

"Welcome to this page devoted to Embracing True Worship in the Church. I pray the Scriptures shared below, as well as the personal worship ministry experiences, will encourage us as believers to embrace
Five Scriptural Steps Toward Worship in Spirit and Truth.
With Holy Spirit's help, together let's faithfully
1) Respond to the Father
2) Surrender at the Cross
3) Walk in the Spirit
4) Abide in His Word and Truth
5) Love and Carry His Holy Presence!
Overall, I believe as we take these steps toward becoming true worshipers, the American Church has an opportunity to reorient itself back to
1) Worship as the Chief End of the Church;
2) Love as the Building Block of Our Christian Communities;
3) The Defeat of our Common Enemy the Devil;
4) Increased Faith, Trust and Obedience of the Lord;
5) Restored Integrity of our Witness for the Lord!
As we fulfill our calling to be true worshipers in greater measure, God's Spirit often allows a River of Life and Healing to flow from the Throne Room of God. His glory increasingly covers the earth. His reign is made manifest here on earth as it is in heaven!
God's people find joy in coming into the Father's presence together.
They begin to sing one another's songs with thanksgiving in their hearts, reflecting our magnificent Lord through richer, deeper, broader expressions of worship.
A Forever Family of Faith begins to appear with several generations, races and cultures worshiping the Lord together.
Chains and bondages are broken and people and church communities are healed.
The glory of the Lord begins to shine and Holy Spirit draws men, women and children to Himself.
Knowing and fulfilling our calling allows the Waters of Life to flow as Jesus opens the Floodgates of Heaven.
Suddenly, our committee room discussions turn from wringing our hands in worry over attendance numbers to celebrating the manifest glorious riches of God.
But I believe all the true blessings of Christ begin with praying on our knees, worshiping Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Jesus tells us "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Let's bless our God and obediently take steps to becoming true worshipers of the Lord, not just personally but also corporately together as His Bride. Jesus Himself is leading us to the Threshold of Glory! Hallelujah!
*Clicking on the Scripture verses will allow further study of them in the Word.
*Most importantly, if you don't know Jesus as your Savior, commit your life to Him! He is the only Way, Truth and the Life for we who are perishing.
My dear friend Jerry has outlined wonderful truths about salvation through Christ alone at https://www.savedbygracealone.org/ Please allow his ministry to be a blessing to yourself or others.
*Thank you for your partnership in this endeavor through prayer or however you are led.
*Rose's experiences and convictions have come from the Lord through years of seeking to serve Him both successfully and with plenty of mistakes. They're not necessarily the convictions of every believer...yet :), but most importantly exist here to be an encouragement in our personal and corporate steps toward becoming true worshipers of the Lord together!
To God be the Glory!
1. Respond to the Father's
Grace & Glory!
We come at Your invitation, O Lord! You have called us by Your Grace into Your Holy Presence! Hallelujah!

"Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!"
Psalm 96
“Forgive all our sins, O Lord, and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips!" ~ Hosea 14:2
““No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and man!" Matthew 6:24
Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom. If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive!" ~ Jeremiah 13:16-17

Yes, Lord,
"Give us this day our daily bread!"
~ Matthew 6:11
Thank you for the feast to come, O Lord! We celebrate and remember Your Love for us at Your Communion Table! Make us a pure and ready Bride for the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb!
2. Surrender at the Cross - Together!
This is such a remarkable scripture verse.
Do we really believe it's true?
Are we living in the power of the cross? Are we following His ways and example of life through the Cross ?
A.W. Tozer reminds us "The cross stands high above the opinions of men and to that cross all opinions must come at last for judgment."
If so, we take seriously the Calling of the Cross in our personal and corporate lives!
The American Church loves to praise the Lord and Come to the Father, but it has largely ignored the Calling of the Cross, God's Second Commandment.
Dear Church Leaders, Musicians and Congregants, it is time we committed to taking a next step toward Worship in Spirit and in Truth.
We must Surrender at the Cross of Christ Together in Love!
Jesus commands it, the Father seeks it, the Scriptures confirm it and we need Holy Spirits help to listen and obey.
~~~

What might this Love and laying down of our lives for each other
look like in the American Church?

Loving One Another - A God-Given Calling to be Lived Inside the Church!
