Day 4: Expressing The Response

Only eight days until Facedown! I'm so excited about next Friday night. Lots of stuff has been going on to get ready and of course there is the recording! I was talking to some friends last night about it and it hit me. We're not just recording the band. We're recording TrueNorth. Everyone there will be on this recording. After all, the purpose of it is to capture the heartbeat of TNC!

We had a great conversation last night at JTeam about the pros and cons of emotion in our relationship with God. We started discussing how we are emotional beings...God made us with the ability to laugh, cry, get excited, and get mad. And I believe with all my heart that He wants us to show these emotions in our relationship with Him...as long as they are grounded in our relationship with Him and they come from the overflow of love for Him.

Our discussion really centered around the worship service. We talked about how new believers have such an excitement for the change that God has brought to their life that they want to celebrate it. And then we pointed out how those who have been Christ-followers longer have matured in their faith.

There is a warning to both, though, that I'd like to bring up. On one hand, you can be so fixed on the emotion of it all that you start to worship the experience rather than God. It almost becomes an emotional high. On the flip side, you can be so "mature" that you forget to express your gratitude for what Christ has done for you. Remember yesterday's post...worship is our response to God. Actually, our entire relationship is our response to Him revealing Himself to us.

My biggest desire is for people to understand that when we allow ourselves to be lost in worship, to express our love for God, we will experience tremendous freedom and healing.

To be honest, I've been under a lot of stress lately because of things hitting me at the same time. On top of that, I haven't been sleeping all that great. And it's in this time that I long for God's presence the most...to lose myself before Him. There is healing in that moment. The things of this world don't seem to matter and it reminds me that He loves me and will carry me.

Father- thank You for carrying me. Thank You that I can bring my worries, my fears, my hurts to You. My prayer for next Friday is that many others will discover the freedom and healing that abides in Your presence. Amen.