A Broken Record

Sometimes, when I read other people's blogs, I feel like mine sounds like a broken record. I feel like the words I say are the same thing over and over again. Encouraging, challenging, admonishing... but all to the same end.  Today in my bible reading I had a bit of an epiphany - God has given me a passion and it is out of that passion - I write.

If you know me, I am through and through - a worship leader! Try as I might, I could not find a succinct definition of what a worship leader is (they were all very long and would probably bore you), but if I tried to put words to it, it would be: a person who leads by example, with their lives, on and off stage to guide or encourage others in to the presence of the Almighty God. My happy place is being in the presence of the Lord. I LONG for others to have that experience as well and my heart weeps for those who have never experienced it or choose not to go to that place, for what ever reason.

So today, as I was reading in the Psalms, I decided that it is OK if the words I type on these pages have a theme to them. They reflect the theme of my life and what God is putting on my heart. Let's face it, I am not a very complicated girl. I'm kind of "what you see is what you get." My prayer is that somehow, God would use these words to not only work in my heart and change me, but He would do the same for you. 

WOW - what a set up - this part better be good!

This morning I was reading Psalm 103, I encourage you to read the whole thing, but there were a couple parts that stood out to me. It begins:  

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

When I think about my soul, I think about the very deepest part of me. It is not superficial, it not surface, it is not something that is easily brushed aside. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and ALL that is within me, bless His holy name!"

Moving down a few more verses it says this:

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Thank you Jesus, that you remember I am just dust. I am weak and frail and as much as I long to please Him, I fail. But His love for me is so very great, that when I come to Him in repentance from my very soul, He removes those failures as far as the east is from the west. One of my favorite lines from the new CD by my friend, Carlos Whittaker says, "I am the sum of failing and grace." So true. Thank God for His grace!

So, the broken record of a worship leader in me says WORSHIP HIM TODAY, with all that is within you. Bless His name for the grace He has shown you, bless His name for the transforming power of His love, bless His name for the gift of His son, and on and and on and on... If you are not in the place where you can do that, figure out why - and then move toward Him. Just don't go about your day without getting in touch with your very soul and seeing what it worships. It worships something - is it the right thing?

Get in to His presence and stay there!

Son of...

Being adopted, genealogy has always been important to me. I have 2 - the adopted side and the biological side. Someday I will post that whole story here for you to read, but today I have other things on my mind. In my chronological Bible reading I am in 1 Chronicles at the moment and most of what I have been reading for the last week or so are lists of people. So and so the son of so and so then son of so and so, on and on it goes. You get it. One of the most interesting things about "the lists" is when it breaks off from the normal pattern and tells what this particular family of people were given to do. A lot of them were warriors, it tells whether some were archers or swordsmen. THEN you come to the Levites. They were in charge of the temple (or at that time - the tent of meeting) where the ark of the Lord was kept. In my simple mind - they were put in charge of the church building. Their sole job was to keep things functioning properly, provide assistance to the millions of Israelites who needed to come and give their various offerings and to minister to the Lord. No small task for sure!

For a long time I have been convinced that if you traced back my genealogy you would find that I am a Levite, though I am not completely sure which of my 2 lines you would find it in. 1 Chronicles seems to say quite a bit about the Levites and their duties compared to other people. I guess that is particularly interesting to me given my job at the church. Today in my reading I noted that it listed singers, priests and gatekeepers. If you want to see what their duties entailed you can read it in 1 Chron. 9. I find a lot of similarities between what they were called to do and our modern day worship, hospitality and facilities teams. Sufficed to say - they had a lot on their plates! Just like we do today. The running joke is that Sunday happens every 7 days, so when one is done - you move on to the next one.

Of course, to me (because I am one), the stand out was the singers. It says in verse 33 : Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. Contrary to what you may be thinking right now, I am NOT trying to use this as an excuse for all the singers reading this to get out of serving in other areas of ministry. LOL I just find it interesting that it says they were on duty 24/7. The music never stopped. They were constantly singing before the Lord (which is funny to me considering so many do not put that level of importance on music in the church today.) In my mind - that just put a whole different level of importance on what I have been called to do as a modern day Levite. Do I really consider myself "on duty" 24/7? Do I keep in the fore front of my mind the thing God created me for? I am giving Him all that He deserves when I come before Him? Am I doing it with the right heart motivation?

Lots of questions to be pondered as I prepare to lead others into His presence on a weekly basis (whether on the stage or off it!)

Everything thing the Lord has given someone to do is of importance. We all play a part. So, today, what ever YOU have been called to do to serve the Lord, and rest assured He has called you to something - think about how you are going about doing that and see if it might deserve to go to another level. He deserves nothing less than your very best. It is all for His glory!!

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1