Thankfulness is a key foundation of worship. It's the breakthrough attitude.
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| "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler," by Heinrich Hofmann |
Thankfulness opens the way into deeper praise,
and
deeper encounters
with the Lord.
Have you ever been stuck during worship?
You know.
Sitting in what appears to be crazy presence with people connecting with God all around you and you feel nothing, sense nothing and you become a spectator?
Not a participant?
I have.
Often, in this scenario, we may be thinking about WHAT GOD is NOT DOING.
Rather than WHAT GOD is DOING.
And to be honest, we don't like what HE is NOT DOING.
When we focus on What God is NOT DOING, we miss the moment. The voice of God cannot penetrate. We often miss what he is actually doing for us right then.
Here are some things I say to myself when I am fixed on "what he is not doing...."
- I don't feel him. Worship was tears and joy and lots of emotion. Now? Where did he Go?
- He doesn't seem to care about my current situation. Nothing is changing fast enough. where's God when I need him most?
- He is not touching me like I was hoping. I wanted a fill blown manifestation encounter. Maybe he is not real?
- He is not talking to me the way he used to. I don't hear him. Did he ever talk to me?
- He did not answer me the way I expected. Why can't God just answer me or talk to me like I was talking with another person?
Everything he is NOT doing stands out so clearly.
A Couple things to remember...
Remember the mind of the flesh is in a decisive battle with God. The world and the Devil are as well. We are trained up in the ways of the dog eat dog world order. That path trains us to see what is lacking, bite and devour, and judge freely. We are trained to pick out what people are not doing and in particular what God is not doing. Then we become his judge. This is a prime approach of the Enemy. The enemy is a usurper. He always asks, "Is this what God said?" or is God real? It is not easily seen by us, because this is a mindset our culture supports and upholds. A stronghold of thinking and reasoning that is opposed to the truth about God and his love for us. 
Spirit and truth worship is the foundation of walking with God. The Kingdom is a place of peace, generosity, kindness and open access to the Father. (Galatians 5:20; Hebrews 10:19)
Second, we like to God how He should act. We regularly create in our minds a scenario for the Lord to act in and or orchestrate. Like a play for God to act out. Our play. We write it and everything he should do and say in it.
Sadly, He is not typically cooperative with this approach.
So when God doesn't act like we think he should (keep in mind we frame the script from the mind of the flesh and the fallen world order and with the Devil's abundant resources of lies) we get mad. We get offended. Thankfulness and "Mad at God" do not hang out very well together. It doesn't take a high degree of discernment to realize that Thankfulness will not be thriving in a garden filled with this kind of soil. Anger, offense creates just what it says, a fence around us. One that God will tear down.
Ex. God is a good parent. Good earthly parents don't let the smallest, typically most self focused child in the household run the roost. We train them up in the way they should go. We teach them how to be responsible members of the family. How to care, love and contribute.
Left to ourselves, we typically get "Lord of the Flies" households.
Left to ourselves, we typically get "Lord of the Flies" households.
Problem #1- God doesn't play along.
This is key - Thankfulness is an ever flowing stream when we look at, celebrate, enjoy and remember what God is doing. Who he is. What he has done for us already. This is the doorway to worship and deep prayer.
"I will praise the Lord who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Psalm 16:7-8
What is God doing? Right NOW. Do you see it? Can you say what it is?
As we grow up into Christ the Head we learn more and more the ways of God.How he does things.
Problem #2 - When we are God's judge thankfulness doesn't happen.
Thankfulness and judgement are not good friends. Thankfulness opens every doorway to worship and praise. Judgement of God comes from the mind of the flesh, from the enmity of the flesh. It can never agree with God or please him. When we get an offense at God stuck in our hearts , worship drifts far far away from us. Spirit and Truth worship begins in the heart. It sees everything that is good and seeks to reflect that back out into the world and to God' s heart as praise and worship. It looks upon the living God in wonder and awe and rejoices in who he is. It is based in the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation about Jesus himself.
Problem #3 - Walking with Jesus requires staying in touch with thankfulness.
