Grateful astonishment

     Sometimes we know particular passages from Scripture so well that we almost become immune to their impact. We hear them in our heads almost in a singsong voice. New believers can read the same verses and say,

“What? That’s astonishing! Wow!” 

We’re like, 

“That? Oh yeah, sure. I’ve known that since I was a kid. Are you excited about that? Yep…it’s true.”

New believer: 

“So when it says God loves me so much He left the awesomeness of Heaven and came to be brutally tortured and smashed beyond recognition and slowly suffocated in agonizing pain, carrying ever evil thing ever thought, said, or done, on Himself…..This was all to save me here and now and eternally….as into the eternity of eternities……that’s all true?”

“Ummm, yeah. Maybe I better look at that John 3:16 thing again myself. Wooooh…..”

So….this morning I was reading Psalm 139 in The Passion Translation*. I actually almost skipped it, because I know it pretty much by heart. Da, da da, da da, da da.. However, because it was from TPT, it was like hearing it anew. It was astounding, once again.

“You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me! You impart a blessing to me.” ——Psalm 139:5

To sit, to camp, to rest in the bottomless yet rock-solid knowledge that my ADONAI knows every last thought I have…every negative attitude; every lie or omission or crafted retelling; every selfish motive; every bit of pride or vanity. In fact, He endured severe torture and agonizing death because of it. Yet He still loves me and wants me to live an abundant life. Wants to give me more than I can ask or even imagine. How incomprehensible is that? There is nowhere I can hide from Him when shame overcomes me. Nowhere He isn’t. He even descended to Hell to take its keys back for my sake. 

How have we let that knowledge become humdrum in our lives, as we pursue our daily activities and focus on what my mother used to call ‘the tyranny of the urgent’? I know I am guilty of losing my ‘third heaven’ perspective. Not that I think our Heavenly Father wants us to be ‘so heavenly minded we’re no earthly good,’ as the saying goes. However, have we become dulled to the wonder of Who He is and what He is doing and has done? In living years or decades away from our first-found romance with our Bridegroom, have we relegated Him to the background, taking Him for granted, as He supports us every single day and moment of our lives, steadfastly present and aware of our every word and thought? Longing to truly commune with us and have us partner with Him for HIS Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven?

“Do the riches of His extraordinary kindness make you take Him for granted…?” —Romans 2:4 TPT

I know I can be guilty of this. Guilty of jumping into my day, prioritizing both the seemingly urgent and even the mundane over communing with Him; delving into His Word; agreeing with and praying for the things most on His heart; declaring my love for Him and my deep thankfulness for all He has done, is doing, and will do. Sometimes He calls me Jumping Bean, because of all the times I start to pray and listen to Him and then jump up to do ‘just this one thing before I forget’. That one thing can become another and another. Or I just want to check this one text or post or phone call. Sometimes I never even begin my devotional time in the first place. I ‘stand Him up’ in our meeting place. Never even say “Good Morning Father, Good morning, Yeshua, Good Morning, Holy Spirit.” Never even a hug or an “I love You” or a “thankYou”. How is this possible? Though it’s true, I don’t want it to ever to be so.

If you are at times like me, let us both be determined from this day forward never to allow the incredible depth and extent of His love and mercy to excuse the shallowness of our daily devotion to Him. 

So be it.

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“,,,we beg you not to take God’s marvelous grace for granted,”. —-2:Cor 6:1

**Note on TPT: Brian Simmons, by the way, did not just create his own modern paraphrase of ‘the real Scripture’. He is a Bible translator for many languages and a scholar of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic His is not just an accessible, feel-good retelling of the Word. What it is, however, is a refreshing translation, based on linguistic research and choices from various possible English synonyms, most in keeping with the context, historical background, and heart of the original languages, under the guidance of Holy Spirit.

Kneeling in the sand

    I have once again been reading through the Acts of the Apostles, and, as always, have been struck by something new. This time Holy Spirit stopped me as I read about Peter, Paul, and others kneeling in prayer.. [See Acts 21:5; Acts 9:40; Acts 20:36; Luke 5:8; Luke 7:37] In Acts 21:5, for example, Paul kneels in the sand with all the members of a new church to pray together before he leaves them. I thought about how seldom most of us kneel to pray, individually or corporately, anymore. Why didn’t Paul and crew just stand in a circle praying?

This brought to mind the fact that, in worship, I can tell when Jesus is standing before me, because I find myself on my knees.

Have we lost this type of manifestation of reverence in the church?  I was raised as an Episcopalian.* Humor regarding this denomination (also referred to as ‘the frozen chosen’) often referenced the ‘up and down, up and down’ movements of our congregations. Yet there is meaning behind this practice: Stand to praise; sit to listen (attitude of being teachable); kneel to humbly, reverentially, pray and worship.  There are times at a beloved non-denominational church, where I find myself kneeling down at some point during opening worship. I sense the need to be as close to ‘on my face’ as I can get in my space between the chair in front of me and my seat. I know that I am not doing what everyone else is doing, but I know I must overcome the need to fit in and instead do what I sense Holy Spirit is prompting me to do. [As I get older, it is harder for me to actually kneel, but If I can’t kneel, I at least sit with my knees close to the floor and my head bowed.] 

If Jesus is before me, I don’t think about it at all. I just find myself on my knees.. 

There are a couple churches I’ve attended in which all kinds of people are worshiping all kinds of ways. People don’t seem to be as aware of each other, as much as they are aware of the God they have come to please. Flags, shofars, dance, kneeling, standing, sitting, prostrated on the floor, resting in Holy Spirit on their backs, hands up, hands down…. The freedom to worship ADONAI in sincerity, truth, enthusiasm, loud praise, quietness, or silence. The giving of one’s whole self in various forms at various times, I believe, is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. As is refraining from criticizing or judging others for how they are expressing their worship.

Let’ take a look at ‘the other side of the worship coin’ from what we’re used to in our own churches. Do we always praise loudly and never become quiet in worship? Are we always quiet in worship and never ‘shout with a voice of triumph’? Do we criticize in our hearts (or even forbid) praising with flags or dancing? Do we flag and dance but criticize those who quietly kneel? Are we open to everything God says in His Word is pleasing to Him, both the overt and the hidden? Do we make a place for and encompass it all? 

I personally find it difficult to find a church that intentionally does so. A place with both historicity, lively worship both ancient and modern, a place where you feel free to kneel or jump up and down, sit in reverence without moving, lie facedown on the carpet; dance and wave a flag, or sit cross-legged with head bowed. 

A wonderful trend I see emerging, however, is denominational blindness, with ‘my church’ talk being replaced by ‘Jesus’ Body’ talk. A unification (without compromise on the Word) of the Ekklesia, praying and standing together as one for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.’ Alleluia! Let’s make our worship, in all its expressions, do the same. 

While we’re at it, let’s not lose the power of reverentially kneeling together before Him. 

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Take a moment to enjoy this song, “Find Me”, from Jonathan and Melissa Heiser): 

https://youtu.be/G_LFvzKsbfw?si=21eVCO5dfINB4gOp