On Becoming New » Worship

Thirsty Thursday

onbecomingnew — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:41:22 +0000

In his book The Unquenchable Worshiper, Matt Redman says “This world is full of fragile loves – love that abandons, love that fades, love that divorces, love that is self-seeking, but the unquenchable worshiper is different. From a heart so amazed by God and his wonders burns a love that will not be extinguished. It survives any situation and lives through any circumstance. It will not allow itself to be quenched, for that would heap insult on the love it lives in response to.”

Unquenchable worship is worship that can not be extinguished by anything. An unquenchable worshiper is someone who chooses to worship God regardless of the situation around him or her.

There have been times when I didn’t “feel” like worshiping. But if we live our life based on our feelings we wouldn’t do much, would we?

What I have found is that it is those times that I didn’t “feel” like worshiping, that I most needed to worship. And as I worship, God stirs my spirit and refuels my longing to worship.

For the Christian, worshiping God isn’t an option. It is a command.

Psalm 29:2 “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness”

Psalm 96:9 “Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.”

Hebrews 12:28-29 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

When we allow God to open our eyes to see His wonder and majesty and fill our heart with His overwhelming love, we cannot help but stand in awe of His indescribable radiant glory.

When we understand even just a minuscule part of who God is, we cannot help ourselves! We MUST worship. And that desire to worship God and grow closer to God becomes an unstoppable, unquenchable wild fire within us.

God Forbid

onbecomingnew — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:58:57 +0000

I was listening to my mp3 player on my forty-five minute drive home from work last night. A song by Point of Grace came on called “God Forbid”. I had heard the song a couple times before, but hadn’t really paid attention to the lyrics. But tonight with nothing to do, but drive and listen, I paid more attention.

“The more I know your power, Lord
The more I’m mindful
How casually we speak and sing your name
How often we have come to you
With no fear or wonder
And called upon you only for what we stand to gain

God forbid, that I find you so familiar
That I think of you as less than who you are
God forbid, that I should speak of you at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

Lord, I often talk about your love and mercy
How it seems to me your goodness has no end
It frightens me to think that I could take you for granted
Though you’re closer than a brother
You’re more than just a friend

You are father, God almighty
Lord of lords, you’re King of kings
Beyond my understanding
No less than everything”

I replayed the song over and over until I got to my house. I felt my heart cry out, “God! Do I take you for granted? Have I become too comfortable with my relationship with You?”

Sometimes I think that we focus so much on God being our Friend, that we forget that first and foremost He is our infinitely pure, wise, amazing, powerful Savior. We spend so much time treating Him like our personal ATM, that we forget that He doesn’t OWE us anything but He DESERVES everything we have to give.

Friendship with God requires an special kind of intimacy. Friendship with God requires obedience. Jesus said in John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command. How often do we enjoy singing “I am a friend of God” wanting to enjoy the perks of friendship with Him, but not wanting to pay the price of having that friendship?

In order to be friends with God we must first be willing to give Him our all. So the next time you sing “I am a friend of God”, ask yourself if you can say that and truly mean it.

God forbid that we think of Him as anything less than who He is. God forbid that we give Him anything less than what He deserves.

God Bubble

onbecomingnew — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:35:58 +0000

Have you ever noticed how easily distracted we are? It seems as if we cannot focus on something for more than 15 minutes without something or someone breaking that focus. At work it is co-workers, emails, and phone calls. At home it is spouses, children and more items on the “to-do” list than hours in the day.

But what about at church? Surely we can find an hour to worship God, once at week, without distractions. Unfortunately this seems to not be the case. There are always and will always be distractions.

Enter the God-bubble.

This was the illustration that I would give the teens in our previous youth group. Before I began our time of praise and worship, I would encourage them to ignore the distractions and disturbances around them, by closing their eyes and envisioning themselves stepping into a bubble. A bubble that was impermeable to the distractions around them. Steadfast from the emotional roller-coasters that they were facing. A bubble where only themselves and God existed.

For many of the teens, entering this God-bubble produced visible outward changes. Their eyes would close and I could see the tensions of the world be washed away as they began to worship God. Some would lift their hands. Others would bow their heads in reverence. And some would just beam as they worshipped. There were some teens that were not willing to put aside their distractions and enter the God-bubble. These teens would jealously watch their friends wondering if perhaps they really were missing out on something. And one by one, they would make a choice to either enter their own God-bubble or shut God out completely for the night.

I have learned that I don’t have to wait for Sunday mornings to be in my God-bubble, but that I can be in that God-bubble when I am showering in the morning, when I am driving to work, or when I am cooking dinner. I strive to enter my God-bubble daily. It has become a place that I long for. A place of comfort, of renewing, of joy.