Dear Friends,
I was in Pasadena and saw a homeless guy on a street corner. He was standing next to his shopping cart that was piled about seven feet high with stuff. He was holding a brown cardboard sign that just said: NEED MORE. I thought, What could this guy need more of? He wouldn’t be able to fit one more thing in his shopping cart. My next thought was that what he needs is more of God. And then I realized that’s exactly what I need too. Maybe I need to carry a sign that says: NEED MORE GOD.
Psalm 42:1-2 says: As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Some of us hunger and thirst for more. Like an animal driven by instinct to find streams of waters to satiate it’s thirst, we are driven by Holy Spirit intrinsic desires to find the streams of Living Waters to satiate our thirst. But how do we get more of God?
The Apostle Paul said, I beseech you (I urge you) therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) In the old covenant, worship to God had been through a system of sacrifices. But under the new covenant, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice as worship to God. And Paul is not saying that a sacrificial lifestyle of worship is something just for the very religious or the monk in the cave. It’s the normal, rational and reasonable way for the “ordinary” believers like you and me. Some people tend to look at people who are constantly worshiping the Lord as some kind of zealous nutcase. But Paul says that a lifestyle of worship is simply our “reasonable service” – our normal behavior. Worship is not for the spiritually mature, it’s for the spiritually hungry.
King David’s kind of worship was not an event or a period of time he set aside on a weekly or daily basis, it was his lifestyle. David’s kind of worship takes place inside the sanctuary, but even more importantly it takes place outside the sanctuary. It begins when he wakes up in the morning and ends when he falls asleep at night. David writes “Blessed are those who hear the joyful blast of the trumpet, for they shall walk in the light of your presence. They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation and in your perfect righteousness. You are their strength. What glory! Our power is based on your favor!” (Psalm 89:15-17) How do you get more God? Rejoice all day long in the light of God’s awesome presence!
Worship was David’s number one priority. Nothing he did during his day was more important than being in God’s presence through worship. King David’s worship lifestyle was uncompromising. It was wholehearted. David had total commitment to God and worshiped Him with all of his heart. David’s worship was a witness to others. When we worship with all our heart, people take notice. When people see the Jesus in us, they are drawn to God by and through our worship. They see God’s presence in our lives when we worship and they want and need that.
My thought about the homeless guy with the NEED MORE sign was this: He may want more, but there is really no way he can get more with his cart piled high with junk. He can’t really fit anything else in until he gets rid of some of the useless stuff he already has. (You probably already know where I’m going with this...) Do you need more God, but just don’t seem to have the time to fit Him into your overstuffed life? Read this paragraph again.
Here’s the bottom line. Take a good hard look at your relationship with God. You may not need more God. If you think you have all of Him you’ll ever need, than you’re good.
Do you need more God? Worship! You may need to schedule and set aside certain times throughout your day. Need more God but don’t have the time or energy to spend with the Lord? You may want to clean out your cart! Amen?
The Apostle Paul said, I beseech you (I urge you) therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) In the old covenant, worship to God had been through a system of sacrifices. But under the new covenant, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice as worship to God. And Paul is not saying that a sacrificial lifestyle of worship is something just for the very religious or the monk in the cave. It’s the normal, rational and reasonable way for the “ordinary” believers like you and me. Some people tend to look at people who are constantly worshiping the Lord as some kind of zealous nutcase. But Paul says that a lifestyle of worship is simply our “reasonable service” – our normal behavior. Worship is not for the spiritually mature, it’s for the spiritually hungry.
King David’s kind of worship was not an event or a period of time he set aside on a weekly or daily basis, it was his lifestyle. David’s kind of worship takes place inside the sanctuary, but even more importantly it takes place outside the sanctuary. It begins when he wakes up in the morning and ends when he falls asleep at night. David writes “Blessed are those who hear the joyful blast of the trumpet, for they shall walk in the light of your presence. They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation and in your perfect righteousness. You are their strength. What glory! Our power is based on your favor!” (Psalm 89:15-17) How do you get more God? Rejoice all day long in the light of God’s awesome presence!
Worship was David’s number one priority. Nothing he did during his day was more important than being in God’s presence through worship. King David’s worship lifestyle was uncompromising. It was wholehearted. David had total commitment to God and worshiped Him with all of his heart. David’s worship was a witness to others. When we worship with all our heart, people take notice. When people see the Jesus in us, they are drawn to God by and through our worship. They see God’s presence in our lives when we worship and they want and need that.
My thought about the homeless guy with the NEED MORE sign was this: He may want more, but there is really no way he can get more with his cart piled high with junk. He can’t really fit anything else in until he gets rid of some of the useless stuff he already has. (You probably already know where I’m going with this...) Do you need more God, but just don’t seem to have the time to fit Him into your overstuffed life? Read this paragraph again.
Here’s the bottom line. Take a good hard look at your relationship with God. You may not need more God. If you think you have all of Him you’ll ever need, than you’re good.
Do you need more God? Worship! You may need to schedule and set aside certain times throughout your day. Need more God but don’t have the time or energy to spend with the Lord? You may want to clean out your cart! Amen?
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