praiseAs any follower of Christ should know, he is worthy.  But, what exactly does that mean?  Do our lives reflect in any way that we believe that he is worthy?

I know that most of the time my own does not.  Sure, I praise him.  I adore him.  I love him.  I talk to him.  I listen out for him.  I look for him.  But am I really serving him like I should, if he is worthy.

To define worthiness is to understand that he is great.  He is excellent.  He is valuable.  He is important.  He is deserving.

We sing about how great our God is.  We know when we need, he supplies, when we hurt, he heals, when we cry, he wipes our tears.  And even though you probably don’t have any doubts, I sometimes do.  And he sends what I need to overcome them.  He loves me and forgives me and accepts me as I am and that is just a small part of why he is worthy.

We celebrate his excellence.  Just look at the magnificence of his creation.  When each of my grandkids were born, I went to see them at the hospital and one of the first things that always caught my attention was their tiny fingers.  So small and delicate, some not much thicker than a matchstick, yet they worked just like my own.  As they grasped one of my fingers, I marveled that something so tiny worked just like mine did and also had a surprisingly strong grip.  And the fingers of a baby are just the beginning.  Even though with twelve grandchildren, that did give me 120 amazing little symbols of God’s excellence.

We all have different ideas about value.  Some find money valuable, some knowledge, some power, and some prestige.  Some find family valuable, some friends, and some pets.  Some find solitude valuable, some a noisy crowd, some a quiet few.  Valuing something or someone is simply seeing it as very important.  Since this is so, God is the most valuable.   He is the one who actually provides all the things that I have listed here and any other thing that anyone values.  And even without those things, he is simply all we really need.

God’s importance just cannot be overemphasized.  Everything I have said so far would not even be, without him.  If you believe in him, and I did not for so very long, then you know that every day that you wake up, you owe to him.  Without him, nothing that exists would or could exist.  And just think of the fellowship with him.  As I said, there was a time when I did not believe that he was real, and I was a miserable, depressed person.  I did not love, except myself, and could not love.  I am still learning how even now.  And he helps me by, and in, his closeness.

What does he deserve then?  He deserves me.  And he deserves you.  He deserves my praise, my adoration and my love.  He deserves my time, my attention and my thought.  He deserves my effort and my ability.  He deserves my obedience and my labor.  He deserves so much more than I am or can give.  So I simply have to give him all of me.  You have to also.

He is worthy and we need to start showing him we believe it.  There are so many ways we can do this better than we do.  Thinking about this, I have come to realize we blow it right at the start.
What is Sunday to you?  For me it is the day I go to church.  I go to serve (teach) and worship.  I go to praise and get fed.  I go to rest and receive from God.  This is probably what a lot of us do.  And there is nothing wrong with this.

If we think about it further, how much preaching and teaching and singing do we allow before we start getting a little frustrated?  Doesn’t the pastor realize I have some things to get done this afternoon?  A little extra work would get me so far ahead next week.  Penney’s has a great sale and it ends today.  The game starts at two o’clock and I still have to eat lunch.  The kids are bringing the grandchildren over.  Just how much time does God need?

But what is Sunday to God?  Some of us confused Christians like to say Sunday is the Sabbath.  I do not think it is.  God began his work on the first day and he stopped on the seventh.  He called it Sabbath and it was for rest.  He did not need rest, but he knew we would, so he set the example.  I believe Saturday is still the Sabbath and we should still be resting on it.  I believe if we truly used the last day of the week as God intended we could have real rest.  The week’s battles could be laid at his feet and he would guard and protect us in our downtime.  (Thoughts from a warfare worldview)

Sunday is the first day, the Lord’s day.  It is the day our work starts.  What we do at church is only the beginning.  We need to get up out of bed with the knowledge and attitude that this is the day we start our weeks work.  And we start by meeting our God and King for his guidance, equipping, and blessing for this week’s mission.  We have to realize our work is warfare.  The work he began by creating has been corrupted and usurped by his and our enemies.  Our work (mission) is to take it back and help to restore it.  By noon or a little after, most of us are done.  We have given almost all we are going to give to God this week.

Let’s show him we think he is worthy by trying to at least give him all of ourselves for that one day.  What might that look like?  I am not sure but I would love to read some of your ideas.

I do know that to serve him is to love.  It is to love him and to love others.  This is all Sunday should be.  A day of love.  If we start the week off with love, the rest will more readily follow the same path.

Love you all.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 12:10 am and is filed under God, Love, Spiritual Warfare, Worship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 comments so far

Tammy
 1 

For quite some time I have started our praise and worship service with a prayer for every thought and imagination that would try to exalt itself against the knowledge of God to be cast down. To pull every thought into the captivity to the obedience of Christ.
I admit that there have been many times that I have had to pray for God to help my mind to not wander. I want to stay focused on Him and what He is trying to say and do in the service.

