by Enid Mojica-McGinnis

Matthew 21:15-16

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” They asked Jesus.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants

you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” 

He calls forth this type of spontaneous praise, children praise, the spirit of true praise and worship. In Spirit and in Truth. (I think of the AT&T commercials with children spontaneously speaking. The pleasure we take in that.)

Matthew 9:33

And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

Mark 2:12

The paralyzed man got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

We are the mouths of babes, when we spontaneously worship The Lord, the song of the redeemed.  This is the Perfected praise; man would see it as pathetic, but to The Lord says this is perfected praise. Man would lay out a plan with intellectual means to Build a Tower of Babel. The Lord would desire the tongue of babel from His children. 

"The worship of the redeemed."

Isaiah 51:11

Those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

I believe we are seeing things, amazing things that we've never seen before! See! The things of The Spirit! An open heaven visible, tangible! So much so that it would overtake us and cause us to spontaneously speak and sing out in notes and songs we never knew were in us. Lord give us eyes to see that will cause us to say things in the natural that are not in the dictionary or within our human language capacity but a catapulting forth, the language of heaven. Set forth Tongues of Fire that will reside above our heads! A new song, a Song of the Spirit which is seen. Involuntary movement and sounds will come forth from a people of praise, a people of worship, true worship. Spontaneous worship. That child within us is coming forth, springing up, overtaken by gladness and joy, with the true babel.  Not the Tower of Babel made by man, but the true child will bring forth praise. "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel" The Redeemed! The children! The song of the redeemed! Let the children come unto me and forbid them not! Let them sing forth the song of the redeemed! The sound of heaven! 

The Lord would say sing oh daughters of Zion! He will joy over our singing! 

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;

be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy:

the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee:

thou shalt not see evil any more.

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not:

and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. (Raised hands as a child to the father) 

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty;

he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy;

he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

He takes pleasure and opens heaven to see His children spring forth with surrendered hands, spontaneous praise...to see His daughters pour forth true unhindered worship, to hear the sound of Heaven coming forth from Earthen vessels!! Heaven on Earth!!! 

Revelation 3:22, 4:1. 

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ...after this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

And the voice I first heard speaking to me say come up here! ...at once I was in the Spirit! Spontaneous worship! 

 

What I saw this morning....

By Erin Paolercio

As I woke up, the first thought I had was, "More sleep please!!" The morning began, and I thought about what tasks were beckoning me: start the coffee, get the boys clothes ready, make their lunches, gets backpacks organized, etc, etc. Followed by other plans throughout the day, and upcoming week. Suddenly this phrase filled my heart, "You are forge a Spirit led path through the cycles of life." My heart quickened as I remembered the incredible moments of His presence I have been experiencing, especially over the past weeks and this weekend. I remembered the psalm Aimee declared over our church, and how what we have been praying for, crying out for....is in view. And I was able to then pause, and take in His truth and some thoughts I pray will bless your heart today.

Life & creation moves in cycles. The world turns, change, life grows & matures, we age, etc. Sometimes we especially feel this cycle within our own schedules as the hours flow into the next, the routines of daily life swing back around come morning. How about laundry?!? We know how that cycles...clothes get cleaned & folded and the next day they are smothered in chocolate pudding (if you have young kids lol). Women in general also have our lovely monthly cycle which,putting it nicely, is a challenge at times. ;). I could go on & on about cycles.... And yet, our amazing and beautiful God, who set life into motion, is not subject to the cycles of life. He does not bow down to the framework of time and routines. He rules over them, and sometimes invades them. I can't help but think of the scripture in Romans (8:20-21) that says,"The creation was subjected to frustration, not by it's own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.". By His truth I understand that though I am dealing with some of the frustrations that are a part of life, my God wants me to experience His "glorious freedom" within my heart. A glorious freedom declares, "I will forge a Spirit led path through the cycles of life."

In this path I see worship, praise, knowledge of Him, prioritized time in His presence, prayer, fellowship, edifying & encouraging those in my sphere and beyond....it goes on. Yes, the cycles of life may circle around us, but yet we are forging a path. I see this in the Wife of Noble Character, portrayed so beautifully in Proverbs 31. This whole description closes by acknowledging how. "A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.". How does a woman walk victoriously through the cycles, tasks, responsibilities...cycles of life? By fearing the Lord, honoring Him first, prioritizing His presence.....being able to joyfully "laugh at the days to come," as her children feel the overflow of that kind of joy (can I get an amen)?!?

