Sunday Acrostic

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Acrostic, Christianity, God, Jesus, prayer, Religion, Spirit, spirituality

This week as I prepared for worship I reflected often on this verse in Ephesians 3:  9

The inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. (MSG)

One of the things that gave me joy is that I can learn something new about God every day for the rest of eternity and never know all of the riches, grace, love, mercy, peace and generosity of Christ.  This is such an amazing gift.

For that reason I have chosen today to write the acrostic prayer on this verse, with praise and thanksgiving for all that God has given.

Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit,
Holy One of Heaven
Eternal praises be to your name

Incredible riches are your gift to your people
Never will you let us go, never will your love fail
Everlasting peace and joy are the blessings of your hand
Xavior, Savior, Gift of Redemption, how do we say thank you?
How can we proclaim our love for you?
Again and again words are inadequate, and the songs of our hearts fail to capture all that we desire to say
Useless is the languag of humans, we beg you to rather hear our hearts and know that we love you
Search us and know us, test us and be pleased with what you find
Then in your great mercy fold us into your loving arms
Invite us to the heavenly celebration of everlasting joy
Build our faith, strengthen our mission
Lead us forward, guiding us with your Spirit
Energize us in ministry until we have accomplished all that you ask.

Reveal to us the truth of your Word, the constancy of your love, the power of your Spirit
Infuse us with grace, make love flow in us and through us
Come among us in power
Hover over us with the peace of your Spirit
Encourage us until we respond in complete obedience
Set your seal upon us and send us forth.

Anoint us for ministry
Nudge us forth to proclaim your word
Delight in our stumbline attempts at serivce and redeem all that we do in your name.

Gladly, O God, do we serve you.
Every day we seek to share your wealth with others
Near or far, we will go wherever we are called
Eager to serve, delighted to tell of Christ’s redeeming love
Real love pours from you into our hearts and into our service
Overcoming our doubt, freeing us to live and serve you with boldness
Sending us forth with praise and thanksgiving on our lips
Igniting within us the blessing of the baptism of the Spirit
Teach us to hear you and to watch for the signs of your guidance
Yes O God, Yes O God we love you and we will serve you.

Open our hearts
Fill us with grace.

Challenge us to ever greater tasks
Hold our hearts, our faith and service safely in your hands
Redirect our thoughts to you again and again
Instill in us a love of serving
Stir up within us a love for your people
Train us in the ways of righteousness; until we are all you have created us to be.  Amen and Amen.

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I’m all done talking now

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Christianity, God, prayer, Religion, Silence, spirituality

courtesy Google Images

I love to talk with my grandson on the phone.  He is always full of stories about how he has filled his days.  My daughter is very good about updating the website with photos  and comments on those activities and so I am able to ask questions to which he responds, “Yeah!” and then tells me a little more detail.  But he is three and his world is very limited.  When he runs out of stories to tell, he simply says, “I’m all done talking now.  Bye Grammie.  I love you.”  The last few weeks the “*I love you” has been replaced by a loud smacking air kiss….. and then he is gone.

Last night as I was praying, I began to ponder how often I simply pour out my heart before God, pray for the people and concerns that I have, remind God I love him and say “Amen” It occurred to me that this is a sign of many things, none of them flattering:  self preoccupation, childishness, distraction, and being rushed.  

That list makes me sad.  

Am I really so self absorbed that when I am finished talking my conversation with God is over?

Am I that childish that I don’t have the skills to listen for God’s part of the conversation?

Am I too distracted to stop and listen for what God wants me to know?

Am I in so much of a rush that I don’t wait for God to speak?

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13…  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 

And yet, when it comes to prayer I know that I have not completely put away childish things.  That’s a part of my shame, and lies at the core of the struggle that I sometimes have in deepening my prayer life.  Whereas I pray daily, I don’t listen daily.  

I have found that a helpful corrective to that problem is to begin my prayer time with the reading of Scripture. Not only does what I read help me to focus my praise as more of God’s nature is revealed, but it also points out to me things upon which to ponder, reflect and pray.  There are often insights in what I read that cause me to think about what God is saying to me.

I know that for me the answer to becoming spiritually mature lies in embracing the practice of Silence.

Silence:  Closing off our souls from “sounds”, whether noise, music, or words, so that we may be better able to still the inner chatter and clatter of our noisy hearts and be increasingly attentive to God.  The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible

Will you join me as I learn to be increasingly attentive to God?

