As Christians, believers in the Messiah, our worship to We give thanksgiving to God from loving hearts for the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. The praise we offer to Him becomes our daily living sacrifice, our lives wholly devoted as worshippers.
Jesus, I am yours today, a devoted worshipper.
As a worshiper and worship leader, I have often thought about the songs of Heaven - what they are like, what is their content, form, style, etc. There have been times in my own worship of the Lord that I have sensed I have joined the worship of Heaven. Those are indeed special times.
I have read a number of books through the years that touched on this theme. It is amazing to consider that during times of church revivals, the music in praise and worship becomes the response of the people to the Spirit of the Lord moving in their midst. Many testimonials from revivals express that the music seemed to be birthed in heaven itself as it inspired the worshipers into a deeper response to the Lord.
A number of years ago I had quite an experience with the Lord where His presence was so near to me, that I felt I was before His Throne for several days. It was a holy time of rededication of my own heart and life to the Lord, and the Spirit of God seemed almost heavy upon me, weighty even. The praise that erupted from the depths of my being was passionate, and at times seemed overwhelming, bursting forth in joyful expression to God. At the same time, I felt as if I was joining in an ongoing season of an eternal worship session that began long long ago and is still ongoing. I had, in fact, joined with the hosts of Heaven. During that period I experienced a revelation of the worship of Heaven and could almost "hear" the music and songs offered to God in His praise. It was as if the praise and prayers from my own heart were orchestrated into heavenly music, matched perfectly with harmonic voices, choreographed in praise dance, and sent heavenward as incense to God.
The sounds of this kind of praise could only come from the largest orchestra and choir imaginable, with scales and harmonies yet unheard here on earth. As I considered and experienced heavenly worship in those days, it took my breath away.
Recently I read the book 90 Minutes in Heaven where the author Don Piper describes his own experience of heaven.
In chapter three, the author shares his experience of the music of heaven:
"A...sound remains, even today, the single, most vivid memory I have of my entire heavenly experience. I call it music, but it differed from anything I had ever heard or ever expect to hear on the earth. The melodies of praise filled the atmosphere. The nonstop intensity and endless variety overwhelmed me.
"The praise was unending, but the most remarkable thing to me was that hundreds of songs were being sung at the same time--all of them worshiping God. As I approached the large, magnificient gate, I heard them from every direction and realized that each voice praised God. I write voice, but it was more than that. Some sounded instrumental, but I wasn't sure--and I wasn't concerned. Praise was everywhere, and all of it was musical, yet comprised of melodies and tones I'd never experienced before...My heart filled with the deepest joy I've ever experienced...Every sound blended, and each voice or instrument enhanced the others.
"As strange as it may seem, I could clearly distinguish each song. It sounded as if each hymn of praise was meant for me to hear as I moved inside the gates.
"Many of the old hymns and choruses I had sung at various times in my life were part of the music--along with hundreds of songs I had never heard before. Hymns of praise, modern-sounding choruses, and ancient chants filled my ears and brought not only a deep peace but the greatest feeling of joy I've ever experienced...None of the hymns were about Jesus' sacrifice or death. I heard no sad songs and instinctively knew that there were no sad songs in heaven. Why would there be? All were praises about Christ's reign as King of Kings and our joyful worship for all he has done for us and how wonderful he is.
"The celestial tunes surpassed any I had ever heard. I couldn't calculate the number of songs--perhaps thousands--offered up simultaneously, and yet there was no chaos, because I had the capcity to hear each one and discern the lyrics and melody.
"I marveled at the glorious music...above everything else, I cherish those sounds...I want to experience everything heaven offers, but most of all, I want to hear those never-ending songs again...the continuous sounds of praise."
As I read the author's description of heavenly music, the revelation the Lord had given me years ago came back with even more clarity. We know that worship is ongoing in heaven, and we on earth do, in fact, join the worshipers of heaven. Someday, I will finally be able to give full expression of praise before God's throne...
I read another book recently called Glimpses of Heaven by Trudy Harris, a hospice nurse.
In her book, the author carefully recounts the stories of her elderly patients as she experienced right along with them--until the time the Lord took them to be with Him. I have heard of those who many times hear the music of Heaven before the time that God takes them. These testimonies, experiences, along with God's Word, fills us with hope and great joy, especially as we presently endure our problems, pain of disease, suffering, sickness and terminal illnesses, financial hardships, relational difficulties. In times like these, we can only imagine from our earthly perspective all that God has planned for us--joyful ecstacies of His loving and safe presence forevermore.
May our hearts be filled with praise and worship this day as we join the hosts of Heaven's music and declare the matchless worth of our God! Let's worship Him..."...day and night, never taking a break: Holy, Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come (Revelation 4:7-8)!"
