Posted by Windy Desmond on July 2, 2010
Galations 4:7 “So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
So we all know that it stinks to be a slave. Being an heir can bring great honor, and privilege, and opportunity, and delight. However, being an heir, in our world, is not always a good thing. It is certainly not good to be a slave, but it is only good to an heir in some circumstances. Do we want to inherit everything from our families? Some of us can say that we are proud to be our Father’s sons or daughters, but do we want to be an heir to everything that they have? Do we want to inherit their flaws, their debts, their pain, and their weaknesses?
So what is the difference in what our Father has for us? We are heirs to HIS Kingdom, and it is an everlasting, perfect, and joyous Kingdom. There is no pain, or weakness, or debt, or flaw. To be a slave in the Kingdom of the Lord would be a great honor, and yet He gives us even more! He has made us sons and daughters and heirs to everything He has! What a loving God. What a loving Father.
One of the songs that God gave us to sing this week is Better is One Day. Some of the lyrics are “Better is one day in Your courts, better is one day in Your house, better is one day in Your courts that thousands elsewhere.” I love this song, and our focus this week will be about the fact that we will be in His courts, in His house as heirs – not as slaves or servants. I know that I will want to serve Him, and that I will serve Him, but it will be as a beloved daughter. This is the gift that our generous God gives to those that He loves beyond measure. Hey! That includes YOU!
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Posted by Windy Desmond on April 20, 2010
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galations 2:20
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, and it is part of the passage that we will be studying for the next two weeks. I have often wondered why this is one of my favorite verses. I have loved it since I was 16. It is not soft, or particularly beautiful, and it speaks of pain and loss. The first part indicates a total loss of rights, and also death to self. The second part is more encouraging – but still hard. It dictates living by faith in our Lord, in His Son, and the price that He paid for our wickedness. This is a tough verse!
So why do I love it? First, it does not pull any punches. This verse tells it like it is, and sums up so much of what our walk is supposed to be about. This is no “lukewarm” Christianity; this is what we strive for, this is the battle, this crucifixion is what God truly wants for us. How much do I have to die to self? Daily. Minute by minute. All the time, because Christ Himself lives in me. What a great honor! I want to do this, but it is oh so hard. Can I do it by myself? This really is a stupid question. No. not even close. And that is where the second part of the verse starts. “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God…” It is only by faith that we can die to self. It is only by faith and trust that we can allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ. And why do we have this faith in the Son of God? Because He has given everything for us. He loves us more than we will ever know. “…who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He gave Himself, willingly, so that we could be saved from our sins, yes, but also so that we could have a relationship with Him and His Father. So that we can walk with Him, talk with Him, and receive His care and love and words anytime we choose to listen. I am overjoyed that He loves me enough (and more) to give me the gift of Himself. It is the only gift worth receiving. I pray that the Lord will help me die to myself so that I will experience, more and more, Christ living in me.
The focus song for this Sunday that God gave to me is Blessed Be Your Name. It speaks of being crucified with Christ, but living by faith and choosing to praise God in the midst of pain and heartbreak. That kind of faith can only come from Christ. We cannot manufacture it! Here are some of the lyrics:
Blessed be Your name when the sun’s shining down on me, when the world’s all as it should be, blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, when there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be Your glorious name!
You give and take away – but my heart will choose to say – blessed be Your name!
We will be singing Blessed Be Your Name this Sunday. My prayer will be that I mean these lyrics when I sing them, and that the reason that I bless the Lord’s name is because of the Faith in His son Jesus, “…who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Amen.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on March 10, 2010
This week we are studying Galations 1:6-10. One of the things that Paul is talking to us about is remaining steadfast in our faith, and ignoring anyone who might teach something different or pervert the gospel of Christ. He warns us about this quite strongly. His words are, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” So how do we do this? How do we remain steadfast in the Lord? I know that I do not have a perfect answer. I believe that part of it is talking to Him and hearing His voice. Part is reading the Bible and knowing the gospel. Part is confessing our sins and experiencing God’s forgiveness. Here is the part that I want to work on this week – asking the Lord to help me. I think that we think that remaining steadfast is something we are supposed to do in our own strength. That if we are weak and have to ask for God’s help, we failed. The opposite is true! It pleases God so much when we ask Him for His help! We are never on our own with anything God asks from us.
