Five Minute Friday: Worship

It may be Saturday, but I'm joining in on Five Minute Friday a day late this week. Usually we join in over at Lisa-Jo baker's blog for five minutes of writing on the given word for the week. No editing or over-thinking what you write. This week the post is over at (in)courage and the word is "worship."



What do you think of when you hear the word worship?

Standing between pews at church singing songs?

That might be the way we have often viewed worship. But it is so much more.

Worship is about the way we live. It's something that encompasses our every moment. It should be more than just something we do once a week.

We can worship God as we go through each day. The sunshine on our faces. The rain fall. The beauty of the world around us. There is so much reason to worship God at all times.

Worship is a way of life. Not something we go to once a week.

What do you think of when you hear the word worship?

Are You Known as a Gentle Person?

This is the second post in my series on Philippians 4:4-8. These verses contain some good thoughts on how to live. You can read the first post here.

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:5)

In his letter to the Galatian church Paul tells us gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit - a result of the Holy Spirit in us. Here in Philippians, Paul is telling us that others should see our gentleness.

In our culture it can be tempting to hide any sort of gentleness. It's not see as anyway to get ahead or succeed in life.

Being gentle is a sign of caring for others and it should be evident in our lives as followers of Christ. Instead of hiding it, we need to allow it to show. We should be handling other people's emotions, thoughts, and feelings with caring and tenderness - with gentleness. That should be an evident marker of us all.

Paul also reminds us in this verse that the Lord is near. God is always with us. He is always going to be right there. We never have to wonder if He is, because He always is. We can count on that.

It is God being near that makes it possible for us to live the way the rest of the Bible tells us to live. If we had to do it on our own we would have a problem. But because God is near, we don't have to do it on our own and it is possible.

How are you doing at showing gentleness in how you deal with other people?

 

Do you live in the knowledge that God is always near and will never leave you?

Where do You Find Joy and Delight?

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellence or praiseworthy - think about such things."  (Philippians 4:4-8)


In these five verses out of his letter to the church at Philippi Paul covers a lot of ground. He offers some very practical advice for living as a follower of Christ.

This is part one in a series of posts on these verses.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!" (vs. 4)

Paul seems pretty adamant about rejoicing. He repeats the same command twice in this verse.

Rejoice isn't a word we use everyday, so what does it mean? Rejoice means "to be glad, to take delight in; to make joyful."

Joy and delight are important in our lives. We need them to really live. Without them life could get pretty mundane and quite depressing.

There's a reason Paul is so adamant about these things - we need them. But it is just as important where we find our joy and delight. We need to find it in the Lord.

Why in the Lord?

Because He never changes. And He will never fail us, so we can always find joy and delight there.

Are you finding joy and delight in your life?

What are you finding them in?