Extravagant Worship!

Wayne shared an awesome devotion at music last night, about making sacrifices for God, & how today's sacrifices, will align with tomorrows promises. He shared about sacrifices that he made when he was a child and how, without knowing at the time, they were all in sync with the calling that God has for Him today! AWESOME!
I was absolutely blessed by this and had to question my life (once again). Am I doing all I can to be who God has called me to be? Am I making sacrifices? I could say yes, I go to music practice every Thursday night, that's a sacrifice of my time. I could say yes, I go to church every Sunday, I sing on a roster...but who am I kidding? Certainly not God!

I know that there is so much more of me to give, so much more I could sacrifice. So today, I started reading 'Extravagant Worship' by Darlene Zschech, again. I know that God has called me to be a worship leader, there's no doubt there. But how can I truly lead people into the throne room of God as a worship leader, without first learning how to become an extravagant worshiper in my personal life?

I have to first acknowledge that it's not something that will just happen overnight. Darlene says in her book that there was a time that God gently whispered to her, while in prayer, "Daughter, you're not an extravagant worshiper yet". She realised, through this, that to call yourself an extravagant worshiper, we have to understand that we have a long way to go!

So, what is worship?
'True worship is not about the songs being sung; it is not about the size of the band...Although music is a wonderful expression of worship, it is not in itself the essence of it. The core of worship is when one's heart and soul, and all that is within, adores and connects with the Spirit of God.'
Worship:

• involves the giving of ourselves totally to the Lord;
• should be a way of life, with many facets of expression;
• must cost us something!

We can see through Bible stories, that 'whenever someone demonstrated extravagant worship, God reacted with extravagant blessing.' So really, why would we, or should I say why would I want to give anything less? Here are some examples of extravagant worshipers:

• 'Noah lived through extreme circumstances, but he still praised God in the midst of it' (Genesis 8:20-22);
• 'Abraham was prepared to give it all. He was overgenerous, excessive in his act of worship' (Genesis 22:2; 11-12);
• 'David wanted to offer a sacrifice to the Lord to stop a plague on the Lord's people'. But he wouldn't give 'a burnt offering that cost him nothing'. (1 Chronicles 21:24).
• 'When Paul and Silas where in jail, they worshiped God.' (Acts 16:23-35).

Extravagant worship grabs God's attention!

So, in 2009, I want to grow more in God and move closer towards being an 'Extravagant Worshiper'. Not just so that I can be more sensitive to hear God's voice while I'm leading worship at church, but so that I can be EVERYTHING that God has called me to be!