Archives for October 2014

*Since the Life Notes Subscriber Appreciation Giveaway is currently underway, I thought I’d give you a taste of a past issue of Life Notes, my free quarterly inspirational newsletter. I include new-to-you pieces, like the one below, as well as some blog posts from past years. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Life Notes, I hope you will do so today. Sign up to the right under “Free For You.” You just might win the $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble!

A Surprise from God

It came unexpectedly. Right in the middle of my regular time with the Lord. A fresh experience in prayer and worship. A surprise from God.

That day unfolded like most others. After seeing to my early morning essentials, I headed to my usual spot to start the day with a few minutes worshiping the Lord.

I’d already said “good morning” and committed my day to him before getting out of bed. I’d even sung a few praise choruses while tending to some routine tasks. But now I was at my place of worship, ready to focus on him alone. Or at least try. A distracted mind was also the norm for me.

I’ve found I move most easily into a spirit of worship as I sing my praises to the Lord. And so I sang. Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary. Just favorite lyrics and melodies that were second nature to me after years of singing them. They sprang, however, from a heart desiring to commune with the Father, a heart hoping to offer a sacrifice of praise from a pure place. From an overflow of love for him.

As I sang those familiar songs, God did an amazing thing. Without fanfare, he surprised me with something new, something wondrous and beautiful. In my mind’s eye, I began to see scenes from the life of Jesus. While singing my worship, certain words or phrases triggered snapshot images of him to flash across the screen of my mind, much like a slide show of his life.

My spirit soared as I delighted in one image after another, each one inspired by Bible stories. As phrases like Prince of Peace, almighty God, and my Savior cascaded from my lips, I saw my Jesus touching lives and forever changing the world.

With each passing second, my joy deepened as I beheld these divine cameos. I witnessed things like Jesus laughing with little children and wrapping them in his arms of love; adoring worshipers—human and animal alike—surrounding an infant Savior lying in a manger bed; the Master of the wind calming the storm as well as fear; and people crowding around the Great Physician as he reached out to them with healing hands or fed them by blessing and multiplying a boy’s lunch.

Finally, I saw my Savior carrying his cross. I saw the depth of his love as he paid for the sins of mankind in his ultimate act of love. And then, as if to remind me that these scenes from the Bible are not the only things I know of Jesus, one last image flashed before me. A little girl coming to faith in him—me, at the tender age of seven.

Yes, God surprised me that morning. He showed me another way to pray and worship, and you can be certain I will adore him in such wondrous times again as I let words of worship bring to mind sacred images—divine cameos—of our Lord.

“Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness . . .” Psalm 96:9

*How do you most easily move into a spirit of worship?

*Flickr photo by Indy Kethdy, Creative Commons License