what do i mean when i say i worship God?

worship. what is worship? do we worship? how do we worship? worship. it is running to the heartbeat of God. it is holding a small child when she is crying. it is waking up with a deep breath in and an exhale of the will. it is laughing. it is smiling. it is crying when i’m lost. it is crying when those around me are lost. it is praying on my knees, in my car, at the grocery store. it is living in wealth. it is living in poverty. it is singing through the hard times and sitting in silence. it is keeping watch and letting go. it is seeing beauty and understanding pain.

worship is . . . in all these things! it is not separate from them. through them, in them - we worship. because it’s not about what we do or how we sound; it’s about who. who do we worship? the One we worship tells us He is in all. He says through Him all things are created - He upholds the very structure of the universe.

maybe the question is why. maybe we have to answer that before we answer what. but the why is answered in the who. the who impels worship, which is the what.

what is worship? - who is God?

do i know Him? have i met with Him?

SUCCESS

what if success was defined by worship to God? . . . . . in doing that, did i worship Him with everything i had?

can't get no Satisfaction

If it's about people and things, then that is what you will find your satisfaction in. You will get it, and it won't be enough.

If it's about God, then He is what you will find your satisfaction in. You will get it and always find more!

Psalm 145:6

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

(i'm freaking out about that! he satisfies our longings out of is own hand)

Chasing the Wind

Sometimes we live life like we're chasing the wind. We fill our lives with one thing that feels nice and pleasing until it ends. Then we look and wait until we can find the next gratifying thing to fill our time with.

I remember being a kid in a neighborhood full of other kids who loved the endless possibilities of playing outdoors. We could play imaginary games for hours on end, stopping only when we were called in by our mothers or from pure exhaustion. There were those times in the hot summers when we just couldn't make our legs move around anymore. In my front yard were three towering pine trees huddled together. The neighborhood kids, my two brothers, and I would gather under those pine trees because the wind, whether it was in our imaginative minds or not, blew stronger and cooler there. We knew we could find refreshing amidst the pines, and then we could go back to making fun for ourselves.

Well, aren't we like that sometimes? Chasing the wind. The wind can't really be chased. We can feel it. We can find where it blows the strongest. But we can't catch it. We can't really follow it. It's too elusive. We know it's there because we can feel its effects- something we all learned as children. The wind provides refreshing in the uncomfortable heat of the summer. But it's always moving on. It's there; then it isn't. We can enjoy and appreciate it while it lasts, and even search it out in the shadows. Even so, when the wind is gone on those sizzling summer days, so is our pleasure in it.

When we search for fulfillment in things that don't last, our delight fades along with them. Yet, we do it. We do it because we know we can find immediate, yet temporary refreshing under the pines when what we really need is to stop playing and get in the air conditioning and drink 8 oz. of water and have some home-cooked macaroni and cheese with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Then, we'll have the energy we need to go back out and play hard. We can play hours longer this time. We don't have to crowd beneath the pines periodically for reenergizing. We have water in our veins and food in our bellies.