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Worship and Spirit

13 Aug

PowerlessI’m posting a series about true worship. It’s amazing to me how many things we call “worship” that really don’t qualify.

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
Revelation 4:2

This verse shows us an aspect of worship that few teachers ever emphasize. Worship is a function of the spirit. This is an import truth that God’s people need to understand.

We label a lot of things as worship. When we go to church on Sunday morning, we call it a worship service. Then when it’s time to sing we call it praise and worship. Somehow we’ve redefined it in such a way that the fast songs are praise and the slower ones are worship.

Actually they are simply fast and slow praise songs. When you understand true worship from Scripture, you see that all the functions of our flesh and our mind are a part of our praise to God.

When Jesus talked with the woman at the well, He explained it to her this way…

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:24

That’s the underlying truth – God is spirit. This word, worship, speaks of intimate relationship. How do you have intimacy with a spirit? There’s only one level of interaction, and that’s in the spirit.

That’s why daily prayer in the spirit is so important. It’s the vehicle by which we have intimacy with the Father.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh
Philippians 3:3

Do we really put no confidence in our flesh? Especially when it comes to our relationship with God, many believers are driven by their flesh. We’re proud of our trained voices and our professional sound. We want to be moved emotionally by our corporate experiences.

Please understand me. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of those things – if you’re talking about praise. But this post is about true, scriptural worship.

In worship, we put no confidence in our praise, our singing, how long we practiced or even our obedience. The only confidence we have is in Him. That’s why most of what we do in church is actually praise.

Praise can be done loudly and in a group. As a matter of fact, the bigger the group, the more stirring the praise – usually.

Worship is different. It’s intimate. It’s personal – one on one, just me and God. Even if I’m with a crowd of believers, I have to zone them all out and just focus in on the Lord.

The easiest way to do this is to begin praying in the spirit. That’s how our relationship with God is built, spirit to Spirit. It’s time for God’s people to stir up the spirit of worship within them. Let’s stop calling everything we do in church “worship”. It’s time to simply bask in the presence of a holy God and spend some quality, intimate time with Him.

Question: How often do you worship God in the spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2014 in Prayer in the Spirit, Worship

 

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Listen to God’s Warning

01 Aug

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAI’m posting a series about Noah’s faith as recorded in Hebrews 11. In my last post I talked about how faith causes you to build upon the foundation of Christ.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7

The verse says that Noah was warned. But here’s the challenge. The things that God warned him about had not yet been seen.

It’s easy to prepare for the things that we see coming. A snow storm, a tax bill, or a new car purchase. The problem is that there are things we have yet to experience that the Lord warns us about.

In those times we build simply because of God’s warning. God’s Word warns us of many things. Some of them are good, and some are bad. Many of them are things we have not seen yet.

We don’t know God’s whole plan for us. On the other side, the effects of sin, living for self or chasing after the world aren’t always seen immediately. The problems start only after we’ve been off track for a while.

There are also other issues. Many times we start building on God’s Word, and then we go back to our old ways. We get impatient looking for the return on our spiritual investment.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”
Luke 14:28-30

Many believers are in this condition – unfinished, yet the project is abandoned. The work has stopped. They seem to be comfortable where they are and don’t want any more growth.

That’s a sad position to be in. I want to see growth in my life. I want to change and become more like Christ. That’s the only way that the world will be drawn to the Spirit of Christ in me.

How do you persevere? How do you keep allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life even when there’s not a lot of obvious evidence of anything going on?

We need to go back to the example of Noah in the above verse. It says that he moved in holy fear because of the warning he received. Because he believed God’s warning, it instilled a fear of the Lord in him.

It’s this fear of the Lord gives us perseverance. That’s where the ability to keep going in the hard times – or even the daily grind – comes from.

One of the problems is that so many people don’t have a correct understanding of the fear of the Lord. We must have this understanding if we’re going to continue the building process in our lives.

For now, I’ll simply say that fearing God has nothing to do with being afraid of Him. That’s not a holy fear. In my next post I’ll deal with what the fear of the Lord actually means.

