Omgoodness, patience is not one of the *easier* fruit of the Spirit for this girl. Just today I was worrying about something (well, for a few days now) and as I was jogging (8kms today – woot! woot!) I was *gently* reminded that it wasn’t mine to carry. God is constantly re-reminding me to trust Him; He’s good for it. He delivers. BUT… why can’t I just remember that in the first place?? He’s faithful – check. He’s good – check. Relax – check.

Waiting on God isn’t one of the easiest things to do (for anyone, I’m sure) but… as I was reading the Bible this week I see a theme – we are definitely supposed to be doing it. This is even a worship-related topic so let’s take a look at Psalm 27:13-14; David writes:

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

The ESV study notes on vv 13-14 say:

The singing worshiper addresses each of the other worshipers, with the admonition to live in continued confidence, returning to the trust expressed in vv. 1-3;

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

I like that they call David ‘the singing worshiper’. That’s us, isn’t it? And this also reflects his role as worship leader as well. As a worship leader he was admonishing the congregation to live in continued confidence and trust in God. We see here, that it’s not just ‘me’ (or ‘you’) that forgets, it’s everyone – humanity. We are constantly forgetting what God has done, which causes us to forget that we can trust Him. Our first inclination is to worry – we need to remind each other to put our confidence in God. Not man, not ourselves.

I like this for two reasons:
1. I need to be reminded to wait on God
2. I like that it’s yet another way as worshipers to lead others. As worship leaders we can remind the congregation of God’s faithfulness and our songs should reflect the nature of God as well as a reminder of His goodness – everything He has done!!

Once we check the prayer request off the list – REMEMBER IT! Don’t forget it! Be thankful. Tell others what He has done. And remember…

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

That’s good news, right!? You can believe that you will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!… awesome.

Have a great thanksgiving. Enjoy your family and your healthy relationships – most of all, remember that God is good and His love never fails. Something to be thankful for… there I started your thanksgiving list for you.

♥erin

Just reading the Bible this morning and I noticed a theme so I thought I would share. In my on-going study on worship it is my desire to worship God ‘biblically’. As a worship leader it is definitely a hope of mine to lead people in Christ-centred, Biblical worship. Not my own thoughts, but God’s. Not my ideas, but God’s.

As worshipers we probably all struggle from time-to-time to know what *exactly* worship looks like every day, and as leaders, worship teams, etc. we should know what the Bible is saying. We should know what God is saying. I guess if we want to know what worship looks like, the Bible is the best place to start, because it’s full of worship. God-worship.

Let’s look at this together. Based on Psalm 119:108, Psalm 54:6-7, Psalm 56:12-13 and Psalm 66:13-15 (definitely pull your Bible out and have a look at those verses), here is in-part what our worship should include. Or another way of saying that would be, here is what our worship services should look and sound like; as worshipers, this is what our times of worship should be full of; Our songs, our hearts, the words out of our mouths should have this purpose:

1. Looking forward to continued enjoyment of God’s presence
2. Celebrating God’s goodness
3. Confidence that if “God is for us – it is as good as done”
4. Celebrating God’s answer to prayer
5. Coming to God in time(s) of need
6. Personal consecration
7. Gratitude to God for freely-given kindness

The Bible talks about Freewill offerings in this way. I guess I had never grasped the whole “freewill offering” in light of worship today. But our worship to God is exactly that – it’s the response to our revelation of who God is and what He has done – our salvation and our freedom because of the gift of the cross – and how everything else we are and have is because of God’s grace. A freewill offering is an overflow of our personal relationship with our Savior, God. We have freely received, so we freely give. Doesn’t it make sense that God would want our offerings (or our worship) to be freewill? Of our free-will we draw closer to Him, we get to know Him, we love Him – it’s an act of our *free* will? These are not the ‘expected’ offerings. These are not ‘obligation-offerings’. They are freewill. They are brought freely and willingly.

Now this is much larger than a ‘musical’ experience/expression, but as a worship leader I definitely want to know what our times of worship as a congregation should include. The above list is based on those verses above. I totally encourage you to add to that list. As God-fearing people we should all take responsibility to know what God’s Word has to say and respond as we are led by the Holy Spirit.

Don’t take my word for it – find out for yourself.

