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Wasted on Him in worship or just wasted?

Sometime the demands of ministry, family, secular jobs, and just the pressures of life will drain us.  Even serving in ministry, whether pulpit, helps, intercesory prayer, whatever, can lead to lots of wear and tear on our intimacy with our Heavenly Father!  This can leave us weary, frustrated, and so overwhelmed until we are not as productive to the Kingdom of God as we need and desire to be.  Instead of being wasted in worship in the presence of God, we are just wasted!  I am reminded of this reality this very night as I write to encourage myself and you.  “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, into Your presence I come!”  Sometimes we need to run away from people, situations, even ministry work!  Okay, I did not say quit or not be concerned about the lost or about the bible study you are preparing for, etc.  I am talking about isolating yourself in order to spend quality time with the Lord and also getting physical rest as well.  Our greatest example Himself had to do this.  Why should we think that we don’t need to follow His pattern?  Read below:

Mark 1:35:   Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

Luke 5: 15-16:  But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

See, Jesus in His humanity (Son of Man) knew the importance of resting and spending isolated time alone with His Father.  Do you and I understand the importance of this as well?  I understand it, but often have to be reminded!  Holy Spirit, continue to reveal the heart of the Father to us and lead us closer into Father’s arms so that we can rest and spend those isolated hours in prayer in order to be re-fueled for ministry!  We want to bond with You and give you what You are seeking:  and that is WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH!  In Jesus’ Name…..So be it.

God bless you

Minister Denise Cook Godfrey

For more inspiration, visit the author site for information on books written by Denise Cook Godfrey.  www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

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Deeper Lord, Closer Lord!

Hello Worshippers!  It has been a “minute” since I have blogged, but there are numerous nuggets within my heart.  Finding time to get them on paper is more challenging now than ever.  But……I wanted to encourage all of us to keep asking the Lord our Lover to pull us deeper into Him!  The closer we get though, the hotter it will get!  I want to share an excerpt with you from our newest book release:  “The Day I Danced Under an Open Heaven”.  I hope that you will enjoy this excerpt and if you feel prompted by the Spirit of God, go to the author site and purchase it at www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodrey.  Also, if you would rather have an autographed copy, you can select the “donate” button on the website and make your donation.  Leave your address confidently on my FaceBook inbox page, and I will mail it to  you!  Now, Here is the excerpt from the book.  Enjoy and may God bless you!

He wants to kiss you with the kisses of His lips: (Song of Solomon 1:2)- this passage is deeper than the image of a husband and wife.  The purpose of the book of Songs is to show forth the emotions of God and how He feels about His Bride.  It is to reveal the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

How can we partner with Him as His Ministers if we don’t truly know that He is calling us higher and to different levels in Him?  Song of Solomon 1:4 reveals to us that the Shulamite girl is asking her King to draw her into His love chambers.  That is a great place to be but at some point in time, we’ve got to move out of the chamber and make frequent visits higher into the mountains!  (See Song of Solomon 2:10)  He wants us to rise up and come away!  This takes intimacy on a deeper level.

The Day I Danced Under an Open Heaven!!!

Its here! Its here!  The book has finally been born!  This is not just another book about the praise dance.  “The Day I Danced Under an Open Heaven” is a book filled with revelation about worshipping the Father in the “NOW”!  With forewords by Paulette Rolle-Alesnik of Dare to Dance, Inc. and Jocelyn Richard of “The Praise Dance Life”, this book is sure to stir your hunger and desire to hear from heaven like never before!  Read some of what these Women of God had to say about “The Day I Danced Under an Open Heaven”:

Paulette Rolle-Alesnik had this to say about the book:

WARNING!!! Read this book ONLY if you are ready for “…on earth as it is in heaven” and to experience an open heaven over every area of your life through passionate worship.

