SloppyNoodle.com &#187; Darlene Zschech

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Extravagant Worship: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who Was and Is, and Is to Come

Kiss of Heaven, The: God’s Favor to Empower Your Life Dream

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Darlene Zschech Devotion: Psalm 1:3

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:35:29 +0000

NO 2: PSALM 1:3

Teaching us how to PRAY

Teaching us how to PRAISE (Tehillim)

FYI!! Psalm 1 is known as the ORPHAN Psalm as it is not known but rather assumed that David wrote it, as he wrote Psalm 2… (See Acts 4:25).

Psalm 1:3 ‘And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit IN SEASON, his leaf also SHALL NOT wither, and whatsoever he does SHALL prosper.

The first half of Psalm 1 beautifully lays out for us the promises for the righteous and those who ‘exercise themselves’ or POUR OVER, FIND THEMSELVES loving, valuing, treasuring and LIVING BY the divine WORD OF GOD. The last half of verse 3 says our leaves (our physical signs of life!) will not wither! We have trees on our property at the moment that are definitely in a sad state of WITHER. Due to ‘lack of rain and adequate water’, the building going on around them is STRESSING the ROOT SYSTEMS, and as a ‘arboriculturist’ we just had in to look at them stated, ‘the trees are sensing INSTABILITY’.

God’s Word PROMISES that if you stay watered, with your roots firmly PLANTED in Him… no matter what goes on around you… because your INNER MAN is strong… your leaf WILL NOT WITHER! INSTABILITY is not the language of prayer or praise, for our hope and trust is in the unwavering, immovable Word of God! Delight in God and allow Him to delight in You! Always remind yourself, when facing opposition, weariness or just a sense of hopelessness, that the Word encourages you to BE STRONG!! Whatever you do shall prosper. If you are not prospering, look at what you TRULY are planted in… make the changes… and you will prosper. E.g. Planted in doubt? Planted in gossip? Planted in insecurity? Planted in fear, etc, etc.

‘and in His law will he exercise himself day and night…’

The Psalms must be read poetically and emphatically… after all, French must be read as French, and English as English’… C.S. Lewis.

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Extravagant Worship: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who Was and Is, and Is to Come

Kiss of Heaven, The: God’s Favor to Empower Your Life Dream

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Darlene Zschech Devotion: Psalm 1:1-3

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:38:21 +0000

Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)

1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers
2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night.
3. He is like a tree planted by the streams of water which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3 (Message)

1.    How well God must like you.You don’t hang out at sin’s saloon, you don’t slink along dead-end road and you don’t go to smart mouth college.
2.    Instead you thrill to Yaweh’s Word, you chew on scripture day and night.
3.    You are a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, never dropping a leaf and always in blossom.

Psalm 1:1 says ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.’ So Psalm 1:1 means you will be blessed in life if you do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly – it is so easy.It is a bit of a no-brainer.People come into my office all the time, ending up in trouble, at the other end of their destiny and when I start to dig, they have been walking in the counsel of the ungodly.So, that answers itself…Don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

The other thing… schemes, don’t walk in the schemes of the ungodly. Schemes… if something is in secret, run.If someone says to you, ‘I’ve got this deal and it is really good, you only need to invest $2000, it is guaranteed 100%, 100 times you will get your money back in about 2 weeks… if you send 7 letters, to 7 people… then at the end, send it to 7 people but don’t tell anybody else, it’s not illegal, but don’t tell anybody.’Do you know how many thousands of people fall for this all the time, wicked schemes… anything done in secret, run.If someone gives you a word and they say, don’t tell anybody, run.OK.Everything in God is always out in the light.It is always wonderfully out in the light.It is accountable, you are able to talk, its free.Schemes – if it is a secret it is usually a problem.

‘Or stand in the way of sinners’. What it means is standing the same way as sinners.So you are in Church… hallelujah, pray, I love you Lord, you are awesome, you’re awesome.Then you go out of Church… go clubbing, dancing and drinking, making foolish decisions and getting yourself into wrong conversations, standing in the way of sinners.And then you go, ‘O why isn’t my life really moving ahead?’.

Psalm 1:1. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of a mocker.Now when I think of that, I think of the two old men on the Muppets.I can’t help it, I grew up with the Muppets.Alright, it is a critical spirit, it is people that want to tear down to build themselves up.Don’t stand the same way as mockers, it is the weakest form of promotion that there is.The lowest level of promotion is scoffing and mocking.

Going out after Church and going ‘O man, they should have done better than that.’ That is called the opposite of blessing.You are sitting in the same seat as scoffers and mockers… run from it, run, run.You will not be blessed if you sit in the same seat as ungodly men, as scoffers and mockers, and as sinners, you will not be blessed.It is simple, there is no mystery here.

Now let’s get to verse 2 because we will finish on a positive note.