Living for the good of others is an Act of Worship as important as loving the Lord our God. Wow, really!? Accepting and living out that truth might just shake a lot of things up in our Christian lives!
Are we committed, ready and willing?
If we whole-heartedly believe we must sing out our Love for the Lord with hands raised and music playing in our churches, are we also as passionate about making sure those in the seat next to us feel fully loved, edified, healed and lifted up by us?
Some Transformational Considerations for Believers:
1. Could our love for one another within the Church be a test from the Lord as to the integrity of our love for Him? As believers, congregations and church leaders, can we honesty say we've been fervently seeking to love each other?
This is direct, but if church leaders can preach and expect congregants to grow in love, would not the Lord also provide opportunities for them to model and lead in Love?
Wouldn't Love of Others have to be modeled and exemplified through the decisions, priorities and cultures of our churches from the very top down?
If our decisions deliberately dismiss and sideline segments of our congregations or individuals in our midst, would not our ministries be built on a false gospel? Are we deceiving ourselves? If we have not Love, might our ministries and efforts become pale, tasteless and ultimately misguided?
If we neglect the Second Commandment, might we soon reflect the things of this world more than the Bride of Christ? Might we begin to look and act like social clubs or consumer-driven businesses more than a reflection of our Lord?
2. Worship Leaders and Musicians, would not the Lord desire Love of God and One Another in our ministries before we will be considered credible witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
If we have not Love, might our efforts ultimately come to nothing and be judged as hay and stubble?
Here's a hard question for each of us to consider.
Musicians, in the name of "worship" and "loving God" have we ever destroyed another believer's life and heart just so we could sing the song WE want so "WE can love God more fully and experientially?"
The American Church has nurtured a church culture where worship of God is run by personal preferences and "personal needs." I believe we have often deceived ourselves and possibly the Love of God is not really in us.
Dear Modern Church Worship Pastors and Church Leaders, for too long the American Church has often been more concerned about growing and becoming like the large competing ministry down the street. We have often forgotten the importance of humbly loving and serving the Flock the Lord has given us. We have often failed to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves, thus fulfilling the law of Christ. Logically, how can we love the world well if we can't even love those the Lord has already placed in our midst?
3. From my own experiences, in ministry there is a point in time when every leader has to intentionally decide on what foundation they're going to build. In Worship Ministry our team had to make daily decisions either reflecting the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Man. We had to commit to listen to Holy Spirit for our decisions and actions. We had to intentionally commit to the foundation of Love for everything! Frankly, often many around us and above us didn't understand Love as a foundational cornerstone of ministry inside the body. That priority seemed foreign to many.
If the American Church would build on Christ alone with Love, I believe Holy Spirit transformations would increasingly flow. We would regularly see the process of sanctification happen before our eyes and in our midst. The Church would increasingly be an agent of transformation for Christ in our world.
4. Here's what's so delightful and exciting! Get this, if you get anything from this page!
This is the testimony I'm bursting to share in this season of waiting and writing.
*When we as a Worship Ministry team began to selflessly love and build one another up before ourselves, the Lord blessed and allowed us to see glimpses of His kingdom of heaven here on earth! Isn't that our prayer!? And when we see Him dwelling amongst His people, the experience is magnificent! His presence amongst us is more fulfilling than any song we could ever sing!
With the Lord's help, the Fruit of the Spirit began to grow abundantly. My own heart had to be pruned often. It isn't easy. Our flesh is real and we all have to grow in the Lord from infancy. Others wrestled a lot with their own fleshly desires too. But as many could testify, Loving Each Other became a great JOY for us! The rewards of our sacrifices and surrender were Love, Joy, Peace, Patience....
Admittedly sinful desires would flare, and we'd have to go back to the Lord in repentance, submission and prayer.
Beautiful testimonies exist when even after a couple years, dear colleagues would come forward confessing sins of pride or wrongdoing. We asked for forgiveness from one another and what blessings came when Grace was quickly applied!
Forgiveness is not hard when we confess our sins one to another! The joy of walking and serving together in the Spirit is so glorious. We'd begin again and the qualities of God's fruit would begin to increase: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control!
5. After fifteen years of cultivating the ground, growing one another up in Love through Christ, a vibrant Forever Family of Faith began to shine brilliantly like the stars - like a beautiful multi-faceted diamond smoothed, refined and purified through the crucible of testing.
