One of His handmaiden’s journal entries

5-28-10

My Lord,

How mighty You are! NOTHING can stand in Your way. When You decide that we will go this way or that way You will not allow anyone’s rebellion or hard heart to stand in our way. You touch the hearts of the stubborn and give us favor. You make a way out of no way. You prove Your Word is true above all circumstances. You are faithful to Your Word always and forever.

I have seen you move mountains and all I had to do was believe in Your Word and have faith. I have delighted in Your Word and in Your ways. I have found my stability in You. You have rewarded me because I delight in You, because I abide in You. You have blessed me in the presence of those that waited to see us fail. You have lifted me up when I have humbled myself at Your feet. You are blessing my family so that we could be a blessing to other families.

We are leaving a legacy of faith and hope in Jesus Christ. We will tell our children and all who ask why we are so blessed, You are the One who has blessed us with wisdom, honor, and prosperity in our minds, body, soul and finances. We have given you offerings and our tithes. We have given to the poor, but most of all we constantly bring you offerings of thanksgiving and sacrifices of praise for you are worthy to be praised now and forever more.

We are thankful to You for lifting us up out of the pit of despair and for setting us on the Rock of our salvation. We shall NOT be moved because Jesus is the immovable Rock on which we stand. We will rule with Him one day. Praise, honor, and glory be to You Lord, the King of Kings.

Loving You will all my heart,

Your Handmaiden

Because Of Who You Are

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” Psalm 95:6

For the past couple of days the song ‘Because of who you are’ keeps coming up in my heart and I just have to start singing it. Many of you know this song and for those that don’t, there’s a video at the end of this posting of Martha Munizzi singing it.

The lyrics are very simple but when I enter into God’s presence by faith, completely surrendered with an attitude of reverence and adoration singing the lyrics in spirit and in truth, I will feel the Holy Spirit’s presence in a mighty way.

This song reminds me that we need to worship God daily just because He is God and worthy of our praise. We must learn to be people of praise and worship, giving glory to God because He is our Provider, our Strength, our Comfort, our source of Peace, our Healer, the Lover of our Soul, the One who never leaves or forsakes us. He is everything to us, but most of all He is our Salvation. He has done many wonderful things in and around us. The things he planned for us no one can recount to Him, were we to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Therefore, we should rejoice in all that we have accomplished through Christ Jesus because the Lord our God has blessed us. (Psalm 40:5, Deut. 12:7)

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping Him with holy fear and awe.” Hebrews 12:28

Lift up holy hands, bow down before Him, get on your face and humble yourself in the presence of The Most High God paying homage to Him. Recognize who He is and have a reverential fear for your Creator. Don’t hold back words of adoration and worship. He is worthy of all of our praise. We need to worship God so that our minds are kept on Him and all that He has done, rejecting any pride that would try to creep in and make us think that we have reason to boast in anything other than Christ Jesus. Let us pay tribute to the Lord at all times and constantly speak His praises and boast only in Him. (Psalm 34:1-2)

“Honor the Lord, for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Psalm 29:2

Because of the blood of Jesus we are cleansed and given the privilege of entering into God’s presence to seek His face and to give Him our sacrifice of praise. Go to a private place, put on some good worship music, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you prepare your mind and heart to enter into God’s presence, and then open your mouth and begin to worship Him because of who He is. Praise Him for all that He has done and is doing in your life. Confess your love and trust for Him. Worship Him in spirit and in truth. You will be filled with the fullness of joy and peace that comes from being in His presence and meditating on Him. (Psalm 16:11)

I leave you with the song, ‘Because of Who You Are’ by Martha Munizzi. I pray that it will help bring you into His presence as you sing the words.

“It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,” Psalm 92:1-2

Awake & Worship

“Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalms 150:6

Good Morning my friends..

I want to encourage you to wake up in the morning and before your mind gets cluttered with thoughts of all you have to do, before your coffee, and maybe even before your shower turn on a worship song and prepare your heart for the day. Awake to worship Christ Jesus.

This morning the Holy Spirit woke us up and gave us a new day. He has blessed all of us with a fresh start..a new beginning..a do over. Yesterday is the past. Today is truly a present, a gift from God. Give this day back to Him by giving Him your first fruit offering of praise and worship.

He has been watching over us all night. We are the apple of His eye. We can never imagine how many wonderful and precious thoughts He’s had for us just last night alone. We are alive because He has willed it. He has a plan to use us in so many ways to bring glory to His kingdom. So wake up this morning and worship Him. Wake your spirit up to praising Jesus! Wake up with an attitude of worship! He is worthy!

Let’s worship Him because He has saved and changed us! We are not the same any more because the Spirit of God lives in us. Rejoice this morning. Let’s be determined to not let anything steal our joy today. No matter what!

Rejoice and worship Him because He is awesome and faithful! He has never left us or forsaken us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit that has helped us through all of our problems, test, trials, and persecution. Praise Him!!

Worship Him because He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He is Holy! He is our Salvation..our Hope..our Beloved. Let us turn your ears to heaven and listen to the voice of the Spirit. He longs to fellowship with us. He will inhabit our praises.

Make your sacrifice of praise this morning. Lift your hands where ever you are at and turn your gaze to heaven and worship Him.

