Reverence and Worship

Proverbs 10:27
27The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord prolongs one's days, but the years of the wicked shall be made short.

Fear of the Lord.
I remember 6 years ago, when I first started to seek the Lord. I kept hearing the term; Fear the Lord. What is that, I thought. Later, a few of my friends and I spent hours searching through the Bible to answer this question. Now, it is easier. I just went to www.biblegateway.com and searched Fear in the Amplified Bible and got 485 results. Most of them are about Fearing (reverently) the Lord. I have spent many hours learning what this powerful message is saying. It is a part of my every being. My brain may not understand it completely, but my heart tells me how to fear God. It is not easy all the time, but when there is reverent and worshipful fear, God will be there to guide me through the valleys and the mountaintops. My days are brighter and there is hope.

So those who know that there is a higher power, an authority greater than ourselves, will have prolonged days. You can look at this even deeper and see that those who surrender their lives to the Power of God, the salvation through Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will live for eternity. Those who choose not to acknowledge this gift will surely die and waste away.

Even if there are God fearing people who's time is cut short here, their legacy lives on much longer than those who are evil. And those who are evil and live among us still have slowly begun to waste away because they have no hope, no future, many people today walk around offering nothing in this world for others but themselves, causing pain and chaos. God will make all things intended for evil, good. So those actions, those evil wrongs will be made right and God will bring justice and joy to those who are suffering.

Today, we can joyfully praise our Lord for all He is to us. Celebrate Him even through our pain. We have hope and we have joy and we have the Spirit living in us. What do the wicked have? This is all the more reason for us to reach out to those who have not yet heard about our God, for those who need him.

Dear Lord, I pray today that we will all feel overwhelmed with peace and reverent fear for you. May our worship to you today be a renewed joy in your promises and your gifts, which are too many to count. I pray that each of us would examine our lives and reach out to those that are hurting and wicked. That we may be salt and light to those who you desire to know you. I love you Lord, Amen.

Please pray for Barbara this week. Thanks so much.

K, Day 3

K, Day 3

Knees and Kneeling

Kneeling
Falling to one's knees as a gesture of reverence, obedience, or respect.

A few comments on the word Knees this week expressed the feeling that we need to be fervent in prayer (especially with the upcoming elections). It was also suggested that some feel more comfortable on their knees than with hands lifted high. So the word Knees is definitely linked to our feelings.

Knees are funny things. I have always thought that they look sort of funny. Scars on my knees show that I played rough when I was younger, especially the one that stretches the entire length of one of them. I have never really cared about my knees until last year when I twisted wrong and could no longer move about without my knee making a popping sound. I didn't think about how important they are until then.

They hold us up, keep us upright.

I am now suddenly overwhelmed with that comment. My knees play an important part of my life, mobility. I can't move easily without them. God is like that. He holds me up, keeps me upright and I can't usually move in any direction without him.

What's even more interesting to me is that to come to God, I usually kneel down. When I think of praising God, I usually think of hands lifted high and when I think of prayer, I think of kneeling down. The symbolism of raising our hands to God is a way to show we are being open to him, we are submitting ourselves. To be on our knees is a way to show we are reverent, obedient and that we respect our God. Many times I see people on their knees, arms open wide facing up to God or face down to the ground. The Bible says Ezra did not want to face God because he was ashamed of himself, so he spread his arms out wide and went face down. Daniel got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God 3 times a day. (Daniel 6:10). How often do I get on my knees to praise God? I know I find it hard to do that simple act of obedience at times. For me, I find that I tend to pray throughout my day. I tend to multitask. It would be hard for me to do the dishes spread out on the ground. But, the times I have felt most connected to God, were the times I had submitted completely to him, face down, arms out wide and on my knees. Our knees are pretty strong. They help us to stay standing. When we are weak and empty, our knees turn to jello. It makes sense to get down or fall down to our knees. I know that there have been a few circumstances in my life where my knees have turned to jello. Mostly they were times when I needed God the most. Too weak to hold myself up, too weak to take care of the problem myself. When we are on our knees it gives us a clarity and it helps us to stay focused on who we are communicating with. Jesus wants us to be reverent and obedient. We need to come to Him on our knees. In prayer and praise.

In Mark 1:40, a man with Leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

I love this verse. So little is said, but it is enough.

I know that there are times when we are in a rush or we just want to go with the motions. I know there are times we feel most comfortable with communicating with our friend, Jesus. That is okay, he likes to hear from us. He also likes for us to hear from Him. If we are quiet, on our knees and focusing on Him, it makes our communication more clear, we are more open to hearing from him and listening to what he wants from us. How often do we pray for God to help us with something and then go off and do something. Could he have answered us right then, would we be able to hear him? God wants us to be open, and when we are on our knees, we seem to be more intimate with God. I think I will still pray and praise throughout my day, while doing dishes, in the shower, before each meal and at bedtime with my girls. I think I will also take some time to meet with Him, on my knees, to hear what he has to say.

Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Lord, I love you, I praise you. I thank you for all that you are and for who you are. I want to be obedient to you and I want to show you that you are the king of my life. I pray for quiet, uninterrupted, alone time with you. I ask that you give us the opportunity to come to you in obedience and lay it ALL at your feet. For those that are single, I ask that you be their comfort and guide them, help them feel complete in you, with you. I also pray for those of us who are married, that our spouses will join us, as one, to pay reverence to you, to praise you and to ask for those things in which only you can provide in our marriages. Help us to be open. Make us clean, LORD.
Please pray for Courtney D. this week.
Please pray for Linda W. and her dad who is going to have open heart surgery and a triple bypass.

Angela has given us a link to the post on Kindness that she wrote for her church. visit http://canvasfellowship.blogspot.com/