Day 2 - Created for His Praise

[fmckinnon]

Hey Everyone,

Jump in and start discussing "Day 2 - Created for His Praise".
At the end in the "My Daily Surrender" segment, you are asked to consider writing a prayer of surrender. In addition to your comments and discussion about the teaching and lesson, consider writing your prayer here. Write your prayer in "first person", directly to God.

[russhutto]

I love the concept of us being pleasing to God because we are His creation. I know that our sin separates us from God, and that before Adam and Eve sinned against God, that they were pure and pleasing to Him just because they "were."

Of course, after the fall into sin, things changed a bit. I think God still looks on us, His creation, as His own handiwork, and as objects of His love, but at the same time we can be displeasing to Him by the things we do...(but it's not necessarily the things we do that cause the displeasure as much as it is the condition of our hearts when we do them). So, I guess I'm thinking that we can't necessarily DO anything to win the love of God (or to lose it), because the fact remains that He loves us completely (even when we are still trapped by sin).

Loved the picture of the author's boys. He loves them because they are His, not because of the stuff they do or don't do.

My prayer of surrender:

God help me to understand that being loved by You is not something I have to earn. Help me surrender wholly to your all-encompassing love. You loved me first. I offer my self, all that I am, in complete surrender to You. My inside, my outside. My heart, mind, and soul. I want to be known as Yours.

[ErikaMichelle]

I enjoyed today's study. Again, it was basic and I hope to get a little more "meat" in the future studies. But those simple reminders of God's grace and mercy are so important and I am grateful for this study and all of you.

The part of this study that jumped out at me was at the end. 2 Chronicles 20:29 states that Judah's surrounding kingdoms heard that the LORD had fought the battle and won. They feared THE LORD and not Jehoshaphat. That was wonderful. When they saw Judah, they didn't see a scared group of men, women and children. They saw a mighty group of worshippers standing and watching the power of God. They saw HIM!!!

What I got out of this, is that we are most pleasing to the Lord when our lives reflect Him and Him alone. We were created in HIS image for HIS great pleasure to reflect HIS glory.

My prayer of surrender:

Lord, today, I will surrender to You and You alone. I will lay down myself. I will lay down my own will and desire. I will fall completely in love with You all over again as I lay my life before Your feet. I can do all this because You strengthen me. In Your Precious Name, Amen

[Klampert]

Good study today..I liked this one and man it of course hits home.

It is basically let go let God...not always easy to put into practice

MY PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Lord...Make me your servant
Make me your own
Make me an Instrument
Take all of me
Burn your name upon my heart
Teach me your ways so I
can glorify Your name,
I give myself to You
I want to be in a place
where I no longer hinder
what you are doing,
Lord...
Less of me
More of You
Remove my pride
instill in me Humility.
I have been selfish with your tasks
I have been selfish with your vision
Rid me of anything that gets in the way
of your greatness
I surrender myself to you,
I lay at the throne of the most High king
My very breath comes from you and
I will not waste it.
Have mercy on me Your humble servant....
All praise and glory be to you Lord of my life.

[Steffanie_Oltmans]

One of the parts of today's study that really stood out to me was the part where he talked about his boys and how they don't have to be doing something for him in order to please him. That is such an awesome thing to meditate on. God doesn't love to hear our worship because we have excellent voices or wonderful musical talent. Think about it He hears the angels sing in all there perfection on a constant basis and yet He longs to inhabit our praise. I don't know about you but my talent is not that of an angel. It is awesome to think that what draws Him to our worship is the relationship and the love of a Father. He hears us with the ears of a loving father. It is so true that He hears our hearts much louder than noise we make.



Father, I surrender myself wholly to you and your will. I want to be more like you my desire is to be a mirror that reflects your glory to the world.

[alangustin]

I never really understood how God loves me until I had my first child. When I held little Ali in my arms, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love for her that I cannot describe to this day. She had done nothing except be born, yet I loved her completely (and still do, by the way). Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and told me that the love of my Heavenly Father for me is even stronger than the love I have for my daughter. From that moment on, I never considered God's love to be anything less than complete and unconditional.

I like the reference in the Ephesians passage to eternity, and it reminds me that one day we will worship with the heavenly host forever. That will make all our earthly worship seem as nothing, even though while we are here, we must do our best to give Him our all.

