Worship, Redirection


Ps 95:6-7
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;  7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
There are times in my life when I lose focus.  The cares of the day press in on me and my thoughts turn inward. Navel gazing, I call it. It is during these times when I begin to think, “Woe is me”.
Usually these times occur when I start comparing.
I compare myself to my vision of myself and where I thought I would be at this stage in my life; what I should have accomplished.
I compare myself to others. I see where they are and what they have accomplished with their lives.  I see the recognition that they  get for their accomplishments and I see the lack in mine.
I compare myself to the way I think others view me and what they think I should have accomplished.  One of my great weaknesses is that I care what other people think of me.
In any and all of these comparisons I find myself lacking.
I think of wasted opportunities and what should have been.
I focus on me.
I will always be found wanting, lacking, coming up short.
Only, it’s not about me.
Coach Schiano of the Bucs recalled running into a woman, who upon seeing his WWJD bracelet , asked him if he knew the answer to that question. Taken aback, and not knowing what she was referring to, he answered no. She said it was F.A.M.I.L.Y.  When he asked her what it meant she answered, “Forget about me, I love you”. He was so impressed that he is having all the players on his team wear the F.A.M.I.L.Y.  bracelet.
The point is to take the focus off ourselves.
When I lift up my eyes and gaze upon Him I see His glory. He is never lacking.
The psalmist in his call to worship urges us to bow down, to kneel. The call is to humility.  Some are proud because the focus on their accomplishments. Others, like me, are proud because we focus on our lack of accomplishments because we still think life is about us.
Humility kneels and bows down to the only one who is worthy.
He is our God. He is Lord. He is our maker and we are but sheep under His care. We belong to Him. Anything that is accomplished is because of Him and through Hm.
My wife, born of rebellion but redeemed by the Lord, reminds me of what the Lord has accomplished through me and in spite of me. While my pride makes me myopic, her love allows her to see clearly.
Both of us are humbled and driven to worship. Both of us are driven to our knees with tears streaming down our cheeks.
Ps 96:9
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
As His splendor is revealed in our lives we can but tremble in His presence at His majesty.
But so great is His love for us that He lifts up our countenance as He fills us with joy and our worship turns to rejoicing.
Ps 96:11-12
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; 12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
He turns our mourning to dancing, our tears to laughter.
Allow Him to lift up your gaze and see yourself reflected in His glory, His holiness and His majesty.
Ps 100:2-5
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 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.  4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving  and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Theology of the Holy Spirit

Image
  I haven’t written in my blog for a while now. However, seeing as the point of this stream is to talk about Spirit-led Living, I feel that there is something that I must address. Growing up I would read the New Testament and I formed a theology based on what I read on its’ pages. I believed that it was true, and I also believed that those things were not only for then, but also for today. Through the years as I was involved with several denominations, Wesleyan, Free Methodist, Assemblies of God, and Grace Brethren among others; I never felt that I could sign on the dotted line to become a member as agreeing with all their doctrinal positions. While I agreed with a large portion of what they believed, they all had doctrinal points that I felt were not Biblical. It wasn’t until I came upon the Vineyard that I felt that I found my tribe. From the Evangelicals I took a deep reverence for the Gospel and the Word as the inspired, inerrant word of God and the litmus test for all that we ...
Read more

Transparency

So, at her goodbye party, Michelle challenged us to be more transparent. Here goes my first attempt. I don’t usually write about my personal life on Facebook, both because I am a private person and second because I’m always concerned about what people will think. One of my shortcomings is that I have always been a people pleaser. As such, I tend to stay away from personal or controversial topics. No more. The time has come to take a bold personal stand for the sake of Christ. I am passionately in love with Jesus. However, I don’t always live that way. I have my struggles and if I want Him to stand up for me on Judgment Day; I need to stand for Him now. While I have a wonderful wife who is my best friend, I don’t have any close male friends and I struggle with loneliness. I have tried to reach out to guys but unless I initiate interactions, those relationships tend to go nowhere. I finally realized that if I want a friend, I am going to have to open up to someone and t...
Read more

Transparency - Part 2

First, I want to thank those of you who have given me feedback and told me to keep going. It really has been encouraging. As Pastor Karl continues his series on “Beating the Devil With his Own Stick”, he challenged us to look at the lies the enemy has spoken to us. Some of us have bought into these lies, but if you are like me, they are just there below the surface. We don’t think about them consciously all that much, but they are like those nasty noseeums that buzz around your head when you’re mowing the lawn. I’ve got a couple of favorite ones that tend to hang on in the back of my mind. “Your father was a failure and so are you.” My father started a number of businesses all which folded within a couple of years. He also planted over 10 churches in his lifetime. Most never grew beyond 50-60 people. I have no idea if any of them still exist today. Counting JesusChurch, this is my 5 th church plant that I have been a part of and none of the previous 4 still exists today. ...
Read more