by Brad Black

    A while back I was in church worshiping and I thought of all the churches that “glam up” their worship services with lights and the best sound equipment.  I’m not judging the use of those things because I believe that those can be tools of worship as much as singing and living.  But I just thought of God’s heart, how complex yet simple He is, and I thought, “Would I be worshipping the same if all these lights and microphones were stripped from this room?  Would I be worshipping God for who He is, or am I allowing these extra things to shape how I worship?”

    I am at a place in my life that when I am worshiping Him, all focus is on Him, not on my neighbor, lunch, or issues I’m having. Everything is stripped down from my focus.

    This made me think of how He thinks of us as His kids. Regardless of the baggage we carry or the successes we experience, God’s love for us never changes. He loves his kids, whether they attend church or not, whether they have gone through tough times or not, and whether they fail or not.
God doesn’t love us because of our failures and successes, He loves us REGARDLESS.

    If our failures were stripped away from us, He would love us just the same; if our successes were stripped away from us, He would love us the same.

    When we die to ourselves, we are given new life. Our identity is not in this world, but in Christ. We need to carry that love to each other.

    Let’s love, REGARDLESS.