A Stream of Worship Thoughts

I was thinking about a demonstration I saw about 8 years ago about being filled with the Holy Spirit.  The speaker took a glass and filled it with water representing the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. When we are filled only partially with the God's presence we can bump into virtually anyone without spilling anything on us or them. BUT, when we are filled to capacity with the abundance of God then it is highly unlikely that we can even make the least little bit of contact with others without God spilling out of us.  

That's the kind of person I strive to be.


Now fast forward to this morning.  I was thinking about being filled in general.  If I am filled with so many things that there is no room for God. I was thinking of it this way, if I have a glass of iced tea and I want lemonade, I can't simply add lemon juice.  If I did simply add lemon juice to my tea, I would have lemon flavored tea, not lemonade. It's the same with God.  I can add him to my life but then I merely have a life with a little God in it.  Not exactly the abundance scripture promises, is it?

If I want pure lemonade in my glass, I need to empty it completely so that I can have a lemon treat in it's purest form, unadulterated. Empty.  That is what I need to be if I am to allow God's Holy Spirit fill my life in His purest form.  Abundant life guided by God.  

So, I went to the alter this morning to share my heart for revival, with a kindred spirit, my sister in Christ.  There we emptied ourselves in order to make room for God to take up residence in our hearts, and minds, and lives, not merely to flavor what we currently have but to have the abundance of God pure in our lives.  
 

Then the thought came to me, the alter in Old Testament was the place of sacrifice and death.  It was where Abraham was asked to take the life of Issac.  It was where the temple priests would offer the atonement for sin for the entire nation of Israel.  It was where the Lamb of God would become the final and substitutionary sacrifice for the entire world for all time.  

So, why then do we use the alter in modern worship gatherings? It really is not so much different between the alter of days gone by and today.  When we approach the alter today many times it is with a request for God to perform some life altering action in our lives.  But if we were to be honest with ourselves, we are living a God flavored life.  

If we were to approach the alter as a place of death and resurrection then the results might be quite different.  If my life is God centered, abundant with Him and empty of me, then as I find an area of my life that is not submitted to God, I would be able to approach the alter with the desire to crucify that area so that God could resurrect himself in that area.  The alter has not changed throughout history.  It is a place of sacrifice.  When we are willing to sacrifice that which God asks of us, then we can be assured of His promise to fill us with more than we could dream or imagine.  


I could go on, but for now... just some food for thought.  
Something to chew on....