Purpose Driven Life Day 13

Day 13, May 13th, "Worship What Pleases God" 

   - Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." God wants us to love him with every part of our being. He doesn't just want parts of you, he wants all of you. He wants full devotion to Him. The kind of worship that pleases God has four characteristics:
   1. God is pleased when our worship is ACCURATE
      - "Worship must be based on the truth of scripture, not our opinions about God." Rick Warren. We cannot let our opinions interfere with the truth of the scripture and how we worship God. We must worship God in an accurate way to be pleasing to Him.
   2. God is pleased when our worship is AUTHENTIC

     - God designed out spirit to worship with him. Rick Warren says, "Worship is your spirit responding to God's spirit." We must worship genuinely and heartfelt. We must mean what we say when we say it or sing it. If we worship heartlessly we are insulting God. Sometimes you see people in church or you see in yourself worshipping God but it is not genuine. They are doing it for show or to please someone else. Growing up my father was like this, he pretty much just went to check the box saying he went to church. God sees the attitude in our hearts. He knows how we are feeling and what emotions we are expressing. Worshipping brings out emotions that God gave you. We were all created unique so the way you worship may not be the same as someone else. My dad now goes to a more contemporary church and for him its not about checking the box anymore, he enjoys and craves it. Rick Warren says, "Your biggest distraction in worship is yourself - your interests and your worries over what others think about you." We have to do what is authentic to us and shows authenticity to God. There is no "one size fits all" for worship. We were all created unique, you have to find what
works for you. Thats why we have so many denominations in christianity. If you want to worship God on your hands and knees or you want to worship God singing and dancing you can. Find what fits you and be yourself. Be authentic!
    3. God is pleased when our worship is THOUGHTFUL
     - We have to love God with all our mind too. If we worship mindlessly it is meaningless. We have to be thoughtful in our worshipping. For me that means me taking notes in my prayer journal. I get more out of a sermon by taking notes. I am a very studious person and by taking notes I understand the material more and it keeps me focused. When we go to church the message should be understandable for unbelievers. Cascade Hills Church in Columbus, GA is "The Church for the Unchurched." They pride themselves on finding the unbelievers and bringing them to Christ. All of there messages are very practical to life today and are very understandable. This is how messages should be so we can reach those unbelievers.
   4. God is pleased when our worship is PRACTICAL
 

  - So many times people say, "I'm sorry I can't make it but, I'll be there in spirit." This is not true. Your spirit can only be where your body is. We need to live for God, not just on Sunday's but everyday. This is not always convenient for us or comfortable. Sometimes Sunday's is our only day off and we don't want to go and get ready and go to church. Again, its not always comfortable or convenient. When I was living in Arizona I didn't have a day off. I worked 7 days week so I went to church on Saturday nights because I worked in the morning on Sunday's. There were days when I did not want to go but I did every time and I am so glad I did. We need to make worship a priority in our lives. Somedays will be easier then others.

Point to Ponder: God wants all of me.
Verse to Remember: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30
Question to Ponder: Which is more pleasing to God right now - my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?

Purpose Driven Life Day 8-9

Day 8, May 8th, "You were planned for God's Pleasure"
 

   - When you were born God was there smiling in delight. He didn't need to create you, he chose to create you for his pleasure and enjoyment. Bringing pleasure to God is our #1 purpose! Rick Warren says, "When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant." This is an area I need to work on. Often times I feel insignificant, past relationships endings have made me feel this way. This "singleness" time in my life, I need to work on myself and develop a deeper relationship with God that is going to give God more pleasure. We are wired with 5 senses and emotions to experience pleasure. Rick Warren says, "The reason you are able to enjoy life is because God made you in his image." We are all made in God's image. God feels emotions just like we do. "Anything that we do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship." Rick Warren. This may be going to church, singing, dancing, laughing. Worship is more then just music. Every part of a church service is worship and you don't have to be in a church to worship God. "If we fail to worship God we will always find a substitute." Rick Warren. This is so true, I see this in myself at times and in others. Yes, I worship God and I attend church but when I get into a relationship my worshipping of God lessens. In this season of being single, I am beginning to realize that. Before I met my ex-boyfriend, I attended bible study every Wednesday and of course church on Sunday's. Once we met I stopped going to bible study on Wednesday because I wanted to spend more time with him. That is not right at all, I should never put a guy before God and my time of worship and praise with him. We all make mistakes and we either repeat them or learn from them and move forward.

