worship

Tiny House Part 23: Headboard Wall

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I’ve held off showing you my “bedroom” for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that I’ve not been able to get the bedding I want and I’ve decided I need a new nightstand. At this point the bedding is still just whatever I already had tossed onto the bed, and it doesn’t look great. However, now that I have all my art, and since I gave you a peek at it two weeks ago anyway, I do want to show off the headboard wall.

A couple weeks back, I shared about my mini Monet switch plate cover and how excited I was that it fit in with the art print I already had. If you missed that post, including the creator’s discount offer, you might want to back up to Tiny House Part 21.

This week I have a picture that includes the addition that completes my wall. Check it out!

Please forgive the reflections in the glass!

I was at a women’s conference recently and there was a terrific artist there. As I wandered her booth, drooling, I was sharing with a friend how disappointed I was that I had literally no space at all for any of her art. And then I saw The Lion!: The title is “None Should Perish.” It’s the lion of the tribe of Judah, of course, and it’s not only beautiful, but at first glance the colors looked perfect. Fortunately, this well-prepared aphant (Yeah, not always so well-prepared) had a photo in her phone showing the other two pieces, and I could tell right away that I was right!

It was officially mine!

There were several great vendors at this conference, but this is literally the only thing I purchased. It is from Journey Canvas Company and they’re well worth checking out. Not only do they carry art in a variety of formats, but they also offer books, gifts of all kinds, clothing… a lot. Too, if you’re local, you can check out their gift shop, coffee shop, and bakery in person. Right now, I’m wishing Webb City, MO weren’t so far away.

So, taking a step back, here’s the “headboard wall.”

That large blue piece was a gift from the same friend who helped me decorate. She bought a plushy blanket, cut it up, and covered a canvas with it. (AND gave me the leftovers in case I want to do a complimentary project!) The various shades of blue you see are from me running my hands over it. Like those sequined pillows the kids love, it changes color when you brush it in different directions. It’s very tactile and soothing.

And that’s it for now. It’s not the end of the tour, but I won’t be able to pick it back up until I can either go shopping again or make drastic changes in other areas. And yes, I’m still absolutely loving tiny house living!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I Need These Nights

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I just got home from our church’s monthly worship night. It’s one hour of nothing but worship-me and God. I need these nights. I need them for a variety of reasons.

One is that it’s a service for which I have no staff responsibilities. If you are on staff at your church, you know this is huge. For regular services, although I am definitely taking part, I am also sensitive to anything I might need to deal with as a staff member. In services, for instance, my phone is by me at all times in case another staff member texts with a question or needing help. At WILD Worship, we all put our phones away so they can’t distract us.

Two, I’m a worshipper. Yes, I worship in service. Yes, I worship at home. The atmosphere on these nights, though, is distinctly different. There is no substitute for groups of people coming together for the express purpose of worshipping God. This is true unity and it is a blessing.

Three, there are no distractions. It’s more than just putting away cell phones. It’s low lighting that helps minimize visual distractions. It’s going in knowing people are free to get up and move around, which means you don’t even think about them. You can more easily focus on God and God alone.

Four, and this is the point of the night: God. This hour is ALL about my personal relationship with God. It’s not just me singing awesome words to a song I know or being uncomfortable with a song I’ve never heard. I would get into these nights if the songs were sung in a language I don’t even understand.

Why? It’s WORSHIP. It’s getting face to face with God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Part of the time that means me singing the songs with an engaged heart. Part of the time it’s me singing or praying in tongues. Part of the time it’s just us, God and me, talking. A lot of the time it’s me listening while He talks.

And He does talk to me on these nights. While He has my undivided attention, He reveals things to me, gives me visions, explains things I’ve been wondering about, and more. I go into these nights knowing we will talk, expecting Him to be right there with me, and He has never failed to come.

Five, when He’s there with me, I have no choice but to self-check. I live an active God-focused life — praying, studying His Word, and in general spending time with Him every day, pretty much keeping up an ongoing conversation. Even so, knowing that I will sense Him there beside me during that hour, I start these evenings with my focus on me, checking my heart, seeing if I’ve let my attention shift in the past month, and repenting as needed. This is my monthly reality check, and I value it in part for that reason.

I value these nights. I treasure them. I need them. I dare say we all do.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

On the Way to Worship

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Pages from The Inspire Bible, NLT, Tyndall House Publishers, Inc.

I’m reading through the Bible (using the method I share in my book, Experiencing the Bible), and a few days ago I came upon a section known as The Psalms of Ascent – Psalms 120-134. The Jews, of course, were required to go up to the Temple at least three time a year to worship, and these are the songs they sang as they walked up the mountain.

