark, we’re alive today! After safely exiting the ark with his family, Noah’s first act was worshiping the Lord (Genesis 8:20). King David enjoyed a musical, celebratory style of worship (1 Chronicles 13:8). King Josiah’s reforms throughout Judah and Samaria were extensive as he turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and might (2 Kings 23:25). Brother Lawrence, a humble cook in a 17th Century French monastery, worshiped God through the common tasks of life. Known as the “Flying Scot,” gold medalist Eric Liddell said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”

Finally, Graham Kendrick is one more example of a wholehearted worshiper. He’s one of the world’s most respected worship leaders and was our lead worshiper several times during this past decade. Besides using his God-given gift of song-making and enjoying an intimate relationship with Jesus, he also has a passion for prayer walking. Along with his friend Steve Hawthorne, he coauthored “Prayer Walking: Praying On Site With Insight.” He played a key role in the “March for Jesus” movement, and his song “Shine Jesus Shine” popularized the vision of taking the church onto the streets in praise and worship. On October 27, 2011, while strumming his guitar and singing “Shout to the Lord” and “The Peace,” Graham helped us dedicate our Prayer Trail, an extension of the Bethel Prayer Room.

Even if the outdoors isn’t a usual place for you to worship, I’d like to suggest that you try one of your First 20’s on our Prayer Trail, especially during the New England summer season. Once you do it, it may become a favorite place where your love for the Lord grows as you soak in His creation. “Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of Your presence, Lord” Psalm 89:15 (NLT).

Our God hears,
Barb Wibling

Subscribe via RSS

Free to Boast

“What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.” — Galatians 6:15

Through Jesus’ death on the cross, He provided complete freedom and victory from the captivity of our sins. What a transformation! Questions that I often ask myself and am passionate to see in others are, “Am I living like I’m free?” and “Does my life boast of the freedom and victory Christ died to give me?”

Recently, the Holy Spirit gave me some tangible insight through a book I’m reading, “Victory Over the Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ,” by Neil T. Anderson. He talks about the difference between “the spiritual person” (life in the Spirit) and “the fleshy person” (life in the flesh). The spiritual person reflects change generated by the spiritual birth. We then receive power from the Spirit and not from the flesh. The Fleshy person is identical to that of the spiritual person – “a Christian, spiritually alive in Christ and declared righteous by God. But the similarity ends there. Instead of being directed by the Spirit, this believing person chooses to follow the impulses of their flesh. As a result, their emotions are plagued by negative feelings. Though freed to walk in the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, they continue to willfully walk after the flesh. When they do this, they are not operating in the manner God created them to.” (Neil T. Anderson) 

This had become my experience. The more I read, the clearer it became that I was trying to live parts of my life out of my flesh and not with the Spirit’s power. It became increasingly clear, by the Holy Spirit’s gentle but certain conviction, that yielding to the flesh, instead of dying to it daily, made me more vulnerable in the areas of worry, insecurity and inadequacy. What became crystal clear was that I was living more out of my feelings than my faith. Living from a place of “feelings” does not bring freedom, only captivity. Jesus came and died so that we may live in the abundance of His freedom, which we inherit when we come into relationship with Him.

Jesus came to set us free and to live a transformed life! Living free is allowing the truth of God’s Word to permeate every area of our life:

We are new creations! “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

We are freed through Jesus’ blood! “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.” Ephesians 1:7 

We are free from condemnation! “There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

We are free and filled with the power of Jesus! “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” Romans 8:11

These are the truths that I desire to boast in, and this is the life I desire to live with the power of the Holy Spirit. “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3

Are there areas you struggle with where you are yielding more to the flesh than to the Spirit? Do you find yourself leaning more on your feelings than your faith? Jesus wants to set you free!

Jesus has given us everything we need to live free. May we boast in nothing else than the freedom He has graciously given to us, and in doing so may we live like it’s true!

Our God hears,
Lynne Bauman

Subscribe via RSS

Look Up

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” — 2 Kings 6:16-17 (NLT)

The Prophet Elisha prayed to God to open the eyes of his assistant. The army of the king of Syria had come to capture Elisha and bring him before their king. Elisha was not troubled, but his assistant was filled with fear. 