Do I just need to remain steadfast in my faith? Oh, no. There are so many other areas in which I want to remain steadfast, and I want (and need) the Lord’s help! I want to remain steadfast in my parenting, my marriage, my ministry, my obedience, etc. etc. I am confident that my Father will help me with all of these things if I only ask. In what do you want to remain steadfast? Will you ask for His help?
Our focus song this week is Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. As we are asking for the Father’s help, we keep our eyes on His Son, looking full in His wonderful face. Here are the lyrics to this beautiful song – it is one of my favorites.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
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Posted by Windy Desmond on March 4, 2010
So I had an interesting thing happen this week. While planning the worship service, I prayed over the passage, (Galations 1:1-5) which had very strong themes about Christ being our Savior and how He saves and rescues us. The specific verse says “…the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” As I thought about this verse, especially in the context of a worship service, I felt that My Savior My God would be a great focus song for us this week. The words are a great fit, the tone of the song communicates (to me at least) the weight and seriousness of this gift from our Lord, and it is a song that our Church loves and associates with. Some time went by, and then I sat down with the Lord to plan the service and to ask Him to show me the songs that He has for us this week. I confirmed with Him that the theme is to be about our Savior, the gift of His life and the salvation that we have in Him. God shared with me that He is excited about all of the songs that we will be singing about Jesus. We have often been singing more about God the Father, and we will be singing many songs about Jesus in the near future. Next, I asked Him to confirm that our focus song this week should be My Savior My God. Guess what he said?
He said no. He did not give me a reason. He simply said that He did not have that song for us this week, and that He wanted to re-direct us to a different song. How surprising it was to me! I did not expect His answer at all. So far, in my journey as worship minister, when I plan the services and feel led to a particular focus song God has always confirmed that song as the one that He wants us to sing. It feels very strange in a way to be re-directed so clearly. However, I really like being re-directed for a couple of reasons. First, it wakes me up. It breaks up a routine that can look very similar from day to day. Don’t get me wrong – the routine is great – it is just like a little jolt of caffeine. Second, it makes me feel so close to the Lord. It confirms, to me, that I am truly hearing His voice and not my own. If I were just hearing my own voice we would be singing My Savior My God this week. Instead, we are singing Rescue, which is our focus song, and is not one that I have led before.
How can this affect our daily walk, and not just be something that is an every now-and-then occurrence? My proposal is this – just because we think we know what God would say, we should ask anyway. Ask Him to confirm. “What would Jesus do” might be a good place to start, but our thoughts and our wisdom will never equal that of our Father’s. We never know when God wants to re-direct us until we ask. Sometimes re-direction might be scary, but it is always worth it.
Lyrics to Rescue, Crossland’s focus song for 03/07/2010
You are the source of life. I can’t be left behind. No one will do – I will take hold of You.
I need You Jesus to come to my rescue. Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved. Capture me with grace. I will follow You.
My heart is Yours for life. I need Your hand in mine. No one else will do. I put my trust in You.
I need You Jesus to come to my rescue. Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved. Capture me with grace. I will follow You.
This world has nothing for me…I will follow You…
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Posted by Windy Desmond on February 21, 2010
Ron preached a great sermon this week from James 4:13-17. James never pulls any punches, you know? James talks a lot in this passage about what Ron calls “Presumptuous Planning.” Basically, making up your mind about what you are going to do without taking God’s desires into account. Making your own plans and not even considering that God’s might be superior. (Aren’t they always??) In dialoguing this week with the Lord, He showed me that one of the things that He wants for me, and the worship team, and our Church Family is peace instead of worry.
