It's About the Worship!

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship." (Romans 12:1 NIV).

In some translations, what used to be "reasonable service" is now "proper worship." It helped me a lot to see this translation. It's about praying for forgiveness, being obedient to God, having self control, being kind to and helping others and putting nothing before Him or what it is we feel He is calling us to do. 

We are to be devoted solely to God when we are in worship. It's a personal relationship with the Almighty and it can be like a fairytale when His presence is so palpable. When you reach the level where your relationship with Him is utterly so amazing, you can't even have imagined how wonderful it can really be? You know that He's definitely there, in everything we see with our eyes, what we feel with our heart, know with our mind,  The presence of Jesus is so humbling that when it happens, your spirit is lifted! He puts a thought in your head and heart, to remind you that He is always with you through the Holy Spirit who lives within you. Indeed, He is most definitely "Indescribable" as Chris Tomlin might say. It literally humbles me to my knees when I can feel His presence palpably, like I could touch Him! 

When He calls upon me to do something, like this post, I want to do the best I can, in order to please Him. Nothing should ever come between us and Jesus while we are in worship, whether it be in church, or in privacy. This is paramount for the relationship. You have to spend time with Him and especially His word! He is, and always will be a dear friend and there for you and He should be the only thing we're thinking about and the only one we are trying to please when we are in the pews of our churches. Plus, it's pretty awesome when you can feel the Holy Spirit moving in a church! It's an amazing feeling! I've also felt the presence of God in a chatroom online where people were typing out scriptures, messages of blessing to others and especially when we would break out in prayer for someone who had just joined the conversation and had a specific prayer request! The Holy Spirit was most definitely there! (Gee, maybe God invented the internet! lol).

Part of worship is music, hymns, praise worship songs, etc. I went to a pretty liturgical church when I was a teenager, but now I'm a non-denominational kinda gal. I used to be in a praise worship team, and at times, we weren't always in sync. I asked our music pastor if we could do a study on worship and praise and we did so off of a book I was reading at the time on the subject. We began to pray more fervently, in private, and some of us would pray at home and take communion, all by our lonesome, in order to get right with God. The better we got about making it all about Him, instead of all about us, things began to change. We all had a better attitude after that.

I think maybe I've not been totally right with God of late. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I've asked over and over for God to reveal it to me, search me, try me, assess me, and then let me know where I'm lacking. I've been having pity parties again, and they are so disruptive! I really hate that the devil get's us to say "Really? Well I'll show you devil!" Yeah, like that's gonna work! Duh? We tend to "self-sabotage" ourselves all over the place and emotionally we are like punching bags You have to let God do the work in you and through you! "Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." (James 4:7-8), and you WILL be protected!

I submit to You Father God. Please, come and cleanse me from my sins. Please Lord, revive all of the Christian people of this world. Wake them up with a dream that shows them that the bible is true and that Jesus is close at hand. Give us a greater faith and strengthen our resolve to endure, never give up, and to always turn to you when we are in a tough spot. I've been in plenty of those "tight spots" and You've always provided for our needs Lord. You are my best friend, and I don't like disappointing You, so please give me a doubly humble heart and give me more strength. I need your kind of strength Lord just to get through every minute of every hour of every day, and no matter what, I will always love You Lord. Even Job did, though he was tortured in his soul because of everything he lost and yet he never blamed You, not once, nor will I. "Though He slay me, yet, will I hope in Him." (Job 13:15). 

Thank You Lord for always being with me. I don't know what I would do without You. I pray for all those who have fallen away and especially for those who are completely lost. I don't mind if you leave me to go find the lost sheep out there because It kills me when I think of how many will pay for their sins in a place so dreadful that there is constant wailing and gnashing of teeth. I imagine the pain I'm in right now, and suffering it for all of eternity? I don't ever want to go there Lord. Please keep me sane, strong of mind, heart and resolve to get well, and begin again. I pray it all in the name of Jesus, Amen.

"This is my desire, to honor You. Lord with all of my heart, I worship You. And all I have within me, I give You praise, and all that I adore, is in You. Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul, I live for You alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, Lord, have Your way in me."