"Heart Hangers"...

Hope each and every one of you had an awesome weekend in the Lord!!!

Sunday was a day of what I call “Heart Hangers” for me. These are moments when God, through His Spirit, drops something in my heart that I can’t get away from meditating on. It just kind of “hangs” there in the spirit. Then I really get it and Wow! “Heart Hangers”, when allowed to marinate, become truths of God's Word that the enemy cannot steal from us -- and they increase our faith walk! At least that has always been true in my life as a believer!

So, the first one came during Sunday School time. You may call them Life Classes, Bible Study hour, Small Groups, etc., anyway, Brother Larry was sharing 10 things Christians believe that aren’t scriptural. One of the ten was “Praise and Worship = music”

I like what the Holman Dictionary says about Worship:

“Worship is a human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy. Thus, Jacob, fleeing away to Haran, perceived the presence of the Lord in a dream while sleeping at “a certain place,” and when he woke from his sleep, he said: Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it! ... How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven Before the dream, the place had only been a stopping place reached by sunset

(Gen. 28:11), but when he awoke it had become a holy place. The holy presence of God had penetrated into ordinary (profane) space in a way which had aroused acute awareness on the part of a human being. The sacred (holy) and profane are united in an experience of worship. The consciousness of holy presence brings forth a response from those who perceived it. The response is worship and may take many forms. The response may be private and intensely personal, in the form of prayers, confessions, silence, and meditative experiences of various sorts.

I also, like a statement Holman’s Dictionary made about Praise:

Praise comes from a Latin word meaning “value” or “price.” Thus, to give praise to God is to proclaim (to speak out) His merit or worth.

I love that because I see that true praise is an action (proclamation) that results from true worship.

Psalm 9
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 63
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

Now let me tell you that this first “Heart Hanger” is no longer hanging on my heart, but it has actually taken up residence there as I finish typing these words. Why?

I have spent much time looking into this matter since Sunday and could not possibly put all the insight God has given me through study into this blog today.

So what belief system ended up in my heart? Here it is - Worship takes many forms throughout scripture. Most of us already know this. But, true worship only takes place when the Holy penetrates the ordinary and we are left in Awe of Him.

A result of this is true praise. True praise comes in many forms such as singing, lifting of our hands, dance, shouts of joy, and yes even that sound of amen during the service is a proclamation that the Holy has penetrated the ordinary resulting in lips of praise!

May the Living God penetrate your hearts this day and the Holy and the ordinary be united in the experience of Worship! And may your Praise pour forth as a result.

“Worship and Praise” = John 4:24 (Look it up!)

His,
vickie

P.S. Yes there is another “Heart Hanger” but it will have to wait till next week. It is still marinating. ;)