My Determined Life of Worship ~

 Hello to you my dear readers and friends!

As I'm sitting here by the fire writing this post

I can't help but think of those of you who live in a warmer climate, 

here it is {{freezing}} outside! 
Some of you are experiencing frigid temperatures so
be very careful as you venture outside. 
I was talking with my Chiropractor (who is from Minnesota) and he shared 
of a year when there was below freezing temps with a wind chill of below 50 
that would cause frost bite if you were outside for any length of time.
Oh be very careful!

I will soon be headed to Arizona for some warmer days

as I spend time with my dear mom. 
Donatella and I will be traveling alone, I'm driving this time so
I would much appreciate your prayers ~ and thank you so much!

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With each New Year many of us have goals that we set for our lives.

While I'm not one for resolutions per se I usually have a goal that I 

prayerfully lay before the Lord that I desire to work on in order

to better my life in some way or another.  

Spiritually there is always something that I long to do better

and this year the desire of my heart longs to block out the noise

that seems to find its way into my worship time with God. 

I'm finding noise to be the enemy of my soul, 

so it's time to examine the area of my worship time with God. 
Life just seems to find a way of becoming cluttered 
with all sorts of activities and things that rob us of the one essential thing
we need most in our lives, the worship of God.
Often times I find myself rushing through my quiet worship time, 
how sad is that!?

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We enjoyed having our three oldest grandsons through the New Year

so I was not able to pray in the New Year quietly

as I have in the past years.
After their return home I sat down and focused on a plan for having a

determined life of worship making notes of the things that would

benefit me in my daily time alone with my Savior. 

As I said earlier, noise seems to be the enemy of my soul;

therefore, I had to be honest with myself and ask the question, why?

Well... now that I'm home and not having to leave early

for work and other activities that would cause me to rise early,

I now try and have that precious "Quiet Time" much later in the day. 

For others that works great, but for me, not so much.

So...

Get out of bed Debbie!!
Now it's not that I'm sleeping until noon, I could never do that, 
but it's those early and I mean early hours of the day
when I found such quiet and alone time with God.

I will say, I have enjoyed staying in bed just a little longer these days, 

but if I am going to be honest with myself, it's not a good thing. 

I've now experienced both sides of the coin and I like being a 

Perky Patty over a Sleepy Head.

"I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. "

~ Proverbs 8:17 ~
 I must get back to what I know works best for me,

seeking God in those early hours.

"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee;

my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee

in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."

~ Psalm 63:1 ~

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I must worship God in spirit and in truth.

"But the hour cometh, and now is, 

the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth;

for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. "

~ John 4:23 ~

God is Spirit ~
 The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God; therefore, 

the Spirit is the only one properly to lead

my heart to worship God acceptably.

My prayers need to be with all sincerity, with honesty,

with simplicity and from the heart. ♡

I need to return to my quiet little corner early in the morning 

before the noise and activities of my world creep in. 

With my Bible outspread before me, I will be still and wait on God.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

~ John 8:8 ~

While I'm alone with God, the Scriptures assure me that

as I draw near to God I will begin to hear Him speak to my heart.

Awww...that still small voice begins to speak

and in the quietness of my morning, God meets me.
As a follower of Christ, I have a responsibility to maintain
my worship time alone with God on a daily basis
and the effect of all my love and devotion to God will be this:
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, 
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even by the Spirit of the Lord. "
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 ~


Take Joy!
Debbie

Tea~Roses and Scripture ~

Hello to you my dear and graceful followers!

Once in awhile I enjoy treating myself to a bouquet of beautiful flowers,

and these gorgeous pink laced roses were calling my name,

"pick me ~ pick me" how could I just walk on by?

These roses were in the sale bucket, no less,

and they have given me pure joy and delight for days now.

I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen and I have a special place

where I love to display my flowers so I can view them from any angle.
  

My daughter, Stephanie, gifted me with this sweet teapot cream & sugar set 
a few years ago and I thought it was a perfect set to use as I enjoyed a cup of tea

all alone while I read the Scriptures, and bowed my knee before the throne of God. 

