Worship Thoughts

 
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful
 
Prayer isn’t just asking God for something we want. Prayer should also include confession of sin, and praise to God for who He is and what He has done for us.
 
But prayer should have an additional element, and that is thanksgiving. Repeatedly the Bible commands us to give thanks. The Psalmist said, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever Jesus only disturbed the bread He has miraculously provided for the crowds after “he had given thanks”. At the Last Supper with His disciples, before facing the horror of the Cross, Jesus “gave thanks” (Luke 22:17,19)
 
It’s easy to be thankful when God blesses with us with something good-swift recovery from an illness, for example. or and advancement at work. But the Bible says we would “give thanks in all circumstances, for this God’s will for (us) in Christ Jesus”
 
Thankfulness drives away a sour or prideful spirit. Make it part of your prayers every day.
 

 
Psalm 100:4
The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting
 
Many Christians do not see God in all of His wholeness. We glibly quote John 3:16-but we forget the following verses: “He who does no believe has been judged already.
 
Yes, God is loving and compassionate. But He is also absolutely holy and pure and because of that He is the Judge who will someday bring His full wrath to bear on those who refuse to repent.
 
All too often we are afraid of physical pain than moral wrong. The Cross is the proof that holiness is a principle for which God would die. God cannot clear the guilty until atonement is made. But that is what happened at the Cross.
 
Do not take sin lightly. Do not tolerate sin in your life, glibly saying “Oh well, God will forgive it anyway.” Sin is an offense to the Almighty God, and while He will have mercy on us when we repent, He also is the Judge, and “everything on us when we repent, He also is the Judge, and “everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account”.
 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

It is an undeniable fact that usually those who have suffered most are best able to comfort others who are passing through suffering. They know what it is to suffer, and they understand more than others who are suffering what a suffering person is  experiencing-physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritual. They are able to empathize as well as sympathize with the afflictions of others because of what they have experienced in their own lives.
 
Our suffering may be rough and hard to bear, but they teach us lessons that in turn equip and enable us to help others. Our attitude toward suffering should not be, “Grit your teeth and bear it,” hoping it will pass as quickly as possible. Rather, our goal should be to learn all we can from what we are called upon to endure, so that we in turn can “comfort each other and edify one another.”
 
 

Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
 
 
When you are born again, you are not the person you used to be. You do not think the way you used to think or go where you used to go. No longer are you in the kingdom of this world; you have been promoted to a higher place. People like to talk about a new world order, but the best of all worlds is the one God has established in His Word! When you move into His divine realm, you are no longer bound by the world’s restrictions.
 
It is not a one-way street, however. Proverbs 3:5 says we are to trust in the Lord with ALL our hearts. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
 
Is your life partially given, or like Paul’s fully surrendered to God? Do you say “yes or no” to your King? No limit living requires no limit giving. In radical faith, give your all-surrender all- to Jesus.
 
“Radical faith requires radical surrender.”
 
Pastor Alnicia Gibson

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