The aroma of fellowship and worship was sweet and appealing. The fruit looked and tasted so good; the reflection of Christ grew brighter and brighter.
6. Here's a very important reality we must understand and embrace - actually fiercely grip!
Laboring for Love in the Church is hard work! It requires commitment, time, great care and sacrifice. And sacrifice is not always an overt action.
Sometimes sacrificial love (i.e. Worship) means we do NOTHING! We step back from ourselves and let others shine and be blessed.
For us as church leaders or congregants to fall into the trap of thinking growth must be quick or that WE can just make it happen in our own strength and wisdom, we must consider the farmer who patiently works to cultivate good soil.
Bountiful harvests come only after years of tilling! Good farmers strategically pull out weeds, carefully feed and nourish the plants, and most importantly trust the Lord for the sunshine and rains at the proper times. Farmers know the fruit they are seeking to cultivate and are willing to labor for it with dependence on the Lord.
Very pointedly, music in worship amongst believers often generates a lot of feelings and opinions. Because of the remarkable gift it is from the Lord, the evil one also knows he has a primed playground in which to stir up idolatries in the name of 'worship.' Consequently believers and congregations simply followed the American Me-Centered Culture in this generation.
During the Worship Wars in the last decades, the evil one appealed to our flesh and over time the witness of much of the American church has become pale and tasteless. The Church didn't see it coming, but we should have.
It takes one generation to lack discernment or conviction and the evil one triumphs in leaving the church without a living, vibrant testimony for Christ.
There are few congregations who have honestly loved well in their Worship through Music Callings. There are very few congregations who have labored at all to demonstrate the supremacy of Christ over them through song. We have lacked conviction to follow Jesus as the true head of His people. We haven't demonstrated faith and trust in His power and ability to hold all things together !
I believe unified worship through song should be a renewed pursuit in our day. It's a calling from the Lord, certainly unlike anything in this world.
The time is now! Revival is waiting to spring up if God's people would arise as true worshipers!
Because of Jesus, our perfect High Priest and Older Brother, let's resist division through music in our congregations. It can be done, has been done and should be done - for the Glory of God and Good of His People!
7. If we are zealous and called to nurture true worshipers, just like our Heavenly Father, we will pursue and love each lamb in the flock according to their need. Some sheep require a lot of work, but aren't we willing to love well and love hard? Is Reconciliation and Grace a mark of our fellowship? I believe it should be, but how faithful in living out the Gospel of Reconciliation are we?
8. Lastly, the race marked out for us will be long and laborious. But it's worth it! Getting caught up in the River of Life is quite a ride and it nourishes the fields and plants in its path. More on that later....
Without question the ministry of growing true worshipers is the most exciting labor I know! In due time, the Lord brings the harvest. In HIS time He brings the rewards! So let us Love One Another as our Heavenly Father loves for HIS honor, glory and fame.
Let the River of Life and Healing flow from the Threshold of Glory and the Presence of our God!


Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity! ~ Colossians 3:12-14
"The sound that compels us to walk lock-step with Christ and the rest of His body is a holy HEARTBEAT, not a drumbeat." ~ Dr. Bill Bolin
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love!" (I John 4:7-8)
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!" (John 13:35)
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?" (James 2:14)
"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him." (Titus 1:16)
"If we have not Love, we are a clanging gong and a clashing cymbal." (I Corinthians 13:1)
"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus! ~ Philippians 3
Do we grasp what happened in the temple when God's people came together in Christ,
all fulfilling their callings with one voice?
God's glory came down!
He inhabited the praises of His people and the temple was filled with the cloud of His presence!
Hallelujah! O Lord, you're instructing us! Open our eyes to the fullness of Your manifest glory!
He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases; he redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
From everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children.
Bless the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, bless his holy name.
~ Psalm 103 ~

God's kingdom celebrates both the youth and older saints within the family of God. As Children of God we are adopted into a Forever Family where each should thrive in their gifts and callings.
"Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh!"
~ Exodus 7:6
"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity!" ~ I Timothy 4:12
"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart!”
~ I Samuel 16:7
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." ~ Ephesians 5:21
3. Walk in the Spirit!

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me!"