I see this concept relating to this passage in James. Why do we make these plans? Why do we decide, on our own, what needs to be done and how we need to do it? For me, at least, a big part of it is because I worry about the future both immediate and far reaching. I feel the drive to make plans to avoid pain, and waste, and heartache, and boredom, etc. I wonder if the way that the Lord wants to deal with those worries is different than the plans that I try to make? I think I know the answer to that one! God’s peace comes with giving our fruitless plans to Him and allowing Him to guide our paths.
Our response song this week was Refiner’s Fire. Here are some of the words:
Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart, let me be as gold – pure gold.
The only way to choose God’s peace over worry, His plans over our own, is to ask him to purify and refine us as we follow him. The more that we come to Him and pursue His will, His thoughts, and His heart, the more we will see the plans and purposes that He has for us that are so much better than the ones that we think up. The more that we do this, the easier it will become. The more that we do this, we will remember to come to the Lord. Father, I do ask You to purify my heart.
The last verse in this passage gives us an even bigger warning than “presumptuous planning.” It hit me pretty hard this week when I was meeting with God to plan our worship service. More to come later…
Here are the lyrics for Refiner’s Fire:
Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart, let me be as gold – pure gold.
Refiner’s Fire, my heart’s one desire, is to be holy – set apart for You Lord.
I choose to be holy – set apart for You my Master, ready to do Your will.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from my sin – deep within.
Refiner’s Fire, my heart’s one desire, is to be holy – set apart for You Lord.
I choose to be holy – set apart for You my Master, ready to do Your will.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on February 10, 2010
Usually during the worship time here at Crossland we sing a “focus song” that is a great fit with the sermon. I pray over all parts of the worship service, but this in particular is something that God communicates to me very directly. Last week, I believed that God wanted our focus song to be Ancient of Days. Hmmm. It surprised me a bit, because it did not fit very well with the passage that Buddy was preaching from. However, as I prayed about it, I was convinced that the Lord had it for our church that week and that he was going to use it to speak to our members. So, what does this song mean to me? What did I pray when I led this song?
One of the things that I like about this song is the fact that it talks about our mighty God and how His kingdom will reign over all of our earth. Here is my question to you and to me as well – are we letting God’s kingdom reign in our lives? Are our knees bowing at His throne, or are we running around mindlessly? Are our tongues, daily, declaring His glory?
Every tongue in Heaven and earth shall declare Your glory, every knee shall bow at Your throne in worship. You will be exalted oh God, and Your Kingdom shall not pass away, oh Ancient of Days!
When we sing this song, I ask the Lord to make us aware of our desire to do these things, I ask His Holy Spirit to help us do these things, and I ask that we will experience God’s GREAT pleasure and affirmation. He loves us so!
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Posted by Windy Desmond on January 27, 2010
So, if you forgot to put shoes on would you leave the house or go back and put them on? That was the question that Buddy asked me this week when we were meeting about the worship plan. I responded with no, I would go back. Well, this living water that we receive from the Lord when we come and listen is JUST as important. It is free, it satisfies, and we need it in our lives. How exciting that He gives it to us so easily and without measure! We are going to be hearing a lot more about this concept is the sermon this week. It is one not to missed!
Our focus song this week is All Who Are Thirsty. Here are some of the lyrics: “Dip your heart in the stream of life. Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away, in the waves of His mercy…” I KNOW that some of what of what He will tell me when I come to Him will be about my feelings of pain and sorrow. I know that He wants to wash them away. Isn’t our God great? Doesn’t He love us so much?
All Who are Thirsty
All who are thirsty, all who are weak, come to the fountain, dip your heart in the stream of life.
Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of His mercy. As deep cries out to deep
We sing: “Come Lord Jesus come, Holy Spirit come,” to all who are thirsty.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on January 17, 2010
So I find our banner verse really exciting! I am looking forward to hearing so much from the Lord this year about these verses, and singing the songs that God chooses for us to illuminate some of these challenging concepts. This week one of the things we will be talking about is what we turn to instead of God. This, I know, will be so convicting to me, but something that I need to hear and grasp. What unhealthy food am I spending my money on? What am I toiling for that is worthless and even harmful? I know that the answers may be hard to hear. However, my heart truly desires to get milk and wine for FREE! What a deal! I want the Lord’s sustaining, tasty, and healthy delicacies.
