THE PRESENCE OF GOD

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place,
that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:
for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
1 Kings 8:10-11

The Presence of God

Last Wednesday morning, I was at FCA at Cherokee Charter Academy where 3 of my kids go to school. The Wednesday morning routine includes getting up really early, heading to the school to be there by 6:50 am, and setting up for a 7:00 am start to FCA. The kids have a little breakfast first and at 7:10, Payton Hodges introduces the speaker and the worship leader. That is the norm, but last week was a little different. At 7:10 when Payton was to get up and introduce everyone, he instead asked the group a very pointed question. The question involved their reason for being at FCA. Was their reason the food? Was their reason the fellowship? Was their reason the music or Bible study? Many great answers were given, but they sounded a bit too much like “Sunday School” answers. Then Payton asked a second time, where he was able to get down to the real reasons. I was amazed at the depth of some of the answers coming out of 4th, 5th , 6th and 7th graders.

So what is your reason for serving in worship ministry? Really think about this before you answer. Some of you may say it is because of connections and friends you have made in the ministry. While others may answer it is because they love to sing or play an instrument. Some may even be here because of the
performance element of the ministry on Sundays. None of these answers are really that bad; but, there is a reason that I think we all should have. We should be involved in the worship ministry mainly because we long to be in the presence of God. The worship ministry should be a ministry that does not focus on making everyone happy, but instead it should be focused on welcoming the very presence of God. This goal is not a self gratifying goal. Instead, it is a sacrificial goal. It is a process of laying down our wants and desires and leaving them at the feet of our Savior in reckless abandon, pleading with God to be in our presence. For when we truly come into the presence of Almighty God, then we can say we have entered into the Holy of Holies.

We have come in to His house and gathered in His name to worship Christ the Lord.
Let’s forget about ourselves and magnify the Lord and worship Him.
Worship Him, Jesus Christ Our Lord

So: WHY ARE YOU HERE? Examine your heart today to see if there is any self serving reason and ask the Lord to remove that desire. Replace it a holy hunger for God’s presence.
Aaron Hodges