Leave everything behind and follow Jesus - how many of us can say that we have done that? I cannot. I believe I will spend the rest of my life learning how to do that.

During times of leading worship, I can sometimes get to that place where I am giving my all. My heart's desire is that when that happens, God can move others to go to that place with me.

[fmckinnon]

Hey Gang,
Great discussion here for Day 2 ... I was also moved by the story about the kids. I have four ... and when our first child was born, we just fell in love with him immediately. Honestly, when I discovered we were expecting our 2nd child, I was a bit worried - how could I *possibly* love another child as much as this first one? But then Will was born, and I had a whole, brand new tank of love just for him. Then, Rebekah was born ... then Andrew was born ... then.... STOP .. that's it!

But you get the idea.
And that's just my own love ... nothing like God's selfless love, agape love for us.

And to think that when I'm serving Him, honoring Him ... I am walking in what I was created to do.

Everything works better when it's being used for what it was intended.

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

By the way, I couldn't wait to get home from work today so I could read all of your comments! Here we go with my comments:

I think my idea of why I was created is very different now than it was about 10 years ago. I used to think that I was created to "be something" in this world. Society instilled in my head that being a secretary was not as successful as (for example) being a teacher. I was on a lower scale. However, during my walk with God over the years, I have learned over the last few years that God loves me know matter what career title I have. I have learned that I am just as important as anyone else in this world and I don't stress as much about the career ladder. Even though some of society differs in opinion, I personally think all careers are equal - a garbage man to me is just as important as a teacher, doctor or lawyer. Could you imagine what our world would be like without garbage men. I often think about putting a card out for my garbage man thanking him for doing the job he does.

I am here to praise God. I think that one way of praising God is to treat others the way I want to be treated. I am reminded of the verse about - if you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me. My goal throughout my life is to bring happiness to people. Hopefully through doing this they can see HIS LIGHT shining through me. I will make an effort to treat others with respect, send an e-mail telling a person how special they are in my life, pray for at least one different person each day, etc. By doing things like this we are praising God. We are created to praise, and we are to do it 24-7. This is just one of the way to praise. Parents and people from the community, and the students come into our school office all the time and tell us how inviting it is to come there and how nice it is to be greeted by us. I know that part of that is because God's presence is there and He shines through.

One thing that really hit me in this reading today is on page 15, that God said this was "very good" after he created man and woman. They didn't even do anything yet and they were very good, and He was pleased with them. Isn't that how it is with our children. We love them from the day they are born. Even after the only thing they have done is poop and cry, we still love them. They didn't even do anything to create that love. If you have or ever had a toddler how did it feel when you came home and your toddler came running with arms open wide to greet you with a cheer, a smile and a hug. That child is praising the parent. If any of you have a dog, a dog has unconditional love for you when you get home. Your dog is praising you. God is there waiting. We need to come running to Him with our arms open wide, cheering, smiling and ready to embrace Him (just like a child).

Further down on page 15 it says - because He loves us He has raised us up and seated us with Christ in heavenly realms so we can one day be trophies of His grace. He wants me to be a trophy. Have you ever won a trophy? How did you feel when you got that trophy? It was an amazing feeling wasn't it. God wants me to be a trophy. I don't feel like trophy quality. But He apparantly sees something different than I do. And I am thankful for that. So I am going to praise Him by telling Him.

The last sentence on page 15 says - Once again God worked through his people to bring glory and praise to himself. God is not selfishly looking for praise in an egotistical way. But since we were made to praise Him, then He must be there to BE PRAISED. We, as parents of children, want to BE PRAISED by our children. Just as God loves us regardless of our praise or lack of praise for Him, parents love their children whether the children praise or not. But boy doesn't it feel good when your child as a teenager says "Thanks mom for everything you do for me." or "Thanks dad for picking me up from school today". Sometimes teens go through a stage where they don't communicate with parents as much. That creates a feeling of hurt for the parent. So now, let's take all that information and think about God. God made us. He sent His son to die on the cross for us. And if we stop communications with Him, I think that has to hurt God. So we need to remember to always be in contact with God. It is nice to have some quiet time to pray, but we don't always have to kneel, be alone, fold our hands, pray outloud. A quick thought of "Thank you God", "Help me God", "Bless the person that I am working with at work", "I know I'm stuck in traffic Lord, but thank you that I have not been in a car accident". And on and on we go. Keep Him with you everywhere you are. Acknowledge Him over and over throughout your day.

