Tuesday, July 22, 2008 6:53 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Living in a Spirit of Worship
Ephesians 5:18-20 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Worshipping God does not require that you be in a cathedral adorned with stained glass and sacred relics. You can and should (for your own good) be in a spirit of worship at all times. The scriptures declare in Hebrews 13:15 that we should, "by Him, ...offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." The operative phrase is "at all times."
The are so many things that can fill a person’s heart in this world, in this time. We live in an age where globalization through the media creates such ease in the exchange of ideas, motivations; it is inevitable that we, as Christians, will be confronted by a slew of spirits on a daily basis. However, remaining in a spirit of worship focuses our hearts on Him and causes a continual stirring up of the Holy Spirit within us; it keeps our hearts and minds occupied on Him.
This should go without saying but you can worship God anywhere: in your car, at work, in the office, with your family... Why not sing a song of praise to God at the dinner table with your family? You can bring the spirit of worship into any occasion. Not all situations would accommodate for singing and lifting of hands; however, the spirit of praise and worship comes across in your attitude towards others, in your speech, in your body language, in your countenance. You can bring an attitude of worship into any situation.
The person that dwells in the spirit of worship is continually reminded of the reality of their salvation and relationship with God, deterring them from lukewarmness or backsliding. The person who dwells in the spirit of worship is fixed on God in their heart and so the world and its appeal seems so much less alluring. The person who dwells in a spirit of worship has their heart fixed on the beauty and majesty of Christ and on the joy of their salvation creating real peace that people can see, peace and release from the cares of this world, finances, relational issues, and stressors of everyday life. The person who dwells in the spirit of worship lives in the constant revelation of the one who is bigger than their problems, bigger than the strife’s of this world, and more appealing than the temporary pleasures that this world can offer. The person that lives in the spirit of worship has the "big picture" that trumps all of the day to day issues that life brings about.
Just as man can not live without food and water, so also he can not live without fellowship with the Holy Ghost which is effectively facilitated through praise and worship after receiving Jesus as Savior.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:19 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Don't Blame God
So often people blame God for all of the injustice in the world. The fact is, however, that we live in a world where not God, but Satan, causes so much pain and confusion. In fact, the Holy Bible, in John 10:10 says, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." The Bible is clear that God is good (Matthew 7:11), love (1 John 4:8), light (1 John 1:5). That doesn't mean that He is materialistic or excessive in the way that our flesh would sometimes like to define "good," but it does mean that as a natural Father loves and cares for His children, so God loves and cares for us (Luke 11:11).
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6:17 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
The World’s Obliviousness of God’s Imminent Judgment
As it was in the days of Noah before the flood, so it is and will be in this age before the soon return of Christ and the tribulation to follow (Luke 17:28). In the days of Noah the people were eating, drinking, marrying, and were given in marriage, until the day of the flood when all the known world was destroyed with the exception of Noah and his family. It is “life and death” for people to realize that the spirit of this world, its fleshliness, self-serving -ness, and the sorrow and destruction associated with it (which are so evident in international news: murder, rape, terrorism, theft, slavery, war, etc.), is going to be judged. You may say, “well I haven’t partaken in any of those things.” However, we have all fallen short of God’s expectations; we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), we have all partaken in that spirit of the world (Ephesians 2:3); Christ is the only way out the innate (that we are born with), unregenerate spirit of the world. As Jesus told Nicodemus, a man cannot see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again (John 3:7). Escape imminent judgment to come, realize the big picture and the finiteness of your temporal life, and be who you were born to be (Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 29:11).
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Monday, January 28, 2008 9:25 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Father, what should we do today? Part One
Prioritizing one’s life and developing a schedule, is not as simple as one might think. As human beings, our hearts are pulled in an hundred different directions at any given time, which can greatly dictate what we consider to be a priority an in turn effect our schedule and the way we organize our lives. So then, it is of the utmost importance when planning our day to put Jesus Christ and God the Father at the center of, as the foundation of, our scheduling. We need to purposely, when organizing, consider the time that we spend with God so that we may draw upon the strength, wisdom, intervention, infilling, that so exclusively determines the personal and professional victories in our lives. Americans are so capitalistically minded, so industrialized / mechanized for financial performance, and so much of our planning revolves around that kind of thinking. So then, the first step in revamping our priorities is to purposely consider time with the Father, our source of strength, joy, wisdom, fellowship, love, and ultimately victory over all things.
Secondly, it is important to define what we consider time to be. I believe that the time we schedule on a daily basis with the Father needs to equate to intimacy. Can intimacy be achieved in a five-minute prayer before going to bed? I don’t think so, not that five minute prayers don’t have their place; however, we should allot enough time for real intimacy with the Father. So then, I define time as more significant than a passing prayer, a drive through request, and as enough time to create an atmosphere of intimacy, to press into the things of God. We will only ever have as much of Him as we want and allot time for.
