With Everything

Open our hearts,

To see the things

That make Your heart cry,

To be the church

The You would desire.

Light to be seen.

Break down our pride,

And all the walls

We've built up inside,

Our earthly crowns

And all our desires,

We lay at Your feet.

So let hope rise,

And darkness tremble

In Your holy light,

And every eye will see

Jesus, our God,

Great and mighty to be praised.

God of all days,

Glorious in all of Your ways.

Your majesty, the wonder and grace,

In the light of Your name.

With everything,

With everything,

We will shout for your glory.

With everything,

With everything,

We will shout forth your praise.

Our hearts will cry

Be glorified,

Be lifted high,

Above all names.

For You our King,

With everything,

We will shout forth your praise.

Wait . . . It's only Day 3?

Our church-wide fast began last Sunday, and seeing as I'm still raking through my own thoughts, I'm finding it much easier to steal the thoughts and learning of others for the time being. Pastor Jeff of the sensational Lifecoast church wrote this today on his blog. I found it inspiring and thinks that maybe you will too!

On Monday I happened to run into a Lifecoaster and she asked me a question about her fast. She said, “Pastor Jeff, my husband asked me if I wanted a milk shake. I reminded him that I was fasting.” He responded by saying, “Well you are fasting from food. This is a drink. Can’t you have a drink?” She then looked at me with a very puzzled look on her face and said, “I told him No thank you – Did I do the right thing? Or was it o.k. for me to have the milk shake?” I simply said this, “Your fast is a personal thing between you and The Holy Spirit. What did the Holy Spirit tell you about the milk shake?” She smiled and told me that she didn’t feel right in her spirit about drinking a milk shake. I told her, “Then you did the right thing.”

God immediately nudged my spirit as if to say, “Remember this – It’s important!” So perhaps we need to look at this fast in a way that we never have before. It’s not just about the sacrifice we are willing to make. It’s not just about the three or four more times a day we might set aside to communicate with God in prayer. It’s not just about giving our mind and our body a break from whatever it is we are fasting from. Maybe, just maybe, it’s more about learning to seek God in our decision making. We begin with the foods we eat only because those are some of the most frequent decisions we make each day. Maybe God has instructed us to fast on a regular basis to bring us back to the basic function of listening to The Holy Spirit regularly, for every decision. Food is just a good training ground. A training ground of tuning our Spiritual ears into the voice of the Savior. A training ground for listening to what He has to say each time we need to make a decision. A training ground for learning to recognize His voice moment by moment. Then, and only then, can we fulfill what we are commanded to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Pray continually.

1 John 1:7 … if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

P.S. pay no attention to that picture of the milk shake. =)

Something that also hit home with me this morning was something that fellow Lifecoaster, Cheryl posted on our "Awakening 21 Day Fast" Facebook page. She said this:

"If you are under any kind of "attack" today- remember that it is because you bring honor and glory to the Lord in choosing to be obedient, forgiving, gracious and loving. The enemy knows it and feels threatened. Stay strong , family.. we are on the right track!!!!!"

Oh, I love my church family. (: And my God who isn't finished with me yet.