Extravagant Worship

Extravagant Worship John 12:1-8 & Luke 7:36-50

Extravagant Worship is an action that honors G-D with concern only for His approval.
It is: #1 Spirit led, #2 High cost & #3 Impacts others.

#1 Spirit Led Action.
One Hebrew word for worship is Avodah. Avodah is an occupation or job. There is a strong sense of duty or obligation to this kind of worship. Miriam (Mary) does what she does out of immense gratitude for deliverance and the resurrection of her brother Lazarus.
In this case we are duty bound to honor Him in worship because He is worthy of our worship as a Creator and as our G-D who provides for us.

I believe that the same Miriam is the woman showing Extravagant Worship in both biblical passages above. The first time she comes into a room filled with religious non-worshippers and washes the feet of Yeshua (Jesus) with her tears and dries them with her hair. The second time, she pours out a bottle of fragrant oil upon His feet before His disciples and friends and uses her hair as a towel. Other passages mention her pouring the oil on His head.

#2 High Cost
Each time someone challenges Him or her about the display of Extravagant Worship. Each time He defended her worship and rebuked the accuser. She didn’t care about her reputation. She loved Him and the Spirit was leading her to worship Him this way.

The fragrant oil was worth a year’s wages. She could have sold it and given the money to the poor and missed a golden opportunity to have an intimate time of worship. While she was anointing His feet, she was alone with the king; nothing and no one else mattered.

Warning: Anyone else in the room will not be able to appreciate what you are experiencing while you are worshipping.

#3 Impact On Others
“ The house was filled with the fragrance…” Another passage tells us that she broke the bottle to open it. She broke the bottle. This was no, “just a little dab ‘ill do ya”; it was all or nothing. Because she broke the bottle, everyone in the house knew it.

Because she broke the bottle and poured it on Yeshua, the fragrance would stay with Him until He died. Because she broke the bottle and dried His feet with her hair, she also wore the fragrance of her Extravagant Worship.

3 Questions:
#1 How long does the fragrance of your time of worship stay with you?
#2 Can other people tell that you have been worshipping?
#3 Have you ever been accused of Extravagant Worship?

Covenant of Peace

Isaiah 54:10
"For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My
kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be
removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you."

We take comfort in the word of God, not the word of doctors. It is His
kindness that is everlasting and unchanging. He has made a covenant of
peace that can not be overwhelmed by circumstances. His peace passes all
understanding.

He has made a covenant of peace. He has placed His name as a seal upon
this covenant. We have His guarantee of peace, no matter what we hear.
We can have peace as we trust in His kindness and mercy.

InVision: It keeps you going.

I have recently taken on a second job to bring in more income. It can be challenging, let alone tiring, to do home improvement after working for 8 hours sitting at a desk job. Although I enjoy doing the work, I would rather be at home, sitting on the sofa and watching HGTV.

Why do I do it? What keeps me going? My InVision for success and prosperity. I want all of my family's needs to be met. I'm not talking about being greedy; I'm talking about having enough for us and plenty to share.

But my focus is not on things; I am focusing on my vision. The biblical character Job was known for having great wealth, but he was known by God for his righteousness and integrity. As long as we live righteously and with integrity we will find ourselves succesful. Proverbs 22:4 states: By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life.

Humility and the fear of the Lord are key ingredients for success. Success is often measured by things and titles accumulated, but Job's greatest honor came from God when He said, "Have you considered my servant Job?" This is the prize that keeps me going; I want to have God say about me, " Have you considered my servant..."

With All Your Heart

I Chronicles 31:20 NKJV Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.

King Hezekiah had a vision of restoring his people to the God of Israel. His vision was broad enough to extend to restoring the whole house of Israel to Davidic worship in the Temple. He was successful because he followed his InVision with all his heart.

In the years since the division of Solomon’s kingdom between Judah and Israel, the two kingdoms had fought together and against one another, but they had ceased worshipping together. Hezekiah sent messengers throughout all of Israel inviting everyone to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. He gave generously to support the Passover feast. There was so much joy and gladness that they kept the Passover for two weeks.

The greatest joy in his life came when he followed his vision. He was passionate about following after God. Shortly after this Passover, Sennacherib, king of Assyria gather a multitude of people against Judah, specifically Hezekiah. His response was to build up their defenses and gather everyone together.
Once they were together he encouraged them with these words, “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles” I Chronicles 32:7-8. That’s InVision!!

Test of InVision?

How do you know if your vision is inspired or not?

Can you do it alone or are you and those who are with you, dependant on God for success? God inspires those with limited potential to achieve things greater than themselves. We do our part and God will do His part.

Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, was a man of InVision. He was inspired to bring revival to his nation, as well as to his neighbors in Israel. But after he found success in leading his people back to the God of their fathers, he found his nation under attack from his enemies. He gathered all of Judah together to call upon their God for help.

Jehoshapat lead the nation in a prayer that moved God to help them. He had done his part, then he reminded God of his covenant with Israel and declared their dependance on Him to keep His word. Leaders today would do well to follow his leadership.

Vision Vs. InVision

Vision is important, but Inspired Vision or InVision as I call it, is far better. Hitler had a vision that produced monsterous results. Marx's vision of Communism when carried out by Lenin also had a tragic outcome.

By contrast, consider the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Their vision of a free people, living in a democratic republic governed by a constitution, has lasted over 200 years. The USA has been responsible for the spreading of freedom around the world. Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and Adams had a vision that was inspired as you can see by their writings. They gave credit to the Creator who endowed us with rights.

InVision does not come easily and is not "free". Those who want it and pursue it have to pay a price. It was InVision that kept Washington going through the winter at Valley Forge. The vision of a free people. InVision is not for the small minded; it is for the bold, who have open eyes, open hearts and open minds.

Jabez - A Man of InVision

I Chronicles 4:10 NKJV
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,"Oh that you would bless
me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me,
and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God
granted him what he requested.

Jabez was a man of InVision. This brought him more honor than his
brothers (I Chr.4:09). Jabez, whose name means pain, was determined to
not cause pain to those around him or himself.

Inspired Vision, or InVision as I call it, led Jabez to ask God for

help. He wanted to have a larger territory and to achieve a higher
destiny than his name would give him. Greatness comes easy to some by
virtue of the name they are given or by the name of the parents. Jabez
wanted to overcome his own name.

InVision is a requirement to the one who wants to overcome and succeed.
We must overcome our propensity to think less of ourselves and our
abilities. In order to do that we need to see things from God's
perspective. Jabez went to the source of vision and help, to achieve his
goals. In doing so, he overcame his difficulties and exceeded his
goals. Jabez succeeded when he submitted himself to God, kept himself
from evil and trusted in God's power.

The Big Picture

Vision is inspiration given by God to accomplish great things for God. With InVision (Inspired Vision), we see that God has prepared us to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) and that He will empower us to reach our destiny. With InVision, we can see the "Big Picture".

What you are doing now might not seem that big, but it is part of a bigger plan. Whether it is working 9 to 5, watching the kids or scrubbing toilets, don't lose sight of your purpose in life. Get inspired! Ask God to open you eyes to His "Big Picture" for your life and then stay focused on the your current responsibilities with that vision in mind.

Give it all you've got! Whatever you are doing now, do it with all your might and glorify God!

Welcome to InVision

InVision is the name I have given my new blog. I believe that Inspired Vision will lead you on the path of wisdom and understanding towards success. I have found that Inspired Vision is a gift from God. The Bible is the manual for receiving inspiration and vision; examples of the successful are found within. I hope that this blog will encourage you to find the treasures that can be found in God's Word.