Not Leaving the Way You Came – the Happy Conclusion

 

by Linda Grabeman

If you could pick two words to describe all of the Bible, what would they be?

“Jesus loves me” won’t work. It’s three words.

Gotcha.

So, any ideas? What about “But God”?

But God?

Yep. These two words have been called the heart of the Bible. Hear me out.

Part 1 of this blog talked about Distracted worship. If you missed it, click here.

Today let’s explore Draw Near worship. But God worship.

Drawing near worship is all about those wonderful But God moments. 

But God moments totally change the story.  

Here’s the scenario:

There is a need.

God’s face is sought.

His name is praised.

God comes down.

Nothing is the same.

 

 

 

Jehoshaphat is the poster child for drawing near worship, but God worship. Let me fill you in.

Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah and he loves God.                                          

Pagan armies are advancing against his people.

Terrified, he seeks God. Here are his words in II Chronicles 20:                  

v.12 –  “We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

He calls all of Judah to praise God and worship Him. Draw Near worship,

v.22 – “when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people who had come against Judah and they were defeated.”

V.24 – “When Judah came…toward the multitude, there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.”

Jehoshaphat and God’s people raised the roof with their praises for God,  and GOD ambushed those armies. But don’t miss this point:

The WORSHIP preceded the MIRACLE.

Here’s God’s math: Impossible circumstances + Worship = BUT GOD moments

But this is not magic.

Worshiping God does not require Him to do your wishes.

It does compel His heart to draw near, though.

And when He draws near, the story changes.

And we change.

What worked for Jehoshaphat will work for us.

God has given us WORSHIP as our weapon of destruction against Satan because it does precisely what Satan would not do:

It acknowledges that God is on the throne. 

You see, coming to church is all about encountering Almighty God and interacting with Him. That’s why a ho-hum trip to church is such a disaster. God desires to change our hearts and change our situations as we worship Him.

If the emphasis is on experiencing God’s presence, the puny human details of the service will be inconsequential.

When we approach each church service with wonder, amazed that God is coming to meet with us, He does just that.

The Lord desires and deserves to be “High and lifted up” in our worship services. He will show up mightily when we desire “drawing near” worship and discard our “distracted” worship.

 

Let’s remember that each Sunday and prepare our hearts accordingly. We won’t be sorry.

 

Love,

Linda

(If you are interested, check out these But God verses:                                                                     

Genesis 50:20, Psalm 49:15, Psalm 73:26, I Corinthians 10:13,

Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4, just to name a few.) 

 

Playlist:

Hidden – Will Reagan

Even Then – Micah Tyler

Yes and Amen – Housefires

Here in Your Presence – New Life Worship

Come to Me – Bethel Worship

Overwhelm Me – The Village Church

Listen here at the Real and True Playlist on Spotify: (newest blog playlist are always first songs at the top) https://open.spotify.com/user/128815512/playlist/3YfqgeMjEUj7ZB8ydKd5qL 

Check out Chloe and Linda Grabeman’s book Real and True: Hope for the Restless Heart at www.realandtruehope.com