The Marks of a True Worshipper

The Marks of a True Worshipper
What prompts a young man to love God so much that he relentlessly serves Him and hangs out in His House? These two photos are of my grandson, Payton Wallace: the first one, at age 15, and the second (now age 18) was Sunday when he was praying for a businessman at church. The back of his shirt explains it: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6.

Payton has a true heart of worship. He is an extraordinary young man who could care less what someone thinks about his extravagant love for God. He would rather hang out at the church with his fellow musicians and crew members (the guys that set up the stage, props, and tear down) than anything else. When I hear about all the negatives in this world, I only wish that more focus would be placed on kids like this who are making a difference in their generation.

So what's the big deal about this kind of praising and worshipping God -- people of all ages raising their hands while singing songs of praise? Among the reasons are to show surrender, submission, humility, dependence on God, adoration, to give their all to God. I love the parallel of the universal act of someone surrendering by putting their arms and hands in the air. Another visual is a child reaching up for his father to carry him. Both examples apply to us as we raise our hands in surrender and ask for our Father to carry us..

The Bible says that God looks at the heart us. (1 Samuel 16:7). I honestly don't think He cares if we are standing in place, arms at our side, or raising our hands and can't stand still. He doesn't care if we are worshipping with hymns or choruses. But, He DOES care if we are TRULY worshipping Him. In defense of raising hands in worship, there are many places in the Bible that speak of it: Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 63:3-4, Psalm 88:9, Luke 24:50, and more.

God looks at OUR heart in worship, and most importantly, is that He has our hearts -- surrendered and tender toward the ONE Who gave His all for us. We will NEVER experience all that God has for us until we are able to TOTALLY surrender and love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, just as Jesus said in Mark 12:30 -- "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." True worship flows from our total love and devotion to God. We will never fully know our Lord until we are able to be a true worshipper that is not just for an hour, one day a week on Sunday. True worship is a lifestyle. Dear Lord, please help us show in our words and actions, our desire to love You and worship You with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Go Ahead. Judge a Watermelon By Its Cover!

Watermelon is my favorite summer fruit. It’s amusing to watch people thumping on watermelons trying to find the best one. I could never nail that sound. But HOLD ON Mr. Watermelon Thumper! I finally aced my watermelon sweetness picks. Here's the real deal on picking the sweetest watermelon:
~ Make sure it has a prominent yellow spot. This is where it sat on the ground ripening. No spot = premature pick = not ripe. ~
~ Look for "webbing". This is the brown, coarse web-looking material caused when bees pollinate the flower and scar the membranes that later form the fruit. The more pollination = more webbing = sweeter fruit. *****You're welcome!!!*****

Did you read between the lines of picking a sweet watermelon? We need to find the sweetest ones by looking for imperfections, flaws, defects, yellow spots, brown, coarse webbing, and scars.
Yes, we SHOULD judge a watermelon by its cover – but NEVER should we judge a book OR another person by their cover. Those perfect and well put together, dressed-to-the-nines folks might be filled with anger and hard-heartedness. And those with scars, body piercings, tattoos, or multi-colored hairdos might be the most genuine, loving and caring people with hearts after God and care more about others than we can imagine. Only God knows the hearts of His children and is their "fruit inspector".

Guilty -- as charged. I was at a church a couple of weeks ago and sat by a beautiful young woman who had tattoos all over her arms and legs. I hugged her and "God blessed her", but inwardly I was thinking "What was she thinking when she did all that?" Yes, I was judging. Then, on a video was a guy speaking who was all tattooed (from what I could see) except for his face. I think I may have gasped because the person I was with whispered:"He is the kindest, SWEETEST and devoted-to-Christ person you will ever meet." I later found out the gal beside me was his wife and "is also, the SWEETEST".

Immediately, I remembered when the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse's home to anoint the next king of Israel. Jesse had eight sons to choose from. Sure, with Samuel's eyes, it was plain to see that the obvious pick -- the tallest, most handsome, and best choice to be king would be Eliab. "But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

That sounds a lot like the sweetness of a watermelon, doesn’t it? Little, ruddy, shepherd-boy-David was overlooked. In fact, he wasn’t even invited to the “beauty pageant”, but when Samuel asked “Are these all of your sons?” and when Jesse replied, “I have one more son – young shepherd boy David”, Samuel asked for him to brought to him. We know the rest of that story. Young David was anointed king of Israel that day. His heart was a heart after God's own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

What God cares about the most is the sweetness of the fruit that is growing inside us. Our Master "Picker" sees that we are all very precious and valuable and He is always "checking out our flaws and imperfections", giving us "heavenly" thumping because He's very aware of the "maturing" that needs to go on inside.

Obviously, this post is pointed at you with one-finger. The other four are pointing back at me. I'm on a mission to have my Father's eyes. Eyes that find the good in things and people; eyes full of compassion and sensitivity -- NOT looking at the outward appearance. Sure we all have imperfections and flaws and that's a good thing because, like the watermelon -- the greater the flaws and imperfections.....the sweeter the fruit. I certainly want the Fruit of the Spirit to be a reflection of He who is the sweetest and most desirable in me. May we be imitators of our Creator and rather than the desire to BE beautiful....that we desire to create His beauty everywhere WE ARE and everywhere WE GO!

Curb Appeal Matters

Having been a Real Estate Broker for over 16 years, I know that curb appeal matters. A rundown looking property detracts buyers, whereas a property that has an inviting and welcoming smile on its face aka fresh coat of paint, landscaping enhanced and tidy, clean appearance causes buyers to want to know more about that property. Let’s face it, first impressions matter. We care about how we dress for a job interview, and we spent extra time in front of the mirror before that first date. When it comes to selling a home, first impressions matter, too.

The term “curb appeal” comes from real estate sales and home design. For years, buyers have formed their first impressions of homes when they first drive up to the home just beyond the curb. That first impression determines whether or not buyers want to see the inside of the house.

To get that buyer in the door, the seller spent hours and days on seeding new grass, planting flowers, painting their front door, weeding and cleaning up the yard. If the home didn’t appeal from the curb, buyers moved on to the next house.

Maybe this post is to help you market your home....if you're wanting to, but foremost, I wanted to compare that important idea of curb appeal to you and I. What is OUR curb appeal? What is it about us that draws people to us or detracts people away from us?

Is our disposition grumpy, cranky, dismal? Is our attitude "cloudy" and "glass half empty"? Do we look exhausted and worried? Does our appearance look like we could care less about what others think about us?

What is that "first impression" others get of us? If we really want to convey the love of God, His peace that passes understanding, the graciousness and appeal of the Holy Spirit, then OUR "curb appeal" matters. We were created in the image of God, and God sure doesn't make junk. God sees us as a masterpiece. Do others see us as God's masterpiece?

1 Samuel 16:7 says "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Sure, the world focuses on what people look like on the outside. God focuses on what people look like on the inside. When we focus on what's beautiful on the inside, we will exude that beauty -- that "curb appeal" on the outside.

Maybe, this post is two-fold -- curb appeal on our homes and curb appeal on the "home of the Holy Spirit" who dwells in us. "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. How's that for realizing what our curb appeal should be. We are not just houses, but we are temples of Almighty God -- how could our curb appeal be less than our BEST?