Over the past 17 years I have been blessed to lead worship in almost every conceivable setting and what I’ve learned is this; the key to living a life of worship is understanding that worship is a response to God’s love for us!  At the most basic level, we simply respond to his love!

I realize that the internet today is flooded with an overwhelming amount of information.  So why did I start yet another blog?  Because in all the noise and information that floats by us, there is a real need for people to move from an information knowledge of God to a heart-felt relationship with Him.  I would guess that most people who call themselves Christians are unaware of just how much God cares about them; unaware of how much he really loves them!

I wanted to add a unique perspective to worship.  Of course there will be music, and tips and cool insights.  In a general way this blog will deal with worship, leadership and life; but I also wanted to begin sharing with people how to connect with God.  How to experience His love.  I’m no expert.  But I do know what it is to hunger and thirst for Him.  What a joy it would be if you could experience what I have experienced!

Oh, a new blog!  So what?
So rather than just experiencing noise, I believe that by engaging with me and others on this blog, we can enrich not only our lives, but the lives of everyone connected with us!  Imagine walking through life with such an awareness of the presence of God that the miracles of the bible become common place for you.  Common place for your family, your friends, your church and your city!

But perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18).  It’s time for us to experience perfect love, and walk in faith rather than fear!

So how can I connect with you, Matt?
I’m looking to meet new people and have my faith increased by walking with like-minded people.  There are a number of ways we can connect.  You can follow me on facebook, twitter, this blog, by email or through my RSS feed.  This space is going to be a place of encouragement and faith-building. I think looking at things differently helps us all to grow.  Let’s just keep the different points of view full of love and respect for each other!

Ideas and Suggestions?
Do you have ideas of what you’d like to see here?  Are you a guest blogger looking to post some content?  Drop me an email; matt@mattrobinson.ca and we can talk!  Thanks again for dropping by!  I’m looking forward to growing with you!

The most important part of your day is the part spent with the Lord!  My prayer for you is that you experience unknown blessings today, because of Jesus!

I’d love to connect with you.  Head over to my contact page where you can find a variety of ways for us to talk!

God’s richest Blessings!
Matt

Hope is based on expectation that good things will happen.  This sounds very different than I understood hope growing up.  Hope to me meant you crossed your fingers, closed your eyes tight and pleaded with God that what you wanted to happen would actually happen!

I think most people see hope the way I just described.  Hope isn’t based on anything…in fact, I would even say that what most people call ‘hope’ could actually called a wish!  People ‘wish’ good things would happen but in the end, they have a feeling that their lives are designed to be at the cruel hands of fate…with not much choice in what goes on!

I think as leaders we need to teach people around us what hope should look like.

Take a look at what’s going on recently in the stock market and with governments around the world and you’ll see a lot of people wishing for things but not very much hope.

It’s easy to take our eyes away from things that bring us hope, because living in a sinful world clouds us from seeing what God has promised.  To those who seek Him with all their hearts, God has promised that we’ll find HIm! [Jeremiah 29:11-13]

He’s promised long life to those who bring honour to their parents! [Exodus 20:12].

He’s promised that if we put Him first, that all the good things that are meant for us will follow! [Matthew 6:33]  God has given the believer incredible things to give us hope.

And not just promises we can use when we die!  But right here on earth – the nations are our inheritance….what a promise!  My hope is based on the promises God has given and that means that whenever something bad happens I don’t have to wish for a better outcome….I can have an expectation that something good WILL happen.

So the next time someone talks to you about all the evil going on the in world, you’ll have an opportunity to teach them how to hope….

To become a mature Christian means to not only worship God, but to live a life of worship.  The subject of living life as a worshipper is incredibly vast…so i won’t touch on everything obviously.  But I have found that in the beginning of your journey with God, there are three keys that are required for your success.

First, true worship requires brokenness.  Sometimes we try to talk with God and begin by telling him how sorry we are for not being closer, or not being a better person.  But this alone is not brokenness.  Most times people are simply trying to get rid of their guilt so God will help them.  In order to draw closer to God you must have a broken heart.  The Message Bible puts it this way “Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.” (Psalm 51:17)  True worship must come from a place of brokenness and understanding that life is not all about ourselves.  We were created to be close to the Father and to share that closeness with the people around us.  Until we can learn to be broken, we may never be as close to Him as we need to be.