You can tell by looking at the picture that I found a lot to think about as I read, but one thing in particular stood out and I can’t let it go..

They were going to the house of the Lord to worship, and they were worshipping on the way!

This is so very different from what we do as modern Christians!

Think about it! We rush around on Sunday morning, scrambling for shoes and hair brushes, working hard to get everyone ready. Then we dash out to the car where there’s a good chance Dad is already waiting (hopefully) patiently. The drive to church is likely an experience in itself, perhaps even including an argument or battling with kids on the way. We may well arrive in the parking lot with only minutes to spare and appear in the sanctuary at the last possible moment, moving quickly to our pew.

This pre-service activity does everything but put us in an attitude of worship. It doesn’t prepare us to come before the King. We may sing, “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart,” but did we really walk in the door with a heart filled with thanksgiving?

They did! These pilgrims had to walk for miles up hill every time they went to the Temple, and they got ready for those special feast days by worshipping God on the way! In Psalm 122:1, we see the declaration, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

Yes, they were going to celebrate the feasts in Jerusalem because God required it, but they were going with purpose, with gladness, and they were preparing their own hearts for worship at the Temple by worshipping on the way to the Temple.

How much do we miss out on by not doing the same? How very unprepared we modern Christians are when we enter God’s house!

This is why worship teams have such a hard job. (As a former choir member, I know!) They are supposed to be leading a prepared congregation further into God’s presence; instead they’re having to get an unprepared people just to walk through that first spiritual door.

We need to do better.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Rest on Us

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Every time we sing “Rest on Us” in church, one line gives me chills.

As the Spirit was moving over the waters
Spirit, come move over us

Why the chills?

Expectancy!

The Bible begins with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Every time I start another readthrough of the Bible those words excite me. I know, in reading them, that great things are about to happen! And then…

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 1:2

I’ve wondered, many times, what God was thinking as He hovered, or moved, over those waters. Was He simply delighting in all that was brand new, in the very beginning of Creation? Was He enjoying the moment? Was He planning out in minute detail everything that would transpire over the next few days?

Whatever He was thinking, He was moving with intent, with purpose, with a plan. And oh, what a plan! As He moved over those waters, miracles started to happen!

And that’s why I get chills every time we sing that song. We’re not singing simple lyrics! We’re asking God, “Please, move over us with the same intent and purpose you did on day one of Creation! Create in us what You want to see! Draw from us what You want to produce! Make us fruitful! Move on us so that, when You are done, you can lean back and say, “It is very good.”

We don’t want to be formless, empty, and dark. We want to be filled with the light, basking in His glory as early Creation did. We want to walk beside Him as Adam did. Yes Lord, Move over us! Come rest on us!

And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can check out this recording featuring Brandon Lake & Eniola Abioye by Maverick City Music and UPPERROOM.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Quiet Time

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I’ve never cared for the phrase “quiet time” in reference to my time spent with God. It seemed, somehow, to cheapen that time, to make it less than it really is.

I’ve changed my mind. No real surprise there; it happens.

“Quiet Time” is, actually, the perfect phrase for what I need the most. When I come to meet with God, it is imperative that I shut out the world and, more importantly, shut out the intrusive thoughts that try to interfere with our meeting. This recent revelation is very much like the one I had before writing “Sacrifice of Praise.” God wants my complete attention, and for Him to have it I need quiet. Yes, literal quiet is bliss, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about here.

I can’t simply snatch a few moments out of my day and say, “Here, God, these are yours!” True, He and I are talking all day long, but that’s not the same thing. Just like it’s unhealthy (emotionally as well as physically) to eat every meal on the run, it’s spiritually unhealthy to try to develop my relationship with God constantly on the run. We need to sit down together, really dig into the conversations He wants to have while my eyes and heart are focused totally on Him.

So I set aside time. I reserve time for Him and do my best to let nothing interfere with it. In my case, it really is best when I do this first thing in the morning because the “noise” gets so loud later in the day that it grows increasingly difficult to stop what I’m doing, drop all my cares to the floor, and meet Him with a quiet spirit. When I meet with Him first thing in the morning, it also sets the stage for a totally different day. I can literally feel the difference as I drive to work on those days I fail to truly sit down and spend time with Him.

What triggered these thoughts? It’s something Priscilla Shirer says in her devotional, Awaken (which I reviewed here). On Day 27, she shares about what she calls “Sabbath margin.”