~ 2 Corinthians 12:9
"The sound that compels us to walk lock-step with Christ and the rest of his body is a holy HEARTBEAT, not a drumbeat." ~ Dr. Bill Bolin
"Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit!"
~ Matthew 7:16-17

With Holy Spirit's help the Lord is seeking to transform us! When we don't walk in the Spirit, we must face our sin in the light of our Holy God. Repentance must be part of our lives as true worshipers. The truth of who God is does not allow sin to remain in our personal lives or corporate lives. Because of Jesus' shed blood which covers us, we are freed to live without condemnation. Are we a repenting people, before our Lord and one another? Do we know our Lord as a forgiving Father, both personally and corporately? Have we made repentance and forgiveness a regular part of our worship together?
"David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, 'I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” ~2 Samuel 24:10
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice! ~Psalm 51

Lessons from Nehemiah and Opposition to the Building of the Wall
*"But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?
*We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
*Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water!" ~ Nehemiah 4-6
I know the image above is unsettling, as it should be I suppose.
As believers, it's time to realize again we're in a regular spiritual battle between darkness and light.
Satan wants all our heart and soul for HIS honor and glory and power. Jesus told us to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Why else did Satan tempt Jesus to worship and bow down to him? (Luke 4)
The image and depiction of spiritual warfare was rather foreign to me until I began to see if unfold.
A sister in the Lord sent this picture to me one day completely unaware of what I had experienced a few weeks prior to her email. It was completely out of context except the Lord knew I needed a confirmation from Him about what was really transpiring behind the scenes...
not against flesh and blood but from our Adversary the devil.
I had seen a physical form like this evil looking man in the Sanctuary one Sunday morning and had witnessed what seemed like a grey heavy blanket being pulled over the congregation as the form stood off to the side. This was all happening while we were singing and it seemed no one else discerned the Spirit being squelched by the evil one. It was November of 2010 and behind the scenes the evil one was really stirring up disunity and a work against the worship of the Lord we were seeking to bring.
For the first time ever, I saw the spiritual battle for worship being waged in our midst and the presence of the evil one who was leading the fight. I only told Pastor and my husband at the time as it made me shake inside. I also really didn't think anyone else would accept what I knew I had experienced. Very few people at that time talked of spiritual warfare or of seeing the manifestations of the spiritual world, whether God's kingdom or the kingdom of darkness.
Eight long years later, after going through my own season of doubt that the Lord would fight to save the worship of His name from the destructive forces coming against it, a person who had been so much a part of the ongoing work against worship confirmed their family had also seen the evil manifestation in the sanctuary that November of 2010. That report was an instant confirmation the battle had never been against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness.
Those eight long years taught me the strength of the Lord's mighty hand to keep me from falling. Also, in due time, He would rise up to protect the glory of His name by those seeking true worship ever so imperfectly.
The long protracted battle against the Worship Ministry also forced me to dig into a better understanding of the reality of the war we are in as believers.
When we are adopted into the Lord's family, we are then part of a new kingdom - God's Kingdom. Still, we are living in this world governed by the Prince of Darkness. He is waging an all out war for our hearts and lives.
Satan hates it when we begin to know and understand our calling as true worshipers of the Most High. He wants worship of Jesus stopped and he wants believers silenced and ineffective for Christ. And, if we become united, he hates that even more! He thrives in creating disunity to disrupt the testimony we as believers should be shining for our Lord. He is real, crafty, sly and very much delights in derailing in any true worship.
After those eight years passed, the evil one did not give up. Two years later he came back with some of the same old tactics using different people with similar fleshly desires.
He seems to have won right now, but the Lord can again rise up in miraculous ways to bring forth victories for His honor, glory and fame! I believe that and know it!
Dear believers, we must begin to understand the realities of the battle the evil one is waging. We must realize our battle is not against flesh and blood. We also cannot attempt any longer to live as Kingdom of God citizens without the Armor of God on and ready!
Learn the pieces of armor we've been given.
It's time, O Church, to fight in Kingdom ways with Kingdom weapons.
Anything less will leave us trampled and blindly led! Holy Spirit, we need You to teach and instruct us!
"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds!" 2 Corinthians 10:4
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ~ Matthew 26:41
"No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord!" Isaiah 54:17
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!" ~ Psalm 73:26
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people!"