What do I have to do to get these things? Do I have to say the right prayers? Fast? Tithe? Read my Bible? No. Those things are all good, but the Lord says that we must…Come. Come! Come and listen to Him. We don’t have to wait. We don’t have to “be in a good place.” We don’t have to have a certain amount of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s been days…weeks…months…years…our Father doesn’t care. He wants us to come to Him!
One of the songs that the Lord has given us this week is Knowing You. Here are some of the lyrics:
“All I once held dear, built my life upon, all this world reveres and wars to own, all I once thought gain I have counted loss, spent and worthless now compared to this.”
I think that this applies to our banner verse. What we have bought in the past, what we thought was for our gain, what we spent our money on, is worthless. The lyrics say that they are worthless compared to “this:”
“Knowing You, Jesus. Knowing You – there is no greater thing.”
When we come to the Lord, when we listen to Him, we will know Him more and more. I encourage you to make this song part of your devotional song this week. In preparing for the sermon, ask the Lord to open your heart and prepare you to see the things that you spend your money on. Come to Him this week, and listen. He will never let you down!
Here are all of the lyrics to Knowing You:
Knowing You
All I once held dear built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus knowing you
There is no greater thing
You’re my all you’re the best
You’re my joy, my righteousness
And I love you Lord
Now my heart’s desire is to know You more
To be found in You, and known as Yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh to know the power of Your risen life
And to know You in Your suffering
To become like You in Your death my Lord
So with You to live and never die
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Posted by Windy Desmond on January 15, 2010
A letter to everyone, but a special message for my worship team as well!
What does this year’s banner verse tell us? For one thing, it tells us that we have nothing. That all of the things that we toil for, that we hold dear, that we deem important, do not satisfy us and are worthless. As a worship minister, that puts an interesting spin on things. For my team and me, God has blessed us with talents that we get to use every Sunday to worship Him, and help others worship Him. So, does that mean that those things are worthless? I appreciate the talents of my team, and WANT them to feel proud of themselves when they do well. We toil, we practice, we sometimes hold dear the talents that God has given us. Hmmmm.
The verses also tell us that if we just come to the Lord, He will give us all that we need – wine and milk for free and food that truly satisfies. How does this tie in with the question above? First of all, let me say that I am convinced that the Lord Almighty is overjoyed with offerings of praise, and pleased with the continual sacrifices that my team makes to practice their craft to bring glory to Him. So how do we figure out how these things reconcile?
I believe that trying to lead in worship is empty without coming to the Lord first. A bold statement, I know, but the only one that can fit with these verses that God has chosen for us to focus on. If we hold on to or focus on our rehearsal time, our talent , our focus to “get things right,” even our own personal worship time, we will miss out on so much of what the Lord has for us, and on what He has for His people. As the worship leader, I have started getting up early (very difficult for me!) on Sunday mornings to have some extended time to dialogue with God – for me to go to Him, and them listen to what He has to say to Me, and what He wants to say to our Church. It is amazing the things that He has to say!
This is something that the Worship Team will be focusing on for 2010. Not necessarily the getting up early part, (I know of one person at least who would have words with me on that subject!) but in going to the Lord and really listening to Him before we rehearse, and before we lead on Sundays. This is an exciting process that has revolutionized my worship, and I want it for everyone!
I love the Lord’s free wine and milk, and I don’t want to go back to gobbling down my fast food that I toil for that will make me feel sick. Have you imagined what the Lord’s “wine and milk” would be for you? I enjoy thinking about my “perfect meal” and putting it in place of wine and milk. I know that it is a metaphor, but I still like to think of my Father sitting down with me to my perfect meal!
Let’s jump into 2010 without reservation! I can’t wait – both for my team and for you. Let’s do some awesome worship this year!
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