Worshiping God

I just sat down to write a Mother's Day post for my 'main blog' and something happened which completely changed my mood.  (And not a good thing.)   I have this blog post in my head as well so I thought it might be good to come here first.

I recently went to a teaching on worshiping God.  There are many ways to do this..and the focus of the teaching is that when you do things for others, you can do so as an act of worship.  I agree.  And being a mom, much of my life is an act of worship.  But many people do many good things...some believe in God and some don't.

So what is the difference?

The difference is the heart.

I have spent much of my life doing things for others.  Some of it has been intentionally as an act of worship.  Some has been because I felt I 'should' or 'had to'..for God or for others.  But even with all the 'doing' I have done, there has been something missing.  Even after I gave my life to Jesus, knowing I would spend eternity with Him, there was still a lack.  The doing, even when it was for Jesus, did not fill me.

So we get back to the heart.

What happens if we never do anything for anyone?  What happens when we sin like crazy?  What happens when we don't obey God even when we KNOW what He is asking of us?  What then?

Guess what... He still LOVES us.  He still loves ME!!  To me that is the miracle.  And this KNOWING, His pursuing of ME is what drew me unto Himself FIRST.  KNOWING this has made me want to PURSUE Him.

So worship for me is all about just me and God.  When I am in-tune with my Savior, I don't have to even THINK how to serve others, or how to obey Him.  I can sit there in a moment when all is going wrong, when I know I have done wrong, and know that He still loves me.  When all else falls away, there is still Him.

And He loves me.

The Blessing of Joseph

Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine near a spring,

whose branches climb over a wall.

With bitterness archers attacked him;

they shot at him with hostility.

But his bow remained steady,

his strong arm stayed limber,

because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

because of your father's God, who helps you,

because of the Almighty, who blesses you

with blessings of the heavens above,

blessings of the deep that lies below,

blessings of the breast and the womb.

Your father's blessings are greater

than the blessings of the ancient mountains,

than the bounty of the age-old hills.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

Genesis 49:22-26

God's favor

I was reading Genesis 39 this morning. Joseph was sold into slavery in the previous chapters. Here is a verse that stuck out to me

When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. (Gen 39:3)

I got to thinking, WHY didn't God just have favor on him EARLIER and keep him out of slavery?

Then I read further about the wife of his master who falsely accused Joseph of attempted sexual assault. Joseph ended up in jail. But there:

But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. (Gen 39:20-21)

Why didn't God just have favor and kindness back when the wife was after him?

Then a thought occurred to me. The fact that Joseph ended up in slavery and in jail was because of other people's choices. This is huge for me right now. I can only work with my own choices and my attitudes in them. Other people may make choices that effect me! And sometimes that stinks! It is life. But that does not mean God is not with me. In fact he can create incredible situations for me even in the middle of a mess that someone else made. I might want to be on the lookout for that!

The Pursuit of God- Introduction

I am toying around with keeping a separate note for my journey of staying attached to the vine.

My husband bought me a kindle and the first book i bought was AW Tozer's The Pursuit of God. (It was 89 cents. How could I go wrong?) I am just in the introduction and already I love it. Here are two quotes.

There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward him. Satan is proof of this.

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For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in HIs Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

I think the above quote is key. I could defend the Gospel all day long with facts. I could educate myself in an effort to convince another person of the truth; however, you can not change a person's heart with the cold hard facts. When we Experience God and others see that, then we are a better witness than a library full of books. In fact it isn't even about defending the truth or 'convincing' someone (as if that were possible.) It is about our personal relationship with God.

I received the most amazing compliment the other day. I was back in a doctor's office and the receptionist said, "I was so glad to see you back in here. Well..I am not glad you are here for you but I am glad for me!" Wow- that felt really really good because on most days I feel less than worthy. So it was a whisper from God that He is doing a good work in me.