The assistant saw the physical army that surrounded them, but he forgot to whom they belonged. Elisha prayed and God opened the eyes of the assistant. 

Are your eyes open? Sometimes, circumstances seem to make us oblivious of the Most High God. We forget that we are children of the King of Kings, that the Lord of All has sent His Son to save us. Instead, we are frozen by fear and devastated by the situations in our lives.

When overwhelmed, we must remember to pray. As followers of Christ, we belong to the Lord and should always look to Him for our help in time of need. The Lord is our Helper, our Redeemer and our Friend.

Thank you Lord that you open our eyes to your glory. 

Our God hears,
Beverlie Brooks

Subscribe via RSS

Fruitfulness Through God's Faithfulness

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so that it may bear more fruit … I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” — John 15:1-2, 5, 16-17 (ESV)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” — Galatians 5: 22-23 (ESV)

In the Book of Ezekiel, God promises to give His people a Spirit that will dwell in them and enable them to live His way (Ezekiel 36:27). At Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit came. Through God’s faithfulness, we’ve been filled with His Spirit and empowered to do what He’s planned for us since before time began. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of our seeking to grow under the guidance and power of His Spirit.

We’ve been planted in places and with people where the Lord knows we can most glorify Him. Created uniquely, having been given particular traits and skills, we can choose to allow Christ to work in and through us. When He asks something of us, He provides the tools necessary to complete it. Our responsibility is to abide in Him. He takes care of the rest.

In abiding, we choose to be completely dependent on Jesus. The fruit we bear is evidenced by His abiding on the throne of our lives. The greater our intimacy with the Vine, the greater the fruit that’s grown on the branch. When we’re strongly abiding in Him, we can expect resurrection power to be at work in our lives. When we allow that power to flow through us, nothing can hold us back from reaching the most abundant life possible. When we release control, submit to the power of the Spirit within us, and let God be in our every moment, we can confidently pray, “Thy will be done,” knowing He will be faithful to bring us through.

There’s no limit to God’s power no matter what season we’re in. It’s been observed that the most fruitful and most joy-filled Christians are the ones who have been pruned the most! If the Vine has chosen a branch, then He has pledged Himself to supply the nourishment needed to bear fruit. If we willingly yield to the Vinedresser’s pruning, He will ensure the fulfillment of more fruit from the process. In that process of pruning, the Lord brings us closer to the likeness of Christ.

As Margaret F. Powers, author of “Footprints,” discovered, it was during the trials and testing that a second set of footprints disappeared. During those times, the Lord was still there, but instead of walking alongside her, He was carrying her. In our painful seasons of pruning, we aren’t hidden from the Lord. He knows when our hearts are broken, and His heart breaks with us. The skillful hand of the Vinedresser is at work in our lives, accomplishing something we can’t do for ourselves — something we could never imagine at the moment. We’re never alone because the Spirit dwells within us. He’s just waiting to supply His abundant resources when we ask for His help.

The unbelieving world is watching us. Are we diffusing the fragrance of Christ by displaying the fruit of the Spirit in our actions and attitudes among those who are being saved and those who have yet to ask for Christ’s gift of salvation?

Although my family is currently in a season of pruning, we are watching expectantly for the fruit He wants to produce. While we abide in Christ, keeping our focus on Him, He’s providing us with His inner joy and peace and empowering us to love one another. When being treated unkindly, our eyes have been opened to His compassionate perspective, and He’s helping us respond with kindness and goodness. He’s giving us His strength to hold back, returning anger with gentleness instead. Through God’s faithfulness, He’s enabling us to wait patiently while He works out His best plan for us. Even if some of our dreams have died, our all-sufficient God is able to provide all that is needed to accomplish what He’s planned. Things may not turn out the way we think they should, but we know He loves us and has His best in mind for us.