♥erin

PS – you know what else God wants of our free-will? Our lives, our purity, our pursuit of holiness and righteouness? Check out Rom 12. Move on from the music and check out what our spiritual acts of worship are too.
xo

I’ve recently started running. I started earlier this year but I’ve been increasing more and more. Adding a few more laps every couple of weeks. My goal was being able to run 5K without stopping and I’m [now] doing that several times each week. Some weeks I only do 15K but my [new] goal each week is 25K. Now to all you runners out there, I know that’s not much but I don’t love, love, love running so it’s a big feat for me.

My sister-in-law was recently diagnosed with MS. I have an aunt who has had MS since I was in high-school and all around me I see beautiful, healthy people falling victim to disease that holds them captive. As much as I would rather meet my girlfriends for tea and sit around and chat, I feel like I need to be getting out there and using the legs that I have, that are still healthy, to move and live. [I'm stilling having tea with the gals, but I've just added something else - often running with my friends and then having tea!]

Each step I take I often feel like I’m taking each one for those in my life who can’t do it for themselves. My family members and others that I know can’t jog anymore. So if I can, why wouldn’t I?

In my ‘thank-you’ series that I began last month, I have been increasingly thankful for my health and in my thankfulness, I am responding by using the body and the life that God has given me. Using it for good, not to harm others as well as using what I do have, not just wasting it away.

I know my running isn’t going to change the world, or save any lives, but in a small way I feel like I’m becoming more and more aware of those around me and appreciating what I do have and living a little more the way I should.

Today I’m thankful for my health. That although I’ve wasted a lot of my time, days and life over the years, God still continues to entrust me with more. I will strive to be more faithful with what I have been given. This is a part of my [daily] worship to God.

…baby steps indeed.
♥er

Ok, well the verses that follow those at the end of Romans 11 come in … you guessed it, Romans 12, which seem to fall perfectly in line with what I wrote about from Romans 11:33-36. Listen to this:

[Romans 12:1-2] So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Isn’t that perfect. Romans 11 sets it up. Bringing this revelation about the sovereignty of God and His power – basically reminding us how praise-worthy He his and how deserving He is of worship. And then in Romans 12 we find out how we do that. How do we answer that call?

Romans 12 tells us that our lives are our offering of worship. Every detail of everyday can be lived out for God. It’s not that complicated. Worship isn’t some stressful, perfected activity that we aspire to offer to God for an hour each Sunday morning at best – no, God wants our hearts. Our lives lived for Him, so that He can be glorified in all we do.

In the words of David from Psalms 40:8 – which is the confession of all worshipers…
“I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

Let’s answer the call….
♥er

I was reading through the book of Romans last week and I read something that I have probably read a hundred times before but this time when I read it I saw it as a call to worship.

Romans 11:33-36; Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell Him what to do? Anyone who has done Him such a huge favor that God has to ask His advice?

Everything comes from Him; Everything happens through Him; Everything ends up in Him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

I was leading worship this past weekend and I had to share that as we started the worship service. When I read things like this I’m [again] reminded of God’s sovereignty and power and in this place, there seems to be no other response than to simply worship. These verses just draw me to worship God. He holds our world in His hands. Everything is thru Him and because of Him. He is it. What draws me to worship is the fact that the Creator of this amazing universe has taken up residency within me [His choice] and He calls me His child, His friend, His daughter, His chosen. He chose me… I am His – not by chance, but by choice.

What could I say in response to this revelation? What could I possibly do? But to kneel down and just thank Him. He is worthy of my love, worship and obedience. What do I have that He hasn’t given to me anyways.?May you feel the call to worship also as we respond to our great God.
♥erin

I’m thankful today for the process God allows in us for change. I have discovered that when you want to be a different person, when you see your sin and authentically want God to change you from the inside-out, He does it!

I’m thankful that although I’ve spent most of my life the way I am, as I seek God and He shines His light on me, and as I’m made aware of my sin and darkness, I can change. He is changing me. Old thought patterns and habits are change-able because of Jesus. The coolest thing is that I’m seeing things that I don’t like – which before I never would have seen or acknowledged, but as I see them, I confess them and the more this happens, the more that default-thinking and default-acting is changing. I am not the same person I was even last year. Not to mention the year before that, or the year before that…. you get the idea….

I have a million miles to go, but today I’m just thankful that I don’t have to be the same as I was. I don’t have to accept old habits as ‘normal’ or acceptable. I don’t have to put up with the same old thing.