I think the norm is probably something like this for most people…

We get up, shower and dress for church. Some of us actually argue or get mad about the dress being too tight, the hair will not cooperate, etc. etc. We drag into church some mornings, we go through the motions in Sunday School, after all, we already know it all; we get to praise and worship and then like a ton of bricks it hits us. God is here. Wow, I can give him my worries, my pain, my shame. We spend a little time in prayer for the most part, we watch others being blessed, never participating in actual worship or honor of God; We listen to the message, usually having thoughts like..”I hope so and so is listening, he is talking right to them,” or “I would never do that.” Of course, the thoughts mentioned above, like “Did I turn the curling iron off?” “I am starving, where are we going for lunch?” “Man, I wish that kid would be still, or that person would stop going in and out.” Blah Blah Blah! I am sure the list could go on forever.
Of course, once we are in the parking lot, we are right back where we started.

I have mentioned this to Sonny several times, how there is at least two songs that I will not sing the words as written on the power point because I think they are incorrect for me. One says ..”In all I do, I honor you!” NOT… I am __ years old and in all my years I have never known of one person who honored God in all they do… so when we sing that song, I simply sing “In all I do, I want to honor you.”
Of course there are more, but I will stop there.

We should all be in worship ‘mode’ before we reach the parking lot. We should not be one person in church and another at work. We should give Him service as you described in a previous post, not just ‘lip service’, but heart service. Our mate will not accept half hearted participation in that relationship, our boss will not accept half hearted committment to our job, why should we expect God to understand our half hearted service. In Acts, it very plainly declares that they were in the upper room IN ONE ACCORD. We cannot come together on where to have lunch, much less come into church with one agenda. If we could get together as one mind, in one accord, seeking the same thing, expecting the same thing, we would see the power manifest and come to the realization that “He IS Holy”, and finally give Him that honor!

January 9th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Julie
 2 

I would agree that Sunday mornings are the most hectic around our house. What are we going to wear, what will the kids wear, trying to get some housework done before we leave, get everyone in the car on time, plan for lunch when we get home. We are all on edge with each other just trying to get these things accomplished. I do feel a sense of calm during church, but my mind also wanders from everything A to Z. I’m thinking I may have adult ADHD, just kidding. I think that all of us find it hard to focus on any one thing for a period of time because we are such multitaskers now. How many of you do anything without a cell phone up to your ear? We feel a sense of accomplishment when we have done several things at one time. I don’t know about you, but when I’m rushing to get as many things done as I can – I’m not putting any thought into it, just getting it done. I think this is how church becomes. We know it’s Sunday, so we go through the motions. As soon as we get out the door, it’s the same old same old.

January 10th, 2009 at 10:48 am
 3 

And this might be why most of us are having a little trouble with our faith.

We tend to think of it as God being absent when in reality it is us.

Thanks for the responses.

Love you all

January 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Connie
 4 

God has really blessed me beyond what I ever believed that I deserved over the passed year. He has given me a NEW “don’t sweat the small stuff” kind of peace and calmness. I do try to honor Him in all I do, but I know I fall short most of the time. But, He cuts me some slack and gives me another chance time after time because He knows I am not perfect. When I get in a rut about my service to Him (teaching, preparing the bulletin, etc.) He always pulls me out again and sets me on the right path. I am just ME. Wherever I am, I am just ME. And He loves me in spite of that ;)

I am blessed in that Sundays are special to me. I am anxious to get to church to see my extended family. I have that tough drive of 30 to 45 SECONDS to get there ;) I look forward to the praise and worship just to once again let Him know in a special way how much I adore Him. I look forward to hearing the message in hopes that it will touch the ears and hearts of those (including myself) who just need to feel His presence. I know He hears me worship at home, but it is always special for me to be with my Christian family. And since it’s just me at home, I have the option to go to lunch with friends or just go home and have a PB&J and take a nap. I don’t have to worry about the long drive home, or if I turned the oven or the curling iron off, because I don’t cook or curl my hair :) I got to retire early, so I don’t need to get caught up or get a head start on the week. I don’t have those kinds of things to worry about on any day of the week. I can just relax and enjoy Him. For me, Sundays are not hectic or chaotic. What a blessing. Sonny is exactly right. God is worthy of all my praise and does deserve all of me.

This was a good post and reminded me of how thankful I need to be.

January 10th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Connie
 5 

I have a big confession to make. Just yesterday (the very next day after I wrote the comment above) I was sitting in church during the morning service and (of course) my mind began to wonder. All I could think about for some odd reason was the time our former pastor accidently spit his teeth in the floor during the sermon. I almost chuckled out loud. I guess God was reminding me that I lose my concentration too. Just thought I would share.

Sonny…where are all the little smiley faces? I needed one for this post.

Peace, Love and Happiness to all.

January 12th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
 6 

I don’t know where they are. Didn’t notice. It is soem sort of setup problem. I’ll look into it.

January 12th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Connie
 7 

Okay. The Smileys are back :HEAD: And even more than I expected. Too bad you couldn’t fine a Peace Sign one for me. :wnk:

Love you

January 12th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
 8 

The first smiley pack stopped working so I had to upload some more. It was a pain but I did it for you.

It does seem that if you use to many in one comment I have to approve or moderate it, so keep that in mind.

Love you all

January 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Connie
 9 

That’s why I love you Sonny. You’re always looking out for me :hrts:

January 12th, 2009 at 11:16 pm

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