25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 13

“and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2

 

 The Wise Men: we all place the little statues of them carefully around the manger. But they were not there on the night He was born. 

 

No, they came much later. After the Shepherds had gone, after the mystery of the birth had waned, the Wise Men still were persistent to follow their charts, to trace the star, and worship the King that the star foretold.

When the crowds thin out, when my friends go the other way, will I still follow the path of the KING born that night? . . . 

To read more of this post,

please join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am joining my friend

Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully

prepared short devotions and activities

for you and your family this Season.
Be blessed!

~~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues

with my friend

Susan Chamberlain Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where the prompt for today is

"Herod."

Earlier this week I thought that I would be

skipping this prompt. But only God would

see how much I needed these words myself.

In the midst of heaviness and pain

will I let the enemy

steal my praise?

Or will I choose to honor

MY KING

and give Him all the Glory

due His Name?

Jesus still reigns eternal!

And He still has my Worship!

I am linking today with:
#SittingAmongFriends 
#Chasingcommunity 

  

 

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.

Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  

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:

 

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)  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.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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

Worship

It's a funny thought to me that three of my very best friends are Worship Leaders--And I have developed a fear of Worship Services in this Season of RA.

Wow.  Well I guess that's a pretty weird fear in the great scope of fears-of-all-times.  Still, it doesn't feel good to me.  I have always loved Worship Services.  Have pictured them as Community-Bonding and Heaven-Glancing places to dance with the heart of Jesus.  "WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY HEART??"  I've been bombarding Heaven's Gate with that question.

......  Nothing....  There is nothing wrong with your heart..... 

But I don't believe that answer.  Even though I have heard His response, it makes no sense to me, so I don't believe it... yet....

"ISN'T THE WORSHIP SERVICE SUPPOSED TO BE MY MOST FAVORITE TIME OF THE WEEK?  HASN'T THAT SERVICE BEEN THE PLACE WHERE I'VE FELT MOST ENCOURAGED IN MY LOVE FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST?"

But,   (pause)   I hear my thoughts re-winding to our 1984 Children's Church, hear my Teacher-husband's voice speaking kid-talk: 

WORSHIP IS REALLY JUST "WORTH-SHIP:"  SHOWING WORTH TO WHAT WE THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT.

Jesus, I still WORSHIP you.  I have never stopped worshipping YOU. 

 

But I have stopped Worshipping WORSHIP.    In this Rheumatoid Arthritis emotional roller coaster, fatigue overwhelms even my simplest of days. Even the smallest of crowds vacuums my soul of breath.  And I run home to my same old blue chair where stillness reigns.  Still, small voice calling me to simply trust.  Simply Worship.  Aligning the WORTH-SHIP where it truly belongs: Only to Jesus.

I know now that when my strength returns and my over-medicated brain finds equilibrium again, I will return to regular Worship Service attendance.  But in the meantime, my body is still the temple of Christ singly: He dwells with me here.  And I still belong to the Body of Christ, THE TRUE CHURCH, all over the world.  Worship-Service-Fear or not, WE ARE ALL ONE.

"so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." 
      --Romans 12:5