Do you listen to worship music outside of a church setting? If so, where? How? Any recommendations? Remember

The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is his name! (NLT) -Exodus 15:3 "Sometimes we are afraid to fight because we don't believe God wants any fighting to occur. However, there is a time and place to fight. A crucial role of a warrior is knowing when to fight, when not to, and who not to fight (such as fellow believers). The Lord is a warrior and we were designed to fight alongside Him against our fears, our addictions, protecting the poor and needy, bringing justice, or sharing freedom in Christ. What battles are you fighting? Are you bringing the Lord with you to fight your battles?"

“Shaken Once More” “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”” ~ Hebrews 12:25-29 NIV We must begin everyday by acknowledging that everything, all our earthly possessions and all that we are belongs to our Creator God. The dawning of each new day is a gift from our Heavenly Father, not to be taken for granted. This earth is vibrantly alive with His blessings, giving vivid testimony to His holy Presence. If we slow down our daily pace of busy life, we can find God through His written words. Being "shaken" by God's Word is often refers to a profound, and transformative experience when His divine truth disrupts our personal complacency, shakes foundations to remove what is weak, and brings profound spiritual awakening. Shaken is viewed as a spiritual refining process to anchor believers in God's unshakable truth. Shaking is not necessarily destruction, but often an awakening designed to move us all away from false broken foundations and onto the secure, eternal foundation of God's Word not Man’s. “THE SHAKING ISN'T TO DESTROY YOU, IT'S TO REMOVE WHAT CAN'T GO WHERE GOD IS TAKING YOU.” ~UNKNOWN “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” ~Psalms 62:6 NIV Amen…

“The Blind Can See” “Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”” ~ Mark 10:46-47 NIV Wow! What a beautiful request, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” If you read Mark 10:46-52, Jesus did not ignore that request. He did not say something like we might say, “I’m sorry fellow; I am on my way to this big important meeting of CEO’s at the Convention Center and I don’t want to be late.” No! Jesus didn’t do anything like that. There is no question that we have many people in the world who are physically blind. Sometimes we know the reason they have lost their sight and other times it is unknown. On the other hand, there are people in the world who have perfect 20/20 vision as indicated by the eye chart, but are blind as to what is going on around them. They are so concerned about their own life and their own needs and wants that they are oblivious or unaware of the people around them. Both you and I know some of these people. Fortunately for us, Jesus is not like this. Jesus is not impressed with things of the world as some people are. He is not interested in what people possess, but He is interested in what they need. He is not interested in only the upper crust of society, but He is interested in all His children of this World regardless of whether they are rich or poor, believer or nonbeliever. Jesus reaches out to all those who have small or big concerns. He is not blind to what is going on in the world our Heavenly Father created. He is not blind to the sinful nature of all mankind. He sees what is going on in all our lives. He sees what we are going to do before we ever do it. Jesus is not blind but He will restore our site to see His and Gods unconditional love for each of us. Jesus Christ healed physical blindness and the spiritual restoration of sight, lifting the "veil" of unbelief. It represents moving from darkness to light so we may fully understand His purpose, often quoted as being "blind but now I see".

“Our Intimate Relationship” “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” ~ Psalms 103:1 NIV As human beings we are sometimes guilty of taking a more self interested approach and forgetting that our Heavenly Father, God is the rightful center of mankind and His creation. When we fully understand this we then head to church or into quiet time looking for something to inspire, motivate, or help us in trouble times. But God's purpose is to create intimacy with us by revealing Himself directly to us. Our lack of close spiritual intimacy problem is that we would like to practice our faith in the safest way possible. A quick bible study, prayer, and or a short visit to church are relatively easy compared to stepping out in faith or enduring a long term hardship. To know Gods intimately is not a purely intellectual pursuit. The truth about our Heavenly Father is not really ours until He works it into our life time experience. Take time today and read Psalm 103:1-14, then meditate on these words. The only way for us all to gain such knowledge of intimacy with God is by choosing to trust and follow Him daily when He is not needed. As we do, we will learn more about who He is. For example, we can read that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, but we won't know this truth until we need and fully experience His comfort firsthand. Read John 14:17. “God is intimate with those who are intimate with Him. ~ Unknown” ““But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” ~ Jeremiah 17:7 NIV Amen…