[fmckinnon]

Wrapped in Jesus Love ...

great insights! thkx for sharing! :)

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

I forgot to include my Prayer of Surrender.

God, You are awesome. Your love amazes me. I want my life to shout Your praises in every area of my life so the world will see You in me. I am happy to be part of Your family, and I want to thank You for accepting me as I am. I surrender my heart and my life to You oh Lord. You paid the price for me. Use me, Lord, to help others to see you. Help me to be a silent and verbal witness in everything I do. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

For those of you who posted earlier in the evening last night, I just wanted to make sure you go back and read some of the later posts. There were some posts added late into the night (approx. 1:00 am). Some of them were mine. I'm not normally up that late but I think I was just overtaken by the Holy Spirit and just had a second wind. But don't expect the 1:00 am replies from me to often. :D Don't forget to go back and check on them.

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

Ok, this doesn't really have anything to do with the Bible Study but I have something I want to share with all of you. Hopefully this is okay.

Here is the lead-in first:

Klampert wrote in an earlier posting: "Let go and Let God". It still amazes me how there are phrases being posted by others that are phrases that I have either heard or used.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I went on the Walk to Emmaus, which is a personal Christian walk with God. You don't actually walk, but you go there from Thursday till Sunday. It is a spiritual enrichment weekend and is just amazing. Before I went a friend of mine who had gone previously had this advice for me for my weekend "walk". He said: "Let God . . ." He didn't finish it. I said "Let God what?". He said "just let God . . .". He said "just let God do whatever it is He wants to do - leave the sentence unfinished - just let God . . ." I did 'let God . . .' that weekend and had an awesome experience.

So I was thinking about that experience tonight when I read Klamperts comment "Let go and Let God". Well not too long after that (tonight) the phone rang. It was the lady who is in charge of the Walk for this coming spring. She wants me to prayerfully consider being the Assistant Worship Leader for this spring's "Walk to Emmaus". Wow! What an exciting task to think that I could help the ladies who will be attending to experience a "Marty" weekend of worship!

So if I accept, I will miss my daughter's band concert and my son's band concert. I know they would understand, but I often get torn between listening to what God is asking me to do and what I want to do. So well, I have til the end of the week to decide. Maybe this Bible study will give me some insight.

Again, I just wanted to share an important moment in my life with you. I hope that is okay.

[Wrapped in Jesus Love!]

After writing my last post about my request to be assistant music worship leader, I went back and re-read my prayer of surrender that I wrote and prayed earlier this evening. Here again is my prayer.

God, You are awesome. Your love amazes me. I want my life to shout Your praises in every area of my life so the world will see You in me. I am happy to be part of Your family, and I want to thank You for accepting me as I am. I surrender my heart and my life to You oh Lord. You paid the price for me. Use me, Lord, to help others to see you. Help me to be a silent and verbal witness in everything I do. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Then after praying I get the request. Hmmmmm...:rolleyes:

[Maggievt]

What hit me today (other than reading these posts!) was the line on page 15 - 'Not only will we be his trophies in the coming ages, we are his witnesses now as living proof of his goodness and mercy.'

wow - imagine, ME, living proof of HIS goodness and mercy.

ME

somehow seems very amazing that I could be proof of anything so amazing and wondrous, yet, there it is. Proof - chosen - loved - called.

No matter the day or the circumstances, the pain or the frustration, that can always bring me to the place of thanks and gratitude.

My prayer - Dear Father, here I am. I am Yours. Waking, sleeping, working, laughing. I am Yours. Everything that will happen today, all I do right and every mistake I make, I offer to You. My world is nothing without You, so I offer all in my world to You, today. Amen

[halster]

Isn't it wonderful to know the love God has for us is just because we are ..... and this lesson really tied in yesterday to today ... for if we can understand worship ,,, doesn;t it make it easier when we know the love of God is with us as we do what we do .... not only on Sunday ... but in every aspect of our daily lives .... and to just prepare well ... then give it up to Him to lead us to lead others .?????
It is so reminiscent of those times when I've seen someone singing or playing and have said to myself ... they are so annoited ... but isn't that really being prepared then giving yourself to God to present ...... ????

