What It Means To Be A Worshipper

What It Means To Be A Worshipper
Rev. James C. Matthews

Did you know that there is a reason for your existence? God knew you before you were even formed into a fetus. He has a specific plan for your life. Your job while you are here on earth is not to choose your destiny but to discover it. Many people search for fulfillment their entire lives and never find it because they fail to discover their purpose. God is the Creator of all things. Your life is not a mere coincidence or a mistake, but a part of His plan; He has a specific assignment for you. Do you know what it is? If not, here are 10 questions to help you discover your true destiny:

1. What is your deepest desire?

Psalm 37:4 says "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." When you decide to serve God, He will actually give you the desire to do what you were created to do. You will know it is a God-given desire because it will line up with His Word.

2. What stirs your passion?

Passion is the zeal, enthusiasm, excitement and intensity you feel about things that are important to you. It will stir you to action. What bothers you the most? God may be calling on you to find a solution to a problem or to be a solution to a problem.

3. What naturally flows out of you?

Have you ever taught someone how to do something that you could do with your eyes closed? It may have seemed simple to you, but complex to them. What is that natural talent or ability you have that others do not?

4. Where do you get real results?

In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus gave us a time guideline for how long it should take to "try something out," such as a job, career, business or ministry. He gave an example of a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard and had been checking for three years to see if it was producing fruit. Then Jesus asked the question, "Why cumbered it the ground?" This was a nice way of asking, "Why is this thing taking up space?" What is taking up space in your life?

5. What is the witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit?

God will confirm the plan He has for your life. He will sometimes speak through dreams and visions or in a still, small voice. He will make sure He gets the message to you in one way or another. Are you listening? To hear and recognize His voice clearly, you must position yourself by spending time seeking Him, diligently praying and studying His Word.

6. What do mature Christians see in you?

Keep in mind that a "mature Christian" is not just someone who has been saved for a while, but instead is a Believer who consistently makes decisions based on the Word of God. Mature Christians can give you good advice about seeking God's will for your life.

7. What career or ministry do you feel the peace of God about pursuing?

Philippians 4:6-7 says to pray with thanksgiving and let your request be known to God, and He will bring you peace about the things that concern you. Let the peace of God in your spirit man guide you and confirm His will for your life.

8. What thoughts, visions or dreams are impossible to put out of your mind?

God speaks to us in various ways. He will give you thoughts, visions and dreams, but your job is to recognize when it is God's message and when it is not. You will know God has given you a dream, vision or concept when you have spent time seeking Him. He will confirm it through His Word, as well as through people who may speak into your life about the situation. In addition you will see situations and circumstances line up to make your dream or vision come to pass.

9. What goal or ambition can you dedicate yourself to 100 percent, for the rest of your life?

Is there something you can do for hours and really enjoy? What career or job could you do for the rest of your life? When you discover your purpose, it will incorporate all of your gifts, talents and strengths, and you will have a passion for it that enables you to do it even when you are tired.

10. What do people volunteer to help you accomplish?

When you find what you were created to do, God will send people, opportunities and resources to help you along the way. Is there something you do that people want to support? When you get into that place, you will find total fulfillment. Don't waste another moment trying to find satisfaction in all the wrong places; find God's true purpose for your life today!



Pastor James C. (J.C.) Matthews is the founder and Senior Pastor of the multi-cultural non-denominational Dunamis Life Ministries of Dallas, Texas. Pastor Matthews is known for his love of God's Word, unusual wisdom, passionate preaching style and gift of practically applying scripture to everyday. He is the author of the Saved but Stuck: 30 Days to Personal Revival". "I'll Come... When I Get Myself Together" and "My Situation Is Not My Destination - Only Preparation". J.C. Matthews lives in the Dallas / Ft. Worth Texas area with his wife Gena and four children.

© Rev. James C. Matthews all rights reserved

Words of LIFE:

Words of LIFE


Opportunities
with Victoria Osteen

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is head, I press on...." (Philippians 3:13-14)

When I look back over my life, I can see where I've missed out
on some God-given opportunities. Maybe you are saying the same thing.
If so, I want to encourage you: Don't live in regret.
Don't let lost opportunities make you feel disappointed and
discouraged. God is bigger than your lost opportunities. He can still
get you where you need to go in life.

Everyone has missed opportunities to do something good, help somebody
or go to the next level in one's career. For one reason or
another, we've allowed that opportunity to slip through our
fingers. But let bygones be bygones; don't get trapped in the
past. Don't allow yourself to focus on the things you've
missed or could have done better. Allow Him to bring back any
opportunities that you may have missed.

Joel's sister, Lisa, and her husband, Kevin, tried for years to
have children, but Lisa was not able to conceive. She went through all
the fertility treatments and even several surgeries, but
still...no baby. Finally the doctor told Lisa there was nothing
more he could do; they weren't going to be able to have
children. Lisa and Kevin were devastated. It looked like their dreams
had died, but God always has a plan. One day out of the blue Lisa
received a call from Nancy Alcorn of Mercy Ministries, a home for
at-risk young women based in Nashville.

"Lisa, I normally wouldn't do this," Nancy said,
"but we have a young woman who is about to give birth to twin
girls and we were wondering if you and Kevin might be interested in
adopting them."

Lisa and Kevin had not yet considered adoption since they were still
hoping to have children naturally, but suddenly Lisa's interest
was piqued.

"There's only one problem," Nancy said. "I
know you and Kevin have most of the qualifications that the birth
mother wants for the adoptive parents, but she also has a stipulation
that her babies should be placed in a family with twins in their
background."

