Have you made worship a daily practice yet? Were you able to take time out today to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, to affirm His greatness, and to ascribe the honor and glory due to His Name? Were you left in awe because of His Majesty and Power? Remember the Father is seeking people who will worship in Spirit and in Truth. Isaiah writes: In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw (in a vision) the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the (most holy part of the) temple. Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood...And one called out to another, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of host; The whole earth is filled with His glory - Is 6:1,2a,3. If only we could, like Isaiah, truly see the Lord high and exalted daily in His Word. The Psalmist in ask God to open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law - Ps 119:18. O God we pray that you would open our eyes so that we can see You, High Holy and lifted up. If we could just see Him as He reveals Himself in His word, our worship would be elevated to a whole new level.. The only appropriate response to seeing the Lord would be for us to worship! My first entry in my worship journal was I Timothy 1:17. I used this verse to meditate on and to motivate me to worship the Lord in spirit and truth: Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen - I Tim 1:17. Paul writes this doxology in response to the overwhelming mercy and grace of God that saved him. As I meditated on this verse I thought about The King. So I wrote in my journal: The King. The One that I bow before. The King who rules, reigns and sits on the throne of grace. The King who invites me into His presence. The King who is eternal. The One who always has been even before the beginning. The Eternal God who chose me even before the foundation of the world. The God who can't be contained or corrupted by mortality. The invisible God who can't been seen but is always present. The only God who is wise, The God who is the God of all wisdom. The King who is worthy of all honor! Think about what our reaction would be if we were invited to the palace to visit the royal family. We would be excited, honored and probably in awe . This week consider the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God and stand in awe of who He is! desiring to be left speechless, Diane ps. if you haven't started one consider starting a worship journal and take your worship to a new level. How would you respond if you were asked when was the last time you worshipped the Lord? Most of us would probably say Sunday. Unfortunately, for far too many of us, worship has become an activity we only identify with and participate in on Sunday while we are at church. However, true worship is not a ritual or routine to be done only on Sunday at church. Jesus engaged in a conversation about true worship with the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 4. The woman was making an issue about where worship should take place. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem (at the temple) - John 4:20. Jesus saith unto her, Woman believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father...But the time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit (from the heart, the inner) and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers - John 4:21 KJV, 4:23 AMP. Worship can't be confined to specific place or time, although participating in corporate worship is important for believers. True worship is not a matter of location, it is a matter of the heart. God the Father is actually seeking true worshippers; people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship flows out of a heart of love and affection for a God who first loved us, and loves and accepts us with all our flaws. True worshippers worship God the Father and God the Son in spirit (within their hearts) because they have become persuaded by the Lord's love and moved by the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ. What if instead, the question asked was when was the last time you truly stood in awe of God? Would our answer still be Sunday, or would the question cause us pause? When were you so overwhelmed by the power, majesty, greatness, and holiness of God you were left speechless? The kind of worshipper the Father is seeking not only worships in spirit, but also worships in truth. This kind of worship is based upon a true knowledge about the character of God. True worship involves acknowledging, affirming, ascribing worth to and standing in awe of God: Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him - Ps 33: 8. The more knowledge about the character of God we have the more in awe of Him we become. True worship flows out of a heart that is gripped and overwhelmed by the love of Christ and a mind that is blown by the revelation of His character and power; revelation that comes from spending time in His Word. Worship has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God. Worship is not about getting our petitions heard or prayers answered. Worship is centered solely on Him. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen - I Tim 1:17. The Father is seeking people who will worship Him. Will He find us acknowledging, affirming, ascribing worth to and standing in awe of Him? desiring to be left speechless, diane p.s. make worship a daily habit. Daily affirm the character of God, stand back and consider His greatness, His holiness, His majesty, His goodness. Start a worship journal, righting down scriptures that affirm who He is like I Tim 1:17. Meditate on these scriptures and before long you will be left speechless. How are you making out on the journey ? Are you getting enough light? Light is essential to this journey: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Ps 119:105). Often I see parallels between photography and our spiritual journey. One of the first principles a photographer must learn and understand is that photography is all about the light. Likewise we must understand our journey is all about the light: In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4-5). Then Jesus spake again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12). Jesus is the Creator of life and the source of our spiritual life and His life brings light to mankind. Jesus refers to Himself as the light of world and all those who follow Him shall enjoy His presence, protection and the personal guidance needed to walk in light. