A Worship Team Special Edition: The Overflow

 

A Worship Team Special Edition: The Overflow

Friends, the worship that comes from us on Sunday or whatever service or event we are leading or participating in should come from a “prepared heart”. It should be founded in core values that we acknowledge. It should be full of non-negotiables, living our lives worshiping the Lord in everything we do. This is not reserved for the singers, but also the musicians too.  It should be a stream that is used to running and is familiar with communing with God.  Yes, I prepare for service by reading over the lyrics, seeking the Lord, praying over them, searching the Bible for scriptures, which I often use Biblegateway.com; but, it is a second level of dedication and devotion.  Don’t get me wrong, a worship leader and praise team member should know the lyrics and be able to sing most of the time without looking at them; this way they can focus on God and listen to Him for wisdom, while he or she is leading.  Know the parts for your instrument that are tricky, sing and play in the spirit at home and allow God to take you places in his anointing. However, their minds and hearts must be clear of everything else and ready to worship. This state of prepared readiness comes from a heart that seeks the Lord and has their own precious time with God.  The foundation is laid, kept, not forgotten, and seasoned daily. And out of this secret place, comes a surrendered heart that overflows. This overflow comes out like incense before God both at home etc. and in church.  If you ever worry you won’t know what to say during worship, if your heart is full with worship and the word, there will be an overflowing of new wine for the people. You will have experienced this new wine before the people. In short, you will be a refreshing spring for others to come and drink God’s living water from.  God will fill your lips. This is a surrendered life. If you bring your supplication before the Lord, you will over flow with praise” (Psalm 119:170-172). So bring your heart, your lips, your instrument, and whatever else you have before Him at home, in the car, etc. and you are sure to have a supernatural overflow wherever you go to minister.

 

God bless!

Psalm 119:170-172 (NIV)

¹⁷⁰ May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
¹⁷¹ May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
¹⁷² May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.

Lovesick

I am a worshipper and lover of God. I love who He is, and my devotion is entwined with passion of falling deeper in relationship with Him. As I walk through trials and see how suffering produces character and hope; I become more aware of His commitment to me to the end of time. We live in a spiritual kingdom that has no end. His love never ends; the word tells us that His love is unfailing.

His love transcends every circumstance we face, as well as the failures we experience. He is clothed in love and gentle and patient.  Romans 5 tell us that “Hope does not disappoint”.  Jesus in my friend; the evidence is a life of relationship.  The fruit of this is trust. If one never opens up this “bottle” and tries it, they will never know or experience the love of God.

I fancy Jesus and am crazy about Him. I look forward to growing old and on into eternity with Him. His love has touched me life. Each time I come into His presence, I feel more and want more of His love. Isn’t it true that when you walk with someone, you get to know them and they know you? You can’t wait to be in their presence: it’s a safe and beautiful place to dwell and visit.

When we have such a deep love for Christ, there is an overflow and freedom to express it. One cannot not hold back their response of love, gratefulness, and admiration towards God when He is near. This deluge of emotions is so great there is a physical and emotional outpouring towards God.  Hearts and minds are connected singing a love song to each other. This song has a variety of genres, though these are just a few: thinking on, singing to, and or talking to God.

When I come into God’s presence, like I did at Beef O’ Brady’s today, sitting outside reading the book: Momentum, by Eric and Bill Johnson, I felt an avalanche hit me.   I finished the book, but there was so much more than that going back and forth between him and me. It was like the sun was shining on me, but it was His love just soaking me out there; I was smiling and celebrating His “love shower”.  I was just thanking Him for the opportunity to be in a class that was assisting my spiritual development and was drawing me closer to Him.

As I draw nearer to God daily, whether though declarations, prayer, singing, meditating on God, I see that He is drawing closer to me. The cry of my heart is that this love will begin to shine and touch others wherever I am.  Call me “lovesick”, and I’ll tell you it’s true. Call me “love-struck”, and I‘ll tell you it’s true.