Secondly, true worship requires sacrifice.  I’m reminded of the story in Matthew 26 that talks of a woman who showed up at a house where Jesus was.  This woman had taken a year’s worth of wages and purchased an expensive bottle of perfume.  We don’t know why she did this, although I have a theory.  I believe that the perfume was to be used for her trade.  This woman was probably a prostitute.  But recognizing who Jesus was and having a deep love for Him caused her to express her love through an amazing act of sacrifice.  Image taking all the money you make in a year and pouring it out on the ground.  That would take sacrifice.  But that’s what true worshippers do…they sacrifice things that are held close and dear to them for the chance to be closer with the Lord.

True worship requires commitment.  Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha.  Jesus was visiting them in their home and it was Mary who sat at His feet the entire time, enthralled in what He was saying.  Martha in the meantime was preparing food and making sure the house was ready for her guest.  When she complained to Jesus about Mary’s lack of work ethic, Jesus responded by saying that Mary had chosen wisely, and best.  The enemy of the best things in our lives are the good things that we’re already doing.  Worship requires a commitment to the very best that we can do.  And the best thing isn’t always to be busy doing things.  Sometimes the best thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus and get to know Him more.  What Martha was doing wasn’t wrong…it just wasn’t the best.

Finally, true worship requires time.  Jesus was speaking to His disciples just before his death about abiding.  As they walked past a row of grape vines He described himself in this way, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.” (John 15:4  The Message)  I understand that we all have demands of our time.  We have people that count on us and responsibilities to our families, friends, jobs…but the most important relationship you could ever develop is the one you have with God.  And this relationship will take time!  You must abide in Him and He in you in order to receive the fullness of what He has for you.

Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to being closer to God than ever before!

First, take a deep breath and realize that for the most part these difficult people have created a life for themselves whereby everything is “happening” to them.  In short, these people are for the most part pretty selfish people.  They are only thinking about what the world around them must do to appease them.  As long as you know that this is their mindset, you can counteract their negative with these simple tricks:

1)  Understand your role in the conflict/complaint.  Many times there could be legitimate reasons that a person is being difficult with you.  Coming clean with your role in the the situation is often times the most helpful thing we can do.  it’s the equivalent of putting out a small kitchen fire before it engulfs the whole house.  if we argue about who started the fire, why the fire is there, or other moot points….this small fire grows and eventually nobody wins.  Recognizing your part in the situation gives you the opportunity to put the fire out, long before it becomes a major problem.

2)  Be a peacemaker.  Being the peacemaker isn’t always everyone’s favourite activity…in fact the peacemaker is often the one who bears the brunt of both sides argument.  But in the end it’s the peacemaker who helps people realize that getting along with each other can have it’s benefits.  As Canadian’s, we have a rich history of peacekeeping in the world.  The result of that peacekeeping role?  Canadians are accepted in countries around the world for their warmth, caring and compassion.  Being a peacemaker will also lead to more peace for you!

3)  Life is short….tomorrow is a new day.  When all else fails in dealing with a difficult person remember that tomorrow is a new day.  Get a good night’s sleep and put the situation behind you.  If you have to deal with this person every day?  Plan for times when you’re away from them where you can unwind and completely forget about the situation.  Join a gym, go for a run, take a cooking class, take up martial arts….there are a variety of stress-relieving activities you could do!

In the end it’s important to remember that someone else’s bad attitude does not have the right to make you miserable.  You have the choice to either become like that person, and stoop to their level….or rise above and develop more and more character each time you meet them.

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;  my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

If you’ve ever been in a desert then you know that life in the desert is not pleasant.  It is hot, dry, barren, hot…extremely hostile!  As I’ve said, I’ve been reading Psalm 63 (yes, the whole chapter) but I often get snagged on the very first verse.

