Adore

As we transition from all things pumpkin to Christmas season, I can’t help but think that our month of practicing gratitude only sets us up perfectly for a month of adoration to follow. I have to admit, I couldn’t part with pumpkin season to anything less worthy than Christmastime.

Over the last several years and through many difficulties, I have learned that better than anything in this world is the gift of Jesus Himself. But it wasn’t until this year, really just the last several months, that I made the connection of what I was learning with the word adoration.

According to the Cambridge online dictionary, adoration means “very strong love or worship for.” Biblically, adoration is meant for God alone. Praise can be a part of adoration, but adoration changes our heart. It removes the focus from self to Savior. When we practice adoration daily, we recognize who God is not just what He has done for us. Adoration places God on the throne of our hearts (and everything else where it belongs, too.)

The last several months specifically have brought some struggles and challenges that I was not expecting. And I found myself having quite the pity-party. One might even say I was “loathing in self-pity.” Okay, maybe it’s an exaggeration but quoting the Grinch in a Christmas blog felt right. 😆 It didn’t start with self-pity, it started with real pain and hurt. It started with focusing on my situation not my Savior. While I was focused on my lack (or what I considered to be lack), the Lord gently reminded me of Psalms 23:1. It’s almost as if He whispered to my heart — I am your Shepherd and with me, you lack nothing. Rather than continuing to dwell on my current circumstances I began to pray. I thanked the Lord for being my Shepherd, for giving me Himself. I praised Him for who He was to me, who Scripture says He is. And I asked Him to help the areas of my heart that might not fully believe that. And that’s when I noticed it. My mind shifted from worry to worship. My heart went from self-focused to Saviour-focused. My attitude turned from frustration to adoration.

It was in those few minutes of prayer and recalling to mind Scripture about who He is that allowed my mind and heart to re-align with His Word. My emotions said one thing but His Word said another. And shouldn’t His Word have the final say, always?

We see this idea of adoration all throughout Scripture. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus modeled prayer for us and He began with adoration.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9

“Hallowed be Your name” comes first. Jesus places the focus on God. This approach to prayer allows us to pause, take the attention off of ourselves, and place it on God (where it belongs) and His holiness.

Another area where I find adoration in Scripture is in the Psalms. The Psalms are beautiful but many of them are also filled with lament. Lament is a deep expression of grief or sorrow. Most of the Psalms of lament begin with specific grief or sorrow but they almost always end with adoration and praise. What does this tell me? Our grief, disappointments, and lack present the opportunity for us to adore.

Our grief, disappointments, and lack present the opportunity for us to adore.

Sometimes, life is just hard. The struggles we face can be very painful. The wonderful thing about life with Jesus is that joy can be present even in the difficulties of life. Our sorrows remain but so does His presence. It’s through adoration we find that His presence is much greater than the difficulty at hand. And so we lament but we also adore.

Of course, adoration isn’t just for the difficult times. He is worthy of our adoration in every season, good or bad, high or low, easy or hard. And practicing that when life is good will ensure that it is our response when life gets hard, too.

Adoration realigns our focus. It takes our eyes off of ourselves and places them on our Savior. When we see Him for who He is with unhindered eyes, we can’t help but worship & adore. He is so worthy!

There really isn’t a better time of the year to begin the habit of adoring our Savior. The best time is always now! But just as the wise men traveled far to worship and adore a new born King, so we can use this holiday season to focus on the practice of adoration. I’ve listed below 24 attributes of God with Scripture references. If you choose one a day to focus on and pray over, it will lead you right into Christmas Day. I can’t think of a better way to spend the month of December. After all, if we do everything on our calendars this month yet forget to adore Him, we’ve missed the point. Christmas reminds us that He alone is our joy & hope. Adoration helps us to see it and believe it.

Christmas reminds us that He alone is our joy & hope. Adoration helps us to see it and believe it.

Will you join me in adoring our Savior this December? Here are the 24 attributes of God to help get you started. (I’ve also created an image below with the attributes listed. If you click on the photo and follow the link, you can save the image for easy access to it!)

Attributes of God:

• Glorious – Psalm 104:1, Revelation 19:1
• Omnipotent – Matthew 19:26, Job 42:1-2
• Good – Psalm 34:8, Psalm 107:1
• Merciful – Psalm 25:10, Lamentations 3:22-23
• Patient – Romans 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9
• Righteous – Psalm 119:137, Revelation 15:3
• Omniscient – Psalm 147:4, 1 John 3:20
• Sovereign – Colossians 1:17, Psalm 24:1-2
• Wrathful – Psalm 69:24, Romans 1:18
• Eternal – Habakkuk 1:12, Isaiah 41:4
• True – John 3:33, Romans 1:25
• Wise – Isaiah 55:9, Proverbs 3:19
• Omnipresent – Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 139:7-10
• Love – Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 4:16
• Faithful – 2 Timothy 2:13, Hebrews 10:23
• Gracious – Psalm 145:8, Isaiah 30:18
• Jealous – Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 4:23-24
• Just – Isaiah 61:8, Psalm 146:7-9
• Holy – Revelation 4:8, 1 Peter 1:15
• Immutable – Romans 11:29, James 1:17
• Incomprehensible – Psalm 145:3, Job 11:7-9
• Transcendent – Isaiah 55:8-9, Hebrews 1:3
• Self-existent – Psalm 90:1-2, John. 5:26
• Self-sufficient – Acts 17:24-25, Philippians 4:19

Merry Christmas! I pray your December is marked by His nearness as you seek to adore Him this holiday season.

“O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord”

PS! If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around! If this post encouraged you, would you take a minute and share it? That can be through Facebook, Instagram stories, forwarding an email to a friend, or printing it and giving it to someone. Make sure you tag me or message me to let me know you shared it. If you would do that, I would be so grateful. But you’ll also be entered to win a copy of Ruth Chou Simons new Christmas devotional called, “ Emmanuel.” Giveaway ends Sunday evening, December 4th. I would like to get the winner a copy of their book as soon as possible. As always, thanks for being here!