“The Day I Danced under an Open Heaven” is a spiritually strong, foundational book.  It is a clarion call for the modern Levites to respond to the demands of heaven with an immediate earthly reaction(s).  When heaven speaks, we respond with obedience; heaven kisses earth as we worship in the NOW!  Following Mrs. Cook-Godfrey guidelines will bring success in any ministry AND deeper dimensions in your worship.

Jocelyn Richard wrote this about the Author:

My husband and I had lunch with Denise and her husband DeForest. During our delightful fellowship, I discovered that Denise has a genuine heart for the Lord and a strong passion to bring dance back to the Church for exclusive worship to Jesus. She is a mature humble woman of faith who gives her life to prayer, worship and study of the Bible. She practices and lives what she preaches in this book.

Go to www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey to order a paper back or to download to kindle. Contact Denise Cook Godfrey via face book or by email at sherrylcook@att.net for more details.  You may also visit the website www.worshipfulministries.com and leave a comment!  God bless you!

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Hope after Sexual Sin……….Comments Anyone?

IS THERE HOPE OF RICH SPIRITUAL LIFE AFTER SEXUAL SIN?

DOES GOD FORGIVE THIS SIN OR IS HE FOREVER ANGRY WITH THE FORNICATOR?

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WHEN WE OPEN OURSELVES UP TO SEXUAL SIN BEFORE MARRIAGE, ESPECIALLY AT A VERY TENDER AGE, DO WE AUTOMATICALLY OPEN A PANDORAS BOX THAT IS FILLED WITH PAIN, SHAME, SCARS, AND EVEN A LIFE OF EMOTIONAL TRAUMA?

HAS THE CHURCH BEEN TOO SILENT ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER?

COMING THIS SPRING, THE NEW BOOK:  “UNEQUALLY YOKED- THE PLEASURE OF SIN LASTS ONLY A SEASON”.  PRE-ORDER TODAY!  GO TO www.worshipfulministries.com and leave a comment, send an email to sherrylcook@att.net, or send an inbox message to Face Book at Denise Cook Godfrey.

**ALL COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.  I MAY EVEN USE SOME COMMENTS IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK IN ORDER TO SHARE THEM WITH THE PUBLIC.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE YOUR NAME MADE KNOWN IN THE BOOK IF YOU PREFER NOT TOO.  GOD BLESS!

Just when I thought I had YOU all figured out……….I’m Knocked to My Knees!

Our Heavenly Father surely has a sweet way about Him when it comes to discipline and chastening those whom He loves (Rev 3:19- “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent”).  Yes, there is the “R” word again……REPENT!

As a Minister of the Gospel and as a creative writer, dancer, and mentor, I can attest to the fact that at times we get stuck on the gift way over and above the GIVER!  Every good and perfect gift surely comes down from the Father of Lights, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  Gifts are remarkable.  Anointings are exciting and very useful for the Kingdom of God.  Loving the journey of the supernatural is also exciting and worth all of the work and attention that we give to it.  However, we must never forget that we do what we do by the grace of God.  It is His divine enablement upon flesh that causes our spirit man to reach out to others and join in with the Holy Spirit and truly touch someone with our teaching, preaching, prophesying, praise and worship dancing, mime, drama, spoken word, etc.  We must never place Him in a box and think we know what the outcome of our ministry assignments will be.  Here is the sum of what I am saying:  Just when we think we have ministry all figured out, God has a way of knocking us down a notch and showing us that we can’t do anything without Him and that it is not all about us.  Now, I know we love to repeat this saying but how many of us truly live by “Its not about us-its about Jesus” cliché?  Just when we are soaring on eagles wings and everyone is patting us on the back and all seems to be going well, the Lord surely will break us down and strip us so that we can realize that the highest place that we can ever be is at HIS FEET!

Never get too grown in the spirit.  Never take it upon yourself to offer strange fire upon the altar.  “Strange fire?”,  you may ask.  I am talking about the kind of praise and worship that is not authorized by God.  You know.  The kind that is birthed after the flesh.  The kind that is self centered and mostly just full of dead works!

