Tonight on my way home from the grocery store, I was listening to my Chris Tomlin CD & was once again stunned by his song "Everlasting God". Every time I hear it, I get into a worshipful mode. Now, I'm not talking about the typical worship as in what you'd think of in a church service. I'm talking about true worship. God doesn't just ask us to worship Him in church services. Our lives are to be spent worshiping Him. I can worship through honoring my family's needs & working to earn a paycheck. I can worship Him through living by the standards that are set for me. I can worship Him by living a life that tells other people something is different about me, therefore making them want to have a little of what I've got. They may not realize it, but that "something" is GOD. Anyway, I digress. The point I was making is that worship does not just mean standing in a church service & worshipping in whatever style your church worships. When I hear this particular song, my heart leaps out of my chest, my face can't contain the smile He produces in me. My hands are raised (try that one on for size while driving! ha ha). I can't sit still...I'm wiggling & dancing as I drive because I can't hold in my JOY for Jesus. It's almost as if I see His face before me and the JOY that comes from His presence is so overwhelming that I can't help but let it out! I want to reach out & touch Him, to physically TOUCH His presence. That, my friend, is worship. And when you experience it, you can't help but shout & dance and sing.
The anthem of the song is that God is everlasting. He's on the throne. His love endures, no matter what.
In times of pain, He loves me.
In times of joy, He loves me.
In moments of fear, He loves me.
In seasons of grief, He loves me.
In times of celebration & excitement, He loves me.
In the times of happiness when life is good & I barely acknowledge Him at all, He loves me.
When I mess up, He loves me.
When I do well, He loves me.
When I fall down, He loves me.
When I lose a friend to cancer and I cry & ask WHY, He loves me.
Worse--when a friend loses their child to cancer & I ask again, WHY, He loves me.
Worse yet -- when more than one friend loses their child to cancer & I ask WHY, He still loves me.
When I stand in church with my arms outstretched in worship, He loves me.
When my children give me reason to scream, He loves me.
When my children give me a reason to CHEER, He loves me.
His love for me is not conditional. It is not bound by my feelings on that day or my circumstances at that moment. He loved me when He formed the earth. He loved me when He created man. He loved me when He walked on the earth. He loved me when He died for me. He loved me when He ascended to Heaven. He loved me when my mother was born. He loves me now, He loved me then, He loved me before I was even formed in my mother's womb. His love is truely EVERLASTING, constant, eternal.
He is faithful to me when I am faithless. He is faithful to me when I ask Him "WHY". He is faithful to me when I need Him, and faithful to me when I don't think I need Him. He is faithful. He doesn't sway, He doesn't blow with the breeze. He is faithful to me when I screw up. He is faithful to me when I am laughing. He is faithful to me when I cry. He is God, He is EVERLASTING.
When I am sick, He is God. When my child is hurting, He is God. When I ache & mourn, He is God. When family members die, He is God. When a child is born, He is God. When I lay down at night to rest and when I rise in the morning, He is God. When I honor Him and when I don't, He is God.
He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last. The everlasting Father, the Holy, righteous, blameless, pure spotless sacrifice for MY blunders...for MY faults...for MY sins.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! He is FAITHFUL.
(partial lyrics to the song I am talking about here are below--I included the parts that really slap me in the face & throw me across the room to recognize how wild I am about Jesus--and maybe part of the worship experience is the actual music itself, so if you haven't heard this song, you ought to!)
Everlasting God Lyrics
Artist(Band):Chris Tomlin
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
Chorus: You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
1 comment:
Wow.
I feel like I've been to church just through this post. :-D
Now...don'tcha wish everyone that claimed the Name was this excited about Him OUTSIDE corporate worship? Imagine what Sundays would be like if this were the case.
I've held for many years that what you do Monday-Saturday reflects on Sunday. If you're not in an attitude of worship during the week, how can Sunday be as uplifting and lifting up as it should be?
Thanks for the post. You made my Saturday morning! Love y'all....
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