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Step
2: Be Worshipful Intimacy Requires a Response To worship God is to seek his face – that is, to see the Lord in his beauty by meditating on him and extolling (proclaiming) his worth. Isaiah saw the Lord lifted up and was forever changed (Isaiah 6:1-8). Jesus said that the Father is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. God desires for us to seek after him in steadfast worship, beholding his beauty. The fear (reverence and awe) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. - Proverbs 9:10 And the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. - Daniel 11:32 Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. - Psalm 27:4 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. - 1 Peter 2:9 But
you are holy, O thou that inhabits the
praises of Worship
Requires a Response in Spirit and in Truth Something
deep within us knows that a flattering tongue isn't always trustworthy.
I’m particularly sensitive to this. As a woman raised in the
South, I’ve received
a lot of flattery, and have often been wounded by it. The typical The Bible says in Psalm 12:2: “They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: [with] flattering lips [and] with a double heart do they speak.” Flattery
is derived from the Hebrew
word chelqah {khel-kaw'}, which means smooth part,
smoothness, flattery;
smoothness, smooth part; slippery places; smoothness, flattery. So, by the very nature of the words, we see the dangerous position we can get into if we’re drawn into giving or receiving such false flattery. If we know this instinctively, how much more so does our heavenly father know it? That is why, I believe, Jesus told the Samaritan woman: 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 in truth (John 4:23-24). Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, let’s learn to speak only the words we truly mean in worship. Let's learn to worship in spirit and in truth. Spirit [pneuma {pnyoo'-mah}] means: in, by, with; the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, co-equal, co-eternal with the Father and the Son; sometimes referred to in a way which emphasizes his personality and character (the "Holy" Spirit); sometimes referred to in a way which emphasis his work and power (the Spirit of "Truth"); never referred to as a depersonalized force; the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one; the efficient source of any power, affection, emotion, desire; a movement of air (a gentle blast); of the wind, hence the wind itself; breath of nostrils or mouth. Truth [aletheia {al-ay'-thi-a}] means: in, by, with; truly, according to truth; what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth; truth as a personal excellence; that candor of mind which is free from affection, pretense, simulation, falsehood, deceit. Did you notice that the definition in the Greek for spirit refers directly to the Holy Spirit?! A paraphrase of this scripture could then be: A
time is coming and has now come when true
worshipers will worship the Father – under the Holy Spirit's
leading – with
power, affection, emotion, desire, and with a candor that’s
free from pretense,
falsehood, deceit. That's what our Father is looking for. Learning to Worship in Spirit and Truth So how, then, do we learn to worship in spirit and in truth? By allowing ourselves to experience the love that the Lover has for us. Let me give you an example from my own life. I recently gave three full days of prayer to the Lord. During a walk on my first day, the Holy Spirit visited me and kindled a fire in my being. Just as fire makes smoke in the physical world, the Lord’s spiritual fire inspires worship as a natural consequence. As I walked that day, I relaxed and enjoyed the autumn leaves falling to the ground, the cool breeze on my face, and warm coffee mug held in my hand. I listened deeply, quieting my mind until it was completely calm and still. I searched for Lord, the Lover of my soul, and he caught me. My heart filled with joy and I heard in my spirit, “I'm so glad you've set aside three days just for me!” My heart leapt for joy! He's pleased with me! I thought in my excitement. I cried out of happiness, barely able to contain my pleasure at experiencing the Lord’s joy. “Come
away with me my fair one!” he continued. “My
sister, my bride, you
have stolen my heart. With one glance of your eyes. With one jewel of
your
necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Come with
me from His passion and love for me was overwhelming. I heard in my spirit, “Come dance with me, my Mon Cher'rie” (French for “Little Love”). So, right there, in the middle of a country road, I began to dance. We swooped and swirled and I cried my eyes out. When we finished our dance, I began to weep. I sensed – as much as this finite body could stand – his love for me. I was overwhelmed! Me, a finite piece of dust! He was visiting me in a very real and tangible way. I was humbled. I thanked him for the dance, and then I opened my mouth and all of my passion, love, gratitude and joy culminated in a simple child's song: Jesus
loves
me this I know. Then the Lord responded to me with the following scripture: 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 in truth (John 4:23-24). Is it so unusual that the God of all creation would cry out with his heart, “Tell me you love me, because I already have told you that love you!”? That's worshiping him in spirit and in truth. So, once you've found him, tell him you love him! He longs for you to long for him. He desires your adoration. A Lifestyle of Worship We’re not just meant to live in spirit and in truth while worshiping the Lord in church. Our whole life is supposed to be worship. Worshiping in spirit and in truth is about living a lifestyle of worship. However, we can't enter into a place of worship in spirit and truth when we’ve been deceitful in any way. I’ve personally asked God to cleanse my lips of all deceit. He’s been faithful in answering that prayer. Will you join me in this heart's cry? Will you pledge to worship him in spirit and in truth – not only in private and in church – but in your day-to-day, moment-by-moment life? It won’t necessarily be easy. It will require patience, healing and submission. But I believe that when his bride, the church, comes to a place where they in a continuous spirit of truth, revival will break forth upon our land! If you choose to take up my challenge, you choose:
I know it’s a tall order. But we have an even bigger God who wants to help us conform to the image of his Son who worshiped in spirit and in truth his whole life. He will show us how! All you need to do is ask. Behold his
Beauty True worship means that we must first become quiet, deliberate. It means looking into the kaleidoscope of God's character, and standing in awe of his matchless beauty. Isaiah saw the Lord lifted up and was forever changed. It was not during a worship service in the temple or synagogue. It was during his private worship – an "on-your-face-before-the-living-God" kind of worship. It’s the type of worship that stirs the heart and cleanses the soul. David said that his one, supreme desire was this: One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4). Now, don't think that because worship starts out quiet, it will stay quiet. I have become, as we Southerners call it, “rowdy” in the presence of God. But when it’s true worship, it always starts quiet for me. Too often, people feel that the only place they need to worship God is in the pews. Our worship has stagnated to a Sunday morning, and maybe even Sunday night. I grieve that this is what worship has become. So many of God's children never know the intimacy afforded by private worship. You don't need a formal church service, or even music, to worship God. We’ve become so dependent on these things that we’ve forgotten what worship is! Worship is saying, “I love you.” It isn't songbooks, instruments, good vocals or even a chorus. It has everything to do with loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and expressing that love emotionally and verbally. Jesus said, "The Father seeks such to worship him." “Worship in spirit” is not referring to the Holy Spirit, but to the spirit of man – his emotions, his soul, his innermost being. Each day of our lives, we – the blood-bought redeemed ones – should seek to fervently worship God in our spirit. We can only learn the secret of his presence by learning to worship the Lord for who he is, not just for all the things he has done. Too often, our praise is not real worship or adoration but fumbling attempts to “do praise” so that can get on with what we consider is the real business of prayer: the asking. True worship has nothing to do with asking or getting. True worship is worship in truth – that is, worshiping God for who he truly is. Who is God? What is he like? God has revealed himself to us in his word. Worship is reviewing who he is according to that revelation. To know the Lord is to hold him in highest "awe," and to stand amazed in his presence. True worship melts the heart before the heat of God’s personal revelation. “No man can look on him and live.” Know the
Lord! |
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