    - Worship is not for our benefit it's for God's. The goal of worship is to bring pleasure to God not ourselves. Saying you didn't get anything out of worship/church service is wrong and it means you did it for the wrong reason. I am a victim of this. Sometimes I will go to church and be like I really didn't get anything from that, it happens less and less now but I used to say it a lot more. Worship should not be a part of your life; it is your life! The first thing you should do when you wake ups is worship and the last thing you should do before you go to bed is worship. This could me prayer, singing, reading your bible, etc. We should have continual conversation with God all day everyday. Lately I've been waking up with christian lyrics in my head and its nice because it reminds me to praise God each morning I wake up.

    - Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,as working for the Lord, not for human masters." We should always do things at 100% effort for the glory of God. Whether this be in our work, recreation, or relationships. Give everything 100% effort.

    - Our relationship with God should be like a new relationship you get into. You know what I'm talking about, where you are constantly thinking of that person, you can't get them out of your mind. We need to fall in love with Jesus like we fall in love with people.

Day 9, May 9th, "What Makes God Smile?" 
     - Do you every wonder what makes God smile? The goal of our lives should be to make God smile. There are 5 acts of worship that make God smile:
  1. God Smiles when we LOVE HIM SUPREMELY

   - God wants a relationship with each and every one of us. He wants us to get to know him, spend time with him, and love him. Our main objective in life should be learning to love God and be loved by him. Matthew 22:37-38 says, Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your should and with all your mind' This is the first and greatest commandment. We should never love anyone or anything more then God. Yes for all you mothers and fathers out there that includes your children. God should always come first.

  2. God Smiles when we TRUST HIM COMPLETELY

              - This is an area for me that I make God frown a lot. I am working on it but often times I fail. I need to fully surrender to him and his will. "Trusting God completely means having faith that he knows what is best for your life." Rick Warren. Man oh man do I struggle with this and God constantly puts me through a test to see if I am trusting him completely. Again, why am I in Northeast Ohio? There is a reason, I need to stop questioning him and trust him. Why did I go through heartbreaks and have cancer? TRUST HIM, SURRENDER! This is my most difficult area.

      3. God Smiles when we OBEY HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY
          - This again comes with trust. We need to do whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. We shouldn't say let me pray about it more. We don't need to procrastinate, we need to just obey him wholeheartedly and just do it! Rick Warren says, "We will never understand some commands until we obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding." We can't pick and choose what commands God gives us that we are going to obey. Partial obedience is the same as disobedience. God commands us to tithe, give 10% to the church, we shouldn't just ignore this and say well I'm attending church thats good enough. We shouldn't just say I'm going to read my bible but I'm not going to forgive those who hurt me. It doesn't work that way. We need to obey all the commands God has laid out for us.

      4. God Smiles when we PRAISE AND THANK HIM CONTINUALLY 
          - We should continually offer God praise and thanksgiving to God. We should wake up and go to sleep thanking God. Rick Warren says, "When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy!" Continually giving God praise and thanking him puts joy in your heart as well.

     5. God Smiles when we USE OUR ABILITIES 

        - "Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure if you do it with an attitude of praise." Rick Warren. God gave each of use unique abilities and personalities. We should use our abilities to bring glory to God. We should never hide out abilities. We need to be OURSELVES! Anyone that makes you hide who you are or hide your abilities is not right for you. Rick Warren says, "Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating you." Don't hide your abilities use them. God gave them to you for a reason.

Pondering the question of the day I need to trust God more in my romantic relationships and I need to trust God more in my finances. To be honest I really just need to fully surrender and trust God wholeheartedly in all areas of my life. What areas do you need to trust God more in?

Point to Ponder: God smiles when I trust him.
Verse to Remember: "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love." Psalm 147:11
Question to Consider: Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him more?