Emily Johnson Music

Dream Again

2012-02-27T09:06:00.007-08:00

The prayer of Jabez is on my mind today. You know, I grew up in an environment where we were taught mostly to be content with what you have. And it is true that Godliness with contentment is great gain. However, Jabez prayed a bold prayer. In I Chronicles 4:9-10 it says that 1st, he was more honorable than his brothers and he was a very good man. Then he prayed this, "Bless me, God and give me much land. Be with me and keep me from anything evil that might cause me pain." And then it says that GOD GAVE HIM WHAT HE PRAYED FOR. I have had my share of disappointments and pain over the years. As a matter of fact, not to long ago, I had been wounded, bruised and disillusioned by the previous season of my life that I felt "dead" inwardly. I felt paralyzed and it seemed as if I didn't have the will to ask God to bless me anymore because of the fear of the pain that might come along with being blessed again. What a trick of the enemy...to get us to be so disheartened by difficult times that we cease to press further into the new things that God has for us. Jabez's mother had an extremely painful time delivering him at birth. You could say it was a difficult birthing, but his beginning did not set his life on a course of pain and poverty. He had the courage to pray a bold prayer, ignoring the circumstances of his beginning and birth. He asked that the Lord would enlarge his territory and give him MUCH land. And, not only that, he went on to ask that God would be with him and keep him from all evil and anything that would cause him pain. AND GOD GAVE HIM WHAT HE PRAYED FOR! Have you stopped dreaming? Better yet, what is the last thing you asked God for? Listen, your biggest request is small in comparison to the greatness of God. AND, it is not enough to just dream. ASK/PRAY FOR WHAT YOU WANT AND DESIRE. Don't just sit and wonder all day and night about what your life could be like. Do something about it and pray and petition God. Better yet, make sure that you are an honorable person in your relationship with God and man. Then, God will bless you, indeed. And move past the things that have happened to you before today. That is no barrier for blessings. God can penetrate and obliterate those protective walls you have erected and make a path for the BIG things you ask for. Today is a new day. Make a decision that you are going to dream big again. Decide to pray and ask for what you desire. Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Have a blessed day. Dream again...

Much Love,

Emily

Setting Vision, The surface of my destiny reveled

2012-01-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

So, I have gotten a lot of messages, and tweets wondering how did I get started, how I knew I was called to write music, and lead thousands into the very presence of God.... This is my beginning, how I knew..... Of coarse there is a lot more to my story, but that will come....

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and I will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what shall I answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."—Habakkuk 2:1-3

January 2008 My Pastor, Paul Craig gave an alter call for all those who desired to reach more people for Jesus. I made my way to the alter, hands raised, heart surrendered, having an internal conversation with God.

He said ‘can you believe me for 500 people, that you’ll reach for me’?, I said ‘yes Lord I believe’. He said ‘how about 1000, can you believe me for 1000’? I thought about it, and said ‘yes Lord, I believe that’. As others where flooding the alter, He said ‘can you believe me for 100,000’? I said ‘Lord’!? As I paused and pondered it, then said ‘yes maybe in my whole life time, Yes! Lord I will believe’.

Then He said ‘not 1000, not 100,000, but Millions will you reach for me, through your music’!! At the exact time God spoke that to me, my Pastor put his hands on each side of my face, and said ‘Now be it unto you according to your faith’! I was completely saturated in God’s tangible presence, and unable to stand.

And my journey began, with the surface of my destiny reveled…..

A Worshiper’s Foundation

2011-07-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

A Worshiper's Foundation

Session 1

We will be discussing and studying are the foundational, core theological principles of worship. It is two fold we want our congregations to know what worship is, because a congregation who understands worship will engage in worship; secondly, from worship leader’s and worship teams perspective we want make sure that those coming onto the platform to lead us in worship understand what worship is. We will go back in the bible and learn what we do in worship and why we do it. One of the things we are going to look at is Moses’ tabernacle. We will look at the priesthood and how they served in Moses’ tabernacle.

The first thing I want to talk about today is your identity. A persons identity is a big deal, the majority of people think that what they do, defines who they are. For example take a guitar player, he considers himself a guitar player because he plays the guitar, but take him off the platform and somehow his identity is damaged, then they feel their value is detracted from.

We want to identify ourselves differently; we want to get our value from what the bible says about us. The bible says a lot about us, like we are chosen and dearly loved, we are children of God….ect. But I want you to focus on this… We are Priests.

Intro – Who am I?

