Day 8
Point to ponder: I was planned for God's pleasure.

Verse to remember: " The Lord takes pleasure in His people" Ps 149: 4a(TEV)
It's nice to hear that it's OK to feel pleasure and have our emotions. And that God has them too. And hey it's OK if thy are involved in our worship to God. I can't tel you how tired I am of hearing that " We can't rely on our emotions, and that worship should be mental and not emotional" My question to these statements has always been ' then why did God give me the ability to feel these emotions if I'm not supposed to use them and I'm supposed to control them by containing them.' OK here comes the can of worms. The bible says to may a joyful noise unto the Lord, so why do we sing in church as if we are conducting a funeral?( I know not all churches are like this, But mine for the most part is). Now I know singing isn't the only way to worship but it's one of my gifts and to me it is a very big part of my worship to God. And frankly I glad to hear someone say(or write) that, "God loves all kind of music because he invented it all - fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new. If its offered to God in spirit and truth, it is an act of worship." OK I've said my piece on that. moving along now.
What really got me thinking in this chapter and has stuck with me for the last few years( I first read this book in 2005) is that is that Worship is not for my benefit. I used to be in that mind set that I should worship God for me that if I wasn't getting something out of it it was a bad service or whatever( now I'm not perfect I often slip back into my old ways of thinking, why do you think I'm reading this book again) But the times when I do remember, I am blessed the most. I like what Rick writes on p. 67 about how to do everything to the glory of God" By doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying on a continual conversation with him while you do it. ... Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of his presence."
Question to consider: What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus? I 'm just going to try to focus on worshipping God an a continual basis in every thing, every task I do. This will be difficult for me as I loose focus somewhat easily at times.