Surrounded by thousands of believers with hands raised, singing and praising the name of Jesus, attentive to the Word of God while shedding tears because of the reality of His shed blood - what an experience!Last weekend I attended the Passion Conference, and I want to share a little bit of my experience. I got to hear from John Piper, whose ministry has deeply affected my life and theology. His message, along with the others, is still resonating with me.
Being among believers and singing praises to God is a wonderful experience. We've all had those times when we are meditating on the beauty of the cross and the power of the gospel and singing our hearts out. John Piper, in his message last weekend, talked about this cycle that we as Christians do - preaching and singing, preaching and singing....we do it every week. What does singing have to do with anything? Why do we talk about the same book every week and then sing? (When we say it like that it certainly seems odd.) There is, of course, a reason behind it. His point was that the exposition of God's Word results in our exaltation of Him.
That statement has powerful implications, and I've seen it in my life. The times I have felt the most in awe of God is after hearing the preaching and teaching of God's Word. When I am attentive to the preaching of God's Word, it penetrates my heart and what streams out of it is singing, praise, worship, and sometimes tears. A pierced heart cannot but gush out a flood of praise. Praise is what happens when the Spirit of God speaks to the people of God by shining a light on the Word of God. Let us praise the Lord authentically by being attentive to the His Word.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for illuminating Your Word to us! Thank you, Jesus, for being the Word come in the flesh. And thank you, Father, for having all of this in Your perfect foreknowledge and plan. You deserve our praise - always! I can't wait to get to heaven and sing Your praises forever and ever. (A smile just came across my face thinking about that!)