Worship is more than what happens on a Sunday morning or at any given service, though He can and does move. Worship is a lifestyle; it’s a tangible life-giving gift that anyone can enjoy. To be with the Master and Savior, to revel in His love, to rejoice in who He is are just a few of the things I think about when I focus on the Lord. It’s like a window opens between Earth and Heaven. My spirit skips the clouds and goes straight to His bosom. Can you tell I am in love? When we have this secure intimacy and connection to the secret place, nothing can touch us because we soar above the clouds and troubles.

Hey, I never know how or if God will move during a worship service as I am leading, I just travel to the space above; my heart searches for Him. It’s just another time to meet Him. Yes, I set my expectations high and pray before service and ask Him to move, but my focus is still on me meeting God in an encounter that takes me higher and gets me closer to Him. Yes, I want to see Him move and do miracles, but I don't worship God to attempt to manipulate Him to move. I come into his presence and worship the "Great I Am".

Take a moment and think about the concepts in this blog. What can you do to draw closer to God? If you have not experienced this kind of love, the God kind-of-love, it’s time to open the bottle and experience Him by reading His word, talking to Him, and thanking Him. If you sense a block, ask God how to get the wall down. Nothing can separate us from His love; however, we need to be aware of His love and accept it, despite any failures we may have had. So, what is God speaking to you?

Puddles and Swellings: Out of the Box Worship

God blew in like the wind and fell on us with His mighty presence at our last worship practice. We have been hungry for more of God, seeking Him, praying, and asking Him to meet and change us. Now I know it sounds silly, but when we come to practice, that’s what we come to do. That sounds right. Doesn’t it? Well, I have been gently corrected by the Holy Spirit. Every time I come to the Lord to worship and praise Him, wherever I am, I should expect to connect with Him.

God wants to be invited into our box, our world, and whatever we put our hands too that we dedicate to Him. As we invite Him in to our world, He becomes part of our world. The more I get to know and love Christ; the more I feel closer to Him. The more we pray for Heaven to invade Earth; the more Heaven we can connect too. The more we connect to Heaven; the more He can invade out world.  And the two become one.

So I am so excited about what God is doing at Gulf Coast Church and in the Praise and Worship Ministry. We are finding deep swellings of God’s anointing every time we meet. We are also getting to know each other by the spirit. We are learning to move and flow in God. I think Jesus is happy we took Him out of the box! He is so much more than what we confine our thinking to, and it’s time to start jumping in the puddles He has prepared for us!

A Re-Revealing Purposeful Worship Movement

Today in church, God moved and smeared His anointing all over us. God began to show and remind me of some of the worship principles that are in His Word as I was leading. He told me it was reciprocal: fellowship and communion with God; the more praises that go up, the more His glory comes down!

As we, the worship team and church, began to abandon ourselves to God, letting the praises go up, He began to fill our sanctuary. It was like a swelling in the air that kept growing. The more we pressed in and praised, the greater His presence poured out.

He worked something sweet and special during worship inside my spirit too. There was a softer, more intimate exchange. I was believing for a great and mighty wind. I had been seeking the Lord to ask Him for us to hear the sound of heaven today, to worship in the heavenlies, and to ask God to release more of His power and glory on the earth. Yet, He came as a gentlemen, courting and wooing us.

I believe that He is doing something new and it's about to break out! This is not just a church thing. It is a movement that has begun all over the world. God is awakening the church and reminding them of His word and re-revealing (is that word?) His secret mysteries. These mysteries are opened to us and are not meant to be a mystery. He wants us awake and alive! He has a purpose for us in this global worship movement sweeping across America. It's not just the privy of one denomination or just non-denominational churches. God is breaking out past these man-made barriers and boundaries. He is using many famous worship leaders and bands, like Jesus Culture, Bethel, Kare Jobe etc. He is working this movement in the local church too.

This can only be to take the word out, refresh and empower His church, and to bring about a massive move of God. I believe this outpouring will happen not just in the church, but also in the homes and cars of people who understand that it is normal to worship God, but that it is also our reasonable service to present our bodies. God wants us to get past ourselves and pride, as was spoken in today's message: To do things God's ways and not our own. If we follow the Biblical pattern of worship; there are so many things we can do (sing, pray, clap, shout, kneel, bow, dance, and lay prostrate). We no longer need an animal sacrifice because Jesus was slain for us. So,  go ahead and press and go boldly before His throne. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I go all-in for Christ in everything I put my hand to; so can you.

