Guess what....it's not about you!!!!

Guess what.....it's not about you! Or me.... OH dear, don't these words make us just get fired up. But just because you own a shirt that says it is all about you, doesn't mean it is... See all the lies this world has told you!!?? It's okay, you can cry. Okay...you can stop now. Go on and just wipe your tears away so that you can read my point now... Please.
Praising and worshiping GOD. I find it so silly that the body of Christ makes such a big deal about what songs are holy and which songs are not. It has become such an issue that they are even willing to separate because of how a pastor leads his music. I heard one man say how "anything that is in all these new churches these days is part of the worship of Satan." But let us not be judgmental... It is just as bad on the other side. " I can't worship when all we do is sing hymns and listen to the piano..." It is sad. I was reading the psalms and there is A LOT of stuff in there about worship. Hmmm...funny how that is. Sometimes when I hear these comments I want to ask these Christians if they have ever read the book of Psalms.
Psalm 147:1 ~"PRAISE the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our GOD;
For it is pleasant ,and praise is beautiful. "
Did you see how that verse said Praise the Lord, and not praise man or self? Did you see how that verse said that praise is beautiful, but it didn't tell you what kind of praise was beautiful? Could it be because that praise and worship mean something that our minds think they don't? For some reason we think that praise means a song or just a tone of a song; or the way we sing it not understanding the fullness of that word.
Worship: The activity of glorifying God in His presence with our voices and hearts. ~ Wayne Grudem.
Our English word of worship means "worthship," denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth.
So, how dare we make it about us? How dare we say that we are unable to worship GOD because a song was (or was not) written 100 years ago? That's NOT worship that's idolatry. That is us taking what is meant for God and creating something that is joyful...for us; something that we seem to feel should make us happy. Soooo that we can honor God, except not really. It is for us. We wanna feel all warm and fuzzy inside...'cause that means we really love God, right? It doesn't matter how Christians sing "Amazing Grace" or what the songs lyrics are. What matters is what our hearts look like. Are we doing it for His Glory; to honor and praise Him? Or, are we seeking fuzzy bunnies that make us feel good?
Matthew 15:8 ~ "These people draw near to Me with their mouth. And honor Me with their lips, But their hearts are far from Me, And in vain they worship Me."
Worship should be us honoring God and REALIZING His worth and His GREATNESS. It is not us getting excited because our favorite song is next! And folks, let us be honest, it should NOT end with the song. We should be able to look at God and in our hearts praise Him because He is good....ALL the time...continuously. We should desire to sing to Him because of the mercies He shows us for even allowing us to even stand before Him. We can do it out loud or in the quietness of our heart, in honor of Him, joyfully.

Here are some verses that I would like to share...
Psalm 149:3-4 ~ " Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Psalm 150~ "Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. "
Psalm 98~ " A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Psam 134:2~ Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.

“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.” —from a sermon in the Works of John Wesley
"Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven."~ John Wesley

I want to share with you something that helped me understand what worship looks like. Yesterday at church we were singing "Shout to the Lord." And this small 7 year old was singing it off key, loud, and, I believe, truly with all his heart. "SHOUT TO THE LORD ALL THE EARTH LET US SING!" Oh, that we could be like that. Just making a joyous noise unto the Lord with all our hear, belting it out at the tip-top of our lungs because He is so amazing and so good! Doing it all for Him and not one bit of you or me! So, I challenge you, the next time you worship to do it in a way that honors God. Make it about Him not about you. Don't complain about people with hands raised or standing up to long... Honor God because He is worthy. He loves us and loves when we worship Him.
In Him I live and write,
Brandie Faith