A. I am a __PRIEST_______ _ .

1 Peter 2:5 (NIV)

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

So that describes the Job function of a priest, that you can declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

My identity, who I see my self as makes a huge difference in my function. So If I see myself as just a congregation member, and I see those on the platform leading songs as the priest then it takes away all responsibility in my mind for me the congregation member to function as a priest personally. But what if everyone in our churches started to identify themselves as priests, then it would change their function in the church, it will change the way they relate to God, and the way they relate to the world around them.

Now that we have identified ourselves as priests, now I have the right, and the responsibility

to understand the priest job description, and to carry it out.

What do priests do?

B. Build _TABERNACLES______ _____ – meeting places.

Or a better way to say it is host tabernacle.

The Levites where the ones who carried around the tent of meeting, the tabernacle. They carried around all the items and furniture that went inside of the tabernacle. Everywhere that God stopped they stopped and set up the tent of meeting, or tabernacle.

Let me tell you why this is important, well first tabernacle has been kind of elevated into this religious word that doesn’t mean anything to us, tabernacle simply is tent. The bible talks about setting up David’s tabernacle, it’s setting up David’s tent. But we can get more from the meaning of tabernacle if we look at what the Jews called it. They called it the tent of meeting, or the tent of congregation. When I come to the tabernacle, I am coming to a place where there is an expectation of meeting with God. Let me show you why this is important to you. Only priest are allowed to set up tabernacle. The Levites were the priests, and we are considered spiritual Levities. This is a big deal… if I’m not a priest I’m not allowed to host meeting with God. In the body of Christ and even on our worship teams we have people who don’t identify themselves as priest. I’m a vocalist, I’m a guitar player, I’m an usher, I’m a banker. Only priest can host meetings with God. Who you are makes a huge difference as what you’re able to do. So my first job responsibility is to set up tabernacle, every place I go becomes a meeting place with God, if I’m meeting with friends that place becomes tabernacle, in Wal-Mart, at church, at my job. I get to set up intersections with God and man.

Intercession = creating __INTERCECTIONS__ between God and man

Deuteronomy 10:8–9 (NIV)

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to 2. carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to 3.stand before the Lord to minister, and to 4.pronounce blessings in His name, as they still do today. That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance.

C. Carry the __PRESENCE______ and glory of God. (Second job description of a priest.) I’m speaking figural and spiritually, but in that scripture it was literally. It was Levites responsibility to carry the Ark of the Covenant that represents the presence of God. We find one place in the history of the bible that someone else tried to carry it, someone died because of it.

D. ___MINISTRER ______ to God – His desires, His pleasure, His glory, His will, His entertainment.

E. __ BLESS _ ___ the people.

I. Purpose – Why did God want Moses to Build a Tabernacle?

Exodus 25:8 (NIV)
“Then have them make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them.”

A. He wanted to be __NEAR_ ___ them! – __DWELL AMONG THEM__ _ ___

Exodus 29:44–46 (NIV)
“So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

B. In order to do that, God had to teach them how to
_____ACCESS____ Him.

1. Moses’ Tabernacle is a __PATHWAY_ _ of worship – a protocol for entering into the presence of God.

Protocol: a strict adherence to correct __ETIQUETTE___ ___ __ _ and _PROCEDURE__ ___________

C. The Tabernacle is a __PATTERN__ _ pointing to a heavenly __REALITY_ of access.

Hebrews 8:5 (NIV)
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Session 2 coming soon.........

The Soil, The Root, The Fruit

2011-07-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Getting Free from Insecurity

• I want to talk today about a FRUIT.

• It hangs from all of our trees….it is something that we all have.

• I have noticed that it particularly finds itself on the branches of the musician types, the

musical.

• In the process of discussing this today I want to set us on the course of freedom from this

fruit.

• To do that we are going to also discuss its ROOT.

• The root rarely looks like the fruit.

• However, it is the most important part of the tree.

• The root gives life, nutrients to the tree so that it can produce fruit.

• If you want to get rid of the fruit, get rid of the root.

• But I also want to start a little deeper than the root.

• Something we rarely talk about…the SOIL.

• The soil is the environment that the root lives in.

• It gives water, nutrients to the root.

Luke 6:43–45

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is

recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man

brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. NIV84

I. Fruit

James 4:2

2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. AMP

James 3:14–16

14 But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth. 15 This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal). 16 For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices. AMP

• There are three fruits I think many of us deal with in our ministries:

o Jealousy – directed at a person. Wanting their position or place.

o Envy – directed at things. Wanting someone’s stuff.

o Selfish Ambition - Personal profit or pleasure at the expense of others.

