Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Worship 101




John Wimber
"It isn't enough to be biblically literate...........we must be biblically obedient also."

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

As a Vineyard pastor, I believe that our number one purpose in life is to honor and worship God.
We do this through our daily lives. My very life....my walking around, eating, sleeping, working, playing life is to be lived in such a way that others see Jesus in me. My life is worship unto God. Sounds boring doesn't it? It's not. It is the most incredible high you could ever want. Now I'm not talking about that when I give my life to Jesus everything falls into perfect harmony. That everyday is sunshine and lollipops.....dogs love you.....kids love you.....old folks love you....Guess what? Life still happens. You get flat tires. You'll want to quit and run away to Australia (right Vicki). But because you are living under a mandate from heaven, and you are very much aware of the price that was paid to free you from your old life of sin....you just fall in love with Jesus. Isn't that what the Bible talks about? Loving Jesus? Loving God? Loving those around us as we love ourselves? From this unnatural place of love which the world looks at with disdain and a jaded eye, I worship.

Worship- The act of freely giving love to God.
Such a behavior forms and informs (through His Holy Spirit speaking to us) every activity in the life of a believer.
I have learned that what happens when I am alone with the Lord determines how intimate and deep my worship will be when I come together with other believers.I want to be transported through my worship, into the very presence of God. If you think about it, worship here and now on this side of heaven is merely practice for what is going to transpire once we die and stand in the presence of God. How cool is that going to be?

Some people have a hard time with this next part.
Singing is not the only way to worship. As we sing, it is important to remember that our bodies should be involved in what our spirit's are saying. In Scripture this is accomplished through bowing heads, lifting of hands, kneeling and even lying on our faces before God. I remember the first time I was in a service and I saw someone lift their hands during worship. I was offended at first...."How dare they try and draw attention to themselves...don't they know that this is God's time." That was how skewed my understanding of what real worship was about. But I also remember thinking, as I watched this individual worship, how free they seemed to be. Lost in the song and oblivious to everyone around them, they worshipped. I wanted what they had. Why? A result of worshipping and blessing God is being blessed by Him. We don't worship God in order to get blessed, but we are blessed as we worship Him. He visits His people with manifestations of His Holy Spirit.
Enjoy the video....
Worship today....

God on you....
mb

(thoughts for today's blog posting comes from Worship: Intimacy with God by John and Carol Wimber.

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD

Listening to Keith Green this morning as he sings "How Majestic Is Your Name". I had to  ask myself, "Do I truly unerstnd the...