Well hello there!
I have a lot of things that I refer to as my "favorite", for example when listening to my iPod
on shuffle.... I don't know how many times I catch my self saying
"i love this song, it's my favorite"
all within the same car setting.
It's silly.
Speaking of "favorite", I have an absolutely favorite thing to do,
and that is to worship on Sunday morning with my
church family.
Literally gives me a happy heart just thinking about it!
The past two Sundays at church have been
incredible,
just getting so lost in worship and feeling the Lords presence
and just simply dwelling in such a sweet moment.
It is so good to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Sometimes it's just coming into a environment like so ^
and just feeling the goodness and grace of God on his people
and just enjoying it,
receiving it,
and saying 'God, you are so good",
the past two services mentioned,
I very much so felt his goodness, and his sweet grace...and it was awesome!
I just have such a heart for us in this season,
and I say "season" because life is "seasonal",
different things come and go in "seasons",
the Lord is in "seasons".
But we are really in a season and in a culture
where we are surrounded with things that allow us to stay busy
and even with things like Twitter and Facebook,
those kinds of things,
we can not even be completely in touch with reality very often
if we don't want to be.
I believe that a lot of you can agree with me on that one...
I have had days that I was on Twitter so much that I felt
that I was best friends with Kim, Khloe, & Kourtney Kardashian....
or on Pinterest for hours "Repinning"/"Liking" things for my future home,
or my future fairy tale wedding that I long to have,
and then a customer walks into the bank..
and it's "Oh hey Malorie... back to reality!!"
That's probably a silly
example, but the funny thing is...
a lot of us can relate to some thing of that sort.
Now days we could just text and not even have to talk to people...
(in some instances that would be nice, very nice, if my phone didn't receive calls.haha)
Some of us can even talk to a robot inside of our phone named Siri that can look up everything.
I mean it's just funny to me how our culture is, but you know what, as believers, we can NOT be
defined by our culture, outside of the four walls, we've got to stay connected to the Lord in reality.
And here is what I mean by that,
that we can't just be so quick to download the next BIG app that is our "devotional"
with the Lord, but it's my heart that as believers, as people of God,
we would press into his presence,
just between us and him,
and that no matter how busy things can be around us,
that that would be our #1 thing.
I was talking to a friend some time back and he began to talk about Heaven.. and what it will be like.
In Revelation Chapter 2 it says,
I know you and I know the things that make your heart beat...
it's really a cool little scripture there, it goes on to say,
I know the things that you are passionate about and I even know the things that you hate,
... I know that you are doing things in my name and
you're not even growing weary for my name sake.
That to me sounds like somebody who is pretty healthy,
if you're not growing weary for his name sake,
you're running the race,
you're spending time with him...
things like that,
but here's what it says at the end of that verse... it says
"But I've got one thing against you,
that you've left your first love"
And I think that we fall and pray to this many times,
in many areas of our lives,
where we've allowed ourselves to be defined by the things outside of church,
not just outside of the four walls,
but I'm talking about the culture of us being believers,
that we've allowed ourselves to just become so busy that these kinds of
moments of getting lost in the goodness and grace of the Lord,
are not very normal in our lives sometimes.
BUT.... I think they need to be, especially in our own time, just between us and the Father.
If you've been walking in areas of anxiety,
depression,
feeling like you're overwhelmed with life,
needing incredibly large answers from the Lord,
I would bet to say or venture to say,
you've got to press into him,
get alone at your house and just silence everything else
and lean into the Father.
He's in pursuit of our hearts,
ALL the time.
Let's be known as worshippers, Amen.
Those who worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
That that would not be said of us,
that we've left out first love,
but that we are madly in love with our Father.
He is so good.
I refer a lot of things in my life to music (but you already know that thou.)
So of course while blogging, there was one song that kept coming to me.
The Heart of Worship. Some of you may know it.
(no picture, just sound, click play)
*******
When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart
I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about you
It's all about You Jesus
*******
I pray God we make it about you again
Thank you for reminding us,
that your presence is all we need,
when your presence comes it's like nothing else,
we can hear your voice Lord and we know what you are saying to us,
we feel near to you,
Thank you for the beauty of your holiness,
God like in Psalm 27 when it says,
One thing that I seek
and that I desire, is that I would dwell in the house of the Lord,
to gaze upon the beauty of my God,
Father I pray that we would desire that..
Every.single.day,
Lord that you would break depression and anxiety off of the people reading this,
I ask in the name of Jesus,
that your presence would come and invade every heart,
Thank you so much for loving us,
Lord teach us and help us to do this in our homes and in our cars again,
some of us are good at that but some of us need to learn and
I pray that you teach us Lord..to press in,
and to feel your presence, and to ask for your presence to fill our homes,
May we be people who are after your heart God.
Not what you can do.
Not the answers that we need from you,
but your presence Lord,
to commune and to be in a relationship with you God.
Thank you for reminding us to just quiet ourselves, and to worship you....
because you are good.
Amen.
Be Blessed. Be Loved People!
-malorie lucille