II. Root

• The root of these particular fruits can usually be identified as INSECURITY.

• What is insecurity? Let’s look at the opposite of insecure…

SECURE

1 free from fear or distrust, confident in oneself, assured in opinion or expectation : having

no doubt

2 feeling free from danger b : free from risk of loss c : affording safety d : trustworthy, dependable

A secure person is:

• Free from fear of man, distrust of man

• Confident in who they are. How they view or see themselves is free from the opinions of others.

INSECURITY

• Insecurity is a mindset that is a result of not knowing who you really are.

• OR…Insecurity is having a false idea of who you really are.

A. Let’s Realize That We Have Areas of Insecurity as Leaders – we all have it..

• We don’t let people around us rise above us.

o We tear them down.

o We don’t promote because it would made us unnecessary.

o We feel threatened by people who are more talented than we are.

o We create an atmosphere of ministry that can’t survive without us.

• We think God sends people to us to serve us. We don’t realize that God sends people to us

so we can serve them!

Our insecurities hurt people!

Our insecurities hinder growth and expansion of the Kingdom!

B. Leading Insecure People

• They do much of the same things as I mentioned above.

• They don’t trust their leaders.

• Our job is to build them up. Disciple them. Lead them to freedom.

• Teach them about who they are in Christ.

1 Thess 5:11

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. NIV

C. Following Insecure Leaders

• You have them. We all have them. No leader is perfect. I am not perfect and my insecurities have caused me to be a bad leader many times.

• One of the greatest biblical examples of this was how David served Saul as a leader.

o Cover them.

o Don’t touch them.

o Build them up.

o Submit and obey.

Heb 13:17

17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. NIV

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THE ROOT OF INSECURITY? Pull the root and deal with the SOIL.

III. Soil

• Soil is found in the heart. The soil is the environment that a root lives in.

• It gives water, nutrients to the root.

• The soil is not completely hidden, but a majority of it is.

• I have concluded that there are only two types of soil:

• The soil that all sin grows in is PRIDE.

• The soil that all righteousness grows from is HUMILITY.

• Where there is pride, you will find the fruits of the flesh…sin.

• Where there is humility, you will find a wellspring of righteous fruit.

• Humility is the virtue, the soil that all virtues grow from.

• Humility is knowing who you are...really are.

Num 12:3

3(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

• True humility is when you grasp the reality of who you really are.

“Humility is to make the right estimate of oneself.” Charles Spurgeon

How do we get the pride out and fill it with the soil of humility?

• Humility is a by-product of brokenness.

• It is the result of a surrendered heart to the disciplines of the Lord.

• Brokenness is not an event to be remembered, it is a lifestyle to be lived.

• Brokenness is the process of finding out who you really are.

ENDING

1 Peter 5:5–7

5 …All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. NIV84

What Is Worship?

2011-05-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

One of the most important and really the first thing you should learn

before worshiping God is to know and understand the fathers heart towards you. You’ll never worship Him unless you know the deepness of His love for you, and that he is for you! Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. An expected end.

Rom. 8:38-39 says nothing can separate us from the love of the Father.

What Is Worship?

Extravagant respect, reverence, admiration, devotion all outwardly expressed to God. It comes from a place deep within our hearts.

We can use music, dance, bowing, lifting our hands, and many other ways to outwardly express our worship.

But, our entire being was created to Worship we are fashioned as an instrument of praise. Just as the master violin maker designs his instrument to produce maximum sound results, God has tailor made our bodies, souls, and spirits to work together to produce pleasing expressions of praise and worship. When we use our body language to express, that which was internal has now become visible! How we feel about God is now evident for the world to see!

Rom. 12:1 What is ‘Living Sacrifice’ it is simply all of me, for all of Him.

All throughout the bible the word worship is never used for mans pleasure or benefit. Worship is solely for God! For His benefit (his good pleasure), not ours. Phil 2:1313For it is God which worketh in you, both to will, and to do of his good pleasure.

Though it is awesome to discover that when we give Him pleasure, we enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.

There is nothing like being in the presence of God, knowing he is pleased, because you gave him worship worthy and fit for the King of Kings.

He said that he inhabits the praise of his people. When we praise him then he comes and enthrones or sits upon our praise, in that moment He is able to do whatever he needs to do in the lives of those in that place.

How Do We Worship?

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth: for the father is seeking such to worship him.

God is a spirit: and they worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

According to this verse what Kind of Worship does the

Father want? It’s very important that we understand that more than the worship itself God is truly seeking our hearts, worship will follow that.

Worship (expression) Fosters or promotes the growth or development of Our

Relationship between the Father and us.

