Indescribable

This post does not seemingly go along with my theme. In all honesty I was not planning on talking about this subject for my next blog. So let me explain. 

OUR GOD IS INDESCRIBABLE!

That's an explanation? Well, Yes. It's an explanation in itself. What I am going to do in the rest of this blog is somewhat untraditional, yet joyously powerful. 

I have just finished reading the book "I am not, but I know I AM" by Louie Giglio. Louie puts us and God into an entirely new perspective. I encourage you to create a list. Write down everything you can think of that you are not.  For example. "I am not perfect" "I am not powerful" "I am not love" "I am not all knowing". After you have made your list... began to right next to each of those I AM. The very name of God. We are small, very small. And God is big, very BIG. In this book, Louie proposes a word study. To take each word in a biblical passage, and to meditate upon each word for a day. The four words in the italics above deserve this type of attention. I want to shortly bring your attention to these words now as best I can.

OUR

Us... You and I... EVERYONE on this earth. All of the "I am nots". Each and every person who is completely undeserving of God's love but who has been given it freely anyway. This word, alone, is meaningless without the next. We, are NOTHING without...

GOD

To study and write about the above word would be to start a paragraph that would never end. The very name itself emanates majesty, glory, and holiness. To wrap our minds around this word is impossible. I AM... The list you made previously, is only the tip of a never ending ice burg in the study of this word.

IS

Simply put... "TO BE". Existence. Truth. Anything REAL. Anything SOLID. TO BE, I AM. TO BE GOD. TO BE, WHERE i am not. TO BE....

INDESCRIBABLE

To describe everything, in every possible way, and not being able to even paint a picture of what IS. TO DESCRIBE EVERYTHING GOOD IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY AND NOT EVEN COMING CLOSE TO WHO OUR GOD IS. Everything that we can NOT wrap our minds around. ANYTHING Incredible, that we can NOT put into words or even thought. Every word in the 6,000+ known languages on earth combined, not even coming close to describing GOD. 

OUR GOD IS INDESCRIBABLE

Is to say "We who 'are not' are unable to wrap our minds around 'I AM'"

Walking on water with Him... means we are powerless without GOD. It means complete trust in the indescribable. It means worship in awe of WHO HE IS. It means humble adoration for a God we cannot wrap our minds around. It means lifting our hands in praise to a God who is so GREAT and so GOOD and so full of LOVE that he sent his only Son Jesus Christ to shed his blood on a rugged wooden cross, bearing the burden of every sin in the world, because he knew YOUR name and he knew my NAME, and he refused to see us apart from Him. Though we were MOST undeserving, He Loved us ANYWAY.

PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!

Worship

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'worship'? A song service? Prayer? Praise? How do you define worship? How does your church worship? How do YOU worship?

'The worship service went great this morning... We really felt God's presence'. I have heard this many times... Haven't we all? Isn't this how we determine how 'good' our worship is? Isn't this how we determine how spiritual we are? I mean that overwhelming emotional feeling we get in the middle of a song that brings a tear to our eye... Doesn't that mean the worship service went amazing? The answer to these questions is no.

We have a misconception of worship. We have made worship into something that is about us, and is no longer about God. Worship? Not about God? But Every song we sing is about God? This is We have confused what it truly means to worship an Almighty, Everlasting,Never-failing, Loving, Caring, and WORTHY God.

What then, is worship? Most simply put... Worship is a reaction. We are walking on water with Him. He has saved us from sinking, he is holding us in His arms as we walk through the storms of life. Is not He worthy of our praise? In conclusion to the scriptures I discussed in my last blog, Matthew 14:32 says this, "When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat WORSHIPED Him, saying, 'You certainly are God's Son!' " This was a reaction to everything they had experienced. Read my last blog again. While reading it, think about everything I said. Think about everything that happened that day... Everything that is happening today, in your life. This is why we Worship. It is a reaction to a life-breathing, magnificent, and Holy God. A Reaction to a self-sacrificing, burden-bearing, life-giving Saviour. A Reaction to a convicting, convincing, teaching, guiding, powerful Holy Spirit. A reaction to every single thing that He has done in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Worship is when we come before Him, and cannot help but to give Him honor and glory and praise because of who He is. When we humble ourselves in adoration before a God who more than deserves it.

