Worshippers and Service to the Almighty

Today I just wanna talk a little about the gravity of being a priest in the house of God. You seem to hold a lot of responsibility in your hands and are answerable for many things that you have to learn as you go along. In our service and ministry as worshippers and even as Christians we sometimes forget that we are Levites in our own right. The bible calls us a holy nation; a chosen generation; a royal priesthood. The rules that were intimated for the Levites were very strict. There's a whole book about them yaani. And reading Leviticus you start to see how particular God is. Malachi 3 talks of preparing the way for God's messenger who shall prepare the way for God and then goes on to speak about who will be able to stand before the Lord when he comes. And I quote: But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
As worshippers we are the Levites that we may be purified to be able to stand in the gap when the time comes. I like a verse further down in the chapter though because the bible for me has always been an action--reaction book, so from v16 says: Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.
17 "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession (act). I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
I don't know about you guys but I wanna be passed through the refiner's fire, through the launderer's soap that he may write my name in the scroll of his memory as a person who feared Him and honored Him. So that I may be totally his.I pray that for you as well! God Bless You!

Standing in awe of an awesome wonder!

The bible speaks in Exodus 33 about when Moses and God would fellowship at the tent of meeting. It says that Moses would go into the tent and the pillar of cloud that would follow the Israelites as they wondered through the desert would come down and settle at the entrance of the tent. The rest of the Israelites would wait for this moment when Moses and God were having their fellowship and stand at the door of their own tents and worship God as if they too were in communion with Moses and God. I feel that in some sense Moses was a worship leader. Because he was the initiator of the conversation between God and his people. And through him many found a moment to bask in God's presence. Any way, in v12 Moses becomes fed up with just feeling God's presence through the cloud and he asks God a question I would like to ask God everyday of my life: "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." and God promises that his presence will go with Moses and that he would give Moses the rest he was looking for. But Moses is adamant and tells God, "If your presence doesn't go with us then do not send us up from this place; how will people know that you are pleased with me and what will distinguish me from the other people on the earth. God then tells Moses that he will go with him because he is pleased with him and he knows his name. After that Moses thirsts for more of God and asks that God show him His glory. I wonder if today we would have had the same thirst. We are satisfied with just smelling the incense in the throne room of God and yet we should seek to be close to him and worship before him to the point that he will tell us, "Child now you are as close to me as any human being can be and still live" He should cover our faces with his hands as he is magnified before us and leave the mark of his glory on our faces shining long after he has passed us. I yearn for that, to be held in the bossom of God and feel his awesome presence with me everytime I open my mouth to lead worship. Ecclesiastes 5:1 - 6 Which Justo brought to my attention earlier today-- directs us on how to behave in front of an awesome God. We should be bold enough to approach his throne of grace and mercy and prepared enough to bask in the consequences of our requests. I mean Moses was bold enough to ask to see God's glory and was steadfast in his vow, how much more should we as worshippers speak the affirmations that set our brethren free while we are in the presence of God. I pray that he makes me as bold a worshipper as Moses was...

In your sweet spot...

After an adequately short weekend, I can only say that I was duly chastised for my errant complaining. It has been a while since I felt this much in touch with the Lord and it feels good. The bible says delight yourself in the law of the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart(Psalm 37:4), it goes on again to say that he who lives in the secret place of the Most High shall dwell/ abide under the shadow of the almighty(Psalm 91:1). I don't know about you but that sounds pretty good right now. It is scorching hot out here I need God to shield me underneath his wings where I can find refuge (Psalm 91:4). All this is real to me although at the moment I am still waiting for God to visit me in my sweet spot. Being in a steady relationship you begin to appreciate the ups and downs that come together with loving someone. God is the same too. He chastises us when we are wrong like a father would chastise a child and teaches us the correct way. But when we are good he blesses us exceedingly, abundantly far above all we could ever ask or think. Imagine that no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has conceieved what God has prepared for those that love him(1 Cor 2:9)... and that makes it enough incentive to delight in the Lord, to love him, to abide within the sweet spot waiting for the visitation. I can't wait for my blessing (no pun intended)! I can't wait for God to start blessing me in his capacity, I need him to take the limits off. Live in your sweet spot always... which is under the shadow of his wings.

It's a new dawn...

It's been a long day... I can truly say that with a smile on my face because I managed to do most of what I was meant to. Dint get enough sleep, but that's ok, got to spend time with some friends who are leaving tomorrow morning. Towards the end of the day though there has been a heaviness in my spirit, and I still feel it now. Just thinking about how so many of us are lost and how God loves us so much that he wants us all home and closer to him, makes me so sad. If I ever felt "the call" strongly in my life it's gotta be now. The last time I was leading worship I felt so alive with the spirit of God whispering in my ear so clearly and I think that is more than any sign I ever needed. It's time and I need to rise to the occasion, it will take alot of faith and it will mean going through a lot of hurdles this year but I'm ready to go the extra mile to ensure that God's work is done. Phil 3:2 - 11 (paraphrased)says that we should carry out the ministry giving Christ praise as we do it and not taking credit for any of it because we could not have done it by our own efforts! Then Paul goes on to talk about how all the other stuff that seems important in life all of a sudden becomes rubbish except knowing Jesus as he was in his death and resurrection. I want to feel that in my spirit and know for sure that knowing Christ and his righteousness, to be embraced by him and to embrace him-- is what will make me a better Shox than I could ever hope to be.... I truly count all these other things worth nothing (--some translations say dung--), my only desire is to know Jesus.

The discovery of love....

Love is many a strange thing, I know this is true because I recently just discovered that what I had been searching for everywhere (for virtually most of my adult life) was under my nose all along. Call it strange, weird, peculiar, uncommon and sometimes extraordinary.... Recently realising that I had ignored my blog for eons, I have decided to come back and update myself on my life (because no one reads the blog anyway). So I eventually got my biz off the ground, talent management is hard though, it takes a lot of hard work which I have not been doing and it is evident from the non-existent amount of clients. I have a night job too...that kinda puts cash in my pocket when my mom doesn't wanna fork over some allowance. I occasionally go watch a movie and until recently it was by myself. U know, stuff myself with popcorn and hotdogs and then go back home after crying my eyes out in some chick flick... (aren't those so many now?). When I get back home after work I am exhausted and just wanna fall on my bed and wake up when it's time to go to work again but between my boyfriend and the biz.... I have very little sleeping time. But it's all good, because I enjoy the latter two immensely and they are done for pleasure. So I can honestly say I have found love, especially considering I had forgotten how good it feels to actually be passionate about something. I think I'll sign out now before I faint with sleep...Be passionate k?