In this vs. the word seeking is zeteo in the Greek and it carries the same meaning or tone as require. So the Father is requiring that any worship given to Him has to be in Sprit and in Truth.

How Do I worship in sprit and in truth?

The word sprit is Pneuma the Greek..

It means for this scripture the New Nature. So… Worshiping in spirit is outwardly expressing extravagant respect, reverence, admiration, and devotion to God out of the new spirit, or new nature we’ve received through making Jesus our Lord.

Truth… Is Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus said unto him I am the way, Truth, and the Life; No man comes to the father but, by me.

Now in order for us to worship God in spirit and truth, we need to be born again receiving the new nature of God, Being on a journey to knowing Jesus, his character, learning who he is completely by the word of God and spending time with Him, so we can worship Him expressing who He is to us.

Let's be one’s that know our passion to worship God is unquenchable, except by Him.

Psa.73:25-26 'Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.'

Remember Worship is not the music, but the heart. Music is only a tool to help us express our worship to the Lord. To label worship as music is limiting the expression.

What and who are you desiring as you worship?

2011-05-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

What and who are you desiring as you worship?

Kenric, the boys and I have just returned from what would say is one of the best vacations we can remember. We spent it at the beach where my husband grew up, surrounded by friends and family, many who are in ministry and have been for a long time...
...and the conversation was so rich and inspiring, we left feeling refreshed and so hungry for what God has in store for us in this season. When the conversation turned to worship, the upside of the comments were that overall, many pastors were feeling so well supported musically, their teams were growing, it seemed from what I was hearing is that the standard of what was coming from platforms all over the country has greatly improved over the last couple of years. But then there was a moment when one dear man said ' Oh, but just to sense the presence of Jesus, that is what I am longing for. I would rather have something less sophisticated if it means finding worshippers to lead us into the Holy Place, not just great players.'

Wow...I have pondered that thought since coming home.. and I guess as a leader of worship, I sense the responsibility, like many others leaders around the world, to keep speaking it out.. that JESUS must be our goal, our focus, and the One we are living to please and serve as we worship. Not complicated, but simply committed our focus clean and clear. A statement that I read in the book ' Face to Face with God' said of Moses.. 'Moses preferred the wilderness with God, than to enter the promised land without God'. As he said in Ex 33:15 ' If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here..'.

So there you have it... what and who are you desiring as you worship? Whether what we do actually IS worship is up to us.. for it is about the heart, its agenda and passions. I pray that every single day, our devotion to His song, this glorious anthem that stretches into the eternal would be refined in us as we learn to live in His power, covered by His grace, forever!!! AMEN.

2011-04-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

Psalm 46
Today's NIV Version

For the director of music. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.

1.God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2.Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3.though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
4.There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5.God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at daybreak.
6.Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7.The Lord Alimighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8.Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9.He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10."Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11.The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

This Psalm is again addressed to the chief musician... and I love that
the Word of God puts value on being highly skilled in the areas of music and arts... In 1st Chronicles, we read that Zechariah, Eliab and Benaiah were to praise the Lord with Psalteries on Alamoth. As far as I can understand, this may mean to, not through habit, fall into the trap of singing in only one key, but with intelligence, we are to craft praises to appropriately express the fullness of the occasion. This explanation may not be completely accurate as the info available is scarce... but one thing I am confident of, is that these ancient descriptions show that care, time and skill should be used when being part of any song to honour our King. How great is that!

The first two words in this Psalm again bring so much confidence... GOD IS... our refuge, our strength, our VERY present help... GOD IS... Do you actually believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that God IS all He says He is? I truly believe that if we grasped this revelation of who God Is, our lives would look extremely different. God alone is our All we need.
You know, I have watched at church as someone led a song of worship at a funeral... Yes, it was sad, yes there was grief and heartache... but I had an overwhelming sense of His VERY present help. Present more than your closest friend or relative, and even more present than the trouble itself. I think I've shared this with you before, I'll never forget, just after my sister died, that sense of sadness was way too much to bear. I was at home crying out to God... when I literally felt the arm of God rest around my shoulder to comfort me... VERY present, coming at just the right time. So, with this truth in mind...WE WILL NOT FEAR! Though many trials will try to come and defeat us, we will stand knowing our God is near. Even when heaven and earth pass away... EVEN THEN, GOD IS! Listen to this, 'Evil may ferment, wrath may boil, and pride may foam, but the brave heart of Holy confidence trembles not'...
We then find a Selah... pause, be calm, think for a moment... The music set to this psalm must have been quite colourful if you truly take in the words, I think after such a musical interpretation, the psalmist needed a breath to bring calm, and to reflect a moment. This pause is not a fruit of doubt, but merely time to re-tune, set your instrument for deliberate music of victory in the midst of a storm. I've talked about this before... get ready for the music of the overcomers!!
Now we are at the river... whose streams make glad the city of God...The City of God, Zion, whose streams are not intermittent, but ever flowing with grace and favor, rivers of life and joy, supplying all of our needs, bringing life and refreshing. The church is like the city of God. His design, His glory, His purpose, His people, His message, His provision... streams of life running from it. Dedicated to His praise and glorified by His presence.

