Jennifer Jane
Where Music Moves
THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship invites transparency.
It involves and encourages full disclosure. Authenticity in our worship requires awareness and honesty as we grapple with the many shades and colours of our human experience. Our genuine worship, both lifts God up from where our perspective at times keeps Him and invites God in to the secret places of our heart. From this place of raw, worship finds its way to expression.
Worship is such a privilege!
This world is not our home. However, we have the opportunity here, in the midst of suffering, pain, triumph and defeat to lift our heart, our inmost being and give it to God! No matter what the circumstance.
Worship is beneficial for us personally as it by nature, helps us stay deeply connected to our own condition. Expression that comes from this transparency of heart then cultivates an inherently meaningful, rich, true and lasting relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We worship a God who knows and who loves.
WORSHIP: Choosing Life while finding ourselves in the valley of death. Choosing Hope when all appears hope less!
Choosing to believe God is good when we can see but sorrow and loss.
The profound reality of the Love of Christ expressed through time is something that takes a lifetime to uncover and continue to discover.
As finite human beings, there is so much that we don't understand about the realm of the unseen. We cannot see what is invisible nor comprehend fully the history of our origin as it pertains to cosmic reality.
Ultimately, Faith that Jesus is God personified is a treasure and even though we see things dimly here, this Truth is worth giving our lives to and living for.
Worship then, is how we can say Thank You! and how we express that we have chosen to believe.
The unique expression of our worship will vary as we are all unique.
What matters most is that we do.
WHY WORSHIP?
We worship because we can!
We choose to believe.
We choose to follow through with our loyalty to Jesus even though we do not always fully understand His ways!
We choose to surrender personal sovereignty knowing He has a plan and a purpose that supersedes our finite thinking.
I believe that worship ascribes to God His obvious worth. Of course.
But, worship also is a benefit to us.
In so many ways, worship lifts us and helps us maintain our focus on what is most important.
Maintaining relationships take commitment and perseverance. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father is no different.
Consistently connecting with Love, the perfect and persistent Love of God expressed in Jesus, doesn't have to be seen as a burden, but as a gift.
I HAVE FOUND WORSHIP TO BE:
- A booster cable that connects me to my power source for a reboot when my emotional battery is dead.
- A spiritual smoothie packed with goodness that fills me with the nutrients I need to live.
- A source of strength when I am weary and afraid because I can deliberately step out of the way and know it's going to be o.k.. if not immediately, eventually!
- A way to lift my perspective and remember who I am and where I am going.
- A very effective way to keep my emotional heart soft and supple. I can easily pour out my vulnerabilities and my weaknesses to a God that I know Loves me completely and perfectly. When the world takes its toll on my soul.. worship loves me back to a full tank of gas and into rest.
- A place where trust is built and has been built over many decades. I trust my worship is received and that is where my self esteem can flourish and find its reset.
Why worship?
The benefits are endless!
FREEDOM IN WORSHIP
Long before I understood that there were protocols and expectations in traditional worship contexts, I blew past them on wind that I could not wield.
Like Fire, He would invite me to come near His warmth, His glow. How could I refuse. When I saw the cliffs and the unknowns, I ran towards them with abandon. He would catch me, as I knew He would and we would fly.
In regular words- I didn't limit myself to what people thought was ok or normal with regards to Christian worship. I couldn't fit into a box. If I had tried to, I would never have discovered what pure Joy was and what freedom felt like.
Freedom in Worship:
Giving ourselves freedom to be.
Giving ourselves permission to explore what being loved and accepted fully feels like and then what it looks like as that reality finds its way through the nooks and crannies of our soul and out into the open.
In essence, freedom in worship is born and raised in our capacity to be loved and to give our love in return. Once this foundation is established, the expression of this Freedom can vary.
Freedom is authentic, deeply personal and entirely fulfilling.
Being in partnership with Love itself, heals our brokenness and gives creativity wings.
Freedom in worship is a sacred space free from the compulsion to organize ourselves in a fashion designed to please others. When we co labour with our Creator, it is through His gaze that we receive the validation that truly counts.
Freedom.
A heart laid bare before an audience of One.
Start from there, and see where Freedom in worship takes you.
It is of importance to note that Freedom in worship is not limited to Sunday mornings.
Freedom in worship is a lifestyle of intentional interaction with Love. This freedom in worship can express itself in ways diverse as the snowflakes from the beginning of time.