A Time to Rest

Rest, restoration, and replenishment.  These are 3 very important words that another worshiper had to call my attention to just recently.  Just because we are anointed and have lots of responsibilities, does not mean that there will not come a time when we need some serious “stepping aside and resting” moments.  Even Jesus in His humanity as Son of Man had times when He had to take a break.  I have personally endured some serious attacks from the adversary recently, not to mention the normal stressful issues of life that I was already undergoing.  I began to feel the results of the pressure and tight squeezes in my soul, body, and even in my spirit.  My focus has been affected, my heart bruised and heavy, and I even began to feel sick physically!  I have a long list of attacks that really are too numerous to describe to you in this short article, I am talking about real, satanic attacks, BUT………God is so faithful.  I trust Him.

Well, I will take the advice of my dear Sister . My husband and I are planning a get-a-way really soon so that we can rejuvenate, refocus, and just rest from the hard pressing issues of the ministry and just life in general.  I don’t want to get burned out.  As my spiritual friend told me:  “You cannot be of help to anyone with your tank half full”.  Read the passage below and remember that at times, we all need to step back and just rest!!!

To a Desolate Place

Mark 6:30-32
30  The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32  And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

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A Call to Dance

 

Dance shoes, tutus, buns, and technique training were never a part of my life as a child. As a matter of fact, I was in my late thirty’s before I ever stepped foot into a professional dance studio. For this reason, I find that my “call to dance” so to speak is indeed a divine call that reaches far beyond my own natural understanding.
When I first felt the burning passion and desire to dance before the Lord, it was not something that I willingly embraced. Fear, inferiority, and inadequacy were the ruling emotions that shackled my feet, hands, and soul all together. I told myself, “You’re too old, you have no training, and you’ll look ridiculous!” I tried to sweep it under the rug and laughed at myself; however, the more that I ran from the call, the hotter the fire blazed from within. Each time I would see this awesome ministry of dance (of course during that time I did not realize that it was ministry!) being manifested on television or at certain events, the desire only intensified.
After about a year of hiding, running, and attempting to extinguish the burning desire to dance, I decided to step out of hiding and explore ways to learn about how I can get started in praise dance ministry. I googled a few sites, looked for videos and even joined with two other adults who were also seeking training for praise dance ministry in my community. After a few months being involved in this community team, the Lord led me to an ordained minister who was also a trained professional dancer of thirty plus years! She had owned her own studio for many years and was then working as a partner in one of the studios in my city. I started taking classes with children for about six years! This was indeed a very humbling time for me. It was not easy, but I know now that it was necessary. The Lord was not only preparing my body and increasing dance vocabulary, He was also working on my heart!

The years described above were very necessary and I thank God for them; however the depth of the call can be summed up in what I refer to as a prophetic mandate. There are two events that I like to refer back to when I speak concerning my personal call to dance ministry. For one, some years before I felt the desire and pull to dance, I received a prophetic word from my Bible study teacher, (who is now my husband!). The prophetic word was this: “For the Lord says that from now on, take care of your feet! Take special care and see to it that you no longer purchase cheap shoes”. Okay, so both he and I laughed at this word because it indeed sounded strange. I trusted prophetic words and I trusted my Bible mentor so I wrote the prophetic word out and placed it on the shelf. I did not want to despise it. It was not until a few years after I was fully active in dance ministry that this prophetic word was brought back to my remembrance by the Holy Spirit, providing me with a fresh reminder and confirmation that what I was doing in dance was indeed the will of God! You simply cannot dance without your feet right? Another event is my call to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When God gave me the final confirmation to publicize myself as being called into the Ministry to Preach the Gospel, he confirmed it through a calling dream. At the end of this dream, He alerted my attention to my white gloves. Back in those days, I only did interpretive dance and never danced without those gloves. Praise the Lord! God was confirming that even though He was calling me to a higher level of ministry, He was still allowing me to continue to dance as part of the ministry as well!