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Pet 2:9b) and are instructed to walk in the light, as He is in the light (I John 1:7a). In addition to the light principle, understanding the camera's features and functions is also important to the photographer's success. While knowing how the camera operates is important, it often leads to a common mistake many photographers make. A photographer comes upon a beautiful scene and immediately starts looking at the camera trying to figure out what the camera settings should be, takes the picture, gets home and finds out he or she is disappointed with the results. The photographer forgot the first principle, it's about the light. Instead of looking at the camera he or she should have been looking at the light in the scene. Looking at light will help the photographer to determine the camera settings. We do the same thing. When we are confronted with an interpersonal conflict or pressure, immediately we start operating and reacting based upon what we think and how we feel. Instead of looking to the Light, we go right into defending our position and determining what we need to say and do to win the argument. If instead in the midst of conflict , we would take a moment to look to Jesus, who is the Light, our response to the conflict would be different. A photographer's goal is to capture the light, our's is to reflect the Light: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matt 5:16). Looking to the Light with a desire to reflect the Light will enable us to speak the truth in love even in conflict and to respond in humility instead of hostility. If a photographer effectively captures the light he or she ends up with a beautiful portrait. If we reflect the Light we end up as a beautiful portrait of the Master, we become a Masterpiece: And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continued to behold (in the Word of God) as in the mirror the glory of the Lord are constantly being transfigured into His very own image...(II Cor 3:18 -AMP). The next time we find ourselves in a fight we must look to the Light! looking to the Light, Diane p.s. Let's practice looking to the Light before we react. Every time conflict or pressure arises be intentional about looking to Light. Let the Light of the Word direct your response. p.p.s. you can check out my efforts as a photographer to capture the light at just4hisglory.com I am so glad we are still on our way to becoming the people of God that He has called us to be, created for His glory. We are all a work in progress (Being confident of this very thing , that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ - Phil 2:6). Sometimes, however, along the way we lose perspective, making choices, allowing things and personal pursuits to hinder our efforts to live out our divine purpose. We have to be reminded: we didn't choose the Lord, He chose us. We were chosen by Him for divine and eternal purposes, not for our own agenda ( Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain - St. John 15:16) and (According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love - Eph 1:4). God has not only chosen us but He has set us apart, and continues to set us apart from the mundane, the ordinary and temporary things that have been consuming us in order to produce through us things that have eternal value. Because He has ordained us to bear fruit, we should not be surprised when frustration with the material life sets in, or when the voids and vacuums in our lives can't seemed to be filled by the very things we have pursued. He is in the process of chiseling us, crafting us into vessels fit for His use (But now O Lord, thou art our Father, we are the clay, and thou our Potter, and we are the work of thy hand - Is 64:8). When the chiseling gets uncomfortable, and it will get uncomfortable as God uses difficulty to build character into our lives, just know that we are in the hands of The Divine Artist who is in the process of creating masterpieces to portray His glory (For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them - Eph 2:10) and ( He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold - Job 23:10). We have been chosen for this journey. We will be chiseled through our circumstances. We are being crafting into masterpieces - portraits of His glory. On our way together, Diane p.s. this week spend some time meditating on St. John 15:16 and consider the implications this verse has on your life. Being chiseled? Be encouraged, the Divine Artist is creating a masterpiece, and you shall come forth as gold! Welcome back. Just joining the journey? Check the June 2014 post to catch up. Committed to the journey, but have not subscribed yet? Subscribe to keep pace. My desire and intent is to post weekly. So why the journey? This Living just for His Glory journey has to do with one thing-Purpose. Purpose is a word we hear all the time, often in connection with the word destiny. Statements like: "I was born for this purpose, this is my destiny "...or "I don't know my purpose...", are familiar, if not personal to us all. Purpose is simply the reason for something or someone's existence. Destiny is the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of actions. We are on this journey because we were created by the Lord Jesus Christ, for His glory (Even every one that is called by name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea I have made him. - Is 43:7) and (Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God - I Cor 10:31). The real purpose for our lives is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. I am still in the process of learning how to live this purpose out in my daily life, that's why the journey. Learning to live just for His glory is a lifelong process. We are inclined to attach our purpose to what we do rather than who we are. The Lord is first and foremost concerned with who we are (our character). (For whom He did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren - Rom 8:29). Our destiny is be like Jesus, and God the Father is committed to do whatever is necessary to make us look like Him! What we do ( our works) should be motivated by and an outcome of who we are. Living just for His glory is learning what it really means for it " to not be about us but to be about Him ". Even as we take the tenth selfie of the day, Living just for His glory is the process of learning how to make Him the subject of the portrait, and us and all our stuff the background. Radical, I know, right? Still committed? I hope so. Privileged to be on the journey with you, Diane P.S. The next time you go to Church, and do I hope that means Sunday, but that's another post on another day, try this: Put all your attention on lifting up Jesus (worship), don't focus what you like or don't about your hair, wear, don't even focus on your cares. From the time you step into the House make it about Him. Try to even to resist the temptation to read the text that comes while you have the Bible App open. It's been about us all week, let's make Worship about Him! |
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