ORDERS FOR ORDER –
STARTING AND FINISHING WITH GOD
Sept. 30, 2006
Psalm 63 1O
God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul
thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is; 2To see thy
power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3Because thy lovingkindness is better than
life, my lips shall
praise thee.
I would call this psalm the best medicine
that money cannot buy. It will make every single part of your life
better. There are four points to it.
1. SEEK GOD FIRST--EARLY—IN THE MORNING:
early will I seek thee
Psalm 5:3In
the morning You hear my voice,
O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for
You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].
In order for your day to be ordered by
God, you have to start your day receiving orders from God. If you
are in the army, the first thing that happens in your day is that
you get your orders. We are in God's army, and we need to get with
Him every morning to know what He wants us to do for today.
Don’t just have a one way conversation.
Let Him speak to you. Often He speaks through His word while you
read it or listen to it. But, sometimes, He speaks through a still
small voice in your mind. That requires being still, silent, and
listening for a while. It takes some patience, but it’s very
rewarding, because God will speak to us in some way.
How can we be successful if we don't seek
God's will. And if we wait till the day is half gone before we seek
Him, a half a day will be lost to us. Time is too precious to spend
it doing "our own thing"---even if it seems like a good thing.
Remember, "good" is the enemy of "best", and God's way is always
best.
So, how do you get your orders from God?
Do you start out the day with prayer and reading the Word. Many of
us think we don’t have time to do it, but I can guarantee that if
you do it, you will end up having much more time for everything
else. When God is the first order of business, everything else falls
into place.
It’s really not hard to find time for
God. Get up 15 minutes early. Don’t try to plan for an hour or more.
If you start out that way, it will seem undoable and you’ll give up
before you start. Try 15 minutes and you will be amazed at how much
you can put into that time and get out of it. You will also be
amazed at the difference it will make in your day and, as you build
the habit, the difference it will make in your life.
And if we will call to God in the
morning, the scripture says:
Psalm 90:14-15
(AMP) 14Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we
may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many
years as we have seen trouble.
How can we be satisfied in the morning if
we don’t come to Him in the morning? Why wait till we get into
trouble and then go to Him. Go to Him first—so we don’t get into
trouble. And you see, the very next verse speaks of being made glad
for all the days we have been afflicted. That’s a lot of good days
and gladness isn’t it?
2. SEE GOD’S POWER AND GLORY IN
EVERYTHING- to see thy power and thy glory
The world sees everything through a
humanistic viewpoint, but we should see things through God’s
viewpoint, in the Light of His Word.
And, we shouldn’t be looking to the
world’s solutions for our problems, but to God’s. He has the power
to do everything—to meet all our needs, to heal us and deliver us.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t avail ourselves of medical help or
other things that make life better. It’s just that we see EVERYTHING
good as coming from God.
We can look at the world situation and
think it is hopeless. We can let the boasting of evil men who have
become leaders of nations make us fear. We can look at the
destructive power they have at their command and feel helpless---but
if we look up and see God’s power, that changes everything.
When a problem arises—when danger
strikes---when we need something that seems impossible—we need to
see and believe and call upon God’s power.
We should EXPECT and desire God’s
works of power. It may not come the WAY we expect, but it will
happen.
We also need to see and work toward
HIS GLORY—not our own. God will not give His glory to another.
Pray PSALM 90:16May your deeds be shown to
your servants, your splendor to their children. That not only will He perform His
works—but that we will see them. Sometimes, God’s power is being
manifested all around us and we do not see it. I don’t want to be
spiritually oblivious.
King Hezekiah, in the midst of a war,
said to his people:
2 Chronicles 32:7-8
Be strong and
courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor
for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us
than with him: 8With
him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help
us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon
the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Let’s ask God to open our eyes—like He
did the servant of Elijah.
2 Kings 6:16-17 16And
he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they
that be with them.17And Elisha prayed,
and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the
LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses andchariots of fire round about
Elisha.
And, while we’re at it, let’s ask God to
open our eyes to danger too. Especially when we are in danger that
comes from disobeying God’s commands. I sure hate to be like Balaam,
whose donkey saw God’s power long before he did.
Numbers 22:31Then the LORD opened the eyes
of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and
his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell
flat on his face.
3. SEE HIM IN THE SANCTUARY—THE PLACE OF
WORSHIP-- so as I have
seen thee in the sanctuary
We need to ‘see God in the sanctuary”---the church. And to do
that, we need to be at church—if we can.
Some people feel that they don’t need to go to church because
they can be with God anywhere. Well, of course we can be with God
anywhere. But we need to be with Him in His House.
If we are at all able, we need to be a regular worshipper in the
House of God. For some of us, that’s impossible because cannot go
out, but many of us can go out. If you can go shopping, or to work,
or go to other events you can go to church. It’s really as simple as
that. Maybe you have trouble sitting through a who service and can
go for part of it.