Shavuot (Pentecost) is traditionally when Moses received the Torah from God on the stone tablets. It is also when the Holy Spirit was given to the Disciples of Yeshua as they had gathered, waiting upon the Lord at His instruction. It is a significant time and is also a pilgrimage festival when the Jewish worshipers are required to come up to Jerusalem. And to this day, they do come, by the tens of thousands, and gather at the Western Wall at dawn after praying all night.
The Lord impressed me about the Presence of God is the Holy Spirit dwelling among us. It is not some ethereal feeling we get, but rather, the living breathing breath of God who speaks to us, moves us to act in His name to impart life to others by words or laying hands upon them upon them for healing. The saturation of His Presence - the Holy Spirit - empowers us to fulfill the call of God upon our lives, acting as His representatives in the earth, moving about as Jesus would have done.
The Holy Spirit is the Counselor and Nurturer sent by God the Father, revealing the Person of Jesus, Three-in-One, Triune God. The Holy Spirit as nurturer broods over us, not unlike the Holy Spirit hovered over the chaos of the earth when it was first formed. He acts as a Mother who loves, guides, and directs her children until maturity is formed in them, and even continues into adulthood as their primary intercessor during their lifetime. In the same way the Holy Spirit broods over us and Mother's us until Jesus' image is formed in us and we can be presented spotless, clean, holy as a Bride prepared for her bridegroom.
A few years ago in Jerusalem, around the time of the biblical Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost), I considered the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I remember sitting at my piano with such gratefulness in my heart for the intimacy of the Holy Spirit and asked him for a song to express what was in my heart. Below is the link to the song the Lord gave me. With the song, we added clips filmed by my husband Ron during the priestly Aaronic Benediction of Shavuot at the Western Wall at dawn.
"You will experience spiritual warfare. Satan will fight you at every turn as you draw near to Me. The last thing he wants is that you seek to draw near to the Lord your God. For, by doing so, it weakens his power in your life, your family, your circle, and it will cause a powerful bond between you and Me."
My desire is to be revived by the Lord again and again. Why? Because our hearts grow cold too easily. We all desire - and need - to be revived. This is not for God to revive spiritual gifts within us, though that will happen. It is not so we get fired up and perform better in life, business, ministry, etc. Rather, it is so that our hearts will burn with passion for Jesus, desiring Him above all others, above anything else. It is to fulfill the desire on the heart of the Lord Himself - that His Bride would look away from the din of this world and catch even a glimpse of His stunning beauty, to behold the most desirable One in the universe. Seeking the Lord in His glory through the eyes of faith - revealed by the Holy Spirit to our hearts - will cause us to respond to His overtures to draw very near, to learn of Him, to understand His compassion for the multitides. This kind of revival pleads for the Lord to bless and multiply the creative ideas in our hearts to carry out the strategy the Holy Spirit gives us to perform His will in and through us in the earth. All for the glory of Jesus...
Corporate revival mobilizes a willing army, outfitted, cleansed, working together as a well-practiced unit of soldiers. It is hearing the battle cry given by the Holy Spirit of God to "snatch" them from the fires - quickly. Revival stirs us to awaken out of a coma of complacency and compromise. The Holy Spirit infuses within us a fiery love for Jesus that not only motivates us to move in His power, but to demonstrate the power of God through His gifts to people who are spiritually dead.
Revival is also very personal. It is a personal awakening to our first love - Jesus returning us to that place where He first found us, when the newness of our love for Him caused us to be much more reponsive to His word, His touch, His presence. We were explosive in praise, radical with eliminating sin from our life, and eager to sell everything we owned and follow Him to the ends of the earth.
So, we ask ourselves today: "Where did we go off and become hard-hearted, indifferent, and lose our love for Jesus and His Word?" The answer? One step of compromise at a time. It could be ignoring a clear command God gave us - "Write that letter!!" which seemed rather insignificant at the time, but the urgency of it never ever went away. Even today, the guilt of our disobedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit fills us with shame. Over time, each disobedient act causes a deafening of our spiritual ears, dulling us with an inability to hear the Holy Spirit, causing us to become more and more cold-hearted towards the things of God and His kingdom. Our passion for Jesus then begins to wane and we fill that hunger for Him with substitutionary obsession-compulsions from the world, or take on some other lesser spiritually demanding task-oriented exercise, deceiving ourselves to be "okay" with God. In our heart of hearts, however, when we are quite alone, we know we are far from okay. Our hearts of filled with fear and dread, and pride will keep us separated from the Lover of our souls...if we let it.
And, all the while, God has not looked away from gazing at us. Not once. His longing for our impassioned hearts set aflame for Him has never waned. The prayer of my heart every moment is "Revive me, O God!"
As a worshiper and worship leader, I have often thought about the songs of Heaven - what they are like, what is their content, form, style, etc. There have been times in my own worship of the Lord that I have sensed I have joined the worship of Heaven. Those are indeed special times.