 

What do you want?

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Christianity, God, Jesus, prayer, Religion, spirituality

My friend Becky  http://www.ministrytomotherhood.com  wrote in her blog today the following list of her wants and desires:

I want to help create a space where all can come.
I want to feel the Holy Spirit in our midst as we work with God.
I want to minister in real ways, relevant ways to people who need something different, something new.
I want to live and practice what Jesus commanded us to do, knowing that he will be with us.

Will you join me?

It seems to me that we too often come before God with the shopping list of our wants and forget that there are things that God deeply desires.  

courtesy Google Images

God desires us to have peace…. but the way in which we find peace is by working alongside God to bring peace.

God desires us to have joy…. but the way to have joy is to live with gratitude before God for all that he does for us.

God desires us to have hope…. but the way to have hope is to endure with God and to trust in his leading even when things don’t go well.

God wants us to have the desires of our hearts…. but he first asks us to delight ourselves in him.

The corrective to the list of I wants….. is to first figure out what God wants and then to align ourselves as assistants in his service.  Look again at the list of what Becky wants….

I want to help create a space where all can come.
I want to feel the Holy Spirit in our midst as we work with God.
I want to minister in real ways, relevant ways to people who need something different, something new.
I want to live and practice what Jesus commanded us to do, knowing that he will be with us.

Will you join me?

Clearly she has spent time learning about the heart of God.  She wants what God wants.  

She wants to make a place where all the people whom God loves feel welcome.

She wants to know that what she does is done in the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

She wants to meet people’s real, deep, spiritual needs as she shares God’s love with them.

She wants to be a reflection of Jesus in the world.

She wants us to be united with her and with God as we work together to establish God’s kingdom.

courtesy google images

To that all I can say is Amen, sign me up sister. 

Hold fast to the Pattern

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Christianity, God, holy spirit, Jesus, prayer, Religion, spirituality

Do you remember Home Ec?  Those classes set me on a frustrating journey in which I eventually had to acknowledge that I was craft challenged.  It all started in sewing class.

We began by making an apron.  Step by step with the help of the teacher, the apron came together.  Basically all I had to do was hem the edges and attach the strings.That completed we progressed to an easy shift dress.  A little more complicated, but as it was only straight lines I was able to manage it.  That success prompted the desire to make more things.  A pantsuit that was so completely frustrating that it reduced me to tears.  A dress that was never finished and again more   An the list goes on and on.

When you pick up the pattern at the store and choose the fabric all full of hope and expectation all things seem possible.  Then you have to lay it out, in the proper way and cut it out.  So far so easy.  But then, comes the hard part, pinning, stitching, getting the seams to match up…. no matter how simple the pattern professed to be by the time I was finished with it, the project was a complete mess.

A few nights ago I read this in 2 Timothy chapter 1…..

¹³ Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

I have to wonder, do I sometimes make a mess of the pattern of sound words which are meant to guide my faith?

We know that the Bible is open to a degree of interpretation and all of us are guilty from time to time of reading it with an eye for what we want it to say.  (I do the same thing with prayer convincing myself that what I pray for is God’s will.)  

The important thing here is what Paul goes on to say to Timothy when he advises him to keep by the Holy Spirit the sound pattern of faith he has been taught.

The difference between those sewing projects at school and at home is that at school the teacher was there, guiding me, showing me where I went wrong, helping me when I tangled the bobbin thread–again.  When I took on projects on my own, that was exactly what it was….. on my own.  No help needed thank you very much.

That same difference is crucial for our walk as Christians.  We have the sound pattern of words…. God’s word which we can read, pray over, reflect upon and learn from.  The difference for us will be if we attend to God’s word in our own power or with the wise guidance of God’s Spirit, who is our faithful teacher.  

Big Brother 2

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Bi, Big Brother, God, grace, Jesus, prayer, Religion, spirituality

Last night’s episode was quite wild  It started with accusations flying, pouting, temper tantrums and that was the quiet part of the night.  One contestant in particular, (Willy) who had vowed from the beginning to play smart and strategically had completely lost perspective and was playing stupidly, blindly, spitefully and meanly.  As all the other contestants and the coaches worked at avoiding Willy, he simply escalated his behavior until finally he flew off the handle and attacked another player.