Lord God I am so thankful for all the love you have for me today ... and that you continue to direct my life that I may do your work as you see to it .... Thank you Father .........

[MandoRon]

The part that hit home for me was the comments on 2 Chronicles 20:17 "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." I've been seeking God on some things by praying while running.

I need to stop trying so hard and stand still. The chorus of the Newsboys song went through my head this morning while reading this... "Be still and know He is God."

That's awfully hard for me to just be still and know He is God. To be still and the salvation of the Lord. I need to give up control and quit trying to do things on my own talents and abilities.

Jehosophat was a smart man!

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

Thank you, "Wrapped in Jesus' Love!", for your picture of us running to the Father like a child to her parent. Sometimes I come to God so ashamed of what I have done, thought, said, looked at; it is difficult for me to envision Him waiting with His arms open to take me. But that is exactly what He does, when I come to Him. Why, why why do I hesitate?

Prayer:
Thank you Father that you never turn your back on me; you never withhold your love, you always have your arms open wide. Let the truths I have learned today sink into my thick head and change me in all the ways I need to be changed. Thank you, Father I love you.

[Rogenia]

I enjoyed today’s lesson. Matter-of-fact; I had a wonderful day praising and talking with the Father.

While studying this lesson – the spirit brought to my mind when God said “Let’s make man in our image.” Bringing in the splendor of His glory because we are in the image of His son; being a chosen generation, royal priests family, in a holy nation. Romans 12:1-2 is one of my favorite passages. Takes me back to one day when I was sitting on my patio and was crying my eyes out. This was because we had move from California after living there over 36 years. I felt so alone and strange. Living out in the country, no neighbors near by, and the Lord came to me and told me; that I had been chosen and not to worry; that he has called me out of dark places and not to be conformed to this world but be renewed in my mind. So much peace came over me; because I truly realized that day – that I was in this world, but not of this world and to set my eye on the cross.

See it something to be in church for many years and yet do not know the Word or the will of God. When He moved me in the country; then is when I really learned what it meant to be His image and a member of God's community.


My Surrender Prayer:


My heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, surrendering all that I am and I all that I will be for your will and plan for the kingdom. Do with me as it please you Father, perfecting my heart and soul for your glory. I am willing to place my body, soul, spirit, and entire life into your hands. I now ask that you place me into your perfect will for my life. From this moment on, I will choose to stay fully surrendered to you all the days of my life and pray that you continue to lead and direct me in the direction of your will. In the name of Jesus I pray that you continue to bless me and give me the wisdom that I am seeking in praising and worshiping you. Thank you Father in the name of Jesus.

[Rogenia]

The part that hit home for me was the comments on 2 Chronicles 20:17 "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." I've been seeking God on some things by praying while running.

I need to stop trying so hard and stand still. The chorus of the Newsboys song went through my head this morning while reading this... "Be still and know He is God."

That's awfully hard for me to just be still and know He is God. To be still and the salvation of the Lord. I need to give up control and quit trying to do things on my own talents and abilities.

Jehosophat was a smart man!
Wow! I love what you wrote. I honestly use to be like that. I went on a fast and a deep study of what faith is: I learned how to stop controlling and thinking in my own strength of what I could, would or should do. Learning and leaning on the Lord – helped me to realize that Faith is the substance of thing hope for and not seen. Isaiah 55 also, helped me to realize that “IF” God knows all and in control; then why waste my energy on something or someone that He is taking care of. I just started saying all the time – OK – Lord. It’s yours today. Remember that God has a dream for your life that is better than anything that you can imagine. And you don’t have to twist God’s arm to make that dream come true. God wants it to happen even more than you do. God needs people like you and me, and He needs all of your talents and abilities. You don’t need to grovel and scrape before God. You are one of his children, and the reason He gave you those talents and abilities is because He is going to use them to bless His kingdom.

God Bless – Rogenia

[Mike S]

It is night time here and I finally have a chance to read the posts. The second day builds off of the first very well. The Peter 2:9 verse is a great reminder of surrendering to God, listening to God, and following where God leads.

