Click here to listen to the podcast.
This is Penny Haynes and Lori Arriaga with this weeks Words
for the Week, a Christian podcast. Bringing
you our Christian Women’s Gathering, a place where women can come together in
fellowship and be transparent with one another, sharing our trials and victories, sharing the Word and lifting each
other up in prayer in order to give hope and encouragement to one another. There is something so wonderful about hearing
how God is working in another person’s life and knowing that we are not alone
in our struggles, giving us the strength we sometimes need to go on and become
the virtuous women God has called us to be.
Today I talked about the need for more worship in my life
with music which was inspired by our last gathering when Penny forwarded her ministry
music to me she used to do.
Although I consider my prayer life to be a form of worship
in my life, I feel a need to have some worship in my life that isn’t so
controlled as it is in prayer where I lay out my requests to God for what I
desire. With music you are more apt to let go and allow God and the Holy Spirit
to move in your heart however he wishes.
Penny agreed saying worship with music is a time where we
can forget about ourselves. She was reminded of when she attended Max Lucado’s
church where he said something she would never forget. That worship is an act of recalibrating our
spirits. Most of the time, we are in the
center of our world and we are on the throne.
Worship takes us off the throne and puts God back on the throne, the way
it should be with God in the center.
I believe God put it on my heart because of my reserved nature. I worry about what I sound and look like
around others when it comes to worship with music. Not allowing God to be the one on the throne
even though I feel like everything inside of me wants to let go.
Unlike me, worship comes very easy and natural for
Penny. She reminded me how worship is
not really music or singing but is an act of service or giving yourself up to
God acknowledging His power and presence. I agreed in what she was saying and believe many
things I do is an act of worship but I really would love to be able to worship
God through music and song. There is
just something different about that form of worship.
Penny stated the emotional factor associated with music tends
to release our emotions and is more socially acceptable but If your not used to
expressing yourself through your emotions with moving around, raising your
hands or dancing, or you attend a more reserved congregation, then those kinds
of external pressures will indeed squash the leadings of the holy spirit and
your body and soul moving to the music.
She suggested the best thing for me to do to put on some
praise and worship music is when there is nobody else around and to just let
myself go in the presence of the Lord.
Then once I get comfortable with myself, it will become easier to be
comfortable around others in praise and worship.
Worship also has nothing to do with talent and not even the
music because you can have absolutely no musical talent and still be worshiping
God with every fiber of your being.
There is two ways to worship, with familiar and with unfamiliar
music.
Worshiping to familiar music allows you to not focus on the
words but to just enter into Gods presence of God to release your spirit and
communicate to God.
Unfamiliar original music is also very good to listen
to. Sometimes the words to a new song
can catch you off guard where it will grasp your heart and break down your
barriers in such a way that sometimes you could just drop to your knees right
then and there. This can make a great
impression on your heart and be a catalyst in your life for change.
This week Penny needed to rest while because she was sick but
felt a great sense of peace that she hadn’t felt for a while when it came to
her business. Even though she had much
work to do and would miss out on a paycheck from not working she felt at peace. Normally this would have freaked her out but
she totally believes she is in the center of Gods will and that what she is
doing in her business is making enough money to cover things. God showed Penny she can stop and relax when
needed.
The Fall always is the best time of year for her because it
brings back great memories of when her and her husband co-pastored the singles
together which also helped to heal her broken spirit.
Another thing God did for Penny this past week was give her
a resolve about the direction to go with her business which she felt great
anguish about before. She was given a resolve
with who she is trying to reach and what it is she is trying to do. No longer feeling the need to do things she
doesn’t have the desire to do even if others expect it of her or think less of
her in her industry.
Her counselor confirmed what she has been feeling when he shared
how people used to tell him “why don’t you write books or do speaking
engagements”. He basically said the real
joy for him was in helping his patients, not in getting recognition from his
colleagues. It was a huge thing for
Penny to be able to let go of other peoples expectations of her and let her be
about what God has called her to be and about her business.
