January 21, 2010

What is TRUE worship?

What does it look like?

What does it sound like?

What does it feel like?

I have always loved playing in the church band. Ever since I let Christ in my heart, I have had this desire to lead others in worship, but I constantly have to remind myself what worship really is.

From the people I have talked to and the many conversations I've had about this, I've found that many people think different thoughts of what worship is. Some say its a time when we sing to God. Others say its when the band gets up on stage and we all read the lyrics off of the screen.

Personally, for a while, I thought that I was supposed to benefit from worshiping God (sounds kind of silly now that I type it out). I loved the feeling I would get when I sang those songs and lifted my hands up at every chorus. But the crazy thing is that worship shouldn't be for yourself. Worship to God is FOR GOD.

" Thank God! Call out his Name!

Tell the whole world who he is and what he's done!
Sing to him! Play songs for him!
Broadcast all his wonders!"

1 Chronicles 16:8-9

I love how Kari Jobe puts it in her song "Joyfully". She says;

"I will sing from the mountain top

I will sing, I am overcome, I will sing making melodies

I will sing from the valley low

I will sing because of Your love I will sing

You're my king, I will sing"

Even in the worst times, we are called to worship the Lord.

"On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever."

Psalm 100

We are His sheep. I looked up sheep in the back of my bible and this is what it said;

sheep- the animal most mentioned in the Scripture, probably because it was the animal most often raised in Bible times; used for meat, for cloth, and for religious sacrifice.

We sacrifice ourselves and our lives to God, and our worship should be a big "Thank you" to Him. Its not just singing songs, or lifting up our hands. Its a daily activity that we should be doing 24/7. No matter where you are in life or on your spiritual walk. Believe that He is working in your heart and thank Him for His mighty works.

"Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth."

Psalm 96:9

January 20, 2010

I love that God created love. He made it so that everyone is lovable and capable of loving others. I LOVE it!

Lately, I've been having a hard time with this concept. Unfortunately, I become annoyed by the smallest things, but the cool thing is, is that God can show love through your love to others.

Today I revisited the book Blue Like Jazz. The chapter I last left off on was chapter 13; Romance. Perhaps it was God being humorous, but as I read I was having mini epiphanies in my mind.

One of the quotes I wrote down was of Don talking to his recently married friend, Paul. They were talking and discussing marriage and what love is in a true relationship like Paul and his wife's relationship.

He says;

"...its much more than I ever thought it would be. One of the ways God shows me He loves me is through Danielle, and one of the ways God shows Danielle He loves her is through me. And because she loves me, and teaches me that I am lovable, I can better interact with God."

God loves to love, as we should love because He loves us!

It says in 1 Peter 4:8

"Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins."

1 John 3:18-19 says

"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality."

... and my favorite is how God describes love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end."

God created us to be lovable. He created us to be loving. Practice TRUE love for God TRULY loves us.

January 19, 2010

I just recently downloaded a bunch of podcasts to have while I'm on the go. One of the podcasts I found was an audio podcast from The Village Church (Matt Chandler's church). His podcast on Organic Faith really hit me, and this is the response I had...

I love kids. In fact, I'm looking forward to having a family and to watch my kids grow up and become who God created them to be, but there are some things little kids can get away with that adults can't.

If you have ever baby sat, or have been around an infant, you most likely have smelled one of the most foul smells on this earth: A poopy diaper. But the thing is, infants will grow and mature and, eventually, be potty trained. Soon, they'll be packing their bags for college! As much as we'd like this to be completely false, adults can't get away with walking around with a nasty diaper dripping off their behinds because we all grow. It is an entirely normal that infancy is temporary!

Just as a baby slowly grows into an adult, we grow spiritually. There is no such thing as faith that DOESN'T grow.

1 Peter 2:1-3 says;

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of any kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

Peter compares us to newborn babies that should CRAVE pure spiritual milk. We should desire to grow.

I pray for miraculous change to happen in my heart, so that I can grow, but at the same time I need to pray for righteous discipline. We all need to have a balance of both so that we can be constantly spiritually growing.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.