July 21, 2007

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10


When was the last time you were still and quiet? I don't get many opportunities to be really still and really quiet. Thankfully, I had one of those moments this morning. Even then there was not TOTAL silence. I have a noisy clock that kept interrupting the silence with its ticking...something I normally don't even notice, but when trying to be quiet, it sounded SO loud! But I was still and quiet. I determined NOT to think about my prayer requests...not MY needs or the needs of SO many who are in need of prayer today. I just wanted to be still and LISTEN...listen for God to speak.


WORSHIP. How do you define that word? If you were to go into any given church tomorrow morning and survey 100 people of different ages, I am confident that you would get 100 different definitions. That one question has stirred up more controversy, divided more churches and caused more debates than probably anything else in the church this century! The dictionary defines it as "reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred. " In simple terms, it is putting our focus TOTALLY on God and giving him the honor and glory He so deserves.


As I tried to focus on Him this morning, I thought of His attributes. He is HOLY, truly, 100% HOLY. There is none like Him! On our best day, we can't come close! He is without sin...always has been, always will be. He has never known what it is to have a sinful thought, a mean thought, a lustful thought. He has NEVER acted any way but righteous. Every thing He has ever done or ever will do is PERFECT! Not once has He ever slipped up. Not once has He ever said "Oops! I shouldn't have done that!" He has never lied. He has never failed to keep a promise. He has never stopped loving us, no matter how rotten we've acted, how much we've let Him down, how many times we have sinned. He has never fallen asleep on the job; never been late; never mixed up an answer to a prayer request; never given up on us. He is PURE....without sin or fault or mistake. He is good, righteous, compassionate, kind, merciful, gracious, loving, powerful, awesome, mighty, faithful, generous, forgiving, tenderhearted, and about 10 million other adjectives that I have no room to write. And that description doesn't even scratch the surface of His character!


Worship then should be our getting still before Him, and focusing on those attributes and giving Him praise for them, showing our gratitude to Him for those attributes He demonstrates to us and just falling at the feet of One so perfect, HOLY and awesome! How you choose to do that should not matter. Whatever means best helps you to do that, go for it! When we stand before His throne one day in Heaven, we will be forever worshipping Him. As the song I CAN ONLY IMAGINE so beautifully says it "Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?I can only imagine! I can only imagine! "


Psalm 97 tells us :

"The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice!...Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him...His lightening lights up the world; the earth...trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord." The created earth recognizes His greatness and majesty. Shouldn't we?


The point is, our focus will be on HIM!! It is not about WHO or WHERE or HOW...it is about GOD! Give Him GLORY and PRAISE and ADORATION for who HE is. Focus on WHO He is and what an awesome God we serve!!!!!!!!!!! Do it today wherever you are and then do it again tomorrow when you go to church. But BE STILL and ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS YOUR GOD AND KING!!!!!!!!! He alone is worthy!