Hey Wrapped, I hear you. There is something like the Walk to Emmaus called Via De Cristo which is a Lutheran weekend retreat. For the January weekend I have said "yes" to the call for assitant musician for the men's team. This means I will miss going with the cofrimation group I lead on their final retreat right before they get confirmed. They are in great hands with wonderful adults leading them on the weekend. Still, I will be in one place and they will be in another. Yet, we will both be in God's caring hands so, "Let go and let God".

[efrisch]

I'm getting in late tonight...

There were two things that jumped at me here... the first is something that many others have mentioned today, that God is pleased with us because we are his children, not necessarily because of what we do. I think there's something really important there. I think a lot of us think about God responding to our actions... we do a good thing, and God is pleased; we do a bad thing, and God is not pleased. But really, it's the opposite: God has done a great thing for us, and continues to bless us, so we respond in praise.

The other thing that got me this evening was this sentence:

"It's no wonder Jehoshaphat, in his prayer in 2 Chronicles 20, reminded God of his dealings with the Jews in the past. God has always displayed his might and willingness to protect and provide for his people."

God's got a pretty darn good track record. I don't think we always do a very good job of remembering that. Maybe if we did, it would be easier to achieve the level of surrender that we've been talking about here...

[hisfirewithin]

That Ephesians passage highlighted to me once again what I got out of the study from last night, and what I think God is trying to "de-program" from my brain - simply that it is HIM who works in and through me for HIS pleasure. All of my striving and working, trying to be innovative and interesting, trying to develop my own skills, and the like are not what pleases HIM, they are what make me feel justified and successful. And while those things bear the fruit of turning a few heads, ultimately, they matter very little to God in comparison to wholehearted surrender and complete devotion.

My Prayer

Father, I know that you want my complete surrender. I know that I can't do enough works to please you. I know that my labor is in vain if I am not doing what You want me to do. So, I give up. I surrender everything freshly to you. You do the work. You lead me. And You receive the glory for it, Lord!

[christyg]

I was shocked when part of the lesson included Romans 12:1-2. I posted this information in my post for Day 1. It amazed me to see that I posted that verse yesterday only to find it in today's lesson. I didn't look ahead either.

When I was reflecting on this lesson, a passage of verses that I had heard in a church sermon almost a year and a half ago popped in to my head. The reading came from Psalm 95. The verse triggered thoughts of how blessed that I truly am despite the circumstances that I am in (unemployed). It reminded me that God is in control and that everything is HIS. And that I must praise him for everything that he does for me and my family.

My daily surrender is to ensure that I read my bible more so that I can draw closer to God.

[Stillfreetosing]

wow -this is really good. I desire Him because He first desired me! He delights in us. There is nothing we can do or say that will ever change that. I struggle with this idea, but am so learning that His love for me in unconditional. Just like an infant not being able to settle to be fed. God allows me to squirm and waits for me to trust, however long that takes. And when my soul , just like the child does finally settles down, I find much comfort in the safety of His love.

My prayer of surrender is that I will continue to trust and seek God and not run away. That I will stop trying so I can start recieving from Him all of His love that He wants to give me.

[Carmie]

I really enjoyed this lesson as well. Knowing that I first created in His image and then on top of all that, I was created to give Him praise. How awesome is that! I too like how the author used the example of a Father watching over his children and being pleased by them, without them even doing anything to please him. How much more could we please the Father if we would give Him the praise that He so deserves.

I made up in my mind a few months back that I would surrender my all to Christ. It has been a struggle, to release everything, but in my surrender I have so much more peace in my life and heart now.

[Carmie]

You're prayer truly blessed me. Surrendering to Christ seems like a daily thing for me. We often want to handle things in our flesh, yet it is then when things don't turn out right. I have to surrender my day to Him, first thing in the morning now.

Thanks, for sharing!

[RuthABraun]

"Praying While Running" -- if that's not a song title, I don't know what is! That's a whole message in itself. I'm trusting God to come through for me while I'm busy doing what I think needs to be done -- not much trust there, eh? This is my life, for sure. God, take my plans and send them to the bottom of the sea! Give me Your plan!

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

It is Saturday evening. I have just reviewed day 2 and all the posts. The recurring theme is about the parallel between earthly parents loving their children just because they are, and God loving His children for exactly the same reason.
This picture came to me as I read the posts:
Our worship is like a child drawing a crude stick figure picture of his family and proudly presenting it to his Father. And the Father says, "It's beautiful!," as He joyously puts it on his refrigerator door.