Lifting up the name of Jesus!

Posted by rod on Oct 18, 2010 in Worship | 1 comment

 

I wanted to share some thoughts with you about worship and how God again is showing us all just another side of worship. So many times over the past few weeks I've seen God in the Creation around me. God is in everything around me and there is freedom and life all around if we just stop and look at it for a while. On Saturday I was asking the Lord what was on His heart for Sunday's worship? I asked the Lord "Hey what songs do you want to hear tomorrow?" I looked over a bunch of songs and nothing really seemed to fit in to what He wanted for Sunday. Reshel said "Just rest on it, you'll find it during the prayer service time." There was also a lot going on in my head. There was some worry that I usually get before Sunday just because I want to bring my best before the Lord.  I get up Sunday morning ready for anything. I get to the Church and start setting up and get ready to lead the prayer service. The First song we sing is a song that I've always wanted to play but never did. It's a song called "They That Wait" taken out of Isaiah 40:31. I've practiced it for months but never played it and it just came naturally. This is part of walking with the Lord not knowing what will happen but you just got to draw from what is already in you. While singing this song the Lord reveals to me that we need to just lift up the name of Jesus. We proceeded to do songs that would focus on lifting up the name of Jesus. Throughout the Morning Prayer service the Lord was revealing what we were to be focused on, so he could release new life into our church that day. What freedom we felt Sunday in worship as we focused our eyes on lifting up the Lord.

 

         As we were worshipping Sunday during our Celebration Service it was so neat to rest in His presence. I want to share just a little of what was going on in my heart. As we sang "Holy and Anointed One" the Lord revealed a sound that was so special. The Lord revealed a sound several times during the Celebration Service but I really lost it on "Holy and Anointed One" to hear the soothing sound of the Violin, the voice's of the worship team and the congregation, the sound of the guitars strumming, the keyboard right where it needed to be and the heart beat sound of the bass and the dejymbe's I was at another level. By being aware of creations worship to the Lord over the last few weeks, the Lord opened my ears to the sounds we make during our worship times at Unified. .

 

         I think for me on a bigger scale the deep thought of constantly lifting up the name of the Lord is a discipline that I want to develop even more. So often distractions can come into our lives and our focus gets thrown to something else. I believe that happens and that's normal. But the tension of returning back to lifting up the name of Jesus is something that I want to develop even more. Distractions in life melt away when the heart of the believer is refocused to the Lord in spirit and in truth.

         I went jogging this morning in Palolo. I was on my home stretch from almost the top of 10th Avenue coming down to the church when I just stopped. I stopped to look around me and the sun was so bright, shining on both sides of the valley.  Birds where singing and flying all over: life was happening. I stopped to raise my hands in praise (I know I looked pretty weird to the on coming cars and the rest of the morning walkers and joggers) and said "Lord I praise you for your creation, you are so good!" I breathed in the fresh air and looked out of the valley to what I never noticed before. I could see the buildings down toward Honolulu / Waikiki. I raised my hands again and blessed the city of Honolulu. To see life around me was so refreshing. I could feel His spirit and I could experience His truth.

 

         AMEN!!! Worship is a life style that should be lived out loud. Let our hearts and our spirits pronounce in heavenly places that we are sold out in love with Jesus.