With all of that being said (and you know I am talking to my self right?) I will endeavor to stay on fire for God through hot, intimate, passionate worship.  I will not do works that are motivated by the flesh and I will wait upon the Lord for He knows what is best for me.  I will keep chasing Him and realize that I can never, ever figure out this thing called ministry.  I will stay humble and listen and cooperated with Holy Spirit.

I pray that you have enjoyed this article and that you stay “fit for the Masters use”!

Postures of Praise

PSALMS 95:6- Oh COME, LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN, LET US KNEEL BEFORE THE LORD OUR MAKER.

BARAK– TO PRAISE BY KNEELING OR BOWING DOWN- AN IMPLICATION OF BLESSING GOD WITH HUMILITY OF HEART AND ADORATION.  (SEE ALSO Psalms 34:1, 63:4, 134:3)

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While you are in your positions and postures of praise, allow your Mighty Creator to deal with your heart.  This is when dance choreography becomes more valuable than just 1234 1234 steps.  While you are in the process of preparing music or songs for worship, allow Him to speak to your own spirit.  Preparation for service becomes extremely valuable.

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Praise requires movement.  We can then move from praise into worship where there may not be any movement at all other than kneeling or laying prostrate on our bellies and faces before our awesome God!  Take the time to look up scripture pertaining to movement in the Word and you will be surprised to know that praise and worship is a physical demonstration of our love for God.

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take me to the KING

 

For more inspirational nuggets, feel free to browse the website, www.worshipfulministries.com.  Also, become a follower of the blog and never miss new posts!

 

 

 

Do You Know Your God???

Daniel 11:32b proclaims:  But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.  In the context of this passage, Daniel as a prophet is being shown some serious, heavy duty stuff that will take place on this earth in the last days.  In those days during the tribulation period.  It will be a time of great deception, where the Anti-Christ will use flattery and deception to hinder people from receiving the truth about Jesus Christ and of course this is truth that should  have been accepted and received before the rapture.  My friends we are now living in the last days and even though the rapture has not taken place yet, we ourselves are living in crucial and perilous times.  Paul talked about the condition of the world and the wickedness that is taking place right now.  So I wanna ask one more time:  Do You Know Your God???  Even though this world is corrupt and there is trouble on every side, those of us who have intimate knowledge of our God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will still do exploits for God under His anointing (exploits can be defined as exciting and notable deeds and acts!)  Although this world is really not going to get any better and there are so many wicked things going on, there will also be exploits and supernatural events taking place in the church!  (Dreams, visions, prophecies, healings, deliverance, signs and wonders!)

Stay strong and grounded and continue to KNOW YOUR GOD and better yet, worship Him each day in order to have Him reveal more and more of Himself to you.  There is security in Jesus!  He places a blanket of protection over His children.  He is our shelter.

https://youtu.be/ebNds3FJg5U  Enjoy a dance clip of “Alabaster Box”

The Struggle is Real!!!

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE ONLY A FEW WEEKS INTO A NEW YEAR AND YOU ARE SUDDENLY “BURNED OUT”?

Well, the question posed within the title of this article is “forreal”!!!  Have you ever heard the expression “THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!”  Yes, it is very much real because the enemy hates you and because you are dearly loved by God, he intends to wear you out!  Don’t feel bad.  This just means that you are on to a good start and God has glorious plans for your life and your ministry (service unto Him for the Body of Christ-whatever that is).

Don’t give up.  You were made for this!  You were built for this!  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  Philippians 4:13  Go ahead, repeat it and put your name in it:  Denise can do all things through Christ who strengthens her!