“It is the Spirit-empowered choice to cease striving and enjoy our God. It is the margin that reminds us He is in full control. It is the peace that comes in the midst of all that whirlwind and flurry of activity. Sabbath is what beats our lives into submission, giving us the breathing room for getting our sanity back. We cannot afford to neglect the Sabbath principle.”

Priscilla Shirer, Awaken, 2017

Sabbath is about rest. It is about getting quiet and focusing on the eternally important rather than the temporarily pressing. So… Quiet spirit, quiet atmosphere (Thank God I actually have that now!), quiet thoughts… Quiet Time. I get it.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Watch Your Mouth

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In James 3, God repeats the classic parental command and makes it very clear that He’s serious. Yes, He says here that no one can tame the tongue, but the context of the chapter makes it clear that He expects us to try.

Luke 6:45 tells us that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is really in our hearts. We can say it isn’t so, but where else would the words come from?

If I’m truly walking in the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love that God desires from me, if that’s what fills my heart, then the words that come out of my mouth will be words of love. I won’t be calling another driver an idiot (or worse). I won’t be bad mouthing the mother who isn’t controlling her screaming child.

I won’t be, as James puts it, cursing a person who was made in God’s very image. And, whether we want to admit it or not, EVERY man was made in God’s very image, even the one whose views don’t correspond with our own.

If I do catch my mouth saying things it shouldn’t (or my fingers typing things they ought not) it’s time for a heart check.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

When We Worship Part 2

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I did not expect to have a part two, but you can never predict God.

The women of our church have a dedicated worship hour every month. This is the service I referred to in my earlier post, “When We Worship.” God always meets me there. He talks to me. He gives me visions. He encourages me… Tonight was different. Tonight He called me.

I used to write, used to have my own publishing company that produced ebooks for homeschoolers, used to edit a large homeschool magazine. God gave me those gifts and I used them in that homeschooling season. Then I…laid them down. Other than the occasional blog post and the writing I do for work, I’ve done almost nothing with my gift of words for ten years.

Tonight that changes. Tonight, during worship, God told me that it’s time to pick that gift back up and return it to Him. Interestingly enough (though it’s not really a surprise), two things happened this weekend that led me directly into this conversation with Him. “Do you remember when you said…?” He asked. Yes. Yes I did.

So why am I sharing this? Two reasons.

1. The lesser reason: Accountability. The more people I tell, the more likely I am to follow through. Because when God calls you to go out on a limb it is easy to find excuses not to. I’ve done that very thing many times in the past. This time MUST be different.

2. The big reason: This is a reminder that you never know what will happen when you set aside time to wholeheartedly worship Him. He will meet with you. He may give you reassurance, peace, visions…or an assignment. When it’s the latter, remember one particularly vital point: Obedience is also worship.

Yep. I’m preaching to me.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

When We Worship

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Imagine sitting down in Heaven between God and Jesus. I did; it happened in a vision a few months ago. I was at a worship service with a group of women, loving on Him, when God told me to sit down.

God opened my spiritual eyes, and it truly was as if I were sitting down between Him and Jesus. It would sound sacrilegious to say it if it weren’t for Ephesians 2:6, but I assure you it happened; and as we sat there God had me look out in front of us. When I did, I saw an enormous gathering of people worshiping Him. There seemed no end to the crowd.

I asked Him, “Who are these people?” and He answered, “This is everyone who is worshipping Me right now.” What God showed me in that vision is that when we truly worship Him, whether it be in a church service, an official worship service, or in our own prayer closets or kitchens, we enter directly into the throne room of God. I’ve read about it, and I know the scriptures that talk about coming boldly before the throne of grace, but still… the whole idea floors me!

Not only that, but when we do this, when we bring wholehearted worship to the King, we come into unity with untold numbers of other people. We know that where there is unity a blessing is commanded, and this means that even if you are alone in your bedroom while you are worshiping God you are in unity with every other worshiper in that moment – and a blessing is commanded in that unity.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

God Wasn’t Done

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In 1 Chronicles 6 we are reminded of the tribes Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. They were responsible for carrying the various parts of the Tabernacle from place to place.

Then Solomon built the Temple. So was God done with them, these faithful men who had carried the house of God through the desert and into Canaan? No. Absolutely not.

The change began in 1 Chronicles 6:31 when David assigned men from these three tribes to lead the music at the Tabernacle. Far from being finished with them, God was drawing them closer to Him and truly giving them even more responsibility-that of leading worshippers into His presence.