In Psalm 34 David declares how he will "extol the Lord at ALL times," and how "His praise will ALWAYS be on my lips." Further he says in verse 5, "those who look to Him are radiant...". This past Friday night during our special night of worship, I kept hearing these words...."radiating glory.". I believe with all my heart that our church, the of Christ will experience His beautiful radiating glory in the days ahead.

Lord God, may I, we all, forge a Spirit-led path in the midst of all of life's cycles...lead us on by Your truth and presence. May our hearts be prepared and ready for all You desire to unfold to us personally and corporately. Thank You Lord for the awesome reminders You bring to our hearts everyday, and may our lives radiate Your beauty and glory!

Psalm 89:15-18 Message
15 Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of GOD. 16 Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do--they can't keep it quiet! 17 Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us-- you've been so good to us! We're walking on air! 18 All we are and have we owe to GOD, Holy God of Israel, our King!

Funny how God speaks to us sometimes!  This morning I got up early to spend some soaking time with the Lord and I found myself distracted by my cat Ginger.  We have two cats: one that we adopted two years ago named Bianca, and another we just adopted  few weeks ago named Ginger.  What a trip it has been watching two cats battle it out for the territory and for our affection.  I remember the first night with the second cat, my other cat who is a typical foreboding personality cat (affection on her terms alone) suddenly decides she is going to sleep with me, on my bed, right next to my head! I thought, "You little stinker, you never wanted to cuddle before ... jealous little thing!" As this relationship has developed over the last few weeks, things have been a roller coaster of funny events. You see, Ginger is the most aggressively affectionate cat I have ever seen, and Bianca still likes interaction with us on her terms yet is jealous of Ginger.  Even now, as I lay on the floor of my living room typing this on my iPad, Ginger is rubbing back and forth under my chin, across my arms, shoving her head into my hands to rub, and purring her little heart out. At the same time, I glance up and see Bianca sitting on the stairs, glaring at us with utter distress in her eyes! Ha!

What keeps this cat at bay, jealous as anything, while this new "predator" in her home steals our hearts with all this proactive affection???  Maybe there is a parallel here with our relationship with the Lord?  How proactive are we with showering our affection on Him? Are we leaning into Him? Are we seeking His cover, His embrace over our lives?  Do we go after Him so much that we "distract" Him from what He is doing at the moment?  Or ... are we distant and foreboding, sitting back and watching as others go after Him ... becoming embittered as it seems that God favors them with His presence and favor in their lives????

I love the Message Bible version of this scripture in Psalm 89:15 "Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of GOD!"  Do we really know the power of our praise, the proactive pursuit of showering our affection on the Lord?  It is literally a "password" into the depths of His presence!  We can daily unlock new dimensions of His presence and favor on our lives with this type of praise!  

The passage goes on to say in verses 16-17, "Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do--they can't keep it quiet! Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us-- you've been so good to us! We're walking on air!"  When we pursue His presence in this dimension, our knowledge of Him increases continuously, we know Who He is and what He does!  We see things differently and we understand Him more fully because "He has gotten inside of us!"  Wow!  There is a new spring in our step that comes, regardless of what we are facing in our lives it is as if we are "walking on air!"

This is so much like my little Ginger, she is the happiest cat in town ... there is always a purr in her voice and a rub coming to you when you're in our house!  She was talking so loud yesterday that we all said it sounded like she was saying' "Mama!" Ha!

Verse 18 says, "All we are and have we owe to GOD, Holy God of Israel, our King!"  Our unfolding divine interchange brings us to such a beautiful, humble recognition that all we are and all we have is because of Him, because of who He is, what He has fashioned for us, and what He pours out upon us as we pursue His heart!  I call worship, "the divine exchange," for this very reason. In moments of true worship, we exchange all that we are for all that He is ... what a glorious, continuously unfolding revelation!

Both my cats were rescue cats, but Bianca has been in our home for 2 years now ... perhaps Ginger is so affectionate partially due to her gratefulness in having a family of her own for the first time.  It is a fresh experience to her.  Bianca was much like that the first few weeks we had her too.  I just hope this never grows old with Ginger! She has stolen our hearts!  All you animal-lovers out there understand what I'm saying .....

In the same way, may we never become so familiar, so accustomed to God's presence in our lives that we become numb, distant, and passive in our approach of Him!  He is worthy of sooooooo much more!!!!  Pull out your "password of praise" and go deeply into His presence! He is waiting for you!!!!!

Funny how God speaks to us sometimes ....
Aimee