Tag: true worship
True Worship!
Scripture reading for October 30: John 3-5
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and Truth.” John 4:23-24
What is worship? Is it just singing some songs or hymns to the Lord? Is it gathering to hear a great worship band or leader perform? Is it a feeling in your body that you get when you sense God’s presence near you? Where must you go to worship? These questions are not new with us and our culture. Jesus encountered a woman in Samaria who asked some of the same questions of Him. Jesus answered her with a promise and a command that we will consider this day.
Worship is ascribing worth and honor to someone who is due this honor. God is the only “Worthy” One due our worship. Worship involves us as whole people and is not a spectator sport. It involves individuals as well as more than one person. But all true worship centers on God as the only worthy subject! God is a Spirit. His presence fills the universe. He is Truth and there is no falsehood or lie found in Him. Therefore, those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
We have a body that we use as the tent of our soul and spirit. We are born the first time with our spirit dead to God because of sin. We cannot worship God, because we don’t really know God. God must reveal Himself to us for us to understand who He is. Because of His love for us, He seeks us out. Throughout man’s history, God has sought to reveal Himself to man through conscience and through nature. He has also broken in on man and spoken to him on various occasions. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David are all examples of God’s revelation to individuals.
Worship is difficult for us because of sin. Sin centers us on ourselves and rather than on God. Sin separates us from God Who is holy. Jesus Christ came to enable true worship by redeeming lost mankind from the sin nature by new birth through the Holy Spirit. This enables us to worship God in Spirit and Truth! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth! He leads us into all truth.
Today invite the Holy Spirit to help you to live a life of true worship! Everything you do can be done in Spirit and Truth as unto the Lord! He is worthy of all our worship each day, everyday, all day and night!
God’s glory displayed!
Scripture reading for June 5th: Psalms 7-12
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care about him?” Psalm 8:3-4
As David worshiped the majestic Lord who was “our Lord”, he began to contemplate creation. God’s glory was displayed majestically in the heavenly bodies. The sun, moon and stars all spoke of the wonder of a God who breathed out the stars. (Psalm 8:1,3) In Psalm 33:6, David actually said that God made the starry host by the breath of his mouth! When looking at those heavenly hosts, David began to think about man and how insignificant man seemed compared to the vast glory of creation.
What is man? Man has been made or created just a little lower than the heavenly beings. God has crowned him with glory and honor. Man is made in God’s likeness and image. (Genesis 1:26) He has been given dominion and authority to rule over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and over the livestock and over all the earth! (Psalm 8:6-8) God has entrusted man with His creation! That alone is enough to make us worship this amazing God! He breaths out the stars but cares enough about us to crown us with honor and glory too!
A proper understanding of who God is and who we are in relation to Him is a great aid to true worship. We are so blessed by God to be formed in His image! We are given authority to rule over creation. We are not victims or cosmic accidents. God lovingly formed us and gave us significance beyond our size or stature in comparison to the know universe! We are mere specks of dust in comparison to the vastness of space and the heavens! Such understanding draws us to worship and adoration! Take time today to note the glorious creation and the majesty of God displayed there! Thank Him for crowning you with glory and honor! Worship His majestic name!
The woman at the well
Scripture reading for May 5th: John 4:4-42
Jesus chose a path back to Galilee through Samaria, stopping at the town of Sychar near Jacob’s well. The Samaritans were mixed Jews whose ancestors had intermarried with the Assyrian people used to repopulate the area around 722 BC. For a Jewish man to be seen talking to a Samaritan would have been scandalous. To be seen talking to a Samaritan woman would have been unthinkable. While the disciples were away getting something for lunch, Jesus Christ had an encounter at this famous well with a Samaritan woman that brought new life to her and her neighbors!
At about noon, Jesus was resting by this well when a woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give Me a drink?” The Samaritan woman said to Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink? (For Jews don’t associate with Samaritans.)” Jesus answered her, “If you knew that Gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:7-10) Jesus initiated a conversation with this woman and she was taken aback.
Jesus sparked her interest with a statement about living water and the gift of God. She tried to understand how He would be able to get this water without anything to draw it out with. She asked Jesus if He were greater than Jacob, who dug the well and drank from it. Jesus then told her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
Jesus was interested in this woman’s soul and drew her to request this living water. He then gently told her about her past and she changed the subject. In the course of the conversation about where to worship, the woman stated that she knew the Messiah would explain everything when He came. Jesus revealed a special truth to her, “I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:26) This woman left her water jar and ran to tell her friends and neighbors! Jesus loved this Samaritan woman and desired to have her in the Father’s kingdom! Living water draws a crowd!
True Worship
Scripture reading for October 31st: John 3-5
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
What is worship? Is it just singing some songs or hymns to the Lord? Is it gathering to hear a great worship band or leader perform? Is it a feeling in your body that you get when you sense God’s presence near you? Where must you go to worship? These questions are not new with us and our culture. Jesus encountered a woman in Samaria who asked some of the same questions of Him. Jesus answered her with a promise and a command that we will consider this day.
Worship is ascribing worth and honor to someone who is due this honor. God is the only “worthy” one due our worship. Worship involves us as whole people and is not a spectator sport. It involves individuals as well as more than one person. But all true worship centers on God as the only worthy subject! God is a Spirit. His presence fills the universe. He is Truth and there is no falsehood or lie found in Him. Therefore, those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
We have a body that we use as the tent of our soul and spirit. We are born the first time with our spirit dead to God because of sin. We cannot worship God, because we don’t really know God. God must reveal Himself to us for us to understand who He is. Because of His love for us, He seeks us out. Throughout man’s history, God has sought to reveal Himself to man through conscience and through nature. He has also broken in on man and spoken to him on various occasions. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David are all examples of God’s revelation to individuals.
Worship is difficult for us because of sin. Sin centers us on ourselves and rather than on God. Sin separates us from God who is holy. Jesus Christ came to enable true worship by redeeming lost mankind from the sin nature by new birth through the Holy Spirit. This enables us to worship God in Spirit and Truth! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth! He leads us into all truth.
As you go through this day, allow the Holy Spirit to help you to live a life of worship! Everything you do can be done in Spirit and Truth as unto the Lord! He is worthy of all our worship each day, everyday, all day and night! The time is now!