Come through the gates to his Temple giving thanks to him.
Enter his courtyards with songs of praise.
Honor him and bless his name. Ps. 100:4 ESV
As I was seeking direction for worship music for worship service this weekend, today’s verse, while siging the chorus, came to my mind. By the time I sang it for the third time I could sense my spirit was becoming lighter, so I kept singing and soon I was singing other songs of thanksgiving and praise. Before I knew it the task I was doing was completed with joy. Yes, I do pray while I’m working and doing manual things and I find I not only get the answer I’m seeking, but extra! Oh our Jesus is so awesome, no wonder one of His discriptive names is the God of More Than Enough.
Anyway, it made me think; how many of us “go” to church grumbling, complaining and thinking of other places we could or should be? Then we wonder, why we leave feeling the same way we did when we came in. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t really met with our Abba God at all, we just went to His house. Look what it says we should enter into the parking lot with thanksgiving. Thanks that we get to go to His house and meet with others. Thanks that we made the trip safely, thanks that we have health and a way to get there. Thanks that we will meet others who are thankful and gratefu lto be there, in a place called a “sanctuary” from the chaos and pressures of this world. But do we, this verse is showing us how to get the most out of meeting for wroship, even if we worship daily alone and it’s with a grateful, thankful heart.
Before we know it, our praise has taken us our focus from ourselves and what’s going on in the world, to the One who gives us peace in the midst of the storm. Comfort for our hurts and cares, healing for our wounds and joy unspeakable. And now we find ourselves conscience we are in His presence, all other things are a blur and don’t matter. All that matters is to enjoy all we can experience while we’re so aware of His gloty and all we can do is worship and honor Him. The reality that even our worship of Him is generated by our giving our thanks and praise and we receive more than we ever hope think or imagine and yet just what we need. This week, start singing before you go to bed tonight, wake up thanking Him for another day and that you can go worship Him in His house, and leave it with a song in your heart and a spring in your step that will last long after you leave the building.
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