He’s a worship song that has become one of my favorites.. Mary Mary – I worship you

Take A Break and Just Worship Him

I just love this song! Take a moment stop what you're doing and just worship our Creator. He is worthy of all of our praise. Worship Him because He is God!

In His Presence Is Fullness of Joy & I Am Renewed

“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” Psalm 34:1

The week before was a trying week for me. I had difficult tests and trials to overcome almost daily. It felt like hell put an A.P.B. (all points bulletin) out on me. I felt the attack hard. The hardest thing for me is when I see believers becoming the tool in the hand of the enemy. It saddens my spirit. By Friday I felt tired and worn out. I found myself trying to carry around other people’s junk and blaming myself unnecessarily so. I was slipping into a ‘Woe is me’ attitude. I woke up that Friday morning and said, “Lord, I need your comfort. Heal me from these troubles, renew me, and refresh my spirit.” Well…I asked and I received!! Praise Jesus!

He saw how my week was going and lined up a weekend of blessing to lift my spirit back up. It was awesome! I partied and celebrated all weekend long. I danced and I lifted my hands in praise and worship with my husband and loved ones. Last Friday night our church Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale had their night of worship which is always a wonderful time of celebrating and dancing. We started off shaking off any heaviness that was attached to us from our contacts with the world and from dealing with life’s issues by singing upbeat praise music. Then our hearts were prepared for worship songs with lyrics that cried to God to search our hearts and find anything in us that does not reflect His purity. In Spirit and in truth we asked the Lord to refine us in the fire of His gaze so that we could be holy in all of our ways. Many of us went down to the altar and got on our faces before the Lord and in His presence we were renewed, strengthen, and filled with even more faith and hope. That was just my Friday night.

Saturday night I got to attend a free Christian concert hosted by Cross the Bridge with David Mcgee from Calvary Chapel of the Triad. That too was a wonderful time of praise and worship. We danced some more and continued to worship the Lord knowing in our hearts that mountains were being moved in the spiritual realm. Sunday back to church and as always Calvary Chapel’s praise and worship team was on fire. More dancing, more lifting of holy hands, and more change in our hearts. I am excited again just writing this..Glory be to God!!

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

It was in His presence humbly worshiping Him on my face at that altar Friday night that I felt immediately renewed. I felt the power of the Holy Spirit lift up my countenance and renew my strength as I praised Him for His faithfulness to me. I realized that no matter what I go through the Lord is faithful. I made a choice to let that week of trouble go and not to give it any more of my attention. Instead I remembered that our Lord has been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb He has cared for me. So I will choose to praise Him instead of moaning and complaining about my troubles. (Psalm 71:6)

We can not allow ourselves to be ruled by our emotions and feelings. We have to learn to praise the Lord at all times no matter what is going on around us. No matter who comes against us in gossip and persecution. No matter what bad report we get. Worship the Lord even then. Praise Him because He is worthy of our praise. He has always watched over us. So don’t be troubled by temporary circumstances. God’s got it!

You will find that no heaviness, negative emotion, depression, fear, sadness, loneliness, or any other hindering spirit can stay around when you are lifting up holy hands in worship and submission to Almighty God. Why? Because the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. He is in the midst of them. When we worship Him we are taking refuge in His Holy presence. (Psalm 22:3)

You will also notice that while worshipping Him that you are also being cleansed. I don’t know about you but when I am worshipping our Lord I begin to ask Him to cleanse me and purify me of everything in me that is ugly and unholy. It is during worship and praise that our hearts are renewed and we desire to be more like Him. It is in worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth that we desire to let go of all the extra baggage such as anger, unforgiveness, resentment, hidden sin or whatever is trying to entangle us. Our burdens fall off in His presence and when we rise up again we feel light and burden-free ready to move on in our battle.

Spend time worshipping and praising our Lord. I promise you will see that your problems just don’t compare to the joy that comes from knowing that God is your refuge and that you are truly safe in His care. Praise the Lord at all times let His praises constantly be on your lips!

Your Sacrifice of Praise

I was recently reminded of my own words about praising God when the spirit of heaviness comes to attack me. I thought to myself I give my Heavenly Father praise and thank Him daily for everything that He is doing in my life, but it has been days since I have put on some good praise music and danced, praised, and worshipped Him. No wonder I have been feeling a little down.

I love listening to Chris Tomlin or MaryMary and dancing with my children before the Lord. All my worries and cares just don’t seem to matter when I am in His presences. It’s like Mary Mary said “Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance!”

I know that it may seem hard to want to praise God when you are going through so much. However go against your feelings and make your sacrifice of praise anyways. Hebrews 13:15 says, “ Through him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.” He knows that at times it is a sacrifice but praise and worship Him because He is worthy to be praised! He is an Awesome and Great God!

Praise and worship as been known to cause earthquakes, shake foundations, bonds have been released, and prison doors have been opened. See for yourself..

(Acts 16:25-34) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Praising God through your toughest times can be a witness to someone else that has been watching you. When they see how God delivers you from your situation they will want to know your God too. You could be the tool that Jesus uses to save their whole family all because you made that sacrifice of praise. So do not hesitate lift your hands in worship and enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4) May the Lord give you the break through you need. In Jesus name..Amen!