EVERY worship service is a good worship service, because we are glorifying Him. Worship is all about Him. And nothing about Us.
Hillsong United captured this picture well in their song 'Heart of Worship'. It IS all about Him.

When the music fades
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 way 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 things I've made it
When it's all about you
It's all about you, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath


I pray that my worship would be all about Him. For He has pulled me from the water, He has held me in His arms, and He shelters me from the storm. I cannot help but to worship Him. For He IS Worthy!

Walking on Water, Today

I don't have much to say, so I won't say much. :) the purpose of this blog is to build one another up. To encourage one another, and to grow spiritually. I pray my words will do so for you, and your words do so for me. I am here to share my thoughts with you, and I am open to constructive criticism and additional thoughts. In fact, they would be appreciated. The past few weeks I've been thinking about a concept that I believe is crucial to Christian living.

Matthew 14:25 says, "...He (Jesus) came to them (the disciples), walking on the sea." Picture this for a moment. Jesus, without any effort, with magnificent power and strength, walking on the water. The waves crashing against Him, the wind blowing water in His face, and yet, there He is, unmoved, unharmed, walking toward the boat... No fear in Him, complete peace on His face, in full control of the storm. This is the Jesus Peter sees, this is the Jesus Peter desires to serve. Verse 28 shows Peters reaction to the Jesus He was seeing. Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus."

Today, right now, whatever circumstances you are in, whatever problems you have, all the things you do, everyday, whatever makes up your life, is the storm. You are Todays version of Peter, and The Holy Spirit is the person of God we have, right now. Here. The Holy Spirit is just as unmovable, just as strong, just as confident, and just as in control. We, like Peter, have taken a step toward Him in reaction to who He is. In reaction to His magnificence. In desparation to be saved from the storm, in a desire to be wrapped in His arms of safety, in a longing to be close to his power, and wonder, and love.

Soon after Peter makes a step toward Jesus, we see him began to sink. Verse 30 starts out, "But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and began to sink..." Peter was completely helpless, without the power of Jesus. Without Jesus, Peter has nowhere to go, but down. He can't even stand on the water, much less walk toward Jesus. How did Peter lose the power of Jesus? He lost his focus on Jesus. He began to worry He became scared, He was distracted by the circumstances around him. He cries out in desperation "Lord, save me!" How often do we do this? We take our confident step toward Him, and so quickly begin to worry, become scared,and get distracted by the circumstances around us. How quick we are to claim we trust in Him, and soon find ourselves sinking once again. We are utterly helpless without the power of the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we have no where to go, but down. We cannot stand in life, much less walk toward Him, without His help. We cannot lose focus of Him, for when our focus is on Him, we will never sink... We will have peace in the midst of life. We will never worry, or become scared. Do you worry? What scares you? Are you distracted?

I must admit that I often must answer 'yes' to those questions. But lately, The Holy Spirit has given me the kind of peace that I believe all Christians can have, and should have. The next verse (31) shows us the kind of God we serve. Peter cried out "Lord, save me!" and "Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him..." Jesus was there, waiting with love and anticipation, longing to help Peter, the second he cried out. Have you lost focus? Did you answer 'yes' to any of those questions? All you have to do is cry out to Him. He is waiting, in anticipation, longing to help you. Cry out, and immediately he will stretch out His hand, and take hold of you.

So we cry out, whats next? I believe the answer is peace. Verse 32 says 'When they got into the boat, the wind stopped." This verse brings comfort to us. He is in control of the storm. He is in control of your life, of the circumstances, good and bad. When we place our trust in Him, He brings peace. Peace about life, peace about circumstances, situations, and problems, peace in every day, no matter what.

We are powerless without Him. We will most assuredly sink if we lose focus on Him. When we sink, all we must do is cry out, and He will reach out his hand to us. Trust Him, and He will bring you the ultimate peace.

Think about your life today. Are you sinking? Or are you walking on water? Do you have the kind of peace described above? When is the last time you worried about something? Join with me in this blog... Walk on water toward a God of love and peace.