This past Sunday the Lord was speaking to me during worship. He told me that "His presence was a never ending supply", amongst other things. It's was raining rain buckets, as it does every Sunday at our church, but who was wearing a raincoat and why? All we have to do is enter in, take of the raincoat, and soak in the life of God that drenches us from His throne, but our trivial thoughts and difficult trials of life keep us from entering in. "It’s a choice", He reminded me!
I thought about what He spoke, and I looked out into the congregation. I could see that some entered in and some did not from my natural eye. Then I remembered that I cannot see what is happening in the heart. Couldn't someone woman have her hands lifted high and be singing a song but still be planning the next ladies event? Could someone who closes their eyes and has no outward appearance of entering in be connected to the King in worship? The answer is yes to both of these questions. So, I stopped looking out and felt that the Lord was grieved, but I continued to attempt to help bring the people up to the high mountain of praise.
Sometimes we get caught up in the routine of worship and we are not present with Christ totally. Again, this is our choice, but this grieves the heart of God we do not give ourselves entirely to the king. It would be like me withholding myself from my husband on our honeymoon night; he would be hurt, devastated, and angry like a salty underdone mixture of black beans wrapped up in one big bad spoiled flour tortilla! Let’s remember that when we come into His presence, we need to purposeful and focused; after all, He wants us to lavish Him with our love, which is our heartfelt worship.
God also is grieved when we withhold our joy and do not lift our hands and clap as we are commanded. Yet, He would rather us give these praise offerings to Him freely and cheerfully. We also can read about David and know that he shouted, danced, and sang in God’s presence. I am sure this was a freeing experience for David. FYI, you can do all of this in the privacy of your own home; however, the point is that God inhabits the praises of His people. So, if you want to meet Him, you have to extend some genuine praise to our Lord and King wherever you are.
Like I said, this past Sunday the Lord was speaking to me during worship. He told me that His presence was a never ending supply. All we have to do is enter in. That it is both our trivial thoughts and difficult trials of life that keep us from entering in. It’s a choice.
