Morning Worship

Have you ever woken up with a song on your heart?  You hear it so clearly as if all of heaven has set up in your room, right where you're at, and begun to sing with such a power it almost brings you to tears?

That has been my morning!  I woke up to all of Heaven singing Praises to an awesome, mighty, holy God!  It is impossible to ignore God when He starts your day that way.  So, I grabbed my Bible and began to search the Word of God.  He encouraged me to rejoice today!  God took me to a very familiar portion of scripture in Philippians.  As you begin to read what the Word of the Lord says, you need to remember that when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians he was sitting in prison.  It totally changes the impact of this passage.  As he sits there, himself in prison, he says to them...

Philippians 4:4-9
"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true , whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you."

Rejoice!  Get your praise on!  No matter what in life has come against you...Rejoice!  I call this passage the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" text.  We spend so much of our lives in worry.  We stress over the things that come against us, things that we have no control over.  I used to be a serious worrier.  I would obsess over every little thing in my life, and I have to be honest I still struggle with that.  I am a natural fixer.  I see a problem or a difficult situation and my natural instinct is to try to fix it.  I have made myself sick a couple of times trying to figure out problems that I had no business messing with.  Stuff happens, the question is how are we going to react to it?

I want to be like Paul!  I want to be one who prays and lays it down.  Am I always successful at that?  NO!  I am the worst, but I strive everyday to grow in this area.  God wants to be invited into that situation.  God can handle any problem you have if you ask.  Then after you do, Rejoice!  Get your praise on.  He is already at work in that situation!  Let God's peace reign over you.  I tend to be a very happy person for the most part.  I am learning that in this life things happen that are just far out of our control.  Why worry?  It's doesn't help the situation, and it just makes you miserable.  I am learning to put on joy and walk away trusting that God's got everything under control.  He loves me and He wants the best for me.

So get your Joy on!  And whatever you do (Like that transition, Ha), whatever you make sure that what  you read, listen to, watch, etc is uplifting and will feed your spirit.  We allow too much junk into our lives via television, radio, movies, and books.  There is material out there that will uplift and encourage you.  Why allow the trash in?  I believe the saying "Garbage in, garbage out."  If all you are feeding your mind with is garbage then that is what is going to manifest from your life.  Read the Word of God, pray, break out your hair brush and have church with some Godly praise music in the middle of your house.  You will usually find me having church in my car!  (Refer to the post:  Drive Safely!)  It isn't always a safe way to drive, but I feel amazing whenever I get to where I'm going!

So today, Rejoice!  Have a party!  God is watching over you, and He will not allow the things of this world to overtake you.  And, I want to share the song that God invaded my morning with.  I encourage you to start this video, close your eyes, raise your hands, and allow God to invade your space.

Blessings!

Drive Safely!

Y'all it is one beautiful morning! This morning I wanted to reenact that scene from Oklahoma,  you know Gordon MacRae on a horse singing to the corn stalks!

I love to hear him sing.  I would make any excuse to stick a video in of him singing.  They don't make musicals like that anymore.  Anyway, it is a beautiful day, and like many of you I have a bit of a commute to work.  This morning, I attached my IPod to the car, put it on the worship playlist I created, and started on my way to work.  This is both an invigorating and dangerous way for me to drive to work.

There is really no better place to hang out with God than in your car.  For many of you, it may be the only time in your day you can truly be alone with God.  Now the truth of the matter is, you aren't really alone.  In fact, many of us share the road with hundreds of people everyday.  All of them aware of your morning antics via the windows of your vehicle.  However, I don't know about you, but it has never deterred me from having church, and I mean holy ghost, shouting, singing, preaching out loud church right there in my vehicle.  And, I have no inhibitions when it comes to this morning time ritual of mine. 

Take this morning for example.  I was worshiping along with Group 1 Crew and Chris August to "He Said" at the top of my lungs. When I look over and realize that the man in the truck next to me is going to pass the car in front of him without taking notice that I existed.  This could have been a tragic event in my morning, but I hit the brakes, honked my horn slightly, and kept singing.  I recognized his attempt to wreck my pretty navy blue car, but I didn't let it upset me or even slow me down.   I just kept praising God! 

There are things that happen in life that often try to derail us from our path.  Tragedy strikes around us all the time.  The question is, how are you going to choose to react to those moments that try to distract you from your desired destination?  Perhaps I should share the lyrics I was singing when this incident happened this morning.

"You may be knocked down now
but just believe what He said, He said
I won't give you more, more then you can take
and I might let you bend, but I won't let you break
and No-o-o-o-o, I'll never ever let you go-o-o-o-o
Don't you forget what He said
Don't fear when you go through the fire
Hang on when it's down to the wire
Stand tall and remember what He said"

No matter what tries to distract you in life, keep holding on to the Lord and trust that he is there to care for you.  And for added insurance make sure you pray.  I say the same prayer every time I get in my vehicle.  "Lord, please protect me from others on the road. And please Lord, protect others from me."  Especially in those times, when the holy ghost falls, I've got my hands raised, and tears are running down my face.  Yes, it happens!  I told you I have church.  I even have church in the car on the way to church.  I think of it as a warm up.  And no matter what happens in your life, remember these words....

James 5:13-16

           "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." 

Say a little prayer and trust God to take care of you.  The Bible says in Matthew 6:27 "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?"  So don't worry, and follow my not so safety conscious self and keep worshiping.  God's got this! 

Disclaimer:  Having church in the car can distract you, so make sure you do not allow yourself to become so distracted that you are unaware on the road.  I am a horrible example!  Do spend time worshiping God like crazy, but don't allow your worship to cause accidents on the road.  I can only imagine what my Uncle, who's a state policeman, would say to you if you used worship as an excuse for an accident.  So Drive Safe!