This Counting #1000Gifts (and beyond) has been happening around here for quite some time now.
I admit to going hot and cold in the actual writing of them down, but I encourage you to count - to take note of the small wonders and the ways that God is active in your every day life.
Once you train your ears and your eyes and your heart to seek them out... well, you know how He is!
He promises that if we seek,
we will find.
I downloaded the 1000 Gifts app for my phone and I use my camera to capture the ways I see Him... I also go old school from time to time because there is something tangible in the putting pen to paper and counting them off, one by one.
There is a gift that He keeps on giving and it's one that we are to turn right around and give back... it's the gift of Worship. He gives us so many reasons to worship... and in turn, we pour out our worship to Him because of all of those reasons, sure, but also simply because of Who He is.
But here's the deal... this is what He has been showing me lately:
You worship with all of your heart, soul, and mind
in reckless abandon... --that is the invitation anyway-- but not everyone enters in.
I'm not sure why that is, but I can tell you that it's easier to pour it all out when you actually know all of your heart, soul, and mind.
If you have been hanging around these parts for long at all, you probably have noticed that Identity is a life message for me... it's sort of my jam.
I love to talk about our Identity in Him... of how He has made us unique and one of a kind on purpose, for a purpose...
I love to tell of the passionate pursuit of Jesus, our Bridegroom... of how we are His Beloved... of how He really means it!
Lately, He is showing me how closely related Identity and Worship really is, for when we know --truly know-- our identity and who/Whose we are, we freely give Him all that we are... all that we have.
When we know the depth of His great love for us and we know that everything in our lives - every good thing, and even every hard thing --it all leads us back to worship, because through it all, He is good.
Through it all... He is God and He is good, and oh my goodness, haven't we all felt that this is maybe sometimes not the truth? And yet, we know. We know.
But it's when we can't feel it that we can start to doubt the truth of it... maybe not for others, but we doubt it for ourselves.
Can I gently suggest that this is when we must offer a sacrifice of praise... count gifts to stir up thanksgiving... and from there... wait.
Just Wait!
Wait for your heart of worship to be awakened once again!
We are, as Sarah Bessey says it, happy-clappy worshipers.
It's just our way.
We were ruined years ago for a nice, clean little worship set.
We want to go all in and pour it all out.
We want to encounter Him and take our time in loving on Him.
We long for His Presence and His heart.
We know this worship is a dance, and oh how we love to dance with our Beloved.
I always remember Tommy Tenney talking in God Chasers about how worship is Gods' favorite part of our Sunday services... it's the only part that He gets anything out of! (He's never learned a thing from a sermon! wink.)
Worship to us is not the first part of a church service.
It's not something to be skipped over or cut short.
It is our meeting place with the Divine...
It's where Heaven meets Earth
...and worlds and hearts
and agendas and plans collide.
It's where, yet again - because always (in the end)
He wins.
He wins us.
Our hearts are His.
How can that not stir up your worship?
But if we don't know who we are, that we are valued and adored... if we don't know - or easily forget that we are His and that He is good... we hold back. We aren't willing to press in, to wait, to linger. We self-protect and build walls and let our experience (or lack thereof) dictate our beliefs.
We take a step back... withhold our worship... open the door for doubt and fear to sneak in and whisper lies.
Sometimes we just need to sit in the midst of worship to let all of our dry places be saturated once again... to allow the Spirit to sing over us and remind us of who we are.
Whether you are an all-in kind of happy-clappy worshiper or you're needing to be reminded of your true identity, can I encourage you to set aside just a few moments today - turn up this song and let the truth of it wash over you... through you... become a part of you... and let your worship overflow and spill out?
Because, here's the other deal:
It's true...
He is a good, good Father... it's who He is.
And you ARE loved by Him... it's who you are!
P.S. I'm linking up with these lovely writers:
The Community over at #SmallWonders
Holly Barrett for #TestimonyTuesday
Karrilee, I love this post, I so agree with you about worship and our identify...thought you like this incredible video "clear the stage" by jimmy needham. Many blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteForgot to include the link... https://youtu.be/6smGew7dGto
DeleteBeautiful! I have heard this before - but it's always good to let it wash over me again! xoxo
DeleteKarrilee,
ReplyDeleteGrateful He is good and He loves us...Thanks for the song and the reminder :-) Blessings to you :-)
Thanks Dolly... blessings right back to you, my friend!
DeleteOh my friend! I wrote a post this afternoon and then I came here and read your post. I was completely blown away (in a good way) I wrote a poem all about identify and knowing who and whose I am; who and whose you are. Worship is such a great place to experience God and Gods love for us. Because we may not always feel like happy clappy Worshippers especially in the midst of the hard. But the thing is God is ALWAYS there and giving us his love. Oh and I downloaded the 1000 gifts app INFJ my phone. I use both the camera and the text options. I'm also reading through her book. It's so so good. I'm usually a fast reader but I am taking in this book slowly; drinking it all in like a good glass of white wine.
ReplyDeleteBecause - of course! LOVED your poem and that you are counting with me! I used to be a fast reader but I am finding myself slowing down to really let the words settle in deep! A good glass of white wine... it's like you know me! ;)
DeleteYes to this, Karrilee: "When we know --truly know-- our identity and who/Whose we are, we freely give Him all that we are... all that we have." God has been speaking to me about making worship a bigger priority in my daily life and relationship with Him. This is good encouragement for a tired Tuesday when my son kept my up til midnight, and my daughter woke me at 5:30 a.m.! (And they're teens, not babies. :-) ) Visiting from #TestimonyTuesday
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear of your lack of sleep... those Teenagers - they can take as much work as newborns! ;) I think we forget two things about worship... 1) It's a powerful tool... weapon, if you will! Often, simply having some music softly playing around the house or in the car will change the atmosphere and help our focus to turn to Him through out our days, and 2) It's so much more than music!
