Leviticus 9:22-24 "Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down. Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down."
So, I'm sitting in the living room after my daily reading, contemplating on what to write on this week. My mind went back to yesterday morning. Didn't really want to go to church, just wanted to stay home and rest, but I've come to a place where I can't not go to worship the Lord. My spirit won that battle over my flesh ;)
Sometimes, we have the time to read the Word, listen to His Voice and even let Him fill us for the day. We may pray and praise Father for whatever and even sit in silence to give Him the honor due His name. But there's something about coming together as a family and worshiping the Lord together that brings out a whole new dynamic in worship and praise.
Now, I attribute the sometimes wildness of my 'dancing' in praise to the Cherokee part of my roots (just picture and Indian war dance). The more free I become the more wild it becomes. Some people don't understand that I really cannot hold it in. I have to dance or I'll explode. I don't do it for recognition or in pride, I do it because I am totally enamored by the joy of the Lord. I am totally filled with the joy of the Lord.
At the same time, we can sit or stand and clap our hands and that's our praise, that's fine with me also. Then there are times when we just sit in awe of God or, if there is something going on in our lives, we may just let the music wash over us and let it cleanse us. At other times, we may be just downright angry, but we're there. We made the effort to come together with others - and whether we feel it or not - the blesses that tenacity and courage.
Then there are times when we may kneel or lie on our backs or face down before the Lord in reverence and/or in a receiving mode. Depending on how we kneel, we could be giving Him reverence and/or He could be endowing us with strength. If we lie on my backs we're open and receptive to receiving whatever He's wanting to give... and letting Him in (as much as we dare). If we lie face down it's an act of total surrender (as much as we can totally surrender) and total reverence - not expecting anything. It's getting a glimpse of His holiness and there's just nothing else to do - no words, no anything. It just us and God.
That's why this verse struck me as sort of 'funny' this morning. The priests were beginning their ministries and offerings were going up. The Holy Fire of Father God came down and burnt up the offerings and the people were filled with joy. Just like us, when we give up our burdens to Him or lay them aside and just praise Him, He comes down and sometimes we find our burdens as heavy as they are to us, are not too big for Him. When He takes them away as we give them to Him, we are filled with JOY. May dance around, may yell, may laugh, may do any number of things that people around us don't understand. We can just leave it to the Lord to explain it to them - the fun thing is WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK when we worship the Lord or how we worship the Lord.
Then the people in the verses above fell face down before the Lord. Seems like such a contrast.... joy then falling face down. Not really, I think they realized - not just the acceptance that Father extended towards them. No, when they let it sink down that Father God's Holy Fire burnt up the offerings, they realized the Bigness of God - the Power of God in action and were humbled enough to give Him the reverence and honor due His name. They did this by the only action they knew. We can also.
So, Joy will be our focus this week.
May the joy of the Lord rest upon you today.
Sing for Joy - Harriet Morse (not 'recorded' artist, but good song)
Wonder what brought this topic on.... ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell, two things actually... Yes, Saturday morning - well that's only natural you know. Get me and Betsy together in one place and there bound to be laughter, add Karen and God puts us over the top. THEN on Sunday morning. I stuck around and interceded for people praying and being prayed for and got struck by God - I felt His Presence so much around me. Went to give someone a hug and started laughing. So much so that one of the kids called me Joy Bubbles (Now I KNOW you won't let THAT get out - LOL). Now you know the rest of the story hehehe.
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