Reflecting on almost five decades since my personal encounter with Jesus, the times of pruning brought me closer to my Lord. In trusting Him to use His pruning shears on me, I enjoyed seeing the salvation of a loved one after 32 years of waiting on His perfect timing. When we better understand the wisdom of His pruning, we can look forward with expectancy to a subsequent season of fruitfulness that is greater than we could have ever asked for or imagined. To Him be all the glory! “For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5)

Our God hears,
Barb Wibling

Subscribe via RSS

To Walk by the Spirit and Not by the Flesh

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:16-21

Taking an inventory of my life, there are definitely more than one not so shining moment when I have given into my flesh. These moments arose through people pleasing and caring about the opinions of others rather than seeking my identity in God, or by being a control freak and worrying about the future rather than entrusting it to God. The surrender of my flesh is a very real thing indeed.

I am grateful for how God uses His Word not to condemn us or shame us, but to encourage us and teach us. I can't help but think of King David, who was described as “a man after God's own heart.” The Lord was with David. The Lord protected David. The Lord provided for David. The Lord loved David. Yet, even David, who we look up to as a biblical hero, was not immune to the draw of the flesh, the act of sin or the consequences of sin. How could this be? How could King David be a “man after God's own heart” yet fall to the lure of the flesh? I suppose just like we all can.

Jesus challenges us in John 8:7, “Let him who has not sinned, cast the first stone.” Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of the God.” Yet, God reveals in John 3:17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” Since we all have sinned, we all need a Savior to come into the presence of God. Christ is this bridge.

And although we are saved and born again but once, just like David, we are not immune to this draw of the flesh. We each have our own spiritual battle. We can't measure the severity of our sin against the sin of another, for there is no measuring stick when it comes to sin. But there is good news. John 10:10 teaches us that Christ has come to give us life to the fullest. He has come to walk with us daily. As we walk with Christ, we learn to walk in the power of the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Whatever it is you may be facing today, know that God loves and cares for you. There is no sin too deep, too dark or too secret to bring to Him. Just like David, we can come to God and confess to Him, “I have sinned.” Although God does not necessarily remove the consequences of our sin, He scoops us up in His loving arms, is quick to forgive and loves us. Don't wait for the illusion of that perfect moment – the time is now. In your First 20 today, come to Him just as you are, and share with Him openly. Let Him bring you the freedom of walking in the Spirit that only Christ brings. Friends, let us remember that this is a daily surrender, but let us also remember that this is a daily freedom. He is the one true answer to that for which we hunger and thirst.

Our God hears, 
Jennifer Cardinal

Subscribe via RSS

New Wineskins

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins." – Mark 2:22

Jesus was quite the authority on the subject of wine. Consider His first miracle and communion, not to mention the parables about vineyards and wineskins. Here we find Jesus discussing the virtues of new wineskins over old ones. He understood that new wine ferments rapidly, building up pressure inside the wineskin. This transforming process requires a vessel that is flexible and expandable. Yet, old wineskins have become rigid and inflexible, unable to sustain the pressure created by the new wine. Consequently, they burst. 

Peter quoted the prophet Joel after the Spirit came at Pentecost saying, “In the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17) This new wine of the Spirit is available to us today, as we pray for God to pour out His Spirit upon us. As we approach Pentecost, it’s a good time to ask yourself … what if He did? 

What if God were to pour out His Spirit afresh upon your life today? Would you expand … or burst? As I look at my daily and weekly routine, I confess that the demands of life can threaten to fill up every last bit of space until there’s no room left. God needs space to move. Then there are my thoughts and attitudes. Have I got it all figured out, or is there still room for God to enter in and change the way I think about myself, others and the world around me? Am I open to seeing God do new things and willing to adjust my lifestyle to enable Him to move more freely? Or would I burst under the pressure of God’s new wine?

God has been speaking to me this season through Isaiah 43:19, where the prophet declares, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” I want to be positioned as a new wineskin that God can do something new and fresh through in the coming days. This isn’t always comfortable, but it certainly is exciting!

Jesus said that new wine calls for new wineskins. As we approach Pentecost in just a couple of weeks, why not pray, “Lord, make me into a new wineskin, flexible and able to receive what you desire to pour into my life, by your Spirit and for your Glory.” 

Our God Hears,
AJ Picard

Subscribe via RSS