Nancy had no idea that Kevin had a twin sister, and as soon as she
said that, something inside Lisa's heart confirmed this was a
"God opportunity." A few months later, Lisa and Kevin
adopted those twin baby girls and then, three years later, they
adopted another "Mercy" baby boy.

God gave Lisa and Kevin three children they could not have naturally.
Their hearts were open for what God wanted to do in their lives even
though it wasn't the way they first anticipated. God gave them
another opportunity to be the parents they desired to be. They could
have just as easily given up and closed their minds, but they
didn't. They remained open and God brought back that opportunity
in a different way.

You may be thinking you've wasted years of your life in the
wrong career or associating with the wrong people. You may think that
it has been too long, you've been through too much, and
you're never going to see those new seasons of increase. But I
believe God is saying to us today, "I can restore the years that
you've lost." (Joel 2:25)

The same God who gave Lisa and Kevin three beautiful children can make
up for your lost time. He may not always do so in the way you are
expecting, but open your heart and mind to the possibilities. Be ready
to embrace the opportunities that God will bring across your path. As
you do, you'll rise higher and higher and you will love your
life the way God intends.

This Week

Ask God to give you back every opportunity that you've missed.
Focus on God's ability to restore dreams, plans and goals

Prayer

"Lord, I know you can resurrect dead dreams and that you have a
way to bring them about. Thank you for restoring those dreams and
desires to me. Thank you for working a restoration in my life as I
walk in faith in you."

Joel and Victoria Osteen join James and Betty all week on LIFE TODAY.

Words of LIFE:Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions

Words of LIFE


Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions
with Dr. Caroline Leaf

"We take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5b)

How many times have you replayed a conversation in your head until it
stirred emotional pain or stress in your life? Did you know that
stress is the reaction your body has to your thoughts?

Researchers say that 87% of the illnesses that plague us today are a
direct result of our thought life. What we think affects us physically
and emotionally. We are in an epidemic of toxic emotions and that is
why I teach people about the anatomy of thought in my book Who
Switched off My Brain?

Your brain speaks to your body and your body speaks to your brain. The
mind-body link is an ongoing symphony of chemicals playing through
your body 24 hours a day. And the way in which we think will affect
the functioning of that whole electrical-chemical cycle.

God has built an incredible mechanism into our brain that gives us the
free will to accept or reject information. We have the option to
reject negative information from our thoughts before it gets the
support of damaging attitudes and emotions.

There are two groups of emotions that are polar opposites: positive,
faith-based emotions and negative, fear-based emotions. Each has its
own set of molecules and performs as spiritual forces with chemical
and electrical representation in the body.

Faith-based emotions are love, joy, peace, happiness, kindness,
gentleness, self-control, forgiveness and patience. These produce good
attitudes and thoughts.

Fear-based emotions include hate, anxiety, anger, hostility,
resentment, frustration, impatience and irritation. These produce
toxic attitudes and create a chemical reaction in the body that can
alter behavior.

Fear is the root of stress. Scripture says, "God has not given
us a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind"
(2 Tim. 1:7). Fear-based thinking blocks the flow of healthy chemicals
and releases toxic chemicals that put you into stress.

When your thoughts move you into stress, your emotions attempt to
rule. Emotional perceptions are designed to create alertness to guide
but not rule, because they misinterpret truth. Stage one of stress is
the protective alarm that guides and helps you deal with dangerous,
threatening situations. It creates a sweaty palm, quickened heart
rate, adrenaline rush and a fight-or-flight emotional and biological
response.

Once the alert stressor is gone, your accelerated heart rate (through
narrowing of the arteries and increased blood volume) begins to return
to normal. However, if your body stays under the constant barrage of
negative stimulation, toxic waste begins to build up. An uncontrolled
thought life will create fear-based emotional and physical conditions
for illness.

In the second stage you enter acute long-term stress. Your mind and
body start feeling as if they belong to someone else. The chemicals
pump at will and in sequence through your body, and the first area
they attack is your cardiovascular system.

If the chaotic thoughts are not controlled at this point, your stress
hormones and chemicals never stop reacting. They move to a cellular
level where your body experiences tissue damage and system breakdown.
Internalizing wounded emotions at this point will eventually create a
volcanic buildup in your body allowing a seething mix of anger,
hostility and resentment. Suppressed emotional pain can also cause
lingering physical pain.

Hosea 4:6 demonstrates wisdom and insight about this toxic pathway.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." If you
understand something, you can begin to control it instead of letting
it control you. Knowledge and understanding give you the tools. With
the Holy Spirit's power to remind you of God's truth, you
can begin to consciously control your thought life and deal with
harmful emotions.

According to the word of God, which is more accurate than medical
science, controlling your thought life brings health to your body. You
can live most of your life in a passive mental state or you can choose
to battle for your mind. It seems like an unfair battle because you
can't see what's happening, yet you can't escape the
battle. The frontline of the war is the toxic thought. It usually
enters through the five senses and if it is unchecked, it can become a
mental stronghold of the enemy. The finish line is the final battle
cry of victory when you take captive and overturn your toxic thoughts.

This Week
Jesus knows your thoughts. "But Jesus, knowing (seeing)
their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil and harbor malice
in your hearts?" (Matt. 9:4, Amplified) Acknowledge what Jesus
sees and renew your mind with God's Truth as you bring every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor.10:5)

Prayer
"Lord, thank you for revealing how my negative and destructive
thoughts are controlling me. I understand now how the enemy works with
my thoughts to make me live in fear and stress. I choose to live in
faith as you help me renew my mind with truth."

Dr. Caroline Leaf
http://www.lifetoday.org