Question: In what ways does your life show the fear of the Lord?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on August 1, 2014 in Faith, Word of God

 

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Know When to Give Up

11 Jul

SunriseIn my last post I talked about the times we find ourselves wrestling against God’s plan for us. We’re looking at Jacob as an example of this.

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:26

No, God wasn’t getting tired. No, God wasn’t going to turn into a pumpkin when the sun came up. Why then did He impose a time limit? Purely and simply out of His love for Jacob. God knew that having fought all night, Jacob was getting to the end of his strength.

The Bible teaches elsewhere that God will not allow our struggles to go beyond our ability to endure. This is how God worked with Jacob. He made Jacob fight to the end of His strength. Up to this point, Jacob always found the easy way out of his troubles.

The scheme, the bribe, the fixed fight, whatever it took to win without breaking a sweat – that’s who Jacob was. God, however, knew he was better than that. He was created to father a nation. Through this experience God taught Jacob that he was able to overcome by his inner strength and determination alone, without all the scheming.

God wants to do that with us as well. He’ll allow us to get to the end of our strength so that we’ll cry out to Him. Don’t drop out of your fight too quickly. Make the determination to lay hold of the prize God has called you to obtain.

The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
Genesis 32:27-29

You would think that because he wrestled with God, Jacob would get in trouble. Nothing could be further from the truth. God doesn’t care if you struggle with Him as long as you learn the lesson He’s trying to teach you.

Up to this point in his life, Jacob had been trying to buy, fight, and steal his way to the blessing of God. Now he was to learn that the only way to obtain it is by freely receiving it from the Lord’s own hand.

He spent his life fighting God and man. Now God tells him that he has overcome. Overcome what? He has finally overcome himself. He now has the control to take his life and lay it at the feet of the Lord.

How do we know this? God gives him a new name – Israel – that means, “conquered by God.”

Perhaps you’ve been struggling in your walk with the Lord. Maybe there is an area in your life you’ve been refusing to turn over to God.

It’s time for you to give up and receive the blessing God’s been waiting to give you. Today, allow yourself to be overcome by God.

Questions: Are there areas, right now, where you’re struggling against God? What will it take for you to give up?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2014 in Power of God, Prayer

 

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Are You Wrestling with God?

09 Jul

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe all face hardships in our lives. Sometimes it’s our own doing. There are even times that our goals are in direct opposition to what God is trying to accomplish in us.

Many Christians come up with their own plan for their lives. Then they pray about it simply to have God bless it. Unfortunately, if it’s not God’s plan, there will be no blessing no matter how hard you pray. You’ll simply find yourself struggling against God’s purpose in your walk with Him.

The Patriarch, Jacob, found himself in just such a position.

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
Genesis 32:24

We know from the context of Scripture that God came down to Jacob this night and wrestled with him. He was alone. His family couldn’t save him. His possessions couldn’t save him. He found himself totally alone with God.

This is the power of time alone with the Lord. If God wants your undivided attention, He knows just how to get it. We need to take the time to hear His voice speaking to us. It would save us a lot of grief in the long run.

When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
Genesis 32:25

This portion of Scripture always bothered me. How could Jacob, a man, beat God in a fight? There was something not right about it.

Then it occurred to me – if it was God’s intent to beat Jacob in a fight, the Lord could have squashed him like a bug. God could have done it with a word, never even laying a finger on him. As it turns out, the fight was not for God’s benefit. The Lord didn’t need to prove He could win. It was all about getting Jacob’s attention.

This shows me the love of God. When we find ourselves struggling against His will, He lowers Himself so as to fight at your level of ability. Like a father wrestling on the floor with his child, the goal is not to win, but to instruct.

I find that it’s easier to have these wrestling times with the Lord in private. In public you have to act like everything’s okay. When you’re alone, you can take your time and struggle through some issues without the usual distractions.

