A few years back, there were situations in my life that were overwhelming me.
I had lost sight of my calling; my emotions were all over the place and the thought of going to a Christian meeting didn’t thrill me! I was afraid of falling apart, feeling unsafe, vulnerable, exposed. I felt a complete failure.
A dear friend was persistent in encouraging me to go with her to a meeting in Aintree, Liverpool called The Big Push. I went with her and the only thing that I remember about that meeting was during the ministry time the leader of that meeting, Sue Sinclair, began to prophesy over me, and she spoke these words ‘extravagant worship’. Those two words sank into my heart; I could feel fire on those words.
‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland’. Isaiah 43: 18-19
I had let my situation rob me of my relationship with the Holy Spirit.
‘But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life….’
Mark 4:19
Our biggest battles are often fought in our minds and the antidote to this is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV -
‘We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’.
1. That requires a growing knowledge of God’s word which is a sword in our hand to counter the lies of satan, who when allowed will fill our minds with all kinds of accusations.
He is called the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren. John 10:10 refers to him as the thief who only comes to rob, kill and destroy! There is no truth or light in him. He’s moving further and further into the darkness.
When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by him, He used the word of God as His weapon. Jesus said, ‘It is written.’
2. The truth we know and act upon will set us free. We must be doers of the word!
Then, Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him, ‘If you stick with this, living out of what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth and the truth will set you free.’ John 8:31-32
The wonderful Holy Spirit began to remind me of our wonderful times together. But one particular memory never fails to touch my heart.
We had recently moved into a new family home. It was my dream house: it had three floors, a huge kitchen, huge garden and from the bottom of it could be heard the church bells ringing on Sunday mornings, and to top it off the rooms had high ceilings! I decided to paint the kitchen while the kids were in bed.
It took a few hours and when I had finished painting, well after midnight, I stood back to admire my handywork. It looked good, I was well pleased with myself! Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say to me,
‘Do you love this more than me?’
His words pierced my heart as I responded, ‘No, I love you more than anything.’
He went on to say, ‘I’ve missed you today, spend time with me now?’
I left the brushes and paint, went into the lounge and sat in his presence and we talked. As I was about to leave to go to bed, I felt his hand reach out and touch mine as he said, ‘Stay, five more minutes.’
Those couple of hours together I will never forget and there have been many wonderful times I’ve spent with him since. He is extravagant in the giving of His time. He gave me His undivided attention; He would have happily spent the rest of the night just being with me. It makes me think of Psalm 8:3-4 MSG
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewellery,Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?
Many times, I have asked Him, ‘Why do you bother with me? I mess up so much of the time!’ Every time I’ve asked Him that, I see His smile, no words are spoken, and I feel His love in my heart, which makes my eyes fill with tears of gratitude.
Everything about the Holy Spirit is extravagant; His love, His comfort, His peace, His joy. His power and presence He’s willing to extravagantly pour out on us. All He asks of us is intimacy with him! Our time given freely.
If you love someone you want to spend time with them.
When you fall in love you look for every opportunity to be with that person. But sadly, when we stop giving to that relationship for whatever reason our love grows cold! The love that He has for us never grows cold, He waits patiently for our return and it’s often the most unexpected person that helps us in that journey back to our first love.
I fell in love with Him in 1984 and I still find Him to be the most fascinating, fun-loving teacher, comforter, amazing and colourful God - the Holy Spirit who enjoys being my friend, spending time with me, who is never in a hurry to do something else!
He’s the same yesterday, today and forever!
As you spend time with the Holy Spirit, he will show you who God really is as you read the scriptures with Him. He always magnifies Jesus who is the express image of the Father. He lives on the inside of us, changing us from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. Being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus!
Will we reciprocate that extravagance?
The story of the alabaster jar can challenge each one of us to ask ourselves the question, How extravagant is my worship?
‘While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.
"Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you,[3] but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. "Matthew 26:6-13
Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.
Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:1-8
Give It All
Notice Martha was more concerned with serving. It’s good to serve and there is a time and place for that. However, Martha was missing her opportunity as Jesus was in her own house!
Don’t put works before relationship, and don’t despise those who take the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus while you serve as you might not know their story or need.
Once she removed the seal of the alabaster box, the perfume poured out. None was spared. She held nothing back from Jesus. Nothing. This act of such love and devotion was done to prepare Jesus for His burial.
Once we remove the need to have the seal of approval from others then our own worship can flow extravagantly and fill the house.
The disciples and those around her mocked and tried to humiliate her for her extravagant love for Jesus. They saw her sacrifice as foolish, a total waste. But Jesus honoured her for her great love for Him. He even explained that this story would be told wherever the gospel is preached in memory of her.
Extravagant worship is never wasteful when given with a sincere heart. Those that despised her act of love were bound by a religious spirit that had them bound to the rules and regulations of man. Religion will always seek to kill the freedom of the Spirit. Religion tells us to tone down everything, religion wants us all to look, talk and act the same. Jesus came to set us free to express His life through us, a life of colour, adventure, using our talents and gifts for Him. No one was meant to be grey!
When we continually worry about the opinions of others, in effect we have elevated ourselves above God.
The risk is nothing in comparison to the reward. Yet, here is this woman, braving the people's rejection so she poured out the best of all she had.
When I gave my life to Jesus I was determined to live for Him. My standard has been, is, and will always be the Word of God. I decided that I would do what the Word says whether I felt like it or not. I never wanted to be a hypocrite. Many people thought that I was over the top! That it wouldn’t last. I lost many friends and even family members turned against me. They thought that I was "wasting" my life. That I was going through a phase! But I had fallen in love and nothing or no one was going to take that away from me. It was too late, my heart had been captured. Yeshua, my beloved, is the most beautiful among thousands and thousands!
Mary was determined to not just worship with her mouth, but also with her life. Worship is born in our hearts, not from our lips. It's a life-style, not just a portion of a church service.
It isn't just singing out loud, it's living loud for our creator God!
She didn't care what everyone thought about her sacrifice. She was like the woman with the issue of blood that pushed her way through a huge crowd just to touch the hem of His garment, despite knowing she was unclean and should have stayed home! All she cared about was worshipping and loving Jesus.
She only had eyes for Him. It wasn't about a list of dos and don’ts. It wasn't about being seen or applauded by people. It was about a relationship. A relationship that said, God, take all of my heart. I give you all of me, not just weekend visits. I am nothing without you.
Because of her decision to live a life poured out, God was glorified, as we see that what she did is recorded in scripture to inspire us. I like to think that when Jesus thinks of her, that he can still smell her perfume of worship.
Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’
We also extravagantly worship Him when we share what we have been extravagantly given.
‘Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighbourhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously’.
Matthew 10:5 MSG
Let us be extravagant in our financial giving.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
Luke 6:38
Extravagance is the earmark of being a disciple of Jesus!
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. Ephesians 5:2
May you recognise the person God sends to help you on your journey into the extravagance of the Holy Spirit.
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