Heart of Worship

Revelation Song

Worthy is the
Lamb Who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song
To Him who sits on
Heaven’s mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows
Of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and
Glory and power be
To You the only wise King

Filled with wonder
Awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus Your Name is Power
Breath, and Living Water
Such a marvelous mystery

In our Men’s Group at church, we are working through “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.  It is not often that one reads a devotional book that starts with a chapter entitled “Stop Praying.”  The point of the chapter is a call to get out of our routines regarding prayer.

How often do we stop to remember exactly Who we are talking to?  The God to Whom we pray is the God Who, by just speaking, brought all that exists into being.  From the outer reaches of space all the way down to the components of a single cell in a plant, all of it came from the verbal command of God.

And yet, we usually come to Him with a cursory declaration of His greatness followed by a routine litany of stuff we want Him to do.  We have such an enormous privilege to come into His presence, and yet, most of the time we come and ignore the magnitude of His majesty.    And, by doing so, we miss SO much that He has for us.

Read the description of the throne of God in the book of Revelation or as revealed to Isaiah.  Both of these men paint fantastic pictures of the glory of God’s presence, yet both of them express frustration that they are limited in what they can describe because the human language is incapable.  And this is where we stand when we approach Him.  It is from this perspective of majesty that He chooses to reach out to us and invite us in.

Glorified

Praise belongs to You
Let every kingdom bow
Let every ocean roar
Let every heart adore You now

Praise belongs to You
What can I do but sing
The greatest joy I’ve found
Is to lay a crown before my King
Before my King

I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to lift up Your Name
For You deserve this
Life laid down like the One that You gave
I have but one voice
One heart and one sacrifice
So won’t You take this
Life laid down and be glorified
Be glorified

Praise belongs to You
Let songs and children rise
You silence all Your foes
You set Your glory in the skies

Praise belongs to You
Creation calling out
For the King to be revealed
Oh King of Heaven come down
King of Heaven come down

Have you ever had times in your life when you were pretty sure God was doing something but you had no idea what it was?  I’m not talking about the day-to-day manifestations of God at work in our lives.  I’m talking about major “sea changes” in your life.   You have that sense that something BIG is going on.  You can’t really put your finger on it.  You can’t even really put into words what you are sensing sometimes, but you know He is at work, and you are pretty sure that, by the time He gets finished, your life is going to look pretty different.

I have been in that mode for a couple months now (which has contributed to the dearth of posts to the blog).  God has been doing something in my life and my spirit that I am really struggling to “figure out”.  There have been a combination of events, opportunities, issues, etc. that seem to be converging into something.  He has put me into situations that are WAY outside my comfort zone.  He has brought affirmation and confirmation into my life in areas I never even considered.  And there is something going on in my spirit that I cannot “put my finger on” but that I am absolutely sure is His doing.  And, as if I needed further confirmation, all of this has been accompanied by a level spiritual attack that I have rarely experienced.

This has happened a couple times before in my life, although I think I was too immature/naive/clueless (take your pick) to really recognize it at the time.   If I had any real recognition, it was immediately obscured by my desire to figure out what was happening and, once I decided that I “knew,” trying to push God along down that path (or run out ahead, depending on how you look at it.)  Truth be told, I didn’t handle it too well.

I’m trying to handle this one differently and, in the process, learning some new things about walking with Him.  One of the hard lessons is learning to wait on His timing.  Right now, even though I have no clue as to what He might be doing, I am struggling to be patient and not push ahead.  I am just ready for whatever it is to happen.  But I noticed something in Scripture recently, which has given me “pause.”

In our Men’s Bible Study, we have been going through “Walking With God” by John Eldredge.  A few weeks ago, he brought up this point about prayer.  Remember the story of Elijah, when God instructed him to pray for a drought and he did so and God sent a drought?  God said the drought would last for 7 years.  7 years of drought passed and God decided that it was time for the drought to end.  So He tells Elijah to pray for rain.  Elijah does so and sends his servant to look for signs of rain — no rain.  So Elijah prays again for rain and again sends his servant to look for signs of rain — no rain.  They do this SEVEN TIMES!  Finally, on the seventh time, the servant reports a small cloud and shortly after, the rain falls.

I had never noticed this sequence of events.

1. God tells Elijah to pray for a specific divine act.  Why?  If God was going to send a drought, why did Elijah need to pray for it?
2. God tells Elijah how long the drought is going to last.
3. At the end of that time, God tells Elijah to pray for another specific divine act which He had already promised to do.  Why did Elijah need to pray for God to send rain?  He had already promised to do so at that time.
4. Elijah prays for rain, as commanded (and promised) by God, and NOTHING HAPPENS!  He repeatedly prays (at the command of God) for God to do something He had already promised to do, and it is not until the seventh time that God answers!

The point John Eldredge was making is that sometimes we should stop taking our list of requests to God.  Sometimes, we need to ask Him what we should pray for and then pray as He directs.  And it is a very valid point…

However, I noticed something else.  This is not MY story.  This is HIS story.  He has given me the privilege of coming with Him on His plan and purpose.  And, as He is at work, as He is moving, I need to wait on His timing.  Even when I so eagerly want to see the plan unfold, even when I think I “know” what the plan is, I must not get ahead of His time.  When I jump ahead and rush into things like a “bull in a china shop” (which, by the way, Mythbusters busted), I am doing things according to MY plan, not His.  When I allow Him to work His plan in His time, He receives all the glory.

Grace Flows Down

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
Amazing love, now flowing down
From hands and feet, that were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers me

How thankful I am that I serve a personal Savior, Who knows ME as an individual and freely pours His grace on ME!

Recently, I was involved in an online “discussion” about the role of the believer and the church in the community.  The following comment really got me thinking: “I believe that Christianity and individualism are incompatible ideas.”  This was my response:

“Christianity is the ultimate statement of individualism. It begins with a holy God demanding individual accountability for one’s actions; no excuses, no hedging, no whining. It then proceeds to address the individual failures of each person through an individual encounter with a personal Savior, Who came to the earth as an individual. He interacted with individuals from all strata of society; from touching the leper, to eating with tax collectors, to counseling with Nicodemus, to saving the daughter of a centurion. He did not address them by a group identity. He dealt with them as individuals according to the state of their own spirit.  And He offers each of us an individual and personal daily walk with Him. He urges each of us to use the unique talents and gifts given to us individually to touch people as He directs. He also still demands accountability from each of us individually for our deeds done on this earth, whether good or evil.”

In further contemplating this concept, it struck me that one of the things that Paul stressed to the church was the idea that any group identity they had previously held was now irrelevant because they were in Christ.  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female…” (Gal.2:28)  HE is to be our identity.  Jesus told His followers that even their earthly familial relationships were to be secondary to their relationship with Him.

When discussing the believers activities in the local church, Paul stressed that spiritual gifts are given individually to each believer as the Holy Spirit determines.  The local church body is to be a vehicle for the use of those gifts, and a supporter of them, not the possessor of them through some group identity. “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” (I Cor. 12:11)

Nowhere in Scripture do we find God commending someone for their association to a group.  Our standing with Him is not based on family ties, societal group, or even church membership.  God has always desired that each of us walk with Him as an individual in personal relationship.  God knows me as an individual, He pursued me as an individual, and He poured out His grace on me as an individual.