Don’t be afraid to tackle some big issues with the Lord. Remember that He’s not out to hurt you, but to make your life better than you could ever do it on your own. Give Him the chance to help you fight through your struggles.

Questions: Have you ever found yourself struggling against God’s plan? What were the issues? How did it turn out?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2014 in Prayer

 

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Do You Understand God’s Timing?

04 Jun

TimingSometimes our timetable and God’s doesn’t agree. How does God look at time? How can we work within His system?

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Romans 13:11

This verse literally says that we must know by seeing the present, appointed time. This assumes a couple of things. First of all, it assumes that we’re aware of the spiritual climate that’s happening around us. We see society and know what’s expected of us as believers.

It also assumes that we know what God desires to accomplish during this generation. This means that we see what’s next on His agenda as well as what it will take for His church to see it done.

There are times that God has set for certain things to take place. These are God’s appointed times.

God has a different perspective than we do. In our timing there are things we’d like to see happen. There are also things we hope for and then there are things we want right now. With God, there are simply a string of appointed times where He will accomplish what He said He will do.

It’s the same way that Jesus lived when He walked the earth.

Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”
John 7:6

We must get His view of life. In God’s reality we are given a series of set times for a set purpose. We must learn to live and act within these seasons.

From our perspective, we want to pray and immediately see the answer. The fact is that God has appointed times, and it’s up to us to understand them. This was what He rebuked the Pharisees for.

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
Matthew 16:2-3

You can see the difference in weather patterns. By them, you can predict what is going to happen – fair or rainy weather. Yet the Pharisees could not see what was happening right in front of them.

The times of Christ – the Messiah – had come. Of all people, they should have seen and understood it.

Knowing the times takes discerning, especially now – during this time in history. I want to take a few posts to talk about God’s timing and what it means to us.

Questions: Have you ever had problems with God’s timing? Why?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2014 in Prayer, Revival

 

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America at the Crossroads

26 May

FlagcrossToday is Memorial Day. It’s a day to remember the sacrifices that so many men and women have made so that we can live in freedom. It’s sad to see how far we’ve fallen from the original plan of the founding fathers.

How did this happen? First of all, we have to understand that God treats nations differently than He deals with individuals.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Psalm 33:12

God will bless a nation that follows His ways.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

To the extent that America followed God’s ways – we were blessed and exalted. We saw the abundance of God, and then thanked Him for it. Our people had wisdom to create wealth, inventions, and many other great achievements.

But there came a time when we started to leave the path.

Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?
Psalm 94:10

The truth is that God disciplines nations. Of course, this requires understanding God’s ways. The world is the Lord’s, and all of the land that exists is His. Nations, themselves, cannot be saved or unsaved. As such, nations are under law, not grace.

We know from Scripture that the power of sin is the law (I Cor. 15:56). That means that the enemy’s kingdom is powered by the law.

This principle was the basis of the law given to Moses.

…for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 18:27-28

In effect, the law gives the devil permission to attack a nation that defiles God’s land. It’s not God cursing a nation. It’s a nation cursing itself by inviting the enemies’ attack.

How is the land polluted? A few things listed in the Bible are: Bloodshed (Numbers 35:33-34); Corruption (Ezra 9:11); Sexual Sin (Leviticus 18:25); Prostitution (Jeremiah 3:2); and Idolatry (Jeremiah 16:18). The devil has permission to attack polluted lands.

It grieves me to admit that America is a defiled land. I’m sorry for sounding so down about the USA. The truth is that there’s nowhere else on earth that I’d rather live. I love this nation. But without a proper diagnosis, there can be no healing.

There is a remedy for the problems we face in our culture.

…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

I have heard this verse emphasized in America since the sixties. But rather than humble themselves, pray, seek, & turn – God’s people have either protested the moral landslide or joined right in with them.

It’s time for us to take God’s holy prescription for this nation. It’s time for the church to remember where we came from, and fervently seek revival.

