Monday, October 17, 2016

Day 17: Listening from a Place of Worship


I have a faithful friend, given by the Lord,
who follows my Blog,
and makes encouraging comments,
but adds something unique when he replies.
In fact, every day since I started this #Write31Days Challenge,
he has added at least one, and sometimes two.

What are these unique treasures that he shares with me?
Songs of Worship
that take me to the heart of Jesus.
Such as this one, that my husband and I have listened to
multiple times now:





As I have found myself being led to a place of 
Worship
while I listen to these songs,
I have pondered how Worship can lead me to a place of
LISTENING.


How does that happen?  
How is my heart softened,
and my hard shell of anguish
melted within me?


Some might say that music does that to a person.
It moves us more deeply than we can understand
on a rational level.
And I would agree with that.


Except that something even deeper than an emotional response is happening to my heart when I become involved
with a song
that lifts my heart to focus 
on the things above.




I know that when I begin to participate and join in with a
Worship song,
my heart is lifted to those
thoughts of Jesus 
that are above the worries and fears
where my mind wants to carry me.


But in the lifting, another amazing thing begins to happen:
my heart longs to offer my praise to the ONE
who loves me like no other.
my soul wants to give to my God
the GLORY AND THE HONOR
that His Name is due.


Since this journey of Chronic Illness began, I have
continuously doubted my ability
to give my life
adequately
as an act of worship for my King.


I was oh so familiar with giving myself to my Lord
when my days were lively
and busy
and filled with serving and doing and working. 


But how could HE want this broken body?
How could He look at me as anything more
than needy and aching?
Where is the offering when the sacrifice 
is so far from perfect?


Once again, His Word pierced deep
and begged me to listen:
 


There is no qualifier attached to this verse.
He did not say to offer my body,
"when it is well," or
"if you feel strong."
No, the command is to "offer."
From Strong's definition, the original word is actually "present,"
with a meaning "to place a person or thing at one's disposal"
even metaphorically "to bring into one's fellowship or
intimacy." 

And there it is again. Jesus desires to have fellowship with me, 
to be in that place of intimacy,
as I offer myself to Him,
just as I am,
no qualifiers allowed.


In that place of WORSHIP, 
when I offer my praise
and myself to Him,
He begins the process of renewing
and transforming.
And my ears are opened to hear Him speak,
when He leads me into
HIS OWN WILL.


I am grateful to my faithful friend, for the songs that he has brought to me. But my prayers are heavy today for all of my friends. 

Have you been in that place of feeling 
the worthlessness
and the emptiness?
Have you felt that your offering
could never be enough 
to be given to Jesus?

His Word holds true for each of us.
The command is just as solid for me as it is for you:
"offer" yourself
to the only ONE who truly loves you
just as you are. 




This is Day 17 for the #Write31Days Challenge,
and my #31Days of Listening with Chronic Illness.

If you want to see any of the posts that you may have missed,

Click here for the Series Index 

 
I am linking up with
#LiveFreeThursday Suzie Eller




















10 comments:

  1. How kind of your friend to send you songs, Bettie. I love this one! The words resonated in my soul and soothed my weary heart. I'm so grateful He never grows weary of us. These lines especially inspire me:
    "Jesus desires to have fellowship with me,
    to be in that place of intimacy,
    as I offer myself to Him,
    just as I am,
    no qualifiers allowed."
    I love how you remind us we are to offer our all to Him no matter what our situation is. Thank you. I'm praying God will wrap His loving arms around you as you go through the biopsy today, during the waiting period, and hearing the results. I still hope and pray the lump is benign! But I'm also feeling I have to give you over into His hands, and no matter what, He is with you and out for your good. Big Hugs!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Trudy! I appreciate your prayers and kind words so very much. While my anxiety levels have been on the low side, I am sure that's because of the prayer support that I feel. What a Gentle Shepherd we serve, who understands our weaknesses, and loves us through it all! I am holding onto your words, that "no matter what, He is with me, and out for my good!" Hugs to you, my friend!

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  2. So wonderful your friend has been so encouraging and worship songs are such a gift. So thankful God has been blessing and empowering you through this series.

    Thank you for this encouraging post, especially for digging into the word meaning. Really changes the perspective. Each time I come here there are nuggets of wisdom that bless me so much. I need to visit more often 😊.

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    1. Thank you so much Anna, I feel the same way about your words! I have been so blessed by your book, and hope to add my review to its Amazon site after this current challenge! And, yes, isn't the Word of God so amazing, we can never get to the end of it; there is so much Truth still waiting for us to learn! --Blessings to you!

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  3. "The command is just as solid for me as it is for you:
    "offer" yourself to the only ONE who truly loves you just as you are." Thank you for this today, Bettie. A good reminder that even in our brokenness he wants us and loves us. In our weakness, He is strong and His glory can still shine through.

    Blessings to you!

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    Replies
    1. Oh yes, Gayl, what a precious Lord we serve, that His Glory still shines through our weakness and brokenness, when we come to Him! I am grateful for your encouragement! Blessings and Hugs to you!

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  4. Bettie, this really spoke to me. I spent years struggling to realise this:
    "to be in that place of intimacy,
    as I offer myself to Him,
    just as I am,
    no qualifiers allowed"
    But once we do see that we can come just as we are, know deep down how we are loved with no limits, then our worship and praise are lifted to a whole new level of gratitude. I've been pondering how to proceed with the theme God has given me this month, and the latest thing on my mind is exactly this: a lifting up of eyes, heart and voice, a need to worship and praise and to receive joy in the doing of it. Your words (and song) have reaffirmed this as potential new blog post to come. Thank you for sharing your inner journey so beautifully here. I always come away encouraged by what I read, because I sense a soul wrapped up in God's love. Bless you, dear friend. xox

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    Replies
    1. Dear Joy, I am so grateful that God confirmed His word to you as you read these words here. What an amazing journey He is taking us on, and connecting us together with Him! I am in awe of the way that He brings encouragement to me also, through the words that you offer. He does truly know exactly what we need, so why then do I take so long to lift up my gaze and meet with Him there? Thank you for sharing yourself and your thoughts with me Joy. You are a blessing! xoxo

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  5. What a beautiful song! Thanks for sharing. Happy to be your neighbor on Suzie's linkup today. <3

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by, Lauren! I am so grateful that so many beautiful worship songs are available to us! What a blessing to be led into His Presence!

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