Worship and Witness - 27/02/2014

Bobbie. H. Sisterhood 27/2/2014

Bobbie starts by using the AMEX catch-phrase "don't leave home without it"; meaning that we shouldn't start the day without the Holy Spirit; without spending time with God.  She encourages us not to enter a new day without a devotion and commitment to bear worship and to be a witness.

Our daily habits and disciplines determine our lives. They affect our entire being. They set us up to win, or otherwise.

However we think about our day, it will be tainted with that brush. If our habit is to be negative about our day then we'll have a negative day;  our day will work out the way we think. If our habit is to think less of our-self, our day will be diminished, as will we, and we will draw back.

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.(Proverbs 23:7 NKJV)

Bobbie then encouraged us to arrest those things that will hold us back.  If we don't press in to God, empowered by His word, we will have nothing left in our tank. Our daily habits determine the quality of our days.

She then stated that 'We are Proverbs 31 women'. We know what our daily disciplines should be, but there are times when we forget to apply them.

In the context of not leaving home without a sense of worship of our lives, Bobbie encouraged us to:

1) Start the day and walk your 'path' with a sense of worship; with a heart set towards its true north. Lean in toward God; this is the most natural and beautiful way to be. 

Our 'True North' is the integral compass that sets you on success for life. It is your orientating point, and it helps you to stay on track as a leader. They are those things which are most important to you. 'True North' points you towards your purpose.  The Word draws us forward, it sustains us, and empowers us in everything. 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is noted as 'the way, the truth and life', and we are called to take up our cross and follow Him. The Word says that God implanted eternity in our hearts, so it is within our being to naturally want to follow Him and commune with Him and be led by Him.
  

2) Worship is a heart set towards Lordship.  Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense. (Psalm 16:1, 2 MSG)

Bobbie then talks about Mary, and her acceptance of being the mother of the Son of God.  'And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her.' (Luke 1:38 MSG).  Mary accepted what the angel of the Lord had said to her, and desired for His will to be done.

When Mary visited her sister Elizabeth who was pregnant with John, Elizabeth stated that when she saw Mary the baby inside her leaped.

“Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly, You’re so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true! (Luke 1:36-45 MSG)

These two women intimately knew the lord, they had allowed Him to have lordship over their lives; their stance was that of 'Your will be done'.

3) Have a heart that rehearses the engrafted word and puts it on like a garment. We are called to be clothed in salvation.  

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. (Psalms 119:11 NKJV).  Your word is a light unto my feet a lamp unto my path (Ps 119:105). How beautiful are the feet that go upon the mountain and bring the word.

We have to be childlike.  Our worship is to rehearse His word. 

“Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see. (Revelation 3:18 MSG) = Clothed in salvation.

Put your face on. Put on your countenance. Have happy feet and a happy face. 

Habit definition: A recurrent, often unconscious, pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. An established disposition and character.

4) Leave home with a sense of being a witness. Bearing witness of our lives. Worship God and bear witness. 

In a documentary, James Cameron, in which he was likened to a Visionary, stated that he dreamed of 'the tree of life' many years before he was able to put it in his film 'Avatar'. He said that if you see something that is unique, or new, you are compelled to bear witness to it, you simply cannot keep it to yourself, and he feels that he is supposed to share everything unique that he 'sees', whether in reality or in his dreams.

Bobbie then asked us 'how can we bear witness to all the wonder, of all the aspects of God and not be empowered and impassioned to bear witness?'. We hold the mystery to life. When we commune with God and engraft His word on our hearts, we are exposed to His wisdom, His goodness, which brings health and well being to our body and soul, which makes us desperate to share all that we have with everyone we encounter.   He empowers us with the Holy Spirit.

The 'harvest fields' of the world are ripe, and we must communicate His goodness in a way that offers a sense of worship. 

John Stott wrote: 'The works of the Lord are to be the subject of our witness. Worship and witness belong together. We cannot possibly worship God—that is, acknowledge his infinite worth— without longing to go out into the world to persuade other people to come and worship him.  Worship leads inevitably to witness, but witness leads to worship, too. It is a continuous cycle of worship leading to witness leading to worship and so on. The two cannot be separated.'

Stott goes on to reference the witness of the cross, and the creator of our universe. We are all a witness of His personal work in us, and we should be compelled to share our testimony.

The greatest witness we have is our constant companion of the Holy Spirit.  He enables us to commune with God, intimately and constantly, and He causes us to speak on Christ's authority.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NKJV)