Question: What would a national revival of the church look like?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2014 in Prayer, Revival

 

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Let God Take You Away

23 May

 

Cloud2In my last post I was talking about Enoch’s experience with God. I said that, like Enoch, God wants to transport us – not out of the world, but from death to life.

Where exactly does the Lord want to transport me to?

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Thessalonians 5:9

God did not take us to a place where we suffer His wrath. A lot of Christians need to hear this.

The Lord takes us into His salvation. He has taken us to a place where we can receive healing, prosperity, grace, joy, peace, as well as all the other blessings which He paid for on the cross. That’s why He wants to set you apart. He wants life for us – not death.

Too many believers picture God as someone just waiting for us to mess up so He can “zap” us. That’s not the God we serve. Christ has done everything needed for us to live in the divine blessing of His love and acceptance. We need to see that as a completed work in Christ.

But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
1 Corinthians 12:18

This is another great truth of Scripture.

The Lord takes us to His body. We need to understand what it means to be part of a body. It’s very different from being part of a collection. In a collection everything is independent from each other.

I have a postage stamp collection. If I’m missing a certain stamp, I say, “Someday it would be nice to get it.”

That’s not how the church should operate. In a body, all the parts depend upon all the others. A person that’s missing a hand is at a disadvantage.

Stamp collections can be arranged in many different ways – by topic, color, country, value, etc. In a body every part has only one place where it belongs. This means that I must let God place me where He wants me.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.
1 Timothy 1:12

This is the final place we’re transported to.

The Lord takes us to His service. This is an incredible verse. God has endued me with His power so that now He can put His faith in me.  He wants to trust me and place me in His service.

What a privilege – I can serve God as a well-pleasing servant. I don’t serve out of fear, but love. He has provided all that I need to serve Him acceptably. I can know and do His will.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Philippians 3:12

Paul had a goal. He wanted to pursue His calling in Christ. He did this so that he could take hold of that for which Christ had taken him. Christ wants me for a reason. I want to find out what that reason is.

This should be the attitude of every believer. Pursue the knowledge of why God has chosen you for His service.

Question: What is your place in the body of Christ?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2014 in Faith, Ministry, Power of God

 

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Have You Been Taken By God?

21 May

PowerlessThere are some important truths that we can learn from the life of the patriarch, Enoch.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Hebrews 11:5

This verse says that it was by faith that Enoch was taken. Faith is always a choice. It’s the decision to accept and believe something that I have come to understand about God.

We must choose to be taken by God. This is the first and most important choice of the any believer. As Christians, we have accepted the sacrifice of Christ. But very quickly after salvation it becomes obvious that God wants more than just a prayer and an offering.

This is what it means to be a living sacrifice. The Lord says to each one of us, “I want you. I have a purpose and a plan for your life.”

The Scripture says that Enoch was transported so that he did not see death. It’s clear that God doesn’t want us to see death at work in our lives.

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
Romans 6:13

Jesus Christ has brought us over from death to life. The problem is that sometimes, because of our flesh, we’re more comfortable with death. We allow things into our lives that are killing us.

There was a prerequisite to what Enoch experienced. Before he was taken, he was well-pleasing to God. This is one of our greatest blessings in Christ – the fact that today we can be pleasing to God. That’s why the writer talks about it in the next verse.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

This verse literally says that apart from faith you are powerless to please God. You can try to work to please God – but you’re powerless to accomplish it. The only thing to do is to choose to believe He exists, and then earnestly seek Him as the Rewarder of your life.

It is only because of these two choices that the Lord of the universe is well pleased with you. It’s because of your faith that He wants to take you as His own – if you’ll let Him. His desire is to transport you from death to life.

Just like with Enoch, God takes you out of your old life and brings you to a new place of blessing. In my next post I’ll talk about exactly where the Lord transports you to.

Question: Why is it important to know that my works have nothing to do with being pleasing to God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on May 21, 2014 in Faith, Power of God

 

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The Locked Up Church

19 May

LockedIn my last post I talked about the picture of the church that the Lord gave me from Acts, chapter 16. In that passage, Paul and Silas are in prison, chained up, in the dark. Yet they were praying and singing as if nothing were unusual.

