The Meeting Place TMP

Anyone can sacrifice for anything. Some people can choose to sacrifice for their families, others can choose to sacrifice for their jobs. But God is not pleased with sacrifice; He is pleased with obedience.

"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!'" | Luke 17:5

With a regular ingestion and digestion of God’s Word, I must learn to sit with God and turn my heart to him in complete dependence.

"I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you." | John 15:9-12

"Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble." | 1 Peter 3:8

What would happen if we gave God obedient praise rather than comfortable praise? There is freedom and breakthrough when we give Him the most extravagant praise we can offer. Being comfortable in our praise does not allow us to give Him a complete offering because we serve our comfort. But when we give God obedient praise, we abandon all of our shame to truly proclaim who God is.

More than anything, God desires your heart. God brings us back to the fundamentals of the gospel by asking: "Why do you go to church?" Man looks at what is on the outside, but God seeks the inside. It doesn't matter to Him what you do in the church. He is not impressed with the number of ministries you serve in because He desires you and you alone. He wants you to know Him and be truly faithful to Him.

A Worship Moment | Defender

Obedience cannot be measured by the standards of man but is measured by our willingness to say yes to Jesus.

"Deliver me from my enemies, O God; be my fortress against those who are attacking me." | Psalm 59:1

God appreciates everything you do to serve Him. However, more than the number of ministries you're in, He seeks for your heart. How much of your life are you putting into serving the Lord? In other words, how much of your heart are you offering to Christ? Let us offer a genuine heart of worship to the Lord as we continue to build up His Kingdom, not our own.

"God, You're so good."

In the same way that God displayed genuine emotions of anger and sadness after the fall of Adam and Eve, I had to be genuine with my classmates. Only through this authentic sharing of life could the Gospel be shared with my classmates.

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." | 1 Peter 4:10