His Preservation

One of my favorite things is to wake up in the morning without any kind of alarm clock. I generally set one just in case (especially if I am up late the night before)... but I love it when I wake up before the alarm clock feeling resting and just ready to jump out of bed and start the day. Mornings generally seem rushed with all the little things to get done before leaving for work and most importantly, my time with Him. I was reading random passages this morning and ran across 1 Chronicles 29:17-18 (one of David's prayers).

Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You.

All of life is worship. We are worshiping something or someone at all times... may it be that Christ is the object of all of our worship. As Romans 12 says... present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God--this is your reasonsable service of worship. It is reasonable because He gave all for us so that we would live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf.

As I sit here preparing my heart and mind for church this morning, this passage is just so applicable. I know that He sees the ways in which I have worshipped Him... and the times where I have worshipped myself or other things. My prayer is that He would delight in my worship of Him and that He would increase my desire to worship Him more fully and decrease any desire that longs to worship anything other than Him. He must increase, I must decrease! As we gather at our different churches this morning, may He smile upon our hearts of worship and preserve the intentions of our heart to glorify Him throughout the busyness of the days, weeks, and years to come. They must be more than just intentions. We can intend all we want, but if it is not driven by the power of His Spirit, it simply won't happen. May He be All and in all.