Elevate (ellev8.com) is a Community for Young Adults and College Students in Visalia and Tulare County. We meet Tuesday Nights 7pm in the 210 building on center street.
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Deuteronomy 1:7-8 jumped out at me the other morning…as I had this thought…
God has NEVER led anyone to the point of indecision…it’s NOT that we don’t know what to do most of the time…but rather we know EXACTLY what to do, but in order to obey it will cause us to break out of our comfortable routine and actually put forth some effort.
God had promised the Israelites the land they were going into…He had spent years preparing them for the takeover…but when it came time to make things happen He didn’t tell them “Sit here while I go do it all,” but rather, “Break camp and advance…”
Translation…
“Break camp…” – Get out of your place of comfort.
“Advance” – In other words…DON’T try to keep things the way they are…there are MUCH better things in store.
I love how God doesn’t call His followers to be passive…to sit back and do nothing. We serve a living and active God…which means if we seek to imitate Him then the same should be said of us.
So…any decision that you’ve been putting off that you KNOW He’s clearly spoken about?
I get so frustrated sometimes with people's concept of worship (with myself mostly.) We live in a time where "Worship" is exploding, its everywhere- Heck, even Skillet and Kutless gave up Metal for an album or two to get in on the action . ( It may even have its own award at the Dove awards.) It is generally defined by what kind of music we like and what personality moves our emotions the most. In leading a worship gathering I cant tell you how many times I have heard people say that they hate it when we break up "worship" to have people greet each other. If you think about the logic on that it's pretty goofy- basically, the concept is- this time of music is when I connect with God and when you have me connect with other people if ruins my worship mojo. I know that this is a pretty broad stroke but it does show the consumer mentality that is running rampant within the body of Christ. I love what Matt Redman's church did when they realized that people were worshiping the "worship" and the leader's style- they cleared the stage and got into the word until they felt that they could use music as ONE of the forms of worship, and could worship with a genuine heart in all area's of life- not only when the music was just right.
I believe that the worship God enjoys the most is not when our emotions are being cajoled and our senses are being tickled, but when in the difficult and mundane times of life we call "You are God, and I will worship you" (without a guy in skinny jeans and a scarf with a guitar is crooning in front of us.)
OK so this may be a little harsh, (hope you catch the sarcasm and satire,) but I want to challenge myself, and anyone else who is willing, to begin to look for awkward moments (ADD moment- visualizing the most interesting man in the world, having an awkward moment, just to see what it feels like) to worship God. Can you imagine how someone would react if they just finishing cussing you out and you fell on your knees and started shouting praises to God, or the people who observed it. Or when you are enjoying a great burger at In & Out you start sharing with your friends how great God is. God's heart would be extremely full and proud of his most prized possession- you!
I think we all would agree that Worship is not about us, but the question is- do we just say that because we are supposed to, or do we live it? (Can I possibly use any more parentheses? even got a few two finger quotations in.)
Elevate is a community ministry for college students and young adults in the valley. We meet at 7:00pm Tuesday nights at 210 downtown Visalia (corner or Locust & Center)
