THE ELIJAH LIST: 3 CHOICES CREATIVE WORSHIPERS SHOULD MAKE THIS YEAR....

March 12, 2017

"Three Choices Creative Worshipers Should Make This Year To Experience Divine Fulfillment"by Dean Mitchum, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

From the Desk of Steve Shultz:

I'm sure you've heard it said, "God is in the small stuff..." but I'm rephrasing it after reading this word, "God is in the CREATIVE stuff."

So many in the Body of Christ have gifts and talents to offer. Did you know – using them is an act of WORSHIP? Read for yourself as Dean shares:

To willfully use the gifts God has given us is an act of faith, obedience and worship. To choose to be a creative worshiper is to worship God through the creativity He has given us. To receive inspiration and return that inspiration through creativity is a completed cycle of worship and an act of obedience that pleases God.

This is a great word. I encourage each of you to – dust off those skills you've tucked away. Challenge yourself to form HABITS to practice them regularly. All for the glory of God. I hope you'll be as stirred as I was while reading this word. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)

Please forward this word to your friends! Encourage them to subscribe to the Elijah List right here: http://elijahlist.com/subscribe.

Enjoy!

Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher 
The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News 
http://www.elijahlist.com

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"Three Choices Creative Worshipers Should Make This Year To Experience Divine Fulfillment"by Dean Mitchum, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

To experience divine fulfillment is to do what God has created us to do, and to know He is happy with it. To hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant," is a lifelong desire; but we shouldn't have to wait a lifetime to experience His approval.

"In the light of the King's face is life, and His favor is like a cloud of the latter rain." (Proverbs 16:15 NKJV)

To accomplish an act of worship or creativity and to experience the joy that comes from doing that is amazing. "A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul..." (Proverbs 13:19 NKJV)

To willfully use the gifts God has given us is an act of faith, obedience and worship. To choose to be a creative worshiper is to worship God through the creativity He has given us. To receive inspiration and return that inspiration through creativity, is a completed cycle of worship and an act of obedience that pleases God.

Creatively Use the Gifts God has Given Us – As an Act of Worship

If you have not been experiencing divine fulfillment, then I suggest three choices you can make this year and every year: Eliminate excuses, establish creative habits and engage in ministry.

1. Eliminate Excuses

In order to eliminate your excuses, you must identify your excuses. Excuses are poor decisions made in advance of opportunity. They are the "go to" reasons you give when failing to do something you claim you wanted to do. "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them." (Proverbs 1:32 NIV)

This may not be an intentional thing, but think about how quickly excuses come. If you produce an excuse that quickly, you must have already believed it. Your most often repeated excuse is a great place to start. Has anyone ever said that you always use the same excuse? Eliminate that excuse by focusing on what you could create if you quit giving that excuse.

Recognize the poison that is hidden inside of excuses and refuse to take the pill. Refuse to let yourself be sub-par.

2. Establish Creative Habits

Don't fear that you'll not be creative if you establish a routine. Habits are actions we do without thought or extra effort. Routines are steps or actions that we establish in order to form new habits. These new strategic habits will help to foster creativity. "The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man's precious possession." (Proverbs 12:27 NKJV)

Be careful to not confuse inspiration with creativity. Inspiration is like the wind and can come from any direction. Creativity is a deliberate act that flourishes when given time, space, and focus. Inspiration can come at anytime but creativity requires an appointment. Creativity is a response to inspiration.

Creative habits are those patterns, places, and procedures that we set up in order to allow creativity to flow. We have to answer the questions of when, where, and how can I be the most creative?

My three elements of creativity are time, place, and focus. The goal is to find the place where I can spend time to focus on creativity.

Elements of Creativity: Time, Place and Focus

Time. Without making time for being creative it is difficult to create. We have to be creative in finding more time to create. The wonderful thing about time is that no one has more hours in a day than you do. So if others can "find the time" then you can too. It's a matter of priorities. Mom's with young children have different priorities than empty-nesters do. I choose to make time so I can go to my creative place.

Place. Place is the environment that you create or choose that allows you to spend the time to focus. It can be a home office, studio, library, or anywhere you can keep your tools of creativity.

My home office is my favorite place but not my only place. I choose to be creative wherever I can spend time to focus.

Focus. Focus is the ability to not be distracted. A distraction followed becomes an excuse later on. In order to focus on creativity your mind needs to be free from worry.

To some that means to get up early and create. To others it is to complete responsibilities and then focus. To most of us it means turn off outside distractions.

In order to write this article, I had to put my phone in airplane mode so that I would not be distracted. I choose to focus so my creativity can be used in ministry.

3. Engage in Ministry

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them..." (Romans 12:6 NKJV)

To engage in ministry is to use your creativity to worship God and serve others. Sing that song, post that encouragement, display that painting, write that blog, play that instrument, dance that dance. Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.

Like Joseph, come out of the prison and interpret that dream. Put your anointing and gifting to full use so that others may receive revelation and blessing.

Put your creativity on the spot for without performance or presentation it will be difficult for others to receive from your gift.

Experience Divine Fulfillment

If you have ever experienced God being happy with your creativity, it ought to be enough to help you eliminate excuses, establish creative habits, and engage in serving with your creative gifts.

Choose because you can. Choose because He will be happy. Choose so others can be blessed by your precious possessions. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)

Dean Mitchum, Worship Leader
Vision Church at Christian International
Email: dean@deanmitchum.com 
Website: www.deanmitchum.com

Dean Mitchum serves as the Director of Worship Ministries for Bishop Bill Hamon of Christian International and as the Worship Pastor for Apostles Tom and Jane Hamon of Vision Church@ CI. He is a powerful, prophetic psalmist specializing in writing for the current moves of God, playing prophetically, and leading worship that changes the atmosphere. Dean is the author of Apostolic Kingdom Praise, The Tabernacle of God, and along with his wife Lisa, is the co-writer of more than 100 worship songs. Dean and his wife Lisa have been married 32 years and have five children and four grandchildren. They make their home near the beautiful emerald coast on the Florida panhandle.

Dean Mitchum's Itinerary:

April 18-21, 2017
Watchman Intercessors Assembly
(for more information click here)

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