Dancing as a form of worship

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I forgot to mention this but on Monday during my PT I just had a thought that I want to share with you:

We need to take our focus off ourselves and on to God because if it is on us it actually causes us to loose sight of God and His plan which is so much bigger than ours’ starts to become blurry. It is kind of like a camera, it can only fully focus on something in the front or something in the background. It is so easy for us to focus on what is right in front of our face (ourselves) that we sometimes don’t even look at the whole picture of God’s plan. If we do as His word says and seek first HIS kingdom then we will be taken care of, because His word goes on to promise that all theses things (meaning everything we need in life - food, shelter, clothes) will be given unto you. We don’t have to look out for ourselves and our plans and what we think are our rights (as the world drills into us) because if we give everything over to God, He who loves us will take care of it all! Also by having our focus on Him, our view won’t become blurry causing us to stumble.

What is also cool as I was reading Exodus today it was talking about when God told the Israelites to make the Tent of Meeting. He gave them very specific specifications to make build it. He also gave each person the skills need to make the tent. He still does this with us. Whatever He calls you to do; He will give you whatever skills are needed to complete the task excellently.


Today after dance practice, our dance instructor gave a short teaching on worship. She spoke about how our dancing is a form of worshipping God. Because some people believe that dancing is not of God she pointed out scripture to show otherwise - for example David who danced with all of his might before for the Lord. She also mentioned how important it is that our hearts are right when we dance because people will see that through our faces and our eyes. Our mission is not to put on a good show but to worship God and share His love with the youth of Europe. Afterwards she had us worship God through dancing instead of singing. At first I thought it was going to be really weird but it was actually pretty cool. She turned off the lights, told us not to pay attention to each other and then showed us a few positions we could use as guidance since many had never done this before. There were four different positions:
1. You lay on your stomach with your legs together and your arms straight out and your chin on the ground. It is kind of uncomfortable but it is supposed to remind you of Christ being crucified. I staying in this position for a while and God brought some things to my mind that I’ll mention below.
2. You stay in the same way but put your hands under your chin - this position is supposed to represent one of thankfulness.
3. In this position your knees are bent and your body is bent with your face down and your arms extended over your head. This is supposed to represent bowing down to God.
4. In this position your knees are still bent but your body is up and your arms are wide open in the air with your face upward to God. This is supposed to represent surrendering your life to God completely and opening your heart to Him.

After these four positions, we were encouraged just to dance around. She played different praise & worship music while we did this. During the first position I first saw myself studying in one of the many coffee shops I was at this summer and Jesus was next to me. It just made me realize although I spent much time by myself this past summer studying I really was never alone but Jesus was always there giving me strength and encouragement the whole time. Then the second thing I saw is what touched me the most. I saw myself during one of my old party days. It was not one of my proudest moments at all but anyway I saw myself and then I saw Jesus next to me. I know that Jesus died on the cross for me to cover me with His blood (taking all my sin & the whole world’s on Himself) so I would be righteous, holy and blameless before my Holy Father but this made me realize something else. Obviously dying for someone is such an incredible sign of love but then I realized that while I was doing the very thing which caused Him to go through so much pain He was right there tying to save me from it and He was right there protecting me from myself. Yes His blood covers all sin and my eternal life is with God but He didn’t even want me to have to go through the consequences of any of my sin here on earth either. He didn’t want me to have to have the memory or whatever consequences that can occur from anything I do apart from Him. I don’t know if I am explaining this very well. I guess it helped me to realize that Jesus is not some far off Savoir or Hero but He is One that is right here with me! He is real and tangible. When I wasn’t living for Him, He wasn’t mad and angry but He was sad and broken hearted because I am His child, His chosen one that He loves.


Little did I know at the time, but that picture in my mind would help me to talk to a woman on Friday night (see 10/7/05 if you want to know what I am talking about).

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