Following Jesus requires trusting his NAME and character. Doing that leads us to his very best and to salvation through all of life's twits and turns. When our life direction is in his hands, we experience many moments when the world is swirling around us. Mixed up and unclear, we can see clearly what God isn't doing. Learning his ways requires us to focus on some keys.
Who is Jesus?
What do I love about him?
What do I thank him for?
What has he done for me on the cross, in the resurrection, and as ascended high priest?
Who am I in him?
Thankfulness and speaking the truth about Jesus can focus you again on what he is doing.
In fact, it will focus you on praise, worship, adoration. You'll find yourself in the moment. You'll begin to remember the fact that he is good and all together loving.
Problem #4 - Entitlement mentalities ruin creative Kingdom service and love.
When we think we are entitled to certain ways of living, standards of lifestyle and outcomes for our work, we are going to struggle when those things disappear or are gone. Following Jesus might require the cost of such things. The problem arises when God does not agree to support those things or make them a baseline for serving him or loving him. But they have become such a thing to us. We have more idols than we care to let on to. There is one things the Lord will not have in our lives. Devotion and love for idols. Idols, anything that takes our higher affection and love first. He kicked em down, knocked em over, and generally placed them in consuming fire.
Imagine Jesus at the garden before the crucifixion telling the Father he won't be following through on the crucifixion because he already gave up more than he really wanted.
How do we break out of the place where we only see what God is not doing?
1. Get back into places where worship happens and people adore God.
Don't divorce yourself from the presence of the Lord or from people who express passion and encounter God. Running from the presence is a sure sign of offense. It may be a good time to measure your love and worship with those who press in no matter what. Jesus called the Ephesian church to repent for lack of first love. Ask the Spirit to show you any heart offenses against God. (Psalm 139)
2. Look, See, Hear and Behold with a child like heart. Remember Jesus said that if we do not look for him with a child like heart we will not see the Kingdom. We will not see what God is doing. The Holy Spirit is like wind. We have to grow in understanding when he is active and working and what that looks like. When the wind blows there are all kinds of responses to it. Rest and Peace are as good as hilarity and wild expressions of joy. (Matthew 18:2-4)
3. Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to do some heart surgery.
When was the last time you were ministered to by a team for more than a quick prayer? Many believers have never experienced this. There are incredible resources available to us for encouragement, encounter with Jesus and ministry that imparts freedom, love and forgiveness. Be purposeful about receiving ministry. (Ephesians 5:18-19)
4. Remember Remember Remember. Fear is not part of God's Kingdom.
Fear is from the big three. The world, the Flesh and the Devil. Fear is not going to lead you to thankfulness. Fearing the Lord is about reverence, holiness, awe and wonder and he is perfect love that casts out all fear. When we connect with the supernatural we can encounter a holy fear. The flesh fears the overwhelming reality of heaven. Hang in there when God is moving in power and wonder. Your thankfulness will grow leaps and bounds by sticking close to God's activity.
Start every worship time, prayer time and gathering with the Saints by thanking him. Do it until you have freedom. Until worship rises up in you. Recognize his presence with a simple thank you. Do it in faith. He says when two or three are there in his NAME he is there with them.
Thank HIM for everything great to small.
Gas. Working physical body. Family. A church. Dinner. Your Job. Your friends. Silverware. Shoes. We are so blessed.
Then.....
Ask to see him.
His Face.
To know him more deeply.
For the Spirit to reveal the love of Jesus to your heart.
Look. You are captivated by HIM.
Look. You are worshiping again.
Hope this is helpful. I want to see more freedom in worship and less offense in general.
I've written some things on offense and what it does to us. Here are some links.
http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/04/you-fascinate-me-jesus-so-why-are-you.htmlhttp://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/04/you-fascinate-me-jesus-so-why-are-you.html
http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/01/offense-only-one-that-get-hurt-is.htmlhttp://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/01/offense-only-one-that-get-hurt-is.html
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Here are some other blogs posts that may interest you.
1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Jeff Reynolds --- Global Kingdom Harvest Ministries
Brother Jeff
www.jeffreynoldsministies.com
Love in the Lord
Jeff Reynolds
Global Kingdom Harvest Min.
www.mycapstone.org
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com