I said that much of the church is in that condition today. We go on praising God every Sunday, yet having no effect on the world the rest of the week. How did we get into this position?

I believe that it’s because we didn’t heed the warning that Christ gave us during His ministry.

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”
Luke 21:34

Here Jesus tells us of three weights that can hinder us from fulfilling our destiny. They are called dissipation, drunkenness, and anxieties. We will never reach our true potential in Christ if we try to run with these hindrances.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1

We are warned to throw off the things that hinder. Probably the worst is dissipation. We allow the best parts of our life to be dissipated.

The world has so many distractions these days. Classes we could take, recreational opportunities, athletic events, and entertainment. All of these things, in and of themselves, add to our enjoyment of life. They’re good things.

“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 6:12

Yes, they are all good things, permissible things, but they’ve become the masters of our lives. They dictate our schedules. They tell us what we can and can’t do for God.

We fill up our time with all these good things. Then, more often than not, God gets the leftovers. Our leftover time, strength, and resources.

What happens when God says, “I want you to take a week to meet together and experience my work of revival in you.”?

“Sorry, that won’t work for me. I have a class on Monday night. Tuesday is my bowling league. Thursday I have to get the kids to their Karate lessons. I just can’t make it out to weekday meetings.”

Where does all the time go? Dissipation. We have allowed the distractions of the world to dissipate the time that should belong to the Lord. Our schedules have become mastered by the good things of the world.

In this way the church has become a prisoner to our permissible things. We are in chains and in the dark. We need to be set free by the power of God.

Question: What will it take to shatter these chains from the church?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on May 19, 2014 in Revival, The Church

 

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The Truth about Repentance and Restoration

25 Apr

WeedingThere are times when we pick up a bad attitude towards God. This usually happens when we feel that God isn’t listening to us. We think He’s ignoring us. There was a time in Israel that the people felt the same way.

After they returned from captivity in Babylon, the prophet Malachi was sent with a message from God. Listen to the exchange.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’”
Malachi 1:2a

God gets right down to the basics. It’s all about His love for us. He loves us with an everlasting love.

That love is also a tough love. It’s like a parent who will not let their child touch a hot stove. The Bible clearly teaches that discipline flows out of the Father’s love. That’s usually when we get upset.

In the face of God’s love, the people respond with, “How have you loved us?” It’s a slap in God’s face. They’re saying, “Prove it, God.” It implies that they see no evidence of God’s love.

Why this attitude. It could be because they had just returned from Babylon. Their fields were overgrown. They were surrounded by their enemies. The temple they worshipped in was vastly inferior to the one Solomon built.

“Look at what’s happening to me, God. How can You possibly say that you love me.”

The thing is, we do this all the time in our attitudes. Here’s what they didn’t understand. The condition they found themselves in was because of their sin. It got so bad that they were captured and taken from their homeland.

Now they’ve repented. They’ve turned away from the false gods and were brought back to the land of promise. This is where the attitude springs up.

“Lord I repented, why aren’t things like they were before?”

This is what we need to learn as well. Repentance does not equal restoration. How do you get restoration?

Look at it this way. Spiritually speaking, you spent years planting weeds. Now your life is growing nothing but dandelions and chicory. You see the error of your ways and you repent. Immediately you want God to turn all your weeds into porterhouse steaks! I can tell you from the Word of God, and my own experience – it rarely ever happens that way.

What do you need to do? You dig up the weeds, plant new seed, and wait for the new harvest. Yes, you can trust God for an abundant harvest; and even a quick harvest. But there will still be a period of waiting for the blessings to appear.

Repentance and restoration. They go hand in hand. It’s just that restoration sometimes takes a little longer than we want it to. I repent and replant. Then I remember to keep my attitudes pure as I wait on the Lord to restore what was lost.

Question: What has the Lord restored in your life? How long did it take?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on April 25, 2014 in Faith, Revival

 

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