Holy Ground ALWAYS puts worship first!
God showed me on the plains of Jericho Joshua was steaming full steam ahead to do what he thought he needed to do. It was God’s commission, God’s assignment, and Joshua was committed. BUT then God halted him and reminded him that Holy Ground had to be the first place he paused before he went anywhere. So often we forget to pause on Holy Ground before our assignments and wonder why blessings do not follow.
People have taken Jericho in God’s name, but many haven’t given it back. God wants His people to know worship belongs to Him, and only Him, and He’s taking worship back. The church has taken worship, they’ve structured it, made it sound nice to human ears and they’ve done all kinds of things with it, but it does not belong to them. God is waiting for His church to give worship back to Him.
Jericho was never meant to be theirs to keep. It was always God’s and God’s alone!
- It was never meant to be their enriching.
- It was never meant for their entertainment or pleasure.
- It was never meant for their glory.
- It was never meant for their manipulation.
- It was never meant for their status and their reputation.
Jericho was always a first fruit gift back to God. IT NEVER BELONGED TO US!
Today God is saying to His church:
Dare not touch what I’m doing in worship in this season. You may not like it and you may not agree with it. You may have another plan and another opinion, but God says He doesn’t care. It’s His worship. It belongs to Him and He will do with it what He wants to do with it. He’ll do it as long as He wants to do it. He’ll do it until He’s done with it. He’ll interrupt it to say or do something if He wants because it’s not your worship. It’s not for you! It wasn’t meant for your enjoyment or even your ecstasy. It wasn’t meant for your pleasure. It wasn’t meant for you to get something out of it. It was always meant to be the place where you give it ALL back to God and ask Him what He wants.
It was always meant to be for Him and Him alone.
When did we make it about us?
WHEN DID GOD SAY HE WILL ACCEPT WHATEVER WE PREFER, HAVE STANDING BY AND ARE COMFORTABLE WITH? When did we think it was our job to shape worship around our likes and dislikes?
We are not God!
How come so many decide whether worship is good based on how they experienced it? When did we make it about how we feel and how we want it? If we are honest there are too many times when we judge worship based on how we want it to appear, how it fits us, and how it suits our styles and ideas. People choose how long worship will be, what songs will be sung, and how they will do those songs. People have so many opinions on songs… whether it’s modern or old or new or whether it’s a hymn or a new song, but
REALLY …who cares! That worship is not ours.
Our worship teams don’t deserve the glory. Our leaders and elders don’t deserve the glory. None of the amazing musicians around the world deserve the glory, because the truth is we are all humbled by what God has allowed us to do in His hands. It’s all about Him. He is the reason. He is everything. God is saying to His church….
You give Me back worship and I’ll give you My presence!
Glory Hallelujah! The Glory is God’s! All of it!
We are in such a beautiful moment right now. As God starts to touch places all over the world right now with His glory He is talking to His church: “GIVE BACK MY WORSHIP!”
It’s happening. God’s cleaning His house. Knees are bending… hearts are yielding… something is shifting in the church world. Those who thought they could control and manage worship are quickly finding out they don’t have the power or the abilities they thought they had to limit God. Things are shifting.
Praise God! I believe that’s what’s happening now. This is a season and a time that none of us have ever had before. Stop trying to figure it out. Stop trying to make sense of it. Stop trying to build yourself into it. Just let it happen and see what God will do.
Give back worship and you’ll see God give you His presence in all its fullness!
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on NicoSmit
Featured Image by NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash
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