"This Place"

We often sing songs about worshipping God in "this place."  We often sing "You are awesome in this place, mighty God."  I've noticed over the years that the subject of "This Place" often appears in worship songs and sermons in our worship services.

For me, it has been a source of reflection and self examination as well as a different take on the phrase of "This Place."  Sure, God is awesome no matter where we are.  He is surely awesome in everything He does and everywhere He is.  He is surely awesome when we come together and acknowledge His holy presence in corporate worship.  But, for me, it hit a little bit closer to home one day and has forever changed how I feel, how I worship and how I respond to God when I sing or hear the phrase "this place" in a worship song or service today.

Let's look at the obvious and what most of us probably see on a daily basis first.  There is the physical "place" that God occupies.  That can be in our church buildings, in heaven, out in front of the Israelites when they left Egypt (Exodus 13:20-22) or other physical places.  I think this is what is most commonly thought of when we sing corporate worship songs about God being in "this place."  When we sing songs about God dwelling in "this place" or inviting God to be in "this place," often it is in a corporate worship environment and we are thinking of the idea of God settling down on us as a congregation in a specific physical place.

More personally but still physically, if we are singing, praying or focusing on God being in "the place" where we are, it still tends to be physical.  We may often pray or invite God to be in the place we are when we are quietly worshipping at home.  We may often cry out to God to be with us in the place of desperation as we face trials and tribulations and are in a place of needing Him to break into our lives.  While this is more spiritual than physical, it still is a more common idea of the place where we expect to see and find God.

The idea that struck me one day when I was worshipping was that God is awesome in the place of my heart.  As a believer, as a Christ follower, I have Christ in my heart and I am filled with the Holy Spirit.  God changes us from the old sinful creatures that we were to the new creations in Christ.  We are changed from within and transformed when we choose to accept Christ as our savior and follow Him.  This can only happen when He is awesome in the place of my heart.  Realizing that God is awesome in the place of my heart also acknowledges that I am submitting to His authority and kingship of my life.

2 Corinthians 3:18 states "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (NASB)  When we worship and when we sing and say that "God is awesome in this place;" or when we say "come and meet me in this place," He's already in our hearts as believers.  As a believer in Christ, acknowledging God in the place that He already occupies, my heart, causes me to respond on a deeper level and a humble and personal level.  I know how wicked and sinful my heart can be without Christ and without God to shape, mold and forgive a sinner like me.  I know and I see the work He's done in my heart and that is an deep and emotional response for me as well as a reason to know that He is truly awesome in this place, the place of my heart.

1 Peter 4:14 states "If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." (NASB)  I am thankful that Christ lives within me and that the Holy Spirit resides and rests in and on me.  Yes, God you are awesome in this place, the place within the four walls of our congregations, the place of working in our country, our governments, our schools and in our families.  But God, you are awesome in the place of my heart, forgiving a sinner like me and giving me complete restoration to You and the ability to live a grace filled life, one that will be eternally spent with You.

Today's Worship Song to possibly sing a bit differently now - "You are Awesome in This Place Mighty God."

Until next time, God bless you, keep worshipping Him, because He is awesome in the place of our hearts!!!