The City of God has always caused the enemy to rage, so it should be of no surprise that the word says the heathen get angry about the streams of life... How did this happen??? They continually ask, their angry cries tend to swell in volume and intensity... and beautifully, the Lord utters His voice, and the earth melts!!! GOD IS!!
Come and see what the Psalmist declares. Come and see what God did to overthrow our enemies... our strength and shield, our ever-present help... He was faithful yet again to His Word and His character. There is talk of all that the powerful voice of the Lord achieves... peace to war, end to strife, He crushes even the greatest of enemies until they cannot wreak havoc ever again... ONE word from God is all it takes to still the storm. That's why you need to have the word of God IN YOU.
Then, the words we all know and so value... BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.The great I am, says remember, I AM. He will be exalted among the heathen AND exalted on the earth....
Why then, do we hesitate to trust in our God... the great I AM. You truly trust, you've got to let go of trying to work everything out yourself...Trust is something that people put confidence or reliance in. Lean to let go, and trust God.

I found this song by Martin Luther... this is from a book written in 1866 entitled, 'Hymn Writers and Their Hymns' by S.W Christophers.
'A sure Stronghold our God is He,
A timely shield and weapon;
Our help He'll be and set us free
From every ill can happen.
And were the world with devils filled,
All eager to devour us,
Our souls to fear shall little yield,
They cannot overpower us.'
Luther's explanation of Psalm 46 was... 'We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.'

So I leave you with that thought...' GOD IS'
What IS GOD to you?? I pray He's your source, your life, your anchor, your breath, your reason, your song, your healer, your deliverer, your friend, your Lord, and many other things I could list. Be confident in His ability to hold your life in His hands. For you, are His greatest pleasure...

Love you all!
Serving my King with Joy!

Emily

2011-04-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am selling my 1st Album and my Christmas album for $10 ea. That's 2 for $20 that is a sweet deal!! www.emilyjohnsonmusic.com We're getting ready for the New album!! You can Pre-order it there too! It ships the first week in July, on all Pre-Orders.

2010-09-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

"DONE!!! with the final CD mixes That means we have 1 mo. until completion of the this Album!!"

Worship Leaders

2010-04-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

My responsibility as a worship leader, one that requires my heart to be in a place of worship before Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Yet just like everyone else, I still have to deal with everyday life, like bills, time management, and the emotional needs of my family.
I am cultivating worship into my family, by examining my own walk with God and asking myself if I am modeling an authentic worship atmosphere to my Husband and children.
Day to day, I look for opportunities to point out the hand of God, either in a beautiful sunset, people and all their diversities, or simply an animal in the backyard. I encourage my family to appreciate the beauty in the moment and connect that moment to the Creator behind it.(God)

At times we bring out our piano and sing and play together. Sometimes we sing worship choruses and sometimes we sing songs like Jesus loves me or twinkle little star.(for Jeremiah of course) But as we worship God with music, we are simply using a tool to help us connect to a living God. The Psalms provide all kinds of ways in which we can demonstrate or express our worship, such as singing, clapping, kneeling, dancing and playing musical instruments.
Worship is so much more than 20 minutes of singing and playing, kneeling, clapping or dancing at a church service. What I try to model for my family and my church is that worship has more to do with my relationship with God the Father; Jesus; The Holy Spirit, and Gods people, than it does with music.
It is impossible to worship a living God — sacrificing our bodies, emotions, minds and hearts — and not have it affect all our relationships.
Of course, I go through seasons when life is hard and relationships are difficult. On occasional Church services, I stand before the church and just go through the motions. But I can't do that for long."
We can't separate relationship from Worship any more than we can separate intimacy from a healthily marriage. Just as intimacy wells up from the mutual respect and love in a marriage, so does worship to God spring forth from our surrendered and grateful heart. I cannot walk in this life and be ungrateful, I just think of how blessed and fortunate I am to know Jesus as my Savior and Lord, and to remember the price He paid for us.