My Expression: {2}

*~*~*

The words that come out of our mouths have power. What were to happen if we were to speak life 100% of the time? Unmeasurable and glorious things for sure. I challenge you and I as children of God, as worshipers, to choose our words wisely. Let us glorify the Lord with our mouths. Guard your heart and store inside of it all that will cause your lips to bless the Father.

*~*~*

(Psalm 103:1-5)

Praise the Lord, my soul;all my inmost being, 

praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits—who forgives 

all your sins and heals all your diseases, who 

redeems your life from the pit and crowns you 

with love and compassion, who satisfies 

your desires with good things so that your 

youth is renewed like the eagle’s

*~*~*

Our souls should have many reasons to sing! The Lord here promises us six beautiful benefits: to forgive our sins, to heal our diseases, to redeem our lives, to crown us with love and compassion, to satisfy our desires with good things so that all of these things together will cause us to be renewed like eagles.

Let us be grateful. In the natural sense before I even step up to an altar to sing before the Lord I remember how good He has been to me, how faithful, and how loving. From all that love welled up inside of me come real lyrics that bring liberation by the Holy Spirit and ultimately lead to spontaneous and intimate worship (lyrics often times prophetic or more personal that the Holy Spirit wants to convey or a song from me to Him). We have many reasons to sing, to play our instrument, and to express our worship in whatever way that we do but the greatest of these reasons is love. Never forget your first love. Don't sell it, trade it, push it aside, or substitute it. There is only one God who can do the things that God can do and for this and for who He is, all praise and honor are directly for Him. So may the words that come out of our mouths glorify the Lord. If we stumble then let us change our mentality and try again because before we even get a chance to touch the cold floor God's mighty hand will sustain us.

*~*~*

(Psalm 37:23-24)

The Lord makes firm the steps

    of the one who delights in him;

²⁴ 

though he may stumble, 

he will not fall, for the Lord 

upholds him with his hand.

*~*~*

My Expression: {1}

*~*~*~*~*

We express our love to and for God in so many various ways: some of us sing, others play an instrument, there are those who dance, paint or draw, bake, journal, exercise  eat healthy, or maybe even volunteer. Whether it be through the arts or through our every day work this all comes together, our life is our ultimate worship. We say to God, "I love you," with every brush stroke of a paint brush, through every heart felt song, and with kind smiles between strangers. Looking more closely at the two kinds of worship that we know of, the most common is congregational "worship", the kind that we see at church, and then there's  the type of worship that we've been called to live by Jesus. Really there is only one kind. Somewhere along the way churches began to refer to certain types of songs as Worship when these songs are simply an expression of our Worship: 

"the act of giving love to God...bowing down, kneeling, and lifting hands."

                    —John and Carol Wimber

In church or in any other form of fellowship we all come together and "worship." Growing up, any time the word worship was mentioned I knew it was time for the closing of eyes, slower music, and the raising of hands. This was what I thought worship was, that is, until I drew closer to God and our relationship blossomed. My heart learned to love God in such a way that separation from Him would be impossible. Though in church we say it is time to worship, here, we are simply being trained for an instant of what we should be doing on a daily basis. Daily, our lives should be in a state of bowing down before the Lord in surrender and in awe of who He is. Daily, we should be kneeling before Him in prayer. Daily, we should be lifting up our lives as a living sacrifice. And daily, we should be growing in intimacy with our Lord in a constant overflow of love through prayer and conversation. Because love is the most important thing to God, of course worship would be void with out it, because without love we are nothing. Because he loved us first it is our turn to constantly worship God by loving Him in return through all that we say and do. So establish this thought in your mind and meditate on it: "When I worship God in church through any form (music, dancing, painting...etc.) I am simply being prepared and equipped for what I should be doing on a daily basis, and this will ultimately give me a glimpse into what awaits for me in eternity." So, take it from a girl who's been there, don't take any form of fellowship whether it be at a church or with a group for granted. This is an opportunity for you to prepare yourself before walking back out of those doors and back into school or work. Take advantage of every moment that you spend filling yourself with joyful and intimate music so that when you step outside of a Godly environment, no matter what you face, your spirit will know exactly what to do; Your spirit longs to worship every moment of every day. Your morning prayer, that A in English, your friendly disposition, how wholeheartedly you sing on your way to work or school, and your obedience to God's voice, all of these essences combine to produce a fragrant aroma that fills God's heart with joy. Make every moment count.

*~*~*~*~*

what are some of the specific 

ways that you love expressing 

your Worship to God?

