Confessions of conformity.

Confessions of conformity.

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty

The whole earth is filled with your glory.”

God whose glory expands throughout the whole earth and into creation that we may never see in this lifetime, is worthy of all of my praise. It is my natural reaction to give praise to what fills my soul with purpose and joy. Yet, so often, I am overwhelmed by my flesh and fail to truly praise Him the way my heart so desires.

I have been challenged by the question God spoke into my life today, “How do you expect to change the world when you are conforming to what the world is doing?”

I’ve used every excuse in the book. I stood in church today, singing songs written by my worship leaders at Passion City Church, not just one song, but all of them. Every single song. But my worship looked different. One hand held the hymnal and the other placed by my side. Heart bowed but hands that were too scared to be lifted because “no one else was doing it.” It didn’t take a long time before I was convicted to the point of tears. God. The God I worship back home in Georgia is the same God whom I stood to worship in Rome today. There is nothing about Him that has changed, but my heart was overcome with conformity. “Maybe they don’t worship that way here,” “maybe people will judge me if I raise my hands higher than the pew in front of me,” maybe, maybe, maybe. The same words to the same songs of the same God and my mind was overcome with fear that I may stick out amongst this new congregation. God has done nothing to make me praise Him less, if anything has shown me more of His beauty in the last few months than I have ever seen before.

When I walked away from church today, I felt as though I betrayed Him. World changers do not conform. World changers acknowledge the Light that is within them and shine as if no one is watching. Who are we looking to please? If it is man, I may as well stand for the rest of my life with my hands by my side. But my life isn’t for anyone or anything besides the Living God so to what degree will I let others have a say in the way that I worship? God has done nothing but show me exponential reasons to praise His name. He has not held anything back from me. Who am I to hold back my worship to Him? Conformity may be something as simple as not raising your hands when all you want to do is fall on your face before the throne. Nonetheless, it is giving God less than what He deserves.

We can’t look different when we are conforming to this world instead of letting Jesus transform us. And again, another glimpse into the heart transplant that God so graciously has given me. Praise Him that every moment is another chance. He deserves more than my fear of worship. He deserves everything I am lifted high in worship. 

The end of Immeasurably More?!

The end of immeasurably more?

I was recently listening to a sermon from Passion City where Louie Giglio was talking about believing that this is the year of immeasurably more. In the back of my mind, all I could think was, “he isn’t talking about me. I believed God for immeasurably more last year, so I guess my immeasurably more has run out. It is so impudent of me to think that I can believe God for immeasurably more again. My year is up. I certainly have used up my time in immeasurably more." 

** Insert lightning bolt from Heaven here**

Not but a second later, the clouds opened up and God spoke…ok, not really, but that is what it felt like in this little head of mine.

If immeasurably more had an expiration date, it wouldn’t be immeasurably more. If we only had one calendar year to believe God for immeasurably more, how big would He really be? The words themselves speak beyond time, so how can we confine God to time system that He doesn't even follow?  

It was a lie. The enemy wanted to reel me into said lie that I have outdone my faith in God’s promises of immeasurably more. The Everlasting does not end. The promises of the Everlasting do not expire. And the immeasurably more that He offers doesn’t run out when He places us in our immeasurably more. He doesn’t get us in the adventure of immeasurably more and dump us off to fend for ourselves. I believe the fact that God promised that He would give us immeasurably more is a challenge to us to believe Him for how big He truly is! He can out do Himself. He is bigger than last year. We alone stifle the immeasurably more that God wants to lead us into.

I know stepping into this year, I wondered how God would ever “out-do” this adventure to Italy. Eyes wide open, though I am unable to see far into the distance.  Each day, He releases more of the blinders off of my eyes that hindered my faith and trust in Him. When our eyes are open, we can then realize that immeasurably more doesn’t necessarily come with a change of scenery, but a different perspective of who God is and what He is doing in this world around us. I never realized the significance of seeing God in immeasurably more when you aren't moving. When life isn't really going anywhere, we seem to think God has forgotten our belief in what He has to offer. It has taken me many years and thousands of miles...and hindsight... to see that God was always moving. He was always working, whether it is to bring me to the place I am now, or to keep me where I never thought I would be, He can do nothing less than offer immeasurably more. 

The veil was torn so we could access God. He wants us to see more of Him. He wants to SHOW us more. That is my immeasurably more. I CAN believe God for immeasurably more this year. Immeasurably more is timestamped into eternity. He has placed me in a situation where all I desire is to run hard after Him, and I want nothing more than to keep my focus on His face.