“Earnestly I Seek You”  Can I say that I’ve earnestly been seeking him?  Can you say it?  I can’t help but look at my life and see how blessed I am and how lucky I am to be in the situation I’m in.  I have a family who loves me.  A job that I love.  And my friends are the best any person could ask for!  And yet with all the good things that surround me, I find myself having to push to get into God’s presence.  Is this an isolated thing?  Am I the only one with this problem?  Or is it something that many people wrestle with? (In case you’re wondering I think it’s the latter!)  I think that being in a desert probably had something to do with David’s earnest seeking of God.  But shouldn’t we seek God earnestly even if we’re not in the desert?  And how much more could we avoid the desert or at least prosper in the desert if our connection with God was strong to begin with?   

With all of my heart I want to be earnest in all of my dealings with God.  And I think that if most of us were honest with ourselves we’d find that the more comfortable we are in life, the farther we seem to be from God.  That’s not to say that we don’t go through the motions (reading our bible, saying grace before each meal, going to church).  But if we don’t seek God with all of our hearts there is no guarantee that we will find him. (see Jeremiah 29:11-13) If we haphazardly pursue God in a passive sense, we miss the very provision we need for our lives.  We miss His presence.  I don’t think I can go another week without His presence.  Why would I want to?  What would be the point?

So you might ask me “if things are good, and we tend to be driven to God in the desert then how can I create a desert experience when one isn’t around?”  I guess we could fast.  I supposed we could pray all night.  I guess we could give more time, finances and effort to building the Kingdom.  Those would be a great starting point…but doing things isn’t necessarily going to cut it.  You have to make a decision to pursue Him.  You have to take a step towards Him.  You have to begin hungering and thirsting for God more than for earthly things.  Notice that I said more not instead of.  Your body needs physical water to live…but your spirit needs spiritual water even more.  Your body needs food to grow…but your spirit needs spiritual food to grow even more.  You body needs air to breath…your spirit needs His presence to bring life!  If we are going to change society…and not in the sense of revolutionary upheavel, but in a peaceful, loving way – the way Jesus told us we should…then we must know the presence of God.  We must desire the presence of God.  We must yearn for the presence of God.

I dare you to earnestly seek him.

Imagine one million people leaving a land where they had bee subjected to slavery for over 400 years.  Imagine those people walking around a desert for another 40 years – enough time for an entire generation to die off.  They’d been told that the land they were about to enter would be theirs…not just a part of the land but the entire land!  Everything!  The food, the rivers, the hills, the plains….everything they saw, every place they placed their feet they could have.  That was their promise.  We call it the “Promised Land”.  The Israelites were given a promise that this land was their land.  Here come the two things to consider;

First – They had to fight for it!  How often do we receive a promise and then sit back expecting things to just happen?  Someone gives us a prophetic word, or we have a dream, or we receive encouragement from a friend, and whether intentional or not we sit on our hands waiting for God to move.  God makes it clear that we are to make the first move.  A move of faith.  A move of commitment.  A move towards purpose and destiny.  Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart!”  We have to make the first move.  James 4:8 – “Come near to God and he will come near to you”.  Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.  Those are just three examples but you get my point.  You MUST move.  You MUST enact your faith if you’re ever to see God’s promises / visions / destiny for your life revealed!  What are you willing to do to see you vision fulfilled?  What are you willing to sacrifice?  How long are you willing to pray?  How much are willing to submit?  How much money will you give?  For your destiny to be fulfilled you MUST fight!

Second – Don’t be surprised when the fullness of your destiny doesn’t happen all at once.  There is an incredible reason that God doesn’t allow us to possess all that he’s promised to us all at once.  Exodus 23:28-30 – “But I will not drive them out [the inhabitants of your promised land] in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.  Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land”.  Incredible!  The land (promise / destiny) is yours…you’ve been given a promise that it is yours already…but you’ll have to fight for it, and you’ll need to possess it little by little so that all the ‘wild’ things that come with the land don’t consume you.  Over time you’ll need to gain wisdom in order to achieve what you know is rightfully yours.

When it’s all said and done, you have an amazing life to look forward to.  But until the day that you possess the complete land / destiny / vision for your life, you’re going to need to grow in strength and in wisdom.  So make every opportunity count.  Bathe every decision you make in prayer and humility – learning from every situation you’re in.