irresistible worship

Yesterday I had a friend ask me what I thought a corporate worship experience should look like. I made a comment that God believed that worship should be all about Him. We discussed it further, but I still came home pondering that question later.  

What exactly does bless God's heart? What does He find so irresistible that He can't help but show up?

This morning I ran across this section of scripture that describes an amazing encounter with the Presence of God:

"It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, 'For He is good, and His mercy endureth for ever': that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." 2 Chronicles 5:13 KJV

Now this is an excellent picture of a rockin' worship service that occurred when Solomon was dedicating the new temple. Here are the things that really got my attention:

1. The singers and musicians were worshiping the Lord "as one". They were in UNITY.
2. They were doing two things: PRAISING and THANKING the Lord.
3. What were they proclaiming? God's GOODNESS and His MERCY.
4. As a result, the house was filled with His glory, and...
5. The religious establishment (the priests) fell down!

Even though this is an Old Testament picture of a worshipful experience, I still believe it has merit on this side of the Cross. God has called us to worship Him in unity (let them be one as we are One...John 17:22-23). We're called to praise and thank Him for what He's done and is now doing in our lives. We know it is the GOODNESS of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and that His mercy endures forever (Psalm 107:1 NKJV). YES!!!

So, a worship experience that blesses God's heart has these elements: unity, praise, thanksgiving, and acknowledgement of His goodness and mercy. We need to get a revelation of the goodness and mercy of our God before the glory of the Lord call fill our "house" - our heart wherein He dwells. And when the glory of the Lord shows up, the religious spirit falls down! Woo-Hoo!

just keep swimming...

our pastor was speaking this morning on how everyone falls down...the important thing being that we continue to get back up.

he also said that we are tested during the times that we receive praise from men, and also during the times people are throwing rocks at our heads. the Lord revealed to him that if he succumbed to the praises of men on his way up in the world, he would be sucked into criticism from those very same people on his way back down. i'm paraphrasing of course, but the concept is the same. the key is not to be moved by either praise or criticism.

(please let me know if you've figured out how to effectively do this...)

i think we should kick all the pedestals down and realize that we all struggle with the same issues. different flavors maybe, but the same temptations. and we can either let them overcome us, or allow God to turn them into places of elevation into His presence.

we've got to get up and keep going. we were created for greatness...created to bring Him glory.

"just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...what do we do? we swim!" ~ dory, "finding nemo"