Just me ~ myself ~ and I ~ alone with God ~ what sweet fellowship

as I sought out to seek the face of God.
Do you ever have those days when all you desire is time alone with God?
I mean, real quiet you and God time, even if it requires your entire day?

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face;

my heart said unto thee, 

Thy face Lord will I seek."

~ Psalm 27:8 ~

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I was enjoying my time as I searched through the Scriptures,
quietly giving God my heart, my all, without any disruptions.
My desire was to be aware of His presence,
 for I know that He delights in our worship of Him,
even those alone times of worship.
'O Lord, cleanse the intent of my heart with Your unspeakable gift of grace'
I know God wants me to live my life to His glory,
no matter if I am eating, drinking or spending time alone with Him.
God wants the glory and He should get the glory!
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the Glory of God"
~ 1 Corinthians 10:31 ~

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,

and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High.

To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,

and thy faithfulness every night.
~ Psalm 92:1~2 ~

God desires that we would publicly acknowledge His goodness,
His (lovingkindness) to us in the morning,
and His (faithfulness) to us EVERY night.
We certainly have much to be thankful for when we reach the end of our day, don't we?

"Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

~ Psalm 107:21

Praising my Jesus!

~ Debbie 

This is the week for the memorial service of my dear father-in-law
and there will be some travelling involved,

so I will be taking some time away from blogging.
With the Holidays coming upon us soon I'm uncertain of when I will post again.
One day at a time...

God's abundant love and blessings be upon you my friends!
♡♡♡

O Come Let Us Adore (Worship) Him ~

The joyful sounds of Christmas carols being sung at every turn

is sure to bring gladness and joy into our hearts

as we prepare with anticipation the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

For myself, this Christmas season has been one where I have yearned 

with-in my own heart to worship the King,
to bow down on bended knee in the presence of His Holiness.

It seems as if daily I find myself humming or singing,

"O come let us adore Him."
~

I was reading in my Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary

that public worship consisted of ~ preaching ~ reading of Scripture ~

prayer ~ singing ~ baptism ~ the Lord's Supper and alms giving.

"Worship ~ Bow down, when given to God, worship involves an acknowledgement 

of Divine perfections. It may express itself in the form of

direct address, as an adoration or thanksgiving, or in service to God;

and may be private or public.

Worship presupposes that God is, that He can be known by man,

and that His perfections set Him far above man."

I visited a small town near where I live and they were having a sale at their Library;

so of course I wandered towards the area where the old books were located

and came across an old dictionary that was printed in 1931.

I love dictionaries, especially the older ones.

This dictionary speaks well of worship ~

"Adoration, devotion, aspiration, heavenly-mindedness, spiritual-mindedness,

vow, homage, service, kneeling, genuflection, prostration,

prayer, praise, offering, divine service, honor, revere, idolize, admire."

These are just a few of the words used to describe worship in this dictionary.

******

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days

of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?

for we have seen his star in the east, and are come

to worship him."  (Matthew 2:1-2)
~

 Christmas has come to mean many things: family, love, gift-giving,

service, celebration, joy, and so much more ~

all are certainly worthy expressions of a multifaceted event;

but as we look to the birth of Jesus, may we not forget

or overlook our worship of the One who is worthy to be praised.

A King worthy of worship has been born, and when Simeon,

the godly saint in Jerusalem who was looking for the Messiah,

first held the baby Jesus in his arms, he blesses (praised) God

in a beautiful prayer of praise. (Luke 2:28-32)

As we look at the first ones in Scripture and their response

when they saw the newborn King,

may we find ourselves like minded bowing down in worship and adoration

of our newborn King, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jesus seeks true worshipers ~
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth."
(John 4:23-24) 

 Those who are wise still seek and worship Jesus today.

******

"O come let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the Lord our maker."

Amen.

Dear friends ~ From my heart to yours,

 I wish for you a Christmas filled with the joy of the Lord!

My prayer is that your heart will be filled with the Psalms as you sing unto the Lord
and worship Him, with your whole heart.

Have a most Blessed and Christ centered Christmas ~

Be Joyful!

~ Debbie ~