30 Days of Praise - Day 7

The Purest Place

Paint me with Your purity
That I’d attract Your majesty
When others boast in fame and gold
The purest place is where I’ll go

(chorus)
The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

It’s not with masses, not with kings
Not in these songs or offerings
Not in this life or what it brings
The purest place is You my King

(chorus)

If there’s such thing as too beautiful
If there’s such thing as too wonderful
If there’s such thing as too marvelous
Jesus it’s You, Jesus it’s You

(chorus)

It’s You my King, It’s You my King
The purest place, is You my King...

I've been working on my devotional and journal in my "Satisfy My Soul" bible study. The first week has a worship exercise it recommends one try 4 or 5 days out of the first week. It involves setting the stage for a time before the Lord, bowing heart and body in worship to Him. It recommended playing worship music. This is where I reveal a little of my quirkiness.

I have this thing I do with the Lord when I am trying to connect with Him. And I must say overwhelmingly He usually seems to respond to me. I put the music on "shuffle" and let the Lord "pick" the song He wants me to hear. I was using my MP3 player that has over 700 songs on it, and I just hit play. The lyrics above are the song that came on. It's a song I'd never heard before. I put it on the player because I really like one other song by the band who sings it, Watermark.

I really felt like it was the Lord's choice. It really defines what worship is, to be in the center of God's heart, focusing on Him. Then today I had written a fired who I dearly love and respect, I shared with her just a little about my focus and pursuit to grow in worship and in her reply she said this, "When we worship, its more about our spirit tuning in to God's and truth I would think is coming without any deception or anything to hide, basically open before the Lord." I thought it was a wonderful confirmation of what I already felt the Lord speaking to me last night.

I think a lot of what I'm learning is that worship traces back to what John chapter 15 says about abiding. In verse 9, "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love." And then in verse 11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

There is this incredible miracle in worship, focusing fully on the Lord and acknowledging Him for Who He is... I can't really find the words to describe it, because I suppose the only way to truly understand it is to experience it. It's such a gift.

Today I began to see some of the effects of pursuing a life of worship. I had songs of praise on my lips throughout the day, and not just singing them like they were songs stuck in my head, but I was thinking about what I was singing, and Who I was singing them about. It's funny, because so many times it seemed like the songs were falling short, they weren't fully capturing the expressions of my heart, and then I had to try to make up my own words and put my own thoughts to tune to express to God what I was feeling.

I saw other benefits too, evidence of my "joy" being "full." My temper was much more relaxed today, things that I know I typically react to, I was able to stop and wait, and respond in love. That is the work of God alone because I know from experience that I do not have the power within myself to make that choice of my own volition.

I know I am only on the beginning of this journey, but I see promise about the destination. I still want to turn the sprinklers on really high for the people who keep parking in Neal's parking space in front of my house, but the key is, I haven't done it. Surely, God is at work in me.