God has since blessed Penny even more on a project she is
doing pre-sales on and has received fabulous responses and connected with
another woman who may have opened a huge door for her business. We then discussed how this peace she has felt
this past week didn’t come without intense anguish first. But at this moment she is very content with
her life, although things aren’t perfect. She can rest in the sure knowledge that God is
leading and in control. It makes up for
all the garbage you have to go through sometimes.
The Fall on the other hand for me, causes me to struggle in
many ways. I like the Fall in one sense
of getting on a schedule for the school year but the colder, darker and shorter
days makes it harder for me to get moving in the mornings and evenings in order
to accomplish anything.
The lack of sunshine and our environment can and does affect
people to the point of even getting very depressed. There are certain vitamins we receive from
the sun and when we don’t get as much sunshine we lack these vitamins, causing
us to not function as well during this time of the year. Christians don’t always feel great and aren’t
always “happy-clappy” as Penny put it. The
difference is that Christians have a lot more help from the outside and inside.
A scripture that encouraged me this past week was John
14:12-13 – I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have
been doing. He will do even greater
things than these because I am going to the Father, and I will do whatever you
ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
In the old testament and when Jesus walked this earth, his
spirit was with us but once He went to be with the Father, His spirit now lives
in us, giving us great power to do even greater things then he did when done in
his power, according to his word and in his name because there are so many more
vessels he can work through.
God wants us to do and experience great things in our lives
but even after a mountain top experience where we have done something we feel
good about and worked within our gifts, we still can have down times just as
Elijah did right after God rained down fire for him on the prophets of Baal. It is something we need to continually work
towards is finding that place of trust and peace in God in all areas of our
lives. Just because we have it in one
area it isn’t necessarily going to reflect in other areas of our lives.
It is also very encouraging to know that we are not alone
and we are all a part of something so much bigger then ourselves. We all have different gifts to enjoy and
appreciate. Which is all part of the
bigger plan we are a part of.
It’s always encouraging to remember we are not alone in our
struggles and we hope that our Christian Women’s Gathering is an encouraging
place where women can come together and help one another by sharing our
struggles and our victories with another, giving a Word from the Lord and
lifting each other up in prayer.
Before ending in prayer, Penny requested we pray a specific prayer
for her family and a friend of her son.
Last year her son mentioned a friend of his who is alienated from his
family and classmates in school had said he became a Wicken. He dismissed it thinking it was just a way for
him to try to connect with others.
This year he started wearing black and drawing all over his
arms. When he came over to their house Penny’s husband
mentioned to the friend that the pentagram on his arm was Satanic but the boy
said no it’s Wicken and people get that confused. Her husband was pretty agitated and went into
his room. He turned on the TV and there
was a special on Discovery about death metal music, Wickens and
pentagrams.
Penny thought that was strange enough but what she and her
son were not aware of until later was what her husband encountered during the
day. They have rental houses and the
previous two boys who rented the place trashed the place. When her husband was showing the place to a
woman interested in the grounds, the woman said the previous renters were
Wicken because she found a stone with a pentagram painted on it and they found knives
were thrown at the walls and property.
Before they left they prayed over the property.
So when he came home and saw his son’s friends arm with a
pentagram on it and then turned on the TV with the TV special about Wickens and
pentagrams, he became even more agitated.
Penny and her family are taking it very seriously now and believe that
God is really very concerned for this boy and not to dismiss it. She requests that prayers be lifted up for guidance
on how to handle this and reach this friend of their son without lecturing him.
We invite anyone who is interested in joining our Christian
women’s gathering to go to the audio conference room held each Friday’s at 9:00
am CST / 10:00 am EST. We look forward to meeting you and encouraging one
another in the Lord.
This is Penny Haynes and Lori Arriaga wishing you a
wonderful week full of God’s blessings.
Sponsored by Encouraging Audio Books and Christian Women’s Resources.
1st Podcast Publishing - Words For The Week