We could learn from these tribes. Sometimes we go through seasons when we think God is done with us, that there is nothing left in us that He can use. When we think that, we’re wrong.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Revisiting the Furnace

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Most of us have heard the story of the three Hebrew boys and how they were thrown into a fiery furnace after refusing to bow to the idol. (Daniel 3) We read about their obedience to God, being thrown in, the guards dying from the heat, the king seeing them and the fourth man walking around, and them walking out of the fire not even smelling of smoke. But let’s pause for a moment. What about while they were inside? What happened…from their perspective?

The first thing they would have noticed, beyond the fact that they were still alive, was that the very fire intended to destroy them had, instead, burned away their bonds. They were thrown into the fire held captive and bound, but were likely loosed before they even hit the floor. Yes, they were still in the fire, but they could stand up, may have even playfully pulled each other up, and they could walk around as they liked. In truth, they were more free than they had been for a while. 

Many times in our lives, we find ourselves anticipating potential outcomes with dread, perhaps with such a fear that it binds us, holding us captive and keeping us from moving forward. Statistics say that what we fear almost never even happens. Think about that. How much time do we waste letting the fear of something that will NEVER HAPPEN hold us captive to the point that we can’t even move?

But the thing is that, once we’re thrown into the fire, that fear is burned away. The worst has already happened and, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we can look up from the floor of the furnace and realize, “Hey! I’m still here! I survived!”

I can imagine their surprised joy in that moment. They had dared declare God’s power to the king, assuring him that the One they served was more than able to deliver them. And He had. You know that special laughter that comes with joy? I can almost hear it. I can also see them turning to look through the flames, out the door, at the outside. Perhaps in the midst of their astonishment they wondered what they should do next. And then, just maybe, from behind them…

They heard a chuckle. Can you see them whipping around in even more shock and amaze? The king said the fourth man in the fire looked like the son of God. Presumably, he was right. They wouldn’t have known Him as “Jesus,” but their hearts would surely have recognized Him.

Now their backs are to the exit, the fire that surrounds them is pretty much forgotten, and their eyes are firmly focused on their first ever glimpse of the One they’ve offered their lives for. Though they have no way of knowing it, everything – literally everything – has changed. 

What words would Jesus have spoken to them? Did they ask all of the questions that had burned in their hearts for years? Did He… I can’t really even begin to propose what He might have said. We do know this, though. They spent some time in there. 

We don’t know how much time, but it was enough that the king eventually realized what he was seeing, pointed it out to his companions, and called out for the three to come out. Given the raging fire, and how loud it would have been, it seems to me that either the fire was allowed time to burn down or Jesus told them, “Hey guys, the king is calling.”

Regardless, stepping back inside with the kids… While I was homeschooling, I wrote an essay entitled “The View from Inside the Furnace,” and at this point I suggested that they, instead of being in the worst time of their lives (what it looked like) were actually on the field trip of a lifetime.

As they walk around, I imagine Jesus explaining exactly how this furnace works, how it is used to harness the destructive nature of fire and cause it to change things, transforming soft clay into usable, even valuable, vessels. Then I imagine Jesus sharing a few secrets about how He is going to use their time in the fire to do far more, not only to change them, making them more useful and valuable, but also change the world. I imagine…quite a lot, actually. 

Can you see the disappointment on their faces when either they finally hear the king calling or Jesus announces that their visit is over? The very thing that was at one time the ultimate threat has now become a refuge, a place they’ve been seeking their whole lives – a secret place where it is just them and Him. In all honesty, if it were me I’d have been like a child begging for “just one more story.”

Actually, I have been. I wrote the essay I referred to earlier during one of the hardest times of my life.  I intended it for friends who were worried about me, and with good reason. In the midst of the fire I learned things I could never have learned anywhere else, and I developed an intimacy with God that I had never known. As I shared with God in prayer at the time, I would never wish that fire on my worst enemy, but I desperately desired to take the intimacy with me when I walked back out of the flames. 

Those three boys had to feel the same way, but for them I think it almost had to be a harder walk to take, because Jesus came out of that furnace with me, staying always by my side, and they had to leave the fourth man behind, knowing they would likely never see Him face-to-face again.

And, as I imagine Jesus promising, their world changed – and not just for them. Yes, they were promoted and given all honor, but even more importantly God was promoted, and the king himself ordered that He be worshipped. Yes, our God was merely added to the list of gods they already worshipped, but it was a beginning.

So I leave us (Yep, this is a reminder for me.) with this. Serve God with all your heart and don’t fear the fire. Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that He has great plans for us, and Romans 8:28 promises that He can cause all things to work together for our good. Even a walk in a fire-filled furnace, though terrifying to face, can be  an amazing experience that prepares us for an astounding future. 

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C