Then, in the middle of the altercation the voice of Big Brother boomed through the house….

“Contestants to your rooms.”  

“Willy to the backroom.”  

“Willy to the diary room, NOW.”

Then moments later all the contestants were summoned to the living room and were informed that Big Brother had taken Willy out of the game, because violence was not to be tolerated.

courtesy Google images

That set me to thinking, what if God did that for us.  Without us even having to ask, what if God removed from our lives the bullies and troublemakers that upset us and the church?  Poof they are gone.

Or what if when we were struggling with our tendency to make unhealthy choices, God would come along and we no longer desired those cigarettes, or candies, or drugs or whatever we struggle with?  Poof gone.  

Or what if we had a particular struggle with temptation and sin and God came along and then we became perfectly sinless with absolutely no more desire to sin–ever?    Poof sin gone.

Now I am sure that it is possible for God to do all those things, but would it really be good for us?  

courtesy google images

In my life the tension that I have felt from others has taught me a lot about how I behave and how others behave.  As I have prayed through the problems with others I have gained insight into the nature of God, forgiveness, patience and tolerance.  I have also gained strength in standing up for what is right.  I haven’t always been successful, but this Christian life isn’t about instant success, it is about a journey where through prayer and application we learn to trust God, to listen to his voice and to grow in his way.  How could we do any of that if God just simply came down every once in a while and poof the people we have a problem with were gone…..or worse poof we were gone because someone had a problem with us?

As for those unhealthy habits in my life, the same grace applies.  I am not always successful in mastering my desire to reach for unhealthy things, but I do learn in the process and I grow stronger in the process.  God teaches us many things when we rely on his strength to let go of the things to which we are bound.  Trusting God to walk with us and guide us as we change helps us grow as people and especially as Christians.

As for the sin , or as Paul puts it, the good that I want to do but don’t, and the evil that I don’t want to do, but do.  I believe that when God redeems us in Christ he gives us the skills and the gifts to overcome our besetting sins.  We have been given grace that is more than sufficient for us.  The rest is up to us, as we learn more about God and his love, we grow more loving.  As a result our sins in relationship to others changes as our spirit changes.  The same applies to any other sins that we struggle with.  As we grow in God, his grace and love helps us to change from the inside out–from the heart into action.

I want a God who loves me and not a Big Brother who controls my life from afar.  God is not a Big Brother who poofs away difficulty, because he loves us and wants to work in us until we grow to be more and more like him and learn how to overcome the difficulties that come with a life of faith.  Why would God want to make life easy, but leave us as babies?  We have no chance then to grow into the people God knows we can be–the people God created us to be.

 

Sunday Acrostic

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Acrostic, God, Jesus, prayer, Religion, Spirit, spirituality

courtesy Google Images

Today in our worship prayers we focused on God’s attributes of compassion and healing.  We were reminded that without God’s compassion none of us would be healed and brought into the joyous relationship with Christ and with one another. 

Today’s Acrostic

Glory be to you O God for the depth of your grace and love
Old and young alike love to sing your praises
Delight fills our hearts whenever we think of you.

Open our hearts to you today
Fill us with your Spirit.

Create in us the desire to serve you
Occupy our homes with your presence
Move among us with your peace
Press us into your service
Align our hearts to you and one another
Speak to us with your word
Support us with your strength
Ignite within us your Spirit
Overcome our reluctance, give us boldness and confidence
Now and forevermore.

Accept our heartfelt praise
Need for you spills forth from our hearts
Delight is known in your presence.

Heavenly Lord
Earthly Christ
Absolute Spirit
Lead us in your service
Incite us to boldly speak of your love
Nurture our faith and our love
Guide us, so that your will is obeyed today and all days.

                   Amen.

Grieving the unthinkable

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Christianity, forgiveness, God, grief, Jesus, prayer, Religion, Shootings, spirituality

image courtesy of Google  Images

In the light of the shootings this past week at the BBQ in Toronto and at the movie last night in Colorado we who are shocked, dismayed and grieving may feel like we have no place to turn.  We question God asking again and again, “why did this have to happen?”  “Why is there so much evil in the world?”  “What can cause people to turn to such levels of violence?”

When we don’t know where to turn, we need to remember that God is always with us.  We need to remember that God has come among us and joined our suffering.  We need to remember that the same senseless violence, the same fear and hatred, is what drove people to call for the death of Jesus.