Thank-you God that I have a new start everyday and You are faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness. Because of that I am becoming a better friend, a way better mom and a much better wife… and that’s just the beginning, cuz my relationship with God is changing too. I’m getting to know Him based not on what I have done or am doing (performance), but based on what He had done and who He is… when I see myself thru Him, I look a lot better. Thanks God…

That’s what I’m thankful for, today.
xo

One of my favs from the new Hillsong United CD, Across the Earth – Tear down the Walls. Sorry nothing to watch here, but the song is great. It’s just a song of worship that expresses the power of God in our lives and our simple response to our very beautiful, powerful, Almighty yet so gracious, God. You’ll love it! ♥

Cliff has been inadvertently teaching me about thankfulness. Everyday his thankfulness abounds. Whatever we are talking about always comes with an attitude of gratefulness. It’s amazing.

Oh, I’m a thankful person. I’m full of gratitude, except there’s always a stipulation. “This is great, but….”, or “Wow, that’s wonderful, but just…”, you know? It’s just not quite good enough.

I think basically it comes from how I am with myself. I’m just ‘not quite there yet’, or overall ‘not good enough at just about, well, everything’. As hard has it must be to live with me because of that, it’s even worse *being* me. I’m just never totally satisfied.

Everything is good enough for Cliff. He sees everything through the providential hand of God. Everything happens for a reason and everything is good, perfect and pleasing. Sure, things need to be worked through and developed, because he strives for excellence, but in the meantime, it’s all good. You know what’s *all good*? My husband. Yeah he’s all good; he’s teaching me about thankfulness. Because God has taught him. And as Cliff leads our home, he is teaching all of us what God has done in and through his life.

So, last week I started thanking God for things throughout the day, writing them down, saying them out-loud, but stopping before the ‘but….’. See, I am genuinely grateful, but as soon as the gratefulness is thought, there is this other thing that pops up that tries to steal it away.

So, this past week, I’ve stopped AT the “thank-You’s” not AFTER the ‘but’. I never realized how many things I have to be thankful for and how aware I actually am of how amazing my life is. How wonderful my family is. How perfect and pleasing my relationships are. How blessed we are to have the church family we have and the love of so many people. How beautiful my home is and how outstanding my children are. The list hasn’t stopped.

These are things I am [and have been] actually feeling and thinking everyday, but I only think them and as soon as the big “but” comes along, those moments are robbed from me.

I will endeavor to be thankful without stipulation. I don’t need to clarity to myself or anyone else that “as perfect as something is”, it could be somehow better ‘if’.

Being a perfectionist is not all it’s cracked up to be (ask my family, geesh). *But* I’m releasing that to God. He knows my heart. I desire to do my Father’s will. I live for Him. I’m not perfect, but I’m also righteous in Christ and I live my life each day pursing holiness and peace as God’s grace allows.

So, I’m a thankful girl today and my thankfulness is a part of my worship. It’s something I’m offering to God because I so desperately want Him to know I see what He is doing, what He has done and I am expectant for all the things He is going to do.

Ephesians 5:29-20;
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I was out with some girlfriends last night and I just happened to mention how as a girl I never really dreamt of the whole wedding thing. I never thought about getting married until it happened. I never really thought about having kids until it happened.

I can honestly tell you today that I am married to the absolutely most perfect man for me. And my kids, well don’t get me started. Perfection on two legs, both of them… but my childhood was filled with other dreams. While most girls had visions of white dresses and changing diapers, I was fantasizing about something all-together different.

My friends laughed at me when I told them I hadn’t really thought about getting married…nor having kids… they simultaneously asked: “well, Erin – what did you dream about?”. I stopped, thought quietly to myself and said ‘ministry’. That’s what I have always dreamt about from as early in life as I can remember.

In fact, in elementary school I drafted up my programme for my funeral. It was full of worship and evangelism – and that was just the beginning. As I entered high-school I envisioned myself seeing my entire high-school get ’saved’. I would lie awake at night dreaming about taking over for Billy Graham when he retired. It was everything…His ministry, essentially was sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who realized their need for redemption and grace… like I myself have needed so desperately over the years.

Nothing fires me up more that the idea of the lost and broken finding healing, redemption and love. Today as I write, I know that has not changed. My passion for worship is all about the healing and redeeming presence of God. Yeah, I love music and I love to sing – but my dreams have always been and will always be about people finding their identity, their ‘new name’ in Christ Jesus.

Broken homes, mended. Broken hearts, whole. Broken lives, restored. Broken marriages and broken families reconciled. It is my passion in life to carry on the work of Jesus Christ and see the lost find their way home.

The life of a worshiper. There’s no life like it. Read Isaiah 61 below. This is what Jesus lived His life doing and in turn we can do the same.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.