“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

Worship, in part, begins with “noticing.”

Noticing God. Becoming aware of His awesome, terrifying presence. (There’s a reason the Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”)

I’ve always taught that Satan is continually, methodically, systematically and slowly dulling our awareness to the presence and power of God.  His tactics have never changed.  Just as in Eden, his goal is to get us to live our lives apart from intimacy with God.

So… Life happens. Long days at work. Families fragmenting. Issues at school. Financial pressures.  Like Peter, the storm gradually captures our attention. And we notice Christ less and less, until we get in the habit of rarely noticing Him at all.

And Satan thinks to himself, “Game. Set. Match.”

But God is here…. “immortal, invisible, Almighty God.”

Eugene Peterson, author of the The Message Bible, wrote, “Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God.”

Author, Philip Yancey, in his book, The Bible Jesus Read, writes that worship “announces to our senses the splendor of an invisible, untamable God.”

“Interrupting our preoccupation with ourselves….” “Announcing to our senses….”

Noticing….

When this finally happens….that’s when we remember all over again we’re in the presence “of an invisible, untamable God.” And the ground on which we stand is holy ground.

This is exactly what Satan hopes doesn’t happen.

Soli Deo Gloria, Nick