Dance ministry is so dear to my heart. I thank God that He has confirmed His anointing on my life to express His heart through drama, technique, and song. I do not take it lightly. One other event in my life that comes to mind is the vision that I have seen of myself all along in a very large open field, dancing, twirling and spinning. In the vision, I could hear this phrase within my heart: “All I want to do is please my Daddy.” My prayer is that I never lose this childlike innocence as I go from level to level in dance ministry.

Denise Cook-Godfrey

Minister/Author/Play-Wright/Liturgical Dance Educator

https://www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

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Does God Play Games?

“You will find Me if you search for Me with all your heart,” states Jeremiah 29:13.  So the question in the heading is does God play games?  This eye-catching title has to do with God seemingly playing the old hide and seek game that we used to play as children in the sweltering heat of the day many years ago.  Well, of course, God does not play games like that but He does have a desire for fellowship and trust.  God wants us to trust His love for us.  He wants to bond with us.  So, in a sense of hiding and seeking, He hides revelation so that we are thirsty and hungry enough to seek after that revelation.

The context of Jeremiah 29 is all about Israel in captivity.  The word from Jeremiah in verses 11-13 speaks hope to a people who were in great despair because they disobeyed their God and began to trust in false prophecies of a sudden deliverance from their oppressors.  But how does the promise of verse 13 apply to us today?  This verse can apply to the backslider or anyone who desires to find a relationship with God. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord, I believe it is about the search.  It is actually what we learn throughout the seeking process that really counts.  God knows everything but yet He does not tell us everything we need to know at once about our life situations.  He wants us to ask, seek, knock on a continual basis.  Why?  Because He loves us and created us for Himself.  As we worship and as we seek His perfect will through His word (written and rhema), we continue the bonding process.  So, let the games begin.

I want the Spirit of the Lord to continue to reveal to me how to search for God!  Be encouraged and be diligent in your search for God ‘s will for your life.  For example, I have an upcoming dance workshop to teach during July this year.  It is now May 1st; however, I have already begun to ask God which songs to use and exactly how to format the workshop. Sure, I could pick any song and format the workshop in any manner, but if I pray and seek God’s wisdom, He will eventually speak to my heart and show me exactly which songs and format will work best for who is going to be attending. I have no idea who will be there but the Holy Spirit does!  So in the midst of the search, there is a voice, there is peace, there is intimacy.  I gain more than just a few songs and some choreography, I gain more of His heart.  Are you a seeker?  Do you love to play hide and seek with the Lord?

Denise Cook Godfrey

Minister/Author/Playwright/Liturgical Dance Instructor

https://www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

dcookgodfrey@gmail.com

Swallowing the Bitter Pill

You’ve been there!  God gives a word either through speaking directly to your spirit man or through another person.  The word has been confirmed and you are excited beyond excited.  Your faith is stirred and you wait patiently.  Finally, the day comes for the manifestation of the promise.  All the signs point to it.  This is it, or so you thought!  Your understanding of the matter is now somewhat clouded.  You begin to drown in despair. What just happened?  A set back is what some call it.  Hope deferred is how King Soloman described it (See Proverbs 13:12:  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life).  Either way, what you are experiencing in this moment of disappointment is quite common to all of us.  This valley like experience has nothing to do with the great purpose and destiny that God has planned for you.  It does not cancel out the promise that He made to you.

So how do you cope?  Here is something that came to mind this morning as I was reading a short article from a ministry called “Streams Ministries International.”  The article spoke of our learning to celebrate private victories as we wait for what God has prepared for us.  I was thankful for the article, but as I pondered this more and more, here is another point that was brought to my attention:  At times, we have got to embrace disappointments.  Sometimes we are just not ready for what is ahead.  Swallowing the bitter pill of disappointment and “hope deferred” as King Solomon put it, is really a pill that is good for the soul.  No, it does not feel good, but once we endure we will come out on the other side more polished and mature and ready to face the responsibilities of the blessings that our future promotion holds for us.  Until we are back on that path (because there are detours we must take on our way into our destiny), we must remain in love with the Father!  We must worship as we have never worshipped before!  Worshipping and continuing to declare and study God’s word during these types of seasons will sustain us and keep us grounded.  Keep busy.  Do for others.  Follow after peace and do the things that you can for God’s Kingdom.  Be satisfied with His goodness!