Psalm of Relief

In the darkest hour of those around me, I muster up a song of praise.

I remember that You soar on the winds of worship.

You are holy, true, and righteous.

Where there is pain; there is eventually relief.

Where there is suffering, there is eventually relief.

Soul, wake up and praise the Mighty One redeemer of us all!

In the darkest hour of those around me, I am caught up in this twister of trouble.

I have to shake myself and run to you instead of the sorrow.

You are my rock, friend, and confidant.

Where there is worry; there is eventually relief.

Where there is sadness; there is eventually relief.

Soul, wake up and praise the Mighty One redeemer of us all!

He Still Speaks and Moves

Yesterday before our church service started and after our pre-church service team prayer, I was prayingfor the service on my own with one- minute- thirty- seconds left on the countdown. I heard a voice behind me say, “Illy.”. I turned around and began to ask people if they called me name. No one near me on the platform had.

I turned around and smiled big in my spirit. I we reminded of Eli’s son, Samuel, in the Old Testament. The story is recorded in 1 Samuel chapter three. God was calling him; he responded back: ” Speak Lord, your servant hears” (v3). This was a thirty second download I wasreceiving and the outcome was awesome.

I started service and though I had always known the God was with me when leading worship, two things came to my mind and heart in those brief moments. One, listen to the Lord and flow in the Holy Spirit. Two, God was with me; God was with us. We had invited Him to come and meet us. We asked for an encounter with the Lord in our pre-service prayer and He met us. The Lord moved the entire service! He was there touching us and changing our lives and hearts. Folks, He still speaks and moves!
Thank you Jesus!

Go into 2012 Shouting and Praising your Way In!

I woke up this morning with the word “to go into 2012 shouting and praising my way in”. My pastor, special music, and visiting missionary confirmed this.

Let’s remember to give God the glory a head time and to give our best praise day-in and day-out as we press forward. That’s right! I’m not rolling in, drudging my way in, or sauntering my way in; I am going in full-speed ahead. I am going to embrace the new, whatever that is, and continue to praise God as I enjoy the journey. Now is a good a time as any to begin to ask God to speak to you about the new year ahead…… What does He have in store for you? Is this the year that you will embrace going deeper in Him, or will this be a year that you continue to pour into your agendas and incentives? These are tough questions. He got me thinking this morning about a lot of things!

As we get older, we tend to view the start of a New Year as a time when one retrospectively assesses their progress. I am not talking about New Year’s resolutions. I am talking about taking into account what God has put into our hands and told us what to do or NOT to do. It’s time to recommit and reconnect. For some, it’s a time to get back to the basics and to renew the commitment to the call that God has placed on us. No one decides they are going to ease back on reading the Bible. In fact, I have known many inveterate people to slip away. The answer is to recommit!

If our foundation is right, we can handle whatever comes our way, whether joyful celebrations or gale winds; thus, serving Him anyway and giving Him praise in the good and bad times. No matter what, I am pressing forward. I aspire to be more of a blessing to those around me. I am considering my priorities and what needs to be changed. I am turning my heart toward home. This home is heaven. The cares of this world can bring us down, but when we remember to sharpen our focus, we get back on track!

As we mature, we find God urging us to give up childish things or things we can do without. As we learn to surrender them, we become more like Christ. This in turn creates a positive cycle. The more we are more like Christ, the more people we will reach for Christ because of His light shining in and through us. Then they become like Christ and the cycle continues. On the other hand, when Christ is not the focal point, the cycle goes the other way. Think of it this way: You are what you eat. That is what you watch on TV, what you do online, what you read, where you go with friends, etc. What do you feed your body, mind, soul, and spirit? Does your spirit and soul crave to be with God, someone, or something else? What are you emulating for others? Does your life point others to Christ or towards stumbling blocks?

So there is much to ponder, but I am adamant to go into 2012 thanking, praising, and embracing all that He has for me. The word is change! What about you? Take some time and do a personal inventory. Praising God is more than what we do in church on Sunday. It’s an attitude of gratitude, but also one of consideration of what God has in store for us. It’s living a lifestyle of worship! It’s what we do day-in and day-out as we walk with God.