For this reason when we come to God and express our fear, our doubt, our grief and even our anger and desire for revenge, he says to us, “My child I love you, and I know what you are feeling right now.”

However, the happenings in this world are not about us, except in the calling that each of us who love and serve God have to pray.

To pray for those who grieve. 

To pray for those who are injured.

To pray for those who must investigate.

To pray for those whose hands held the guns………..YES even for them.  Let us remember that even on the cross the prayer that Jesus uttered was “forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do”.

I know that this call to prayer is difficult.  We will gladly pray for those who have been harmed and impacted, but the last prayer is far more difficult for us.  Yet God loves the gunmen as well.  They may well be the very lost sheep that Jesus came to save.

I invite you therefore to enter into prayer, and I have included here a prayer from the Worship Sourcebook which I have adapted slightly.  Please join me in prayer.

Why, Lord, must evil seem to get its way?

We do confess our sin is deeply shameful;

but now the wicked openly are scornful—

they mock your name and laugh at our dismay.

We know your providential love holds true:

nothing can curse us endlessly with sorrow.

Transform, dear Lord, this damage into good;

show us your glory, hidden by this evil.

We plead: Repair the brokenness we share.

Chastise no more, lest it destroy your creatures.

Hear this lament as intercessory prayer,

and speak your powerful Word to make us hopeful.

Why, Lord, did you abruptly take them home?  Why did so many innocent people have to die?  Why so many victims who have been injured?

Why must we feel the sting of death’s old cruelty?

Why must thier families feel the sting of death’s old cruelty?

Why must our nations feel the sting of death’s old cruelty?

Why does the insanity of the world have the power to hold sway and disrupt our lives.

Come quickly, Lord; do not leave us alone.

We plead: Repair the brokenness we share.

Chastise no more, lest it destroy your creatures.

Hear this lament as intercessory prayer,

and speak your powerful Word to make us hopeful.

Lord, even now our heart’s desire is to hold onto anger.  We plead for justice to be done, and by justice we mean punishment and retribution.

Why, Lord, must he be sentenced, locked away?

True, they have wronged neighbors and failed you.  Yet come to them, speak peace, show them the forgiving love in Christ.  Help them to seek a better way.

We remember Lord, that none of us is innocent or sinless;

only by grace we follow in your way.

We plead: Repair the brokenness we share.

Chastise no more, lest it destroy your creatures.

Hear this lament as intercessory prayer,

and speak your powerful Word to make us hopeful.

Again we pray for people and nations beset by pain and lost in grief.  Why, Lord, must any child of yours be hurt?

Do all our pain and sorrow somehow please you?

You are a God so jealous for our praises—

hear this lament as prayer that fills the earth.

We plead: Repair the brokenness we share.

Chastise no more, lest it destroy your creatures.

Hear this lament as intercessory prayer,

and speak your powerful Word to make us hopeful. Amen.

Tenacity

Do you see what these roots are doing to the sidewalk, and how they are adapting?

This takes tenacity on the part of the tree.

It does not give up.

It does not say, that concrete is too hard, I’m just going to give up and wither.

It probably didn’t even stop to consider the obstacle as a permanent barrier, it just adapted and grew.

That made me think about us, well me really.

What do I do when things get tough, do I adapt?

or complain?

or give up?

or demand that God remove the barrier?

or accuse God of not caring about the difficulty?

What if the barrier is something that will not only make me stronger, but also make me more creative?  What if the barrier, when properly approached will enhance my faith?  

I know from experience that the spiritual life has many barriers and that sometimes things get really tough.  Sometimes it seems like God is absent.  In fact one of the books I have on prayer is called, “Drinking from a dry well”.  I have had that book for maybe 20 years and I have never finished it.  I do go back to it, when I feel in a drought with God, but the book is full of advice on how to plod through the drought, and I want answers on how to find the oasis.

As I looked at how that tree adapted and it’s roots intertwined with the cobblestones and became a work of art I began to wonder about my attitude.  Maybe I need to read that book when things are going well, and learn to put into practice the dry well drinking, so that, when I do enter a drought I’ll have the resources to not just cope, but also to overcome.

I wonder if I can find that book in all the rubble of my half packed office……..

