Worship the Lord With All of Your Heart

As of today, we have been in lockdown due to the coronavirus for 64 days.  I am sure many are feeling as I do, that this will go on and on and on and on, and never end.  Of course, this is silly thought.  Nothing goes on forever, except the Lord.  He is the only Eternal One.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  He is the Beginning and the End.  I Am, is who he is.  Someday, this too shall pass.  In the meantime, we have to find a way to endure the isolation.

As I search my heart today and seek the Lord I hear him tell me that worship is one way to find peace for times like these. I have known this in the past and I have done this in the past.  When we fill our minds and hearts with words and songs of worship we fill our souls.  When our souls are full of love for our Lord, the Holy Spirit of God comes into our being and brings us to the throne of God.  At the throne of the Father we are filled with peace, love, tranquility, goodness, mercy, faith, and all of the emotions and feelings he put inside of us when he created us.  When he created our bodies, he put our souls inside.  Our souls are constantly seeking the connection to the Holy Spirit of God from whence we came.  Worship does this! 

No matter how short of a time we have walked with God or how long of a time we have walked with him, we constantly need to be refreshed and renewed.  Life on this earth can be very difficult at times.  For me, this has been one of the most difficult.  I miss the church services.  I miss the hugs and interaction with others.  I miss the one-on-one, face to face conversations.  I miss the freedom to make plans with others.  But throughout all of this, I can be closer to the Lord through my worship with him. 

I have a husband who has no interest in music.  I love music.  This has made my life of worship difficult as I have to find times to turn up the music and fill my soul with song.  Many times I get complacent and there is no worship.  If this goes on too long in my life I tend to lose some of my peace, then anxiety creeps in.  If I do not find that connection back to the Holy Spirit I become complacent in my day to day life.  I call these my "desert times" or my "dry bone days".  They are not good days and the evil one always tries to hold me down during these times.  The devil will always take our faults and try to make us believe we are not loved by anyone, including God.  Satan will always try to condemn us.  He will always try to cause us to stumble and fall.  He will always try to bind us to chains of his doing. 

But by the power of worship we can toss him out of our lives and call upon the Father to fill us with his Spirit. God comes along side of us and lifts up our hearts, our minds, our spirits.  He tells us of his love for us and fills us with all of the goodness of his love.  He tromps on the head of the snake and tosses him out of our spirit and our lives.  The Lord fills us with love and peace when we worship in spirit and in truth!

John 4:24 (ESV)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 27:4 (KJV)

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

Psalms 95:6 (GNB)

Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

John 4:23 (KJV)

 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

50 Days of Lockdown

Like the majority of the world today, we are still in a lockdown state.  It was on March 14, 2020 the Tillamook County Board of County Commissioners issued a statement saying that parts of the County would be closed down.  An Emergency Order was declared. The City of Tillamook followed suit.  On March 23rd the Governor of Oregon also declared a state of emergency.  Today is May 2nd which marks the 49th day of lockdown, stay-at-home, Covid19 isolation, being apart from almost everything and everyone. 

Across the globe Covid has infected somewhere around 3 million people.  It has supposedly killed less than 250,000.  There are 7 billion people on the planet.  Most are locked inside of their homes.  Most are not working.  Most are held hostage by a virus and governments imposing restrictions.  So what are we all to make of all of this pandemic that randomly kills people much like any other virus that has hit the world in the past.  We all know the history of the most deadly pandemics, plagues.  This is not the most deadly pandemic. It is the only pandemic we have ever know though.  Are we all hibernating in fear because we have been isolated for 50 days?

Most of us are practical and smart enough to understand things.  Those of us over age 50 have lived life and most have learned throughout those years.  Most of us are not doctors, lawyers, politicians, scientists, high ranking officials, but are common people.  We are the people who work, live, love, and strive to live a peaceful life.  Many of us are Christian believers with a solid faith in God which helps us overcome our fears.  We believe God is in control of our days and we allow his mighty hand of love to move according to his will.  Am I saying we do not have questions?  Of course not.  We are all human and we all have questions.  How many times in your life have you asked "Why?" only to get no concrete answer?  In my life there are too many to count.  God, my Creator, is my refuge in times of trouble.  He is my joy-giver in times of sorrow.  He is my shield and my fortress, in whom I trust!  In Jeremiah 29:11 he tells me he will not harm me but will prosper me.  Why would he lie to me?  He wouldn't!  He is not the kind of Father that would lie.  Only the devil, the deceiver, would do that.  The devil is the one who kills, steals, and destroys.  He would be the one who plants doubt in times of trouble.  He is a killer.  The Lord is a saver.

As these days have rolled by ever so slowly for so many of us, we come to certain times when we realize this is really happening and we look for answers.  School is gone, jobs are gone, money is gone, grocery items are gone, church gatherings are gone, graduation ceremonies are gone, weddings are gone, funerals are gone, sports events are gone, all gatherings are gone.  They have been gone for 50 days.  People are suffering physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Is God going to reveal why?  When is he going to reveal why?  Does this event have anything to do with the plans of the Creator?  I don't know. 

What I do know though, is that God the Father loves his people.  For over 2,000 years since Jesus walked the face of this earth telling people of the love of the Father, the eternal life offered to those who believe, the love we must have for one another, the peace that surpasses all understanding offered to the believer, the gifts of miracles that can happen, and all of the other teachings of the Son of God, Jesus, we can set our minds and our hearts of the promise of Jeremiah 29:11;

"For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope."

If nothing else sticks with you regarding what I have written, please keep this one reminder of God's love in your heart and mind.  He does not want to harm you, ever!  While he can take revenge or justice against your enemy, he will not harm you if your ways are his ways.  He is a God of love but he requires an obedient child much like any father who truly loves his child.  We all know what happens to the child who goes against their fathers wishes and decides to take matters into their own hands.  Most times, that child brings hurt and trouble upon themselves.  Loving fathers come along side that wayward child and tries to help them out of the trouble and set then on a good path. A right path. 

With 50 days of lockdown behind the world, what will the next 50 days bring?  I have no idea.  Jesus told us to "render unto Caesar what is due to Caesar."  Caesar represents the laws of the land.  If the laws of the land tells us we are to remain home and only venture out for essential needs, Jesus tell us this is what we are to do.  Do I think the Coronavirus is going to kill more people?  Of course it will.  There is no known treatment for ending the virus.  Do I think it will all get worse before it gets better?  I hope it only continues to get better and better each and every day.  But I have hope.  Others do not.  Others are already sick with something, coronavirus, flu virus, cancer, heart conditions, addictions, and thousands of other life threatening diseases. 


Life is life threatening.  We are given today only.  Tomorrow is gone.  Yesterday is not here. My only recommendation for today is for you to tell someone you love them, however you can.  Find some joy in your day.  Smile. Laugh. Sing. Be free in your soul even if you cannot be free in your daily activities.  There are millions of us across the planet seeking an answer and the best possible answer is love and forgiveness. Unconditional love. Unconditional forgiveness.  Then we see how it all goes from there.