Music: singing, playing an instrument, prophetic worship

*~*~*

Prophetic Painting

*~*~*

Prophetic Dance

*~*~*

Your very life

*~*~*

Worship Expressed Through Music

"We're not singers nor artists, we're worshipers who sing which is completely different. Many are singers who worship because they have the talent but then there's those who worship yet can't sing."    —Kerwin Marquez 

God has called us all to be Worshipers: The waitress, the hairstylist, the professor, the janitor, the teenager, the child, the old man who sits quietly reading the daily newspaper, the musician, the singer, the dancer, and the artist. We have all been called to Worship God in spirit and in truth. So what comes first? First, we are worshipers...that is the wellspring of any other title or action. A singer/musician who Worships is not the same as a Worshiper who sings or plays an instrument in that, the one who Worships first is overflowing with the Father's love. The well of everything else is the love of God.  The well of a singer/musician who worships is their art in itself; their idol is their craft and only in the limits of their craft can they function. Micheal Jackson could make people cry, laugh, and dance but Kim Walker can make people do the same and through her the Lord brings true freedom, forgiveness, joy, peace, and liberation.

There is a difference between a servant who works for a Master and a child who serves his or her father. What's the difference? LOVE. Out of love a child will serve his or her father, while a servant serves out of obligation. Many may not know this difference but the distance between the two is huge. A servant is permitted certain privileges, while the children of the Master have it all by right.  It is the difference between singing beautifully and having a beautiful voice that is anointed and filled with the power of God that can heal and restore. When we think about worship we picture a pianist or a singer but a worshiper is a person who exalts the Lord through a direct relationship with God, where nothing else matters but Him and His sweet presence. This has nothing to do with being on stage. We are worshipers off-stage, in public, in the quiet. It's a lifestyle. Let us all as children of God, regardless of our talents or titles, step into this lifestyle and step outside of ourselves so that God can be seen. Our lives, CD's, Profession, or record labels are not about us but simply and wholeheartedly all about Jesus. Are we more consumed with getting our voices recorded so that we can be looked at, or are we here to save souls and transform lives so that the Kingdom of heaven can be established on this earth? If God has called you to record then do it, but don't trade the one who got you there for what is there. Is it possible that we are so busy trying to get discovered, that we've forgotten our first love? Where's that love that reached in to pull us out of the sinking sand, that cleansed, and that scooped us up without a doubt? For those that maybe thought of worship as singing...there's so much more. God is offering us a continual relationship that is a back and forth motion of love that cannot be bottled up nor contained. So much love that our bodies cannot stand. Not everyone can sing or play guitar, but everyone can worship. Everyone can offer up their lives as a living sacrifice. This is the type of true worship that the Lord is looking for. A paintbrush has no life and neither does a keyboard...we hold life within us because God made it so, and it is our life that He desires forever. It is our lives that He wants to touch and transform.

*~*~*

(Romans 12:1)Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

*~*~*

It's So Much More Than a Song

Scenario: Your pastor walks into your church Sunday morning and slowly approaches the pulpit. All eyes, including your own, are on him or her. At the moment the only sound audible to your ears is the sound of the pastor's footsteps. In silence, you and the rest of the congregation watch with much anticipation. Suddenly your pastor begins to write something on a cardboard poster with a black sharpie, only looking up once to let out a chuckle before he or she lifts up the poster. In confusion, all of you read the seven letter word: Worship. Now, the pastor asks one simple question," What does this word mean to you?" For a moment no one spoke except for one little boy who shouted, "It's what we do every Sunday! Right?" And the silence continued.

*~*~*

When this one word is thrown out at us, what do we make of it? Is it singing? Is it dancing? Is it ministering? Is it a quiet moment? Could it be a loud fast-paced period in which we encounter the Lord? It's so much more than all of this. During the weekend I heard a preaching by Kim Walker that completely impacted my life. I loved it! I've always been taught the type of Congregational Worship that is done in a church setting but as the years have progressed the Lord has shown me the complexity and intricacy of the word, like a tree divided into its roots and branches. It's all about His love. Worship is a wholehearted "response to THAT love." It's a continuous outpour that comes from the Father to us that we return back to Him. It's a call back to a relationship where as two we now become one with Him. Painting, prophetic dance, singing, playing an instrument—these are all "expressions" of Worship. The dictionary defines "expression" as the process of making known one's thoughts or feelings. Just like love is a word in itself and buying a date flowers or caring for one's husband are expressions of that love, Worship and the expressions we make known are two different things. We sing because we're grateful and dance because we're free. Free to express our love through worship.

*~*~*

(Psalm 5:7)Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.

The word of God tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. By maintaining our relationship with God we worship Him because Worship was never meant to be kept between four walls of a building: it was meant to be living and breathing within us. Just as Christ lives, our Worship lives because of His love. It's saying, "Thank you Father ...I adore you...I praise you!" And it's having conversations with Him and kneeling before Him in prayer. These are things that keep the fire burning. Our lamps must never burn out. Just as love is constantly given to us, we must constanly love on Him. It's like the song says, "You provide the fire, I'll provide the sacrifice." Our sacrifice is our life, our time, and our love. The more we seek God the more we depend on God...it'll just be like the constant flowing of a stream. It's so much more than a song.

(Psalms 95:6) Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

*~*~*