Ephesians 4:10
God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
The church is a canvas upon which God paints His nature and character.
The collective "soul" of a church demonstrates the goodness of God to those around them, as well as the unseen demonic forces that wage war against the church.
Do we praise God in spite of our pain?
Do we glorify His name when the wheels are coming off our life?
Do tell others about the wonder and awesomeness of God even when we don't have the answers we need to the gazillion questions we harbor deep in our soul?
I don't want anything of this world, or in this world, to stop me from living in the joy that God gives those who choose to follow His path.
That is a joy that is not tainted by the dictates of this world or this society.
Friday night we gathered at church to celebrate the family of God. John and Marie Barnett, along with Raymond and Bobby McDonald, J.R. Rund and Joel Knox, traveled to be with us for a night of worship/celebration. I watched a room full of folks----different denominations ----different churches....lay aside their theological differences to celebrate Jesus. I saw lifted hands, raised faces to heaven declaring the glory of God. I know that I know that each person in that room had something they were dealing with....struggling with....yet it didn't matter at that time. The presence of God was the most important thing at that moment. All of life's problems faded away in the songs that were being sung. If ever there was truth in a song, it could be found in the words..."Turn your eyes upon Jesus.....look full in His wonderful face.....and the things of earth will grow strangely dim....in the light of His glory and grace." Why I ever let the things of this world block out the light and glory of God is a mystery to me. I am just grateful for His saving grace.
I witnessed the power of praise and worship. Not as an emotional release, but as a very part of our DNA. DNA that had been freed from the cover and strangulation of sin, when salvation flooded our very being. We were created to be image bearers of our heavenly Father, but we allowed sin to rob us of that identity. Jesus' death and resurrection swept the power, presence and penalty of sin out of our body, freeing us to once again walk in the image of God.
I am grateful that God has created music to explain His glory and nature. Words, chords, notes, blending together to explain God in ways that touch the human heart. Music that has been given by God to us is more powerful than anything I've ever encountered. When Raymond McDonald moved to the microphone and began talking about the joy of the Lord and how King David was a dancer....I knew that he was going to play "Swing #9". I knew that people were going to stand up and just let the words and music take them to places where their problems could not follow. That is exactly what happened.
I saw a grandmother grab here little grandson and began to dance. I saw couples do likewise. I saw people clapping and shouting. I saw the body of Christ lost in a song sung by a Texas pastor who has a penchant for tearing up a guitar with his God given talent. I saw the body of Christ worshiping the very One who'd given them freedom.
I guess you could say it was a good weekend.
Now lets go out and see what Monday holds.
God on you...
mbb
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