Our time with the Father needs to be in the form of time“s.” This means that we need to schedule time with Him continually. Just as our bodies grow weak without food, our spirits can grow weak when we do not spend consistent time with the Father. The scriptures refer several times to the frequency / consistency with which men of God would fellowship with the Father. Here are some scriptures that provide a record of times in which men of God, and Jesus, the Son of God, would pray:
Jesus, our Lord and Savior:
Mark 1:35, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Daniel:
Daniel 6:10, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”
David:
Psalms 5:3, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
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Friday, January 25, 2008 11:39 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Forget those things that are behind "so that you can" press forward
As Christians it is important to be able to lay aside our pride in the midst of failure and get back up again. Not only is this important in the midst of failure, but in the midst of frustration, forgetfulness, stressfulness, shortsightedness, and trails in general. In all things we must learn to act on the words of the Apostle Paul, saying, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). As Paul stated, when pressing forward for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we must “forget those things which are behind.” We must forget the past failures and shortcomings and take up the cross. If we do not we become stuck on that one thing; we allow the weight of it encumber us and slow us down, if not stop us completely. So learn to forget the past, not as a license for future sin, but in an effort to press forward toward the mark God has set before us.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:02 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Lordship and Faith
Some folks believe that Jesus’ death equities to salvation for the entire world regardless of belief in Him or personal decision for Him and implementation of His Lordship in our lives. This is essentially what was being taught by Carlton Pearson’s group before he was removed from His Pastorate at Higher Dimensions in Tulsa, OK, that faith and Lordship are not necessary, only the occurrence of the cross. However, the Bible makes it quite clear that salvation is something that we need to choose. Paul, in Romans 10:9,10 said, “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Again in the book of James chapter 2 verse 17 the scriptures declare “…faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” The Bible is also clear that we need to understand and believe in His work for us. In Hebrews 4:2 the scriptures declare, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Just because Jesus died on the cross does not mean that people will be saved regardless of faith or personal decision for Him; we first need to understand and believe in His death burial and resurrection, then we need to choose to embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Some folks believe that salvation is something that we “end up” choosing but only as a result of God foreordaining us to do so. While it is true that God does foreordain, foreordination does not equate to mindlessness, robots preprogrammed to make a decision for Him. Additionally, God foreordains “all” of us unto salvation through Christ Jesus as the scriptures say “God so loves the world…” (John 3:16) and “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). If you believe that you are part of an “exclusive” group of folks preordained to salvation, then get off your Germanic high horse, trade in your New World Translation for an actual Bible, and put your faith exclusively in the blood of Jesus for your salvation. It is the difference between saying “I’m a son of God because I’m one of the “chosen,” and, “I’m a son of God because of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Someone once asked me “if God is all powerful, can He trap Himself in a box that He can not get out of?” The answer to that question is a resounding yes! The box that God chooses not to get out of is “our will.” He has given man a free will and it is something that He will not mess with. He wants a creation that will love Him freely and of its own choice, not because we were forced or preprogrammed to. While God does draw us, directs us toward Him, He does not make any of us choose Him. It is something that He leaves entirely up to us. We must choose. As the scriptures say in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
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Monday, January 21, 2008 9:55 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
God loves you
Imagine, if you will for a moment, that there actually is a God, a Creator, that loves you with all of His heart and desires to be with you everyday, in everything that you do, now and in the life to come (1 John 4:10). Imagine also that when just “one person” that is walking in sin repents there is rejoicing in heaven (Luke 15:7). Imagine that He looks at you with longing and apprehension because of the battle for your soul (Revelation 12:12), a battle that began at the beginning of creation and one in which you have a decision (Joshua 24:15). His time with you is not guaranteed. It is up to you. So He stands at the door of your heart knocking (Revelation 3:20), standing without in the cold of rejection, rejection that He has repeatedly and consistently partook of throughout history (1 Thessalonians 2:15), the same rejection His Son endured here on this earth before ultimately being killed by those that He came to save (Luke 23:34).
It is not His desire that any one of us should perish but that we should come to repentance, that we should not follow after the things of darkness and destruction but that we should turn in our hearts from those things and live to love Him and walk with Him in the light (2 Peter 3:9). Don’t be cast aside. Do not be uprooted with the tares in the wheat (Matthew 13:29). Purpose in your heart to follow after what really matters in this life (2 Corinthians 4:18). People walk after, seek after, temporary “things” so often and never consider that those things will all perish (1 Timothy 6:7). Those things are not eternal. Choose to think beyond tomorrow into that which is after tomorrow. There is peace in knowing Him (Philippians 4:7). There is joy in knowing Him (1 Peter 1:8). There is release from fear of the unknown in knowing Him (1 John 4:18).
All day long He has stretched forth His arms unto us out of love, and we have been contrary to Him and disobedient (Romans 10:21). In obedience there is life (Isaiah 55:3). In fear there is wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). In His goodness we come to repentance (Romans 2:4). He spilt His own blood for us that we might know Him and escape the entrapment of sin (Ephesians 1:7). Just as Jesus said to Peter, “Satan has desired to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31); and again, “the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), so Jesus desires us to have life through His blood. Powers in the spiritual realm are battling for our souls (Revelation 12:7, Ephesians 6:11) and I implore you in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). I long for you in the bowels of Christ (Philippians 1:8) that you would come to realize that the motivation of evangelism is not pride, not us vs. them, but to provide you the escape from death and destruction and to give you life, life more abundantly through the blood of Jesus, the Christ of God (John 10:10).
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