one day till Christmas...
one more word...
Worship...
Most of the players in the first Advent...
were filled with worship of Him...
Mary...
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy and true is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation. ...
Luke 1:46-50 ESV
Her song of praise goes on...
because of the blessing He's poured out on her...
her soul magnifies Him...
makes Him large... prominent... lifts Him up...
Worship...
Zechariah... when his tongue was finally loosed...
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David...
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant..."
Luke 1:68-69, 71-72 ESV
Zechariah's praise came with prophecy...
he left everyone wondering...
Worship...
The shepherds... after going to see...
returned to the fields... glorifying and praising God...
The wise men... after their long trek star-following...
fell down... and worshiped Him...
with words and gifts...
Worship...
I wonder at Him this morning... looking back on the journey of these 12 words...
At times... I thought... Could there be another word...?
and this morning... I'm seeing so many more words...
thinking... Maybe next year... 30 words till Christmas...?
The greatest wonder... is how each day...
the word He gave... has been woven into my day...
today... no exception...
Worship... as an Advent word...
came to mind somewhere in the middle...
but I knew it would be word 12...
This evening... (hopefully...)
we will gather as a family...
and worship Him...
and remember His coming...
at a candlelight service...
But this morning... in preparation for ministry...
He showed me how I had been limiting Him...
Every month I publish a prayer journal for members of our congregation to pray for our pastor daily over the month...
It follows four steps of prayer...
praise...
confession...
thanksgiving...
intercession...
each day... a different aspect of our pastor's life to pray for...
The praise and intercession are Scripture-based prayer...
the praise topic gives Scripture to back it up and use as a basis for prayerful praise...
In the past... in an effort to formulate preparation...
I constructed a table...
31 areas of the pastor's life to pray for...
31 aspects of God's character to praise...
I rotated verses... but stuck to the same 31 character traits each month...
Well... not too many months ago... my hard drive cracked...
not just crashed... but cracked... physically broke...
all my records lost... or at least jumbled... after a computer tech salvaged what he could...
But I felt God's call to start afresh...
when it came to the Pastoral Prayer Hedge Journal...
so I did...
The pursuit of fresh practice has been going on about two months now...
This morning... on a day when I have more than enough to do...
I felt the tug to make a new table...
organize the praise topics... and their verses...
What I found... after I was through...
to date... instead of 31 attributes to praise...
I've been led to 60...!!!
Now... with an average of 30 days per month...
in two months... He's shown me double of who He is...
He revealed how I had been limiting Him... to myself...
and to those who participate in this ministry...
praying for our pastor...
Yes... He is a God worthy of our worship...
a God to be magnified by all our souls...
not just Mary's...
By coming to earth...
making Himself so small...
vulnerable...
dependent...
He made the Way...
for us to be saved...
How will you worship Him today...?
tomorrow...?
every day...?
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