~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5
4. Abide In His
Word and Truth
"Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do!" ~ James 1:22-25

We need You and Your Word as our Bread of Life, O Lord! Give us faithful Ministers of Your Word each week! We desire Your truths proclaimed.
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." ~ Matthew 6:33-34
I sinned when I doubted. I was a brute beast before the Lord when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...Psalm 73

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted!" ~ 2 Timothy 3:12
"Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." ~ Romans 12:12
"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the King, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up!”
~ Daniel 3:16-18
Please reread the verse above.
I'd like to share the personal testimony behind it, because I believe it's relevant for today's Church. As the Lord is seeking a pure Bride for Himself, there's a spiritual cleansing happening. Jeremiah was called to proclaim God's Word in his day, and the Lord is bringing him forward again in ours.
Our family will never forget 2020 as the Lord allowed some brutal things to occur, as He did for many. Our church let us go after fifteen years without warning. They were visibly, verbally delighted when the Covid shutdown gave them cover to make 'changes and updates' they had been planning for some time.
Easter had come and gone. I was told everything was great. I was a delight to work with and the worship was wonderful. But something seemed very wrong in the spirit behind the scenes. The spiritual battle had actually been very real there for years as the prince of this world knew how to hold tight to certain reins of control there. That's a different trail to go down at another time. But the Lord had suddenly taken a key person to glory who sought to listen to and follow Holy Spirit.
In 2020, though, there were fewer and fewer utterly surrendered, discerning and spiritually equipped saints to guard the Threshold of Glory for Jesus alone.
A leader told me my passion for worship was likely too pure for the place now. I'm still shocked a church leader would think that statement is okay and it makes me weep inside every day still. The person had once stood strong for the Lord, but the desire to stay in a position of "influence" outweighed his desire to wield the sword of the Spirit with a belt of truth for the sake of the Lord.
Overall, as the eyes of our hearts have increasingly looked to other pleasures of this world, I believe the Lord has been desiring to get the American Church's attention for some time. Just like the Israelites, our hearts have been stubborn and we've been double-minded. The wisdom of man has driven much of what's transpired in our churches in these last few decades.
Such analysis may seem harsh to many, but perhaps we had to experience 2020 in order for this Word to be given and shared.
~~~
Sitting quietly one night with iphones and earbuds, each pondering the 'whys' of the hurt the Lord allowed, my husband suddenly, audibly heard the Lord tell him "Go read Jeremiah 5:19."
He looked up from his phone and told me what he had just heard.
Neither one of us had been reading Jeremiah recently at all. Nor were we familiar enough with it to remember specific references except Jeremiah 29:11 - the scripture verse high school graduates begin to learn and memorize! :)
So on that night, Jeremiah was the last thing on our minds - only our hurts and our questions.
But in the pit where we found ourselves, the Lord spoke a rare, remarkable, irrefutable Word for the healing of our hearts.
If anyone asks us why our lives were thrown upside down by fellow believers in 2020, he gave us the words and truth to share: 'Tell them Jeremiah 5:19."
We can't dispute what He gave us. There was no human being involved. It's truth from the Lord. Based on the events we experienced, we sensed the truth of Jeremiah 5:19. Now we know it's what had happened.
I also believe the Lord gave us this verse to share for the good of the Church.
Were the shutdowns in 2020 allowed as a test for the American Church to see if we fully understood our chief end and purpose - to worship, glorify and enjoy the Lord above all else?
Is the Lord desiring the Church's repentance from idols it has constructed over the years?
Does the Lord desire His Bride to return to its first love? Love of God and one another? (Rev. 2:4))
Have we worshiped instead the things of man, things of our flesh, our personal and corporate vanities?
Have we persisted in our plans even as the Lord has been trying to open the eyes of our hearts?
Or perhaps, are we so asleep we still don't believe anything is amiss inside the Church?
As the book of Jeremiah continues, the Lord allows judgment, but He also pours forth mercies if we repent of our sins toward Him.
I believe Jeremiah 5:19 is from the Lord for our training and correction today.
Holy Spirit, penetrate our hearts and give us the courage to see ourselves in the light of Your holiness.
"I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"
~ Amos 5:21-24