For those who can’t get out, we have Sundays services here. And
because this is what we’re able to do, I know God blesses us and
makes it special for us. We can even feel the presence of our
brothers and sisters worshipping and hearing God’s Word along with
us—even if it’s at different times in the day. After all, with God,
there is no time. He is the Beginning and the End and He is not
bound by the constrictions of time.
But sometimes, we just don’t want to go. Let’s be honest about
that. When we are chronically ill or disabled, it’s difficult—not
just physically, but emotionally. We feel out of place. People say
things that really hurt, even though they mean well (most of the
time).
I s there anyone who hasn’t had someone say to them “Have you
read Isaiah 53—that by His stripes we are healed?” I mean sometimes,
you want to say “No really? I never heard that. Hum a few bars and
I’ll fake it.” They really do mean well. I’ve actually had someone
ask me “did you ever think of praying for healing?” I could only
look at them silently because if I’d opened my mouth at that time,
it would not have been pretty. But, now looking back at it, it’s
really hilarious. It makes me chuckle. And this person also meant
well.
But things like this tend to push us away—make us feel out of it.
Actually, some of us (and I do mean some—not all) have allowed
ourselves to be “on the outside”. We’ve given up. I know that right
now some of you must be protesting, but remember—I’ve been there,
done that, bought the t-shirt, and wore it out. I know what it’s
like—from both sides. I’ve been a pastor, a pastor’s wife, AND a
chronically ill person in the congregation. I’ve seen it from every
aspect.
I’ve been the person who didn’t understand and then, for most of
my life, the person that was not understood. But, you know
what—that’s okay. Who really understands anyone anyway? Only God.
People can love us without understanding and, if we make up our
minds to persevere and be part of the congregation—whether we’re
sick or well—thy will learn to live with it and deal with it even if
they don’t understand. If we refuse to let satan drive us out, we
may even teach them to understand so that OTHER sick people can be
ministered to.
We might even start a ministry in our own church to reach out to
the sick. AND WE MIGHT THEN GET WELL.
And even if you cannot get out to services (because you are
physically unable) you can be a part of the church and the
fellowship of believers. You can be part of this group.
When you do go to church—see HIM in the sanctuary. That’s exactly
what the verse says. Too many times, we are looking at people and we
see human beings instead of seeing GOD!
You’re not going to find a perfect church here on earth, so stop
expecting perfection. Face reality. Go the church of GOD’S choice
and you will be blessed there because you will see God there.
Psalm 22: 22I
will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the
congregation will I praise thee.
And that
brings us to our final point:
4. PRAISE HIM IN THE MORNING AND
CONTINUOUSLY-- my lips shall
praise thee.
Psalm 30:4
Sing to the LORD,
all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.
Psalm 50:
23He who brings an offering of praise and
thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way
aright [who prepares the way that I may show him], to him I will
demonstrate the salvation of God.
No matter what time it is or where you
are or what you are doing—praise will always bring you into God’s
presence. God inhabits your praise so it brings Him on the scene.
Praise to God is what we offer in
acknowledgement of God's excellent being. You might think that
praise is the same as saying "thank you," but there is a difference.
Thanksgiving describes our attitude toward what God has done, while
praise is offered for who God is. Psalm 18:3 says "I call to the LORD, who
is worthy of praise…"
All believers are commanded to praise God! In fact, Isaiah 43:21
says that praise is one reason we were created, "This people I have formed for Myself;
they shall declare My praise."
Hebrews 13:15 confirms this: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us
continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips
that confess his name."
Praise originates in a heart full of love toward God.
Praise can be expressed in song, in
verse, or in prayer and it is to be done continuously! Psalm 34:1
says, "I will extol the LORD at
all times; his praise will always be on my lips."
Sometimes praise can be inward and
in our thoughts, other times quiet and personal, and still other
times, public and in the midts of the bretheren:
Psalm 22:22 says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in
the congregation I will praise you."
God delights in your praise—and you
will too. It’s amazing what an attitude of praise can do for your
day and for your life.
One night recently, I was very sick. I
was also weak and dizzy and in pain. It was affecting my emotions
too and I was beginning to feel really down. Suddenly, I remembered
the things I’d bee teaching and I said “enough”. I decided that no
matter how I felt I was going to praise God and make satan puke.
That’s just what I did—I started praising and worshipping more and
more and pretty soon I began to feel God’s presence and glory. By
the time I was finished, I was feeling much better and I drifted off
to sleep a happy person. When I woke up, the pain and sickness was
gone.
If we will make these four principles
the rule in our life, we will begin to have a much better life.
That’s not my promise—it’s God’s Word.
1. SEEK HIM EARLY—IN THE MORNING:
early will I seek thee
2. SEE GOD’S POWER AND GLORY IN
EVERYTHING- see thy power and thy glory
3. SEE HIM IN THE SANCTUARY—THE PLACE
OF WORSHIP-- so as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary
4. PRAISE HIM IN THE MORNING AND
CONTINUOUSLY-- my lips shall praise thee.