DeleteI'm excited that He is calling you to more daily life worship... I think we would all benefit from making that more of a priority, as would everyone around us!
Blessings!
~K~
Great encouragement here, Karrilee. I find that when I've traveled to far from Him, my heart craves worship. Sometimes it's so much easier to just bow your heart, lift your hands, and let your heart do what it was intended to do than find the words to speak and explanations to offer. For me, it's a movement of the heart that shoves my over-thinking, over-analyzing mind out of the way. Blessings, friend.
ReplyDeleteOh I love that... the visual of having our over-thinking, over-analyzing mind just shoved out of the way! And so much amen for letting our hearts do what they were intended to do... yes and amen, my friend! Yes and Amen!
DeleteSo appreciated your encouragement here. And yes, thank you for reminding me that worship can happen anytime, anywhere. If we're looking for the Lord, He will appear. In good things and hard things, in big ways and small ways.
ReplyDeleteHis love surrounds us, and for that I am eternally grateful.
GOD BLESS!
Amen, Sharon! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteKarrilee, this post makes me want to have some church, just me and God :) Worship... it's where I feel that intimate presence of Him in His rightful place in my heart and my life like nowhere else. "Letting our dry places be saturated once again", I think you said... yes! I love how He does this!
ReplyDeleteAs always, I love visiting this place and your words, girl.
AND, I saw your post being featured on Jennifer's site today, can I tell you how excited I was!
I was. Jumping jacks excited.
Blessings that overflow be yours, Karrilee :)
Wait, what? (I had no idea... and so now I am doing jumping jacks too!)
DeleteDon't we all have dry places from time to time? And what better way to be drenched than to be soaked in His Presence? So appreciate you, friend! (and thanks for the heads up!) Fun!
This is all so good, thank you. I am currently rereading 1,000 Gifts and this one phrase is simply caught on repeat in my mind all day every day... "Thanksgiving precedes the miracle!" And worship... absolutely, that's like when thanksgiving finds it's voice! Praising Him with you from this end!
ReplyDeleteLOVED loved loved that book! I also have the DVDs and went through those as a small group - I highly recommend them, because - of course! I love that --that worship is like when thanksgiving finds its' voice! Amen!
DeleteI'm sure it won't surprise you to hear that I am a worshipper. With every fiber of my being, I love to worship and praise The Master. Today as I used the weedeater on 12" high grass and crud was flying all over me, I kept saying HIS NAME - it soothed my soul as I could not put my concerns to words yet desired to talk to Him while doing the mundane. His Name - like honey on my lips!
ReplyDeleteOh friend... my kindred sister... I am NOT surprised! Not at all!
Deletexoxo
What a wonderful post! I especially loved the part about worship being God's favorite part of the Sunday service. I think it's His favorite part of every day of our lives too.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find any share buttons in your post. I would have loved to tweet this!
Thanks so much Joanna! I remember reading that and thinking how true it must be! I always loved worship - but that statement made it even more special to me... knowing how special it is to Him!
DeleteYou know - I used to have share buttons... now I am wondering how long they have been missing? Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I will see about re-adding them again! It's always nice to have posts shared with others!
Karrilee, I'm right here with you on this. Counting gifts points me to the Giver, which becomes worship as I praise Him for His faithfulness, love, and mercy. I've been on a journey recently, learning how to worship privately (and not just in church), and it's amazing how God keeps His promised to let us find Him when we seek Him. Truly, He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, and I'm discovering the reward is more of Himself. "Deeper, Lord." That's my prayer these days. Many blessings to you as you pour out words of Truth.
ReplyDeleteYes and Amen, my friend! I am praying that prayer with you for us both! xoxo
DeleteYou have the most amazing pastoral heart for us, your readers. Do you know that? I have been off the band wagon of counting gifts, of taking time to worship, of sitting still. And today I am working to identify why and pull myself back together. The heart of it is forgetting who I am in Him and the freedom there is in that. I love communal worship and am always the sad when it ends. I need to remember that I can enter into that in any moment I choose, even when it is just me and my Daddy. As long as my heart remembers who I am in Him.
ReplyDeleteSometimes... He likes it best when it is just He and His girlie! ;) (For real though!) I love corporate worship... but some of the sweetest times I have spent in worship have been just me and Him... I love that He is drawing you in! Worship in song is really only a part of worship... but it's such a powerful part and I have found in my own life, when I give myself over in song, it's so much easier to live a life of worship in other areas too!
DeleteOn a side note, it's just ridiculous how much I love you, friend!
xoxo
In this new 'normal' season of life that I am still getting used to counting the daily blessing has become so important to reminding me the He had not forgotten me. I am believing He opened this time and space for me to draw closer to Him.
ReplyDeleteI am believing that with you, sweet friend! Lean in... bow down in worship, and wait on Him... you will find (as always) that He is right there with you (because, of course!)
DeleteYes and Amen! Sooo much of this is my heart too! We see more of Him when we see more of ourselves...because we're made in His image and are amazed at how perfectly He put us together in order to do what He created us to do! The more we press into God and worship Him with our lives, the more addicting He becomes...we'll never find the end of His glorious presence! Great post :)
ReplyDeleteSo Much Amen, Erin! I love everything about this comment! I am so glad you stopped by and joined in!
Delete