But that tree also makes me think of people that have come to me for help over the years.  There is so much in this world that defeats us…. our ill health, the deaths of those we love, sick children, and the list goes on. When people ask for help, they are usually at the end of their rope.  They don’t see a way out.  They think God has abandoned them. They have given up on God.  In fact, one woman once announced that she wanted to divorce God.  

This is an attitude that has existed from ages past.  In fact the Psalms are full of the laments of those who have felt abandoned by God.  They complain that God is not listening to their prayers.  Sometimes they wish God would just kill them and get it over with.  Yet in each case, the psalmist chose to hang in with God and was rewarded with a renewed faith, and a confident trust.  

I always try, when talking with others to help them realize that they are not alone.  God is with them, is always with them, and will always hear them when they pray.  I know, from experience that when there is no light at the end of the tunnel that it seems hopeless, but I also know that at the other side of the difficulty that I see how God has been with me the whole way.  

Following one such dry spell I wrote what I titled “A personal psalm”

God, your goodness surrounds me
Peace and joy come with the morning
The singing of the birds are like songs of praise
The song that they sing:
                    Through it all,  you O God are good.

God, oh God, where have you gone?
Doubt and fear are all around me
The clamor of voices, the shouts of anger
The song that they sing:
                     Where is your God, whom you call good?

Enemies shout, doubt distracts, fear attacks
But in grace God comes, bringing calm and comfort
His messengers bring aid and words of hope
They remind me:
                       Through it all, God is good.

I lay my burden down
I surrender my will to God’s
I look at the unfolding of God’s gifts
And I sing the song that fills my heart:
                       Through it all, God is good.

My heart rejoices, my spirit soars
Again I sing the song that fills my heart
Through it all, God is good.

I am reminded, that God loves me and God cares for me and about what happens to me.  If I hang in with God I can trust him to hold onto me with a love that will never let go.  Now to remember that the next time I feel the walls crashing around me.

Big Brother

Tags

Christianity, confession, forgiveness, God, Jesus, prayer, Religion, spirituality

Okay, I admit it, I’m not proud of it, but watching Big Brother is one of my secret pleasures.  

What fascinates me about this show?  Well it is an interesting study in psychology and human nature.

Seriously.  Any time you throw a bunch of people together for an extended period of time tensions will arise.   Even among the best of friends some boundaries need to be established for harmonious relationships to develop. But when you  throw together a group of strangers, all of whom are out only for themselves in a high stakes game, those tensions will be far more pronounced.

Add to that mix absolutely no opportunity for privacy, (not even in the bathroom) and the discomfort level goes way up.

Add to that mix the constant stress of the lying, cheating, backstabbing and scheming to consolidate your positions, and you can see the paranoia rise.

Add to that mix the constant fear of the unknown as “Big Brother” throws curve ball after curve ball designed to upset your sense of balance, well being and confidence.

And what do you have?  A prescription for sheer instability, high stress and possible breakdown.  People’s real natures are very soon revealed to the viewer, if not to the other contestants.

I can see that the contestants try to sell their lies to each other, after all that’s a big part of consolidating your position in the game, but what I don’t get is that when the go to the confession room, they repeat those same lies to us.  Really?!  Do they not know that we have been watching?  Do they not know that we have seen what they have done and heard what they have said?  Who are they trying to fool?

Who are they trying to fool?  An interesting question to be sure, and one that we all can apply to our spiritual lives.  

It is possible that we can fool the minister, sometimes, but as I get more and more savvy about people this minister is fooled less and less often.  And vice versa, we ministers need to know that the people see our flaws as well, and we can’t fool them all.

It is possible that we can fool some of the other people in the congregation, but let me tell you, you can’t fool everyone….there is always someone who is onto you.

What is not possible is to fool God.  So why do we try?  Seriously, why do we try?!

Yet, I know that I do try.  Sometimes when I am before God in confession I gloss over some stuff that I know darn well God knows about already.  I know that I don’t want to look bad to myself or to God, but I know what I have done and said, and God knows what I have done and said.

Repentance and forgiveness go hand in hand, but they do require honesty.  You can’t repent of something that you don’t acknowledge and you can’t know the peace of being forgiven for something that you try to hide from God.

When we are before God, we need to be open and honest, to be otherwise is pointless.  Absolutely pointless.    The end notes in the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible has a definition of confession that I believe needs to be at the core of our relationship with God.

