Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love-gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard it for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded (see Exodus 16:20). God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others.Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.

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January 6 2015

Journal Entry for today-JDV

Lord, today as we prayed, talked and sought your message, we heard you loud and clear.  Our goals are to get connected, stay connected, and then live it, give it and work it out.  Sounds a bit cliché-ish”, but that was the message we learned today.

And God says…”That has been your lesson for many days. Be connected and in relationship with Me and then simply live.  When we are connected you know that I am guiding your life, so you can be curious and expectant, knowing that all things will work together for your good. And when you are connected, you will naturally become a blessing for others. It is impossible to be connected to Me, be truly blessed and NOT be connected to others. Love your God with all your mind, heart and soul and love your neighbor as yourself;  the only commandments given you by Jesus.”