I love the word picture given in Nehemiah 8. It shows how I believe it should be when we gather together to worship as a corporate body of believers. A worship service needs to honor God. It needs to be where people come prepared to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In verse three it says "And all the people listened attentively..." It seems many times people are distracted by thinking about what they are going to be doing later in the day or by the child in front of them that is being disruptive. But when we prepare our hearts for worship those distractions will not happen. I was reminded of our situation of not having our own building as I read these verses. They were meeting in "the square before the Water Gate" and not in a building. They would have had to set up the altar just as we have to set-up our altar. God met with them in the street by the Water Gate. They did not have to be in the Temple to worship Him. We need to learn from them that we can worship God anywhere we are. I think of a few weeks back when we had church at the park. God was there and it was awesome! This chapter shows how they worshiped Him in a different way that people think today. Many people believe you have to be in a church building with a certain type of music and a certain order of worship. My God desires worship in whatever form we create and wherever we are. Woo hoo! I love verse twelve of this chapter where it describes how the people celebrated when they left worship. They didn't just celebrate when they worshiped but even after they left! That is the true picture of worship. People who don't believe in the Lord or are teetering in their faith need to see believers celebrate! Even in tough times we need to celebrate because we are here on this earth to proclaim the Good News! The way to be able to celebrate not only the 'good' times but the 'tough' times is by living a life of holiness. One must be sold out to the Lord in order to live a holy life. He must be first in order to live out the desires of His heart. The more we die to self and allow Him to fill us, the more we will celebrate. I did not feel like celebrating last night with the pain I was in but yet I had to in order to not give the enemy an open door. My God is greater than the pain. My God is greater than the feeling of desperation. My God is greater than anything that comes my way. Woo hoo! I will worship Him throughout this day with gladness in the midst of pain. I will worship Him today even though I am not in a church building because He lives in me. Plain and simple, I will worship Him not matter where I am or how I may feel.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for yesterday! I praise You for the opportunity to lead worship! I praise You for the opportunity to share from the pulpit! I praise You for the opportunity to experience the Christmas parade with my church family! Lord, You are so awesome! I pray today for You to be glorified through this pain I am experiencing. Lord, use it to strengthen me. I pray for those who are going through pain to seek You through it. I pray for those who are discouraged with their physical bodies to be encouraged through You. Father, fill me to overflowing with more of You so people see and hear You in me. Thank You Jesus for being The One I Worship. Amen.
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