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Re: [Worship] Holy Spirit's involvement in services!!

dwilson1@postoffice.newnham.utas.edu.au (musicmanDan) writes:
>Obviously we all strive to give all the glory to God for the work he 
>does in us before, during and after each service we lead.  I got
thinking 
>about how the HS uses what we give during a service to touch people!  I
was
>watching a video of a service i led and I was really disappointed (if
>that's the word i'm looking for!).  The whole team thought the service 
>went really well and many people commented.  I've concluded that the HS 
>used it to do something special.  I guess it's the presence of God.

It's inevitable... the times I thought were the biggest bombs are the
times when someone comes up to me and says "I was soooooo touched by the
worship today.."  You're right, it is the presence of God.  And our
criteria for visual, musical, and oratorial excellence, while not
altogether irrelevant, are not for the most part at the core of God's
agenda.

And yet...  I have wrestled with the issue of the whole mentality that
says any good thing that comes out of me or happens due to my ministry
really isn't me, it's all God.  It's true that God is God, and only He
can do what He does.  But at the same time, quite often the things that
the Spirit does would not have happened the same way if we were not open
to His leading, and letting Him flow through us.  We have this treasure
in earthen vessels, but the vessel is a part of the process.  How many of
us have experienced missed opportunities in the spirit, where we knew God
was prompting us to step out in partnership with Him to release the flow
of life, but we hesitated too long and the moment passed.  No amount of
human effort can bring it back in the same way, because what God wanted
to do depended in some way on OUR obedience in the moment, and we didn't
come through.  

Stay with me here for a moment.  It is Christ IN US, the hope of glory. 
We are the Body of Christ in the earth, learning to do what we see the
Father doing.  We are not "nothings", we are sons being brought to glory
(Heb. 2:10).  I have come to believe that when we say "It was all God,
not me" about the working of the Spirit through us, we are actually
*robbing* God of glory!  Why? Because the underlying concept is that
nothing is good at all, except God Himself.  But when God created the
world, He said that IT was good.  God is glorified in the beauty, the
goodness, the functioning of His creation as He designed it to be.  We
are His workmanship, and to attribute ALL good effects of our ministry to
God's sovereign working, apart from us, is to deny any praise to God that
arises from the intrinsic value in our own identity and gifts, which He
has created to work through.  A fine point, maybe, but I believe an
important one, because it strikes at the "I am but a worm" mentality that
keeps so many of God's warrior-sons effectively immobilized.

I guess what I am saying is that we are in relationship with God.  He is
working through us, and our end of the partnership is vital to the going
forth of His kingdom in the earth.  In effect, He has chosen to need us,
if I can put it that way.  I know this sounds like pride and humanism to
some people (that is NOT where I am coming from), but I believe that the
"nothing good that comes out of me is me" mindset is more often rooted in
false humility and a sense of unworthiness than a true biblical
understanding.  Of course we were unworthy when God found us,  but He
doesn't want us to keep living there!  Look at 1 Peter 1:7, also I Cor.
4:5.  There will come a time when God will give US praise for the
obedience we have walked in.  Now there's a radical thought...!

So when Dan lead worship, even if later he was disappointed with how it
looked on video, he was using his gifts to function in obedience to, and
partnership with, the Holy Spirit.  And good things happened as a result!

Sorry to ramble on so long.  Just some thoughts.

Tim Barber
tsbarber@juno.com
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