You Worship When...

Some people have a hard time understanding that they are worshipers. They don't express worship outwardly like many others...and they may not have intense feelings of passion like some of us. 

If this describes you - don't focus on your feelings or expressions of worship - just focus on being in His presence - through the Word and in prayer.  Practice BEING with Him in a very simple yet deliberate way.

Apart from all the obvious times when we worship - let me say this...because you have given Him your life:

You worship when you smile at Him

You worship when you smile at strangers

You worship when you serve the unlovely and unholy

You worship when you enjoy what He has made

You worship when you are thankful for all He does

You worship when you obey Him

You worship when you take time to love a child

You worship when you love the old and infirm

You worship when you give Him your time

You worship when you wash the feet of the broken

You worship when you are faithful even when it is difficult

You worship when you seek to understand others

You worship when you wait, and linger in His presence

You worship when you do as Jesus did

You worship when you whisper His name

You worship when you make those thousands of small and large decisions each day that show He is the center of your life and worldview. He is the reason you do what you do. He is the Lord and Champion of your life - this is your reasonable worship (Romans 12:1)

7 Things - Appetites Of The Heart

Here are 7 appetites that need to grow in the heart of worshipers - for some reason, I was captivated by these beautiful pictures of flowers today, and just placed them with each of these heart attitudes:

—Wonder (Is. 6:1-5)

Don't ever lose the sense of wonder and expectancy in the presence of the Lord. Be amazed at His beauty and overwhelmed by His grace

—Passion (2Sam. 6:21-22)

Don't allow the fires of passion to grow dim in your heart. Do whatever it takes to root out apathy and stoke the fires of devotion for the Lord

—Endurance (Job 1:20-21; Hab. 3:17-18)

Don't be one that gives up all the time. Set yourself for the presence of God and for His glory - no matter what it takes. Don't allow yourself to wallow in discouragement. Praise will bring you to His presence, His presence will bring you to joy, joy will bring you to the finish line

—Brokenness (Ps. 51 – a repentant heart 2Chron. 17:6; 19:3)

Don't allow yourself to have a hard heart. Be like David who was always quick to repent. Remain tender-hearted before the Lord.

—Appetite to hear—prophetic (Song 2:14)

Don't become dull of hearing - as worshipers, we must be in tune to the voice of the Lord - we are gatekeepers of His presence

—Righteousness (2Chron. 17:6; 19:3; Ps. 24:4-6; 29:2; 2Tim. 2:22)

Don't allow sin to rule your heart. Those with clean hands and pure hearts will have entrance into His presence

—Excellence (Ex. 35:35; 1 Chron. 15:22; 25:7; 2 Chron. 2:7; 34:12)

Don't ever settle for 2nd best - always give your best to the Lord and to His people. Excellence is different from perfection - it is an attitude of the heart...a desire to one's very best in all that we do

Passion

I am at the airport - heading off to Colombia in a few minutes - just praying these 2 Scriptures this morning as I think about being passionate for the Lord (from The Message Bible):

Passionate in waiting for, and seeking God
Lamentations 3:25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.

Passionate in love and devotion for Him

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

...and a passionate Psalm of praise - Psalm 96

1-2 Sing God a brand-new song!
Earth and everyone in it, sing!
Sing to God—worship God!

2-3 Shout the news of his victory from sea to sea,
Take the news of his glory to the lost,
News of his wonders to one and all!

4-5 For God is great, and worth a thousand Hallelujahs.
His terrible beauty makes the gods look cheap;
Pagan gods are mere tatters and rags.

5-6 God made the heavens—
Royal splendor radiates from him,
A powerful beauty sets him apart.

7 Bravo, God, Bravo!
Everyone join in the great shout: Encore!
In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might.

8-9 Bring gifts and celebrate,
Bow before the beauty of God,
Then to your knees—everyone worship!

10 Get out the message—God Rules!
He put the world on a firm foundation;
He treats everyone fair and square.

11 Let’s hear it from Sky,
With Earth joining in,
And a huge round of applause from Sea.

12 Let Wilderness turn cartwheels,
Animals, come dance,
Put every tree of the forest in the choir—

13 An extravaganza before God as he comes,
As he comes to set everything right on earth,
Set everything right, treat everyone fair.

Pray for passionate worship
in the hearts of the Colombian Church!

7 Things - Heavenly Worship

It is always interesting to observe the worship that goes on in heaven. There is so much for us to learn as we see how heavenly beings and the redeemed ones worship around the throne of God.

We have to assume a couple of things:

• This worship is completely “normal” for God. He is not telling anyone to be quieter or less passionate in their worship. It seems as though loud, long, intense, fervent, expressive worship goes on around God’s throne day and night – and He likes it!

• If any changes need to be made in our church worship, then it is us who should be doing the changing. There is not a separate Bible for each denomination – giving instructions on how to “worship in spirit and in truth” – there is only one Bible, and it lays out a model of worship that lines up with what we see around the throne of God day and night. It seems to me that we are often more interested in making people comfortable in worship rather than the Lord. Our worship on earth should probably look a lot more like the worship that is found in heaven.

Here is one example of heavenly worship:

Revelation 7:9-12

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

These worshipers come from all nations, tribes, and tongues – in other words, all nations, all generations and all denominations are represented in this mighty company. No matter where they have come from, or what kind of worship they have been used to on earth – they worship with passion and unity.

Look at these 7 things they are doing together – without thought of earthly traditions and cultural restraints:

• They have the same provision – the white robes of salvation

• They have the same praise – no one is singing a different song

• They have the same proclamation – everyone is crying out with loud voices

• They have the same pageantry – they are all waving palm branches

• They have the same purpose – everyone is focused on worship

• They have the same posture – they are standing before the throne

• They have the same perspective – they are all looking at the Lamb

I am sure that some of these might have felt awkward in their churches if they had been this demonstrative in worship. Somehow, in the presence of the Lamb, there is no voice too loud, no dance too radical, no shout too long, or no emotion to strong.

So many things hinder our worship. Draw near with full and open hearts today.

Let the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”