Confession:  Sharing our deepest weaknesses and failures with God and trusted others, so that we may enter into God’s grace and mercy and experience his ready forgiveness and healing.

This means that we need to develop relationships of trust.  

Trust the church:  We as a church are called to love and to share one another’s burdens.  As we establish friendships with those people God brings into our path we learn that we can be honest with them.  They are not going to take what they learn and gossip about us or stab us in the back, like the contestants on Big Brother and if they do….SHAME ON THEM.  I know that I have been hurt in this way, those people are no longer my friends.  Yes trust requires discernment and it requires an understanding of human nature and the redemptive power of Christ.

Trust God:  God is not Big Brother waiting for a moment when we are vulnerable just so he can throw disaster at us.  God loves us.  God knows us.  God knows what we need.  God wants to support us, comfort us, guide us, and uphold us.  Even when God’s people let us down, God does not.  Nor will God ever let us down.  More importantly even when we let God down he will still love us and still forgive us.

Why can we trust God?  Because God knows us, inside and out and God still loves us.  

Psalm 139 tells us all that we need to know about being known by God….

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away. 
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways. 
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely. 
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me. 
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it. 

Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence? 
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast. 
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’, 
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you. 

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well. 
   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed. 
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
   How vast is the sum of them! 
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
   I come to the end—I am still with you. 

No matter what, when we come to the end…. God is still with us.  O praise his holy name.

 

Enthusiasm

Tags

Christianity, God, gratitude, Jesus, joy, prayer, Religion

Since yesterday when I wrote about the shortcomings of my cat in deference to me and how they reflected  my shortcomings in deference to God, I have been unable to let go of the comparisons.

This morning I have been reflecting about Buster’s purring.  When I first brought him home from the shelter he would purr with joy and abandon.  My daughter could hear him purring when we talked on the phone.  But as he grew older and cooler and very much the “it” cat, that joyous purring settled down to an almost soundless vibration.  I know that he purrs, he can feel the vibrations in his body when I pat him, but I really miss the soothing sound of the rumble.  I miss the “I love you-ness” of the purr.  I feel as if the bloom is gone from our relationship.

Then I started wondering about my relationship with God.  Have I stopped praising him and thanking him with the joy and abandon of our early days?

I have a friend who says that all young lovers and new Christians should be locked up for six months.  We know what she means right.  Who wants to be confronted by all that gushy love and pda’s?   Who wants to hear all about Jesus every time someone walks in a room?  Those new Christians with their love for God overflowing in their words and actions make us uncomfortable.  So it is such a relief when in time they start calming down.  They no longer talk about Jesus all the time.  They start conforming to the societal norms of our congregation or denomination.  But is that really the right thing?

I am a minister in the Presbyterian Church, and I sometimes wonder what it would take to get the people to leap from their back pew and belt forth in song, never mind shout “hallelujah”.  It’s not my intention to malign the congregation after all they are behaving, as they have been taught, with all due respect and soberness before God.  But what about the joy of the Lord?

I know that in my own life there have been those seasons where I have enthusiastically embraced my walk with God.  I have prayed with dedication.  I have sung hymns while driving.   I have clapped along with a particularly peppy hymn.  I have thanked and praised God regularly and often.

A little over a month ago we had a marvelous choir participating in worship.  The music was joyous and uplifting and I wanted to clap…. but what would the people think, so instead I tapped my toe, and tapped my fingers on my knee.  Later I commented that the music was so good we should have been clapping, and people thought I meant applaud.  

Yes I am rambling somewhat here.  This of course is more than just a worship problem, this is a heart problem.  I have grown comfortable in my relationship with God.  I take him for granted.  I  forget that God is powerful, frightening, strong.  I no longer stand before him in awe for his great power in creation and his even greater power in redemption.

I forget that God wants me to worship him fully and with joy and abandon.  I forget that he doesn’t want lukewarm worship.  If I am unhappy with Buster’s silent purr, then how unhappy is God with my lackluster praise.

It is time for me to recapture the joy of my earlier days and to remember to praise and thank God…..long, loud and often.  For he is worthy.  The Lamb is worthy…..

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, 
It’s time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
Bless the Lord O my soul, O my soul
Worship Hios holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul;
I’ll worship Your holy name. ~ Matt Redman, from Psalm 103