‘But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night’. Here is the key word in verse 2.He meditates.He meditates day and night.Listen to this… it means he dwells on, he ponders, he contemplates, he pictures.I find it very easy to do that to the Word of God, do you?He pictures.He conceives, he starts to think creatively.If you are asking God for great ideas then do Psalm 1 verse 2.He meditates day and night.Also it means to plan.So if you are asking ‘how can God direct my steps?’ meditate on the Word and He arranges your thoughts and then you find your plans are His plans because you have put Him first and as we seek first, and as our first priority, getting back to knowing God, and all the other priorities come into line.

And verse 3 is very simple. ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf doesn’t wither and whatever he does prospers.’OK, he yields in season.I think that is one of the key phrases in verse 3.Can I just say this because I know there is a lot of you who have been serving God for a long time, and you are sort of waiting for your season.

There is nothing less palatable than fruit picked before its time. If you pick fruit off a tree that’s not ripe, what does it taste like?Either it tastes bitter or nothing.It has no taste, it has no flavour.And that is the great reminder in Psalm 1 verse 3… to do all those things and run from sin and run from secrecy and run from bad habits and run from bad stance, and run from bad language and run from those things that will align you with everything that does not represent the hand of God on your life.

In season, which means in God’s time, when you are ready, the fruit of your life will be sweet, it will flavour everything it comes into contact with. Even when you are trying to pick fruit off a tree that’s not ripe, it’s hard to get off.You always have to strive and struggle when you are trying to operate out of God’s time.When you are trying to do your thing and your dream out of God’s time, there is no flow on it.But when it is in season, like when you go and pick an orange off a tree and it is in your hand, it almost falls off, it is heavy, its weighty because it is full of juice, you open it and you can smell it before you crack it open.And then you crack it open and it is beautiful and the juice is dripping everywhere and you put it in your mouth and man, that is good.That is what fruit in season is like.And that is when your season is right.There will be an ease, there will be a flavour that does good things.It won’t have a bitterness and a tartness or a tastelessness and often in ministry, people who have gone out before their due season, just leave a trail of bitter, disillusioned people behind them and that is not the will of God.

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Extravagant Worship: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who Was and Is, and Is to Come

Kiss of Heaven, The: God’s Favor to Empower Your Life Dream

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Darlene Zschech Devo: Priorities…

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:22:33 +0000

Priorities…

Hey lovely people…. Wherever this edition finds you, I pray that you are doing great, whether in the valley or on the mountain top..for our God is so faithful, and is the very best at simply meeting with us wherever we are at.

Today I want to speak to each of you about your priorities, and ask you how you are doing when it comes to keeping the main thing the main thing in your own list of priorities.

God Himself keeps the list fairly straightforward for each of us as He reminds us many times throughout the word, to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, AND to love our neighbours as ourselves. Matt 6 says to SEEK FIRST, the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Sounds easy… but how often have each of us gotten ourselves tied up in knots over simply being too busy, too preoccupied in mind and heart with trivial endeavours, and in the struggle for keeping up with everyone else, even in the cultures of success many of us live in, we can easily fail to meet the cry of Gods heart for our lives, and we settle again for the praises of man rather than the peace of God.

Life in the 21st century, as magnificent and convenient as technology has allowed, there is hardly a space in our every day for meditating on God and waiting for His voice.. UNLESS you have made this a priority!

In Rev 2, the Lord commends the Ephesian leaders for their labour and hard work, but challenges their reasoning by saying that in their eagerness to work FOR God, they had become so distracted, that their hearts were not toward God. Their hands full, but their hearts empty. Leaving your first love toward the Father dosen’t normally happen in an instant, it happens gradually as the value of the relationship with God begins to be squeezed out by well meaning activity. In Rev 2:5 it says to the leaders.. ‘ now remember and repent, OR I will return and remove your light..’

Very sobering, as remember, it is only because of His light and life in us that we have anything to sing OR say, and more than that..a reason for every breath. IN HIM, we live and move and have our being.

I’ve had to learn to put some boundaries around my life, my resources and my time…to ensure that I have taken responsibility for the season I am in and have been given to serve and love my family, my church family, my neighbour, and my LORD. And rather than having a list of things that I HAVE to do, and putting READ THE BIBLE and pray on the top of my list.. ( sounds like religion to me!! ) … over time, this relationship with Jesus has become the most critical connection I have as His word has literally become food for my entire being. Thus begins the choice to worship becoming a priority in your life, rather than another rule to follow. A little check up to do to tell what you REALLY value in your world.. look at where you spend your time, your energy, your finance… and if the answer shocks you or dosen’t truly represent your hearts desire.. then its time to take action and make some changes.

With much love I say, Pay attention to the putting things right in your world that are out of balance, or simply wrong.. as my husband says, sometimes to get truthful with yourself is one the hardest things to do.. but the fruit is well worth it.…and God rewards fruit, not activity. As leaders, pastors, worship pastors… in this incredible season in History, simply remember that as you are shepherding and loving others to Jesus, make sure you have prioritised loving Him and being fuelled in His presence yourslef..there is no substitute. Lets start a revolution of truth, of love, of grace, of family, of forgiveness, of worship that shakes nations and compels us to a closer walk with Jesus….

OK.. and as I am female, and a song writer, I will endeavour to write less words next time…

Love you and totally believe in you… Darlene Z.

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