Worshiper & Warrior

A friend of mine reminded me of a really cool fact about David: He was a worshipper and a warrior.
It is interesting that in the culture we live in, it is "either/or". You can either be a wimpy worshipper or you can be a powerful warrior. Men, it is not wimpy to be a worshipper. Look behind every classic "man movie". Each act of bravery is usually prompted by some tremendous loss. It is all based upon a deep love for someone, and deep devotion to something.
Why should God be any different? Somehow it is alright to go shirtless at the football stadium in zero degree weather, jump up and scream for your team, but stand in your church with your arms folded in silence. God is worth more than that.
How about we give up the silence and become a worshipper & a warrior.

Search Me God

Psalm 26
1 Declare me innocent, O
Lord, for I have acted with
integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without
wavering. 2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine
me. Test my motives and my heart. 3 For
I am always aware of your unfailing love, and
I have lived according to your truth.

Can anyone imagine uttering these words to God?

I sure can't! I think I would be afraid that He may
truly put me on trial and expose all of my secret sins and expose them to
the entire world.

We should pray this every time we approach God for worship. "Search me
God, and let me know if there is anything unpleasing that You find. If you
find anything, tell me so I can purge it out of my life since I know that it is
a stench in your nose. I want to be pleasing to you today."

I truly believe that 1 John 1:9 is true when it says: " But if we
confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all wickedness." (NLT)

Let's put ourselves on trial first, so that when we say this prayer from
Psalm 26 that there will be nothing for God to find.

Exciting Motivation

I read this verse in my Bible today:

For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those wh have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NET)

That is what I am doing today...encouraging you with these words. Jesus wants to be with you! He loves when we worship and express our love to him in that way!

What an awesome thought, that Jesus would be willing to come back to a world that decided that they would be better off if he were dead. The same world that hung him on the cross. The same world that rejected him as Lord.

I picked someone up this morning. This person didn't know the exact time I was going to show up, but he was standing outside, bags packed, waiting at the end of his driveway. All I had to do was drive up, he hopped in, and we were off. I can remember when people have come to pick me up, and I have told them that I was ready, but I still had to put my shoes on, grab my bag, go out the door, etc. Was I really ready?

If anything is left undone in our lives when he returns, there will be no time to tie shoes, no time to pack bags. We must be ready completely,
bags packed, shoes on and ready to go.

He IS coming back, and he is coming back for the ones that radically love him. Ones that are ready and waiting for him.

Priority of the Worshipper

I have been considering a question today: Which is more important, a great worship song, or a great worshipper?
It seems sometimes that a great worship song can get a great response from one corporate setting, and do nothing for another group. There seems to be a disconnect sometimes no matter what songs are being sung.
I guess I just want to say that we do not worship songs, we worship the one that the song was written for. I have heard people say, "That song just doesn't do anything for me", but isn't isn't it about what the song does for the Lord? When we say that, we have the wrong perspective on worship. God doesn't enjoy the song unless someone is singing it! God enjoys YOU more than he enjoys the song.
Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart - 1 Sam. 16:7
Let's make our hearts something that the LORD enjoys looking at!