As I was reading out of a book written by Gary Weins titled, "Bridal Intercession", I was swept away by the reality and teaching that was brought to light. On page 61 he is talking about the fact that the body of Christ needs a restored understanding of "the majestic beauty of the Man Christ Jesus". He goes on to say that we have become so focused on our OWN personal happiness and on the business of solving issues, having our OWN needs met and pursuing our OWN visions, that we have neglected to FOCUS on "the beauty and majesty of the One who makes it all worthwhile" in the first place!** Notice the key word above . . . OUR OWN! Sometimes our focus can be way too much on SELF instead of HIM.
When our main focus, time and energies are spent declaring the glory of speaking and singing of that glory from the texts of the scriptures, the reality of doing this is that our hearts become more and more exhilerated in His beauty and passion! In effect, we become more and more convinced that He IS able to do what we need, and to hold until that day the victory He won for us on the cross. This is precisely why He tells us in John 4 to "worship Him in Spirit and truth".
He doesn't want us to do this because He is some sort of egocentric God who must be placated, (to pacify or cause to be more favorably inclined, or to gain the good will of) by little people telling Him how important He is.
He desires us to be focused on His loveliness and to declare it to HIm night and day for OUR OWN BENEFIT, that we may see His power and glory and become convinced that He is able to keep us.
***Worship and adoration increase our sense of His majesty and puts our hearts at rest in faith and confidence! ***
When worship is focused on the beauty of the Lord, not for the sake of my comfort, but simply for the sake of adorning Him, the unexpected happens. I, in fact, come to a greater sense of peace and rest than when attaining peace and rest was my goal!
The knowledge of Christ sets us at rest. The shulamite in the Song of Songs knew that the best way that she could come to a place of rest and ease was to focus on the beauty and the excellence of her King.
( Excerpts taken from the book, "Bridal Intercession" written by Gary Weins)
I believe that this IS the key to any lasting relationship; making Christ the center place in our hearts and focus, and worshipping Him out of that place. When we do this, the love of Christ spills over abundantly into our other relationships, causing us to have the capacity to love others with HIS LOVE, not in our own fleshly capacity. Our conditional, selfish, limited capacity to love will ALWAYS fail, but His love NEVER FAILS . . .
~ Nikki Fairbanks
