Our growth in God is a matter of awareness.
The Holy Spirit desires to interpenetrate us, in such a way that we don’t really know if it is us or Him. We are caught up into an oneness of spirit, that we are aware of God in the words we speak, we are aware of God in the thoughts that we think, we are aware of God in the emotions that we feel. So that the moment we move in a way that is contrary to His Spirit, we know right away, that is not the Lord.
As we begin to walk in the spirit, we have to keep realigning ourselves; we are learning how to abide in the Holy Spirit our life source. We are learning how to abide in Him, how to speak in Him, how to remain in Him, so that everything that we do and say becomes a reflection of God in the earth.
WORSHIP
Worship is the surrendering of our life to His government, we are not keeping a bunch of rules and regulations (that are outside of us) we are fellowshipping with the Lord, we are participating in His Spirit and there are no laws to regulate or restrict it.
We grow in the attributes of God as we learn how to participate in them. The only problem is when we are moving in something that He cannot fellowship in. What hurts the Holy Spirit also hurts us because we are one spirit with Him.
Part of our worship is singing and praising the Lord. Our singing and our praising the Lord will go through several phases. We must experience God in our worship.
God certainly is not a God of ruts. If there is anything that tends to deteriorate, it is the spirit of worship through sameness.
The greatest worshipers of all time were men like David, and he was continually giving himself to the invention of musical instruments for worship (I Chronicles 23:5).
It is very easy to get into a rut in worship: we can sing the same songs, in the same way, with the same leaders. The real goal of a worship leader is to lead us into a fresh presentation of ourselves to the Lord, so that every time we lift our hands or open our mouth in worship, we experience something real in meeting God.
HABIT
That fresh awareness of His presence is very difficult to maintain because we are constituted in such a way that the flesh (the union of soul and body, acting independent of the Lord) is always seeking a way to do things by habit without awareness.
We can drive from one place to another; and if the road is familiar to us, we do not even think about what highway it is, what kind of turns there are, where we turn on or off the highway, or where we are going. We do it by habit.
We tend to do things without giving any attention to them. We quickly become creatures of habit who do the right thing without any focus of consciousness upon it.
However, everything about God tends itself to be just the opposite: There must continuously be that within our heart which is seeking in some way to know Him. Every time we worship, we seek to know Him.
MEETING THE LORD
We need to have a meeting with the Lord in everything that we do and especially in our worship. We can worship the Lord in such a way that we become aware of Him. The right kind of music will produce an atmosphere of the Presence of God.
The first time we sing a new song that has been released; we can have a meeting with God in it, but what about the hundredth time? Are we still meeting God in it or have we made a habit, a rut of it?
We can so order our spirit, or our soul, that we can get blessings just as we would throw a switch or push a button; but that may not be the meeting with God that we need.
Everything in God is ever expanding. It is one thing for us to know what we need; it is another thing for God to know what we need and to meet that need in a fresh encounter with us. That is why God is always doing things differently.
God has many attributes, and as we worship God magnifying an attribute of His, we find ourselves participating in it. We want to go to the promises of what He has said He will be to us and meditate upon them. These are the ways that He wants to reveal Himself to us. He is our fortress and our shield, He is our dwelling place.
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my savior, thou dost save me from violence.” I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised; so I shall be saved from my enemies (2 Samuel 22:2–4).
“I love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies (Psalm 18:1–3).
But Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head (Psalm 3:3).
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore, my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him (Psalm 28:7).
We can picture God as our shield, we can picture Him as our strength and as we worship, we will be focusing upon something that God wants to be to us right at that moment. Our worship is not just words; it is the awareness of the Lord in those words.
Worship, in its purity, should be us standing in His presence, and us escorting someone else into His presence. Those who lead a worship service should never feel that they are leading a worship service. They are leading people into the presence of the Lord.
We will soon see another real breakthrough into deeper worship. Worship, and waiting on the Lord, is some of the most difficult things to do. They seem to be passive activities that do not require much attention; but the opposite is true.
We are never more actively focused than when we are waiting on the Lord in a proper way. It is never a passive waiting for something to come to you. Rather, we are approaching God with a focus.
It is in our awareness of the Lord, that His Spirit is transferred to us. If we want to grow spiritually, we have to learn how to focus, how to tune into the Spirit of the Lord.
The Holy Spirit has been given us to lead us into all truth, are we aware of Him?