The first Sunday at my church the tears flowed. Not for the reasons I thought they would but for the worship! I knew I was in the presence of God. I could feel the Holy Spirit. It was like my Emmaus retreat experience which was mountain top. I promised God, right then, that I will never settle in my worship again. He deserves the best from me.
At the end of my minister's prayers he often says, "let us be challenged, changed and never forget it." I love that. Every Sunday I am challenged and changed. I know God knew that I needed these challenges in my life. I can tell by the way he has helped me grow in the past year and how he has pushed me out of my comfort zone for so many things including this blog. And I know He is not finished. I can feel Him prepping me for something bigger than I thought! He is raising me up!
What is worship? The definition of Christian worship is reverent honor and homage paid to God. Worship means to bow down to God. Worship should be a priority in our life. It takes sacrifice to go to worship. Some of us have to get up earlier than we like. Some of us have to wait and hit the beach, boat, golf course, ball game, etc later. Romans 12: 1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
We are shown in the Bible that David got up and went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. 2 Samuel 12: 20, "Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped."
We were created to worship. I believe that is what we will do for all of eternity! Worship is all about God. While God does not change, we do when we worship. When we put our focus on Him we surrender. Then we receive peace and wisdom.
Worship is a celebration and we are praising God! Hebrews 13: 15, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name." We are in the presence of God! Psalm 100: 1-5, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 96: 4-6, "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary." He is worthy of our praise. Let's think about that next time we are at church.
This song was always important to Mike and he loved to play and sing it. It is "The heart of Worship" by Michael W Smith, and he loved the words. It really is all about Jesus.
When the music fades All is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to bring Something that's of worth That will bless your heart I'll bring you more than a song For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart I'm coming back to the heart of worship And it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it When it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus King of endless worth No one could express How much you deserve Though I'm weak and poor All I have is yours
This song makes me cry because I am sorry for what I made it. It's all about Him! "...it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus!
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