Rooftop Worship in Huamachuco!


Some of the most beautiful and powerful times of worship I have experienced, have been on the rooftops of places we've stayed (overseas). We could see for miles. We saw the vastness of the lost. We could count His creation. We did not let the rocks cry out before us... but heard them echo His glory! How I long for Him.

I find that I am most fulfilled when I am doing what He has created me to do. Areas of giftedness that I never knew when I was young, have come to be a part of His purpose for me. My greatest joy comes in times of obedience. My greatest frustration emerges, when I am following my own desires.

The sense of His pleasure in me comes when resting in Him. The sense of my pleasure in Him comes from the intimacy born out of denying self, and seeking His face.

Knowing all of this, why do I struggle perpetually, with submission?

I am routinely reminded that He does not need me.

I am, however, thankful that He longs for me and my obedience.

Part of what He has created me to do is to raise awareness of these things in others. I thrive when I am before those He has called me to. Though I suffer, I thrive.

I would rather suffer following Christ, than suffer after engaging in the pleasures at my own hand.

So many have never known His pleasure in them. So many are desperate to be loved. So many are desperate to love, but don't realize it. So much of who we are is hidden behind yet another decision to fill up our lives with promised instant pleasure... pleasure that once again, fails to deliver.

It fails because we seek our own hand, and not His.

Things I never expected to do in life, have become part of my purpose. Not because I wished it so, but because He seeks to direct my submitted life.

Yielding to Him, brings Him glory. Following Him, brings Him glory. Reaching out for Him, brings Him glory. Speaking for Him, brings Him glory. Suffering for Him brings Him glory.

Doing all of the same things for my own pleasure, multiplies frustration and prolongs a sense of failure. I don't like failure. I am weary of frustration. If the "joy of the Lord is my strength," then I must seek His will and not my own. I cannot expect to find "joy" in my selfishness. Rather, "joy" must be found in selfLESSness.

Jesus bids us to 'die, take up our cross and follow Him'... not 'live, crucify others to supplement pleasure and lead.'

Dying is hard because we have to yield.

Living is hard because we try to carry the burden ourselves.

Dying is a lighter load, because He's doing the heavy lifting.

In living, you will die.

In dying, you already live!

I need to go and shout it again, from the rooftops!

"You died, and your life is hidden with Christ, in God." Col 3:3

He's drawing me... it's time to elevate!


dad