Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from Wordaction of The Global Church of the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Our First Resort" by Matt Hastings for Wednesday, 19 October 2016 with Scripture: 1 Chronicles 15:1-4,11-16

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from Wordaction of The Global Church of the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Sacred Space" by Matt Hastings for Thursday, 20 October 2016 with Scripture: 1 Chronicles 15:25-16:4
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"Sacred Space" by Matt Hastings
1 Chronicles 15:25 So David, the leaders of Isra’el and the commanders over thousands went to bring up the ark for the covenant of Adonai out from the house of ‘Oved-Edom with joy. 26 Since God was helping the L’vi’im who were carrying the ark for the covenant of Adonai, they sacrificed seven young bulls and seven rams. 27 David, all the L’vi’im bearing the ark, the singers and K’nanyah the music leader for the singers were all wearing linen cloaks; and David was also wearing a linen ritual vest. 28 So all Isra’el brought up the ark for the covenant of Adonai with shouting; blowing on shofars and trumpets; and cymbals sounding with lutes and lyres. 29 As the ark for the covenant of Adonai entered the City of David, Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, watching from the window, saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she was filled with contempt for him.
16:1 They brought the ark of God in and put it in the tent that David had set up for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Adonai. 3 Then he distributed to everyone in Isra’el, to everyone there, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a raisin cake.
4 He appointed certain L’vi’im to serve in front of the ark of Adonai, to celebrate, and to thank and praise Adonai the God of Isra’el:
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I have a friend who builds and collects model cars. He spends his day off in his garage. He turns off his phone, puts on his overalls, and walks into his shrine. It sounds silly to most people, but it’s deeply meaningful to him. It’s actually good for him. One day, he was explaining the different makes and brands of each car. He launched into a long explanation of the strict adherence to a certain kind of glue. My eyes glazed over and he knew it.
Honor begins in our hearts and speaks to the value that we place on something or someone. My friend loves model cars, but he also loves God. In fact, he uses that time to pray, think, and reflect on the week. He spends his time with God while he builds model cars. I think it’s beautiful. He loves this time and protects it.

God deserves a place like that in our hearts–where we intentionally take time to turn to Him. Let’s give Him the honor He is due.

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Hymn for Today: "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" by Henry Van Dyke
1. Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, 
God of glory, Lord of love; 
hearts unfold like flowers before thee, 
opening to the sun above. 
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; 
drive the dark of doubt away. 
Giver of immortal gladness, 
fill us with the light of day!
2. All thy works with joy surround thee, 
earth and heaven reflect thy rays, 
stars and angels sing around thee, 
center of unbroken praise. 
Field and forest, vale and mountain, 
flowery meadow, flashing sea, 
chanting bird and flowing fountain, 
call us to rejoice in thee.
3. Thou art giving and forgiving, 
ever blessing, ever blest, 
well-spring of the joy of living, 
ocean depth of happy rest! 
Thou our Father, Christ our brother, 
all who live in love are thine; 
teach us how to love each other, 
lift us to the joy divine.
4. Mortals, join the mighty chorus 
which the morning stars began; 
love divine is reigning o'er us, 
binding all within its span. 
Ever singing, march we onward, 
victors in the midst of strife; 
joyful music leads us sunward, 

in the triumph song of life.

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Thought of the Day: 1 Chronicles 16:10 Glory in his holy name;
let those seeking Adonai have joyful hearts.
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Please Pray: That many people in Puerto Rico will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living from Wordaction of The Global Church of the Nazarene Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Our First Resort" by Matt Hastings for Wednesday, 19 October 2016 with Scripture: 1 Chronicles 15:1-4,11-16
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"Our First Resort" by Matt Hastings
1 Chronicles 15:1 David erected buildings for himself in the City of David, prepared a place for the ark of God, and set up a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one but the L’vi’im should carry the ark of God, because Adonai chose them to carry the ark of Adonai and to serve him forever.”
3 David assembled all Isra’el in Yerushalayim to bring the ark of Adonai up to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 David gathered together the descendants of Aharon and the L’vi’im:
11 David called for Tzadok and Evyatar the cohanim and for the L’vi’im — Uri’el, ‘Asayah, Yo’el, Sh’ma‘yah, Eli’el and ‘Amminadav — 12 and said to them, “You are the clan leaders of the L’vi’im. Consecrate yourselves, both you and your kinsmen, to bring the ark of Adonai the God of Isra’el up to the place I have prepared for it. 13 It’s because you weren’t there the first time that Adonai our God broke out against us. We didn’t seek him out according to the rule.” 14 So the cohanim and L’vi’im consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of Adonai the God of Isra’el; 15 and the L’vi’im carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on it, as Moshe had ordered, according to what Adonai had said.
16 David spoke to the chief of the L’vi’im to appoint their kinsmen to be singers making use of musical instruments — lutes, lyres and cymbals — to play loudly and raise sounds of joy.
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I was sitting in a community meeting of Christian women and men. We were discussing the mission of the organization. We had strategized, planned, and worked to execute those plans, but things weren’t turning out in our favor. We were all frustrated and tensions were running high. One of the men spoke up. “We’ve done all we can do! We’ve got experts of business and finance here; we’ve just got to let them do their jobs. But, I guess we could pray, right?” They all turned to me and the chairperson asked me to pray. “Lord, forgive us for using You as our last resort . . . .”

We all do it, don’t we? We go down our list and exhaust our resources, and when we can’t do anymore, we pray. Prayer should be our first agenda item. When we pray, we seek God’s direction, not our own. When we reach out to God, our desires become His and we change. Let’s decide to go to God before we make choices in our lives. Seek Him first!

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Hymn for Today: "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" by Ignaz Franz; translated by Clarence A. Walworth
1. Holy God, we praise your name;
Lord of all, we bow before you.
Saints on earth your rule acclaim;
all in heaven above adore you.
Infinite your vast domain;
everlasting is your reign.
2. Hark, the glad celestial hymn
angel choirs above are raising;
cherubim and seraphim,
in unceasing chorus praising,
fill the heavens with sweet accord:
“Holy, holy, holy Lord!”
3. Lo, the apostolic train
joins your sacred name to hallow;
prophets swell the glad refrain,
and the white-robed martyrs follow;
and from morn to set of sun,
through the church the song goes on.
4. Holy Father, holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name you,
though in essence only one;
undivided God, we claim you,
and, adoring, bend the knee
while we own the mystery.

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Thought of the Day: Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.
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Please Pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Panama.
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