Going to church, reading the bible, listening to Christian music will not advance your spiritual life. These activities may give you more understanding but until you are ready to lay down your life and take up your cross this leads nowhere.
What I am talking about is the sacrifice of self to advance the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. There is a destiny that God had for each of us that only we can personally discover. We can discover it only by detaching from the world and making ourselves available for the Holy Spirit. By detaching from the world--now you have time--the commodity that most Christians are not willing to give.
Jesus said, "Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, to finding yourself, your true self. (Matthew 16:25)
"God has planted eternity in the human heart." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
"Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62)
"The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me." (Acts 20:24)
"We have been sent to speak for Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:20)
"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
Albert Finch
www.thekeys2kingdom.com
What I am talking about is the sacrifice of self to advance the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. There is a destiny that God had for each of us that only we can personally discover. We can discover it only by detaching from the world and making ourselves available for the Holy Spirit. By detaching from the world--now you have time--the commodity that most Christians are not willing to give.
Jesus said, "Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, to finding yourself, your true self. (Matthew 16:25)
"God has planted eternity in the human heart." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
"Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62)
"The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me." (Acts 20:24)
"We have been sent to speak for Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:20)
"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
Albert Finch
www.thekeys2kingdom.com
Intercessory Worship
Posted 12-08-2021 at 09:01 PM by Albert Finch
Jesus simply could not look upon the multitudes and not have compassion for them (Matthew 9:36, 14:14). His heart was so full of the love of the Father that He couldn't look without compassion.
We are to live the same way. We should be so full of God's love that rivers of living water should flow from our hearts and change lives and atmospheres everywhere we go. This is what Jesus was referring to when, in Matthew 10:8, He said, "Freely you've received, freely give."
He said to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and raise the dead. Why? All for love. Freely we receive His love and freely we must pour it out! All of those actions are targeted on "the least of these"—the sick, the dying, the oppressed and the dead!
Matthew 25:34-40 - "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"
THE MINDSET OF JESUS
James goes so far as to incorporate the least of these into the very definition of pure religion in James 1:27:
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
The mindset of Jesus was to ignore His needs and instead focus on the needs of the poor and the sick. We need to be unspotted or uncontaminated from the ways of the world and simply fix our eyes on Jesus and follow in His footsteps.
Once we get to that place of deep worship, that place where the glory falls, it is then we should begin to cry out for the lost, for the broken, for the sick, the poor and the dying. That is a natural thing.
We need to break out of the mold that says to separate those things, and just allow God's heart to penetrate our times of worship. For years we've been singing about His love and now it's time to sing, "Father, give us a revelation of your great love for us." It's time to pour out all that He pours into us. There is a very fine line that separates worship and INTERCESSION— the two go hand in hand.
LIVING LIKE JESUS
Worship is more than just music or art; it's a lifestyle (Romans 12:1). Anyone can be a THERMOMETER and just gauge the spiritual temperature, but we're called to be THERMOSTATS and to change the spiritual temperature! We're not called to just point out sickness, poverty and sin; we're called to change those ashes into beauty. After all, it's Christ in us that is the hope of glory!
We begin to truly experience more of Him and less of ourselves, more of the Spirit and less of the flesh. It stirs up boldness within us to step out and love and DISCIPLE the unloved and to have compassion for the multitudes.
There is still one more step—GO FIND HIM. To find Him in the broken, to find Him in the poor and the sick, to find Him in the lost, to find Him in the widow and the orphan.
The promise is that if we seek Him, we will find Him. He's calling out, "Come find Me." Will you go?
We are to live the same way. We should be so full of God's love that rivers of living water should flow from our hearts and change lives and atmospheres everywhere we go. This is what Jesus was referring to when, in Matthew 10:8, He said, "Freely you've received, freely give."
He said to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and raise the dead. Why? All for love. Freely we receive His love and freely we must pour it out! All of those actions are targeted on "the least of these"—the sick, the dying, the oppressed and the dead!
Matthew 25:34-40 - "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"
THE MINDSET OF JESUS
James goes so far as to incorporate the least of these into the very definition of pure religion in James 1:27:
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
The mindset of Jesus was to ignore His needs and instead focus on the needs of the poor and the sick. We need to be unspotted or uncontaminated from the ways of the world and simply fix our eyes on Jesus and follow in His footsteps.
Once we get to that place of deep worship, that place where the glory falls, it is then we should begin to cry out for the lost, for the broken, for the sick, the poor and the dying. That is a natural thing.
We need to break out of the mold that says to separate those things, and just allow God's heart to penetrate our times of worship. For years we've been singing about His love and now it's time to sing, "Father, give us a revelation of your great love for us." It's time to pour out all that He pours into us. There is a very fine line that separates worship and INTERCESSION— the two go hand in hand.
LIVING LIKE JESUS
Worship is more than just music or art; it's a lifestyle (Romans 12:1). Anyone can be a THERMOMETER and just gauge the spiritual temperature, but we're called to be THERMOSTATS and to change the spiritual temperature! We're not called to just point out sickness, poverty and sin; we're called to change those ashes into beauty. After all, it's Christ in us that is the hope of glory!
We begin to truly experience more of Him and less of ourselves, more of the Spirit and less of the flesh. It stirs up boldness within us to step out and love and DISCIPLE the unloved and to have compassion for the multitudes.
There is still one more step—GO FIND HIM. To find Him in the broken, to find Him in the poor and the sick, to find Him in the lost, to find Him in the widow and the orphan.
The promise is that if we seek Him, we will find Him. He's calling out, "Come find Me." Will you go?
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