So…go ahead and cry, yell, ask God how you are to tread from this place and swallow that pill!  Someday you will be glad that you did.

Denise Cook-Godfrey

Minister/Author/PlayWright/Liturgical Dance Instructor

https://www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

denisecookgodfrey@gmail.com

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The New Yes

Surrender used to be one of those words that shook me somewhat as a new Christian. But I thank God that as I grow in Him, I am progressing into a life of surrendering to His will. Even now though, being totally sold out in each and every area of my life can sometimes be challenging but I thank God that I am not shaken by it as I was many years ago.

I have decided to give God a new “Yes.”  What is a new “yes?”  It is when I tell Him “yes” before I know the request! It is an agreement between earth and heaven! Now ponder that.  Have you surrendered to the Lord with a new “yes?”

Get Him Out of the Box

Recently I ministered in dance at a Women fellowship. I planned, prayed, and prepared for the event in the midst of numerous other responsibilities and assignments. I was ready but not ready so to speak but eager to minister. But guess what? Two hours before the event God changed the song! This was not the first time this has happened but feeling the way I was and being as preoccupied as I was it was a shock! The song was also an older song that I had not heard or danced in over five years!

Okay, I have enough history with the Lord to know that He would be with me so I stepped out in obedience. The ministry was phenomenal! As soon as the song begun, people were already filled with anticipation, weeping, and worship!  I did not once have to worry about choreography, technique, or anything!  As a matter of fact, I mostly interacted with the audience.  God is so amazing! Regardless of your assignment, never stuff our Lord in a box  and expect Him to always move in the same manner. Be ready to be stretched and watch how He moves!  I could see the manifestation of God’s presence resting upon so many faces!

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Relationship over Religion

Worshipping in spirit and truth has more to do with a mindset, an attitude and a lifestyle more than external rituals. The reality (truth)of who the Father is causes the deepest part of who I am in Him (my spirit man) to connect!!! The deepest part of me engaging with the deepest part of Him…remember, this is what the Father is seeking! God wants relationship over religion!

The Atmosphere Changes

When I ponder and look back over moments in dance ministry I am amazed at how the wind of the Spirit comes, goes, and shifts in multiple directions. No wonder Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit’s work cannot be understood on human terms (See John 3:8)

Be sure to prepare your heart as well as your body for dance ministry. Be open to allow the Holy Spirit to move how HE wants! Sometimes we think we have it all figured out. Just trust Him when you feel Him and you see manifestations and when you don’t. Trust Him when it appears that He is moving upon other dancers and not you. Just know that if you are a surrendered vessel, He will use you and will be pleased with your sacrifice no matter what the outcome looks like in the natural! The atmosphere around you will change when you have totally surrendered your entire being into Him.

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Hanging out with God

“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.”  Exodus 25:8

God still wants to hang out with us! Are you worshipping in spirit and truth?  When I calmly think of the flaming sword and the cherubim that were set up to prevent the man from entering a certain place in the garden of Eden, and the scripture above, it gives me renewed hope that I can walk and live out my desire to come boldly before His throne of grace whenever! See Hebrews 4:14-16, 10:19-23.

Be encouraged and know that you are a welcomed guest in His house!

Minister Denise Cook Godfrey

Hey…don’t forget to get your copy of one or more of my books! Visit Amazon author site or order directly from this website! www.amazon.com/author/denisecookgodfrey

Praise Dance Mentorship

Peace and Many Blessings!

Mentorship is one of those Biblical principles that is sometimes forgotten, especially in the area of the arts!  Worship dance, praise dance, and interpretive dance can sometimes be overlooked when it comes to mentorship. If you are in a position where you need to stop and receive some guidance for the next phase of your dance ministry, please contact us. We want to partner with you in order to bring wholeness, deliverance, and encouragement to many lives!

Denise Cook-Godfrey