New Year '13

We're already a week into the New Year:  2013.    I am in anticipation of what God will do this year, and already I have seen God's Hand at work.

In my area of focus this year, He has already taught me that His example of Love for us is what I can look towards in order to learn how to Love Him more, for He is the source and example of perfect Love.   I also realized that through all my recent experiences of disappointment with others, I have learned that only God does not disappoint, and that just helps me to Love Him more.   Along those lines, my theme song this year will be "O Love that Will Not Let Me Go".

Another thing that I realized this year is that through the difficult and negative experience last year, it has actually given me guidance and assurance this year about not raising the rent on the condo.  And the mortgage situation has just enforced that as well.  While I will no longer have OT to supplement, yet with my current financial situation, it still continues to work out.

Last week, one of our assistant pastors preached a sermon on "Worship Unleashed" to start off the year.  Worship is the expression of awe and love in the presence of God our Father, and submission of our all to the nature of God. Based on the passage in John 4:19-26, we were reminded that:

• God values WORSHIPERS over the different types of worship; we need to be the kind of people who worship Him well, for the passage says that God SEEKS this
• LOCATION is not the issue, it just matters that we are worshiping HIM; and we are not to stop worshiping just because service is over, we are to keep worshiping wherever we go
• We are to worship Him in SPIRIT (not the physical or external) and TRUTH (consistent with the whole of God's Word, according to how He has revealed Himself, who He really is)

It's interesting that in vs 4, it says that Jesus "had" to go through Samaria, indicating that He had this divine appointment to keep with the Samaritan woman.  Their conversation went back and forth between the physical and spiritual; but the main point was to reveal that Jesus is the Messiah.  And along the way, some principles of worship were also introduced.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord"  (Colossians 3:23a)