MEASURING UP!
By Brian Lake
Praise and worship are both equally important to our connecting with God, yet they are fundamentally two very different things. We praise God for who He is, and also for what He has done for us; the only thing required to praise Him is breath. However, to worship God is to be close to Him, to understand that he is worthy of worship simply because He is!!
Worship is how we gain access to God’s throne. An illustration of this is when you take flight in a plane. When you’re sitting on the runway, waiting to begin the flight, you can feel the power of the jet engine. As you go down the runway, picking up speed, that’s praise! You are being pushed with powerful engines towards the end of the runway. When you get towards the end of that runway, you begin to lift off; that point is like worship. It begins to elevate you, get you higher, to a point where the captain comes over the intercom and tells you that you may take off your seat belts and move about the cabin. Why is that? It is because you have reached a place where there is NO TURBULENCE! Worship elevates us to a place with there is NO RESISTANCE!
In Amos 7:8, God tells Amos that He is setting a plumb line as a standard for His people. A plumb line is a tool used to determine if something is vertical or “upright.” One of those standards, or plumb lines, is to measure our worship. Worship (with praise) is an act reserved only for God. And we should never worship merely to expect something from Him in return. We should worship God because He deserves it and for His pleasure alone. When His standard is met, there will be the habitation of God. Revivals are beginning to happen all over the earth, and they are happening where the standard of worship is being met. We want God to come to us, but He wants to bring us up to Him! When we reach that saturated atmosphere of His presence, it is then when we will see our bodies healed and our lives changed!
Never underestimate the impact that ONE ENCOUNTER with God can bring to you; a face-to-face moment that can change your entire life! Esther is a great example of one encounter that changed a life. She went from a peasant to a princess to a queen, because of one encounter. However, before this encounter, she had to prepare for the king. Esther 2:12 shows us the physical process of her preparation: “…after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the women.”
Worship covers us in the fragrance of the King. When we are consumed with worship, we can become engulfed in His presence. The oil and its fragrance are supplied with the presence of the King through the act of intimate worship. It is like the aroma from the incense in the Holy Place, a pleasing smell unto God. Likewise, we must soak in the King’s oils and perfumes to “smell” like the King, which is only accomplished as we are in His divine presence.
In order to elevate to a rarified atmosphere through worship, you must smell heavenly and not earthly. Smelling earthly does not just mean a need for repentance, but it can even be in times of “worship.” Worship meant for entertainment, meant to please the ears of the men and women taking part in the service, and not solely for ushering us into God’s presence is, in fact, a foul stench to God’s nostrils. I grew up working with pigs, and on farms, and as such, have become accustomed to the rather pungent odor associated with them. I have come to a place where it not only, no longer bothers me, but I actually enjoy the smell. I wonder if that may be happening in our churches today. Have we adjusted to the noxious smell (of our form of worship) and assumed it is good, when in reality it is a stench to the nostrils of the Lord? Too often, worship leaders or churches select their style of songs according to the church attendees. Song selection is too often determined by satisfying significant, prominent, or influential members who may object to a different sound. But who are we worshipping; people or God? God is our audience!
Our goal and desire should be to invite the King into our time of worship, so that He will be pleased to dwell with us! It is through the act of true worship that we bathe in the perfume of Heaven, and the more we worship, the more we are washed in that heavenly scent in which God loves to dwell. Worship is how we prepare for our appointment to go before the King. He wants us to dwell with Him, and He longs for us to touch His heart!! And it is when we touch His heart, when we achieve that intimacy of seeking solely what He wants, that He then is pleased to move in our lives. Are you measuring up to that standard of worship that pleases Him? Are you putting your focus on romancing your King?
Suggested Resource: Opening Portals Of Glory
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brian Lake, preacher, author, motivator, and entrepreneur, has a heart to see the church come into a deeper intimacy with Jesus.
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