So, what do we do, now that the new year has just come in and it seems as if we are already tired?  The answer is simple but profound:  We pull on our source!  We look inside of our own spirit and declare that there is a river in there!  There is a river inside of us that will flow and bless us with refreshing water.  The water is what will give us stamina and strength so that we won’t get weary and give up.  The water mixed with the Word of God will restore and give us the GRACE (divine favor and enablement) to just keep it moving.  I am praying for you.  I pray that your faith will never fail.  I pray that you will be refreshed and never lose focus of your God given purpose!  Remember, Jesus said that we who believe in Him, as the scriptures has said, out of our belly (heart, spirit) flows rivers of living waters!  (See John 7:38)

He Sent Me To Just One

Alabaster Box

Ministry is so peculiar at times.  I have been a licensed Minister of the Gospel now since 2007 and I still stand in awe of how God always takes my breath away with surprises!  That is why we have to follow hard after Proverbs 3:5-6.  You know it.  Go ahead and quote it, “Trust in the Lord with all of thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths!  This is one of those feel good scriptures that is so popular.  Everyone can quote it but do we truly understand it by revelation and experience?  I am still learning it!  I had a dance ministry assignment not too long ago and I was all in a “tizzy” because I just did not know what songs to use.  I was asked to do 2 dances, which is unusual because normally I only do one when I dance alone as a soloist.  So this doubled my trouble, so to speak.  I knew about the engagement at least a month and a half ahead of time but still did not know.  I prayed and tried to put aside extra time to prepare myself like I love to do but still nothing.  So, on the day of, I placed several songs that I had done in the past on a single CD and thought of two particular ones and went on my merry way.  As I arrived I finally just had to pick 2 numbers.  I prayed once more and went with it.  Well, God moved in that place like never before.  After I ministered, there was a woman sitting in the back who had an oxygen tank with her that she was on.  She said to me:  “let me hug  you, you know, I just had open heart surgery and this is my first time attending church since that, and you know what, your dance has blessed my soul.  I  never gave up my hope during my trial”.  Well, after this woman hugged me and said those words to me, I lost it.  I melted, I began to be so humbled because I knew that God sent me up to that place for that one woman.  One of the songs that I ministered was “I never lost my praise” and that particular song was the song that ministered to this woman.  Praise the Lord!  Had I done what I originally planned to do in my own mind, it would not have been that song.  As I waited on the Lord to speak, I did not hear anything.  I chose that song at the last minute because what I practiced as I was waiting on a confirmation from the Lord surely was not that particular song!  So you see Ministers, sometimes God will hold out on you and then He will send you to just one!  Yes, your ministry is to the masses, but sometimes you are sent to just one.  I know this to be true.  Take courage and always remain open to the odd ways that God reveals His will to you.  Be Blessed!

Giving Him a Gift of Dance this Christmas!

https://youtu.be/ebNds3FJg5U

What can I give to You my Wonderful King?  Well, really, the best gift to give to Him this Christmas is a heart that is full of worship.  He wants our affection first and foremost.  I will have to admit though, that there are times when there are specific areas of our life that He is after as well.  The Lord taught me this one day when I was super busy, creating choreography for one or maybe even two dances for my youth church dance ministry.  Right in the middle of the busiest moment, I could hear the Spirit of the Lord speaking in my ear:  “Will you choreograph one for Me?”  Now you can imagine my astonishment.  All the work and the effort I was placing into the dances was fine but He was drawing me to His heart and reminding me not to forget to choreograph a love dance for an audience of ONE.  That audience is Him!  So if you are a praise and worship dancer, don’t forget to give Him a gift of dance this year.  Create a special love dance just for Him and please Him first and your musicals and Christmas dances and skits will go well.  He will bless you all the more to serve and give to others this season.  If you are not a dancer, think about what you serve best.  What area of your service to the Most High God claims most of your attention?  Give back to God and He will make all your plans to succeed.  Remember, the sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite heart and spirit.  God will not despise these.  So we need those times with Him where we really are not doing anything at all except just simply being with Him.  I believe that when I continually dance before Him in worship, when the music stops, we will just have that quiet intimate time together where I will bond even closer and begin to know Him more and more.  Now this is the best Christmas present that I can give or obtain.  Awesome!