What should worship be to us?

I was talking with a friend about what worship should be to us, as believers in Christ. While we were talking, I jotted down some scriptures that helped me identify what God considers worship to be. Here are some topics from our discussion that I think we all need to refresh on!

Doesn’t matter if the Word is spoken or sung:
God said that His Word doesn't come back void. So whether it is spoken in a service, on a street corner, written on a billboard or sung in a song, it is still His Word! Check this out: Isa 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Here, a drop of water falls from the sky, goes into the ground, gets sucked up by plants and then used to produce nourishment. That's how God's Word should be received by us. His Word falls from His mouth, onto His people. His people then take His Word and use it for growth, mature in their faith and bless others. Look at it this way, He is telling us that it will grow and it will accomplish its purpose. So if you don't use it, someone else will! It's your blessing, receive it and grow from it!

Worship is more than singing…it is life itself:
A lot of times we think that worship is something we only do when we sing at church or in our car. But that isn't the case at all. We are supposed to worship God all the time. That means when we are at work, in our cars, walking down the street, all the time. In Rom 12:1 it says, Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship. See, every thing we do should bring glory to God. An application of this can be simply ignoring the driver behind you that is beeping the horn; instead of yelling back at the person when they drive past you. Easier said than done sometimes, but that should be our heart. We need to practice it, so it becomes second nature.

Worship and prayer are personal:
Mt 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your closet, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Christ told us that we need to spend time with God alone! No one else, just Him and you. Notice Christ didn't say, go into your closet and pray to me, he specifically said "your Father" - God. Cry out to God, give Him the glory that He deserves. Going to Him with your concerns is a great way of saying that you believe He can take care of them. You go to a doctor to help fix your body. Why, because you believe they can help you. You might not say that, but that is exactly what you are saying when you walk into the office. Christ, when he was in the garden before his torture and death, went alone to pray, away from his closets friends ,to seek God and God alone.

Worship and prayer are corporate:
In the Bible, you will read "assembly of the saints" or "congregation of the saints", this was an idea that we should be getting together on a routine basis to worship our God! In Heb 10:25 it says: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. As a collective group, we are the "church". However, I believe there is also to be a physical building that should be held somewhat sacred (set apart) that we can go to for a peace from the outside world. In the O.T. the people held the "church" (which was a tent as they were nomadic people) as a sacred place because God actually occupied that space. In the N.T., God occupies our hearts in His third person (the Holy Spirit). However, all throughout the N.T., the people still collectively gathered in a safe place that was set apart for prayer and worship. There were definitive-designated places that were set apart for the worship of God. Not the only places, but there were special places nonetheless.
If you read most of the letters and you will see that Paul and other writers specifically address people who worship in specific locals, specific physical places. A lot of times it was a specific room in some one's home, but it was a place set apart nonetheless. Ours should also be set apart and sanctified as such a place. Read (Gen 12:8, Num 10:3, Col 4:15, Acts1:13-14, Acts 12:12) Also, 1 Cor 14:25 When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. There is definitely a purpose for corporate worship: edification (the building up of someone, encouraging someone in their work).

Why do you go to church to worship?:
Have you ever left a church service and said, "I didn't get anything out of what Pastor said today" or "church was boring and I didn't feel the spirit there"? If so, than you have to ask yourself one huge question: Why do I go to church?
Should a church service be based on our feelings? No! Does God perform according to feelings? No. God never changes! Our feelings do. Christ said that when there are two of us that get together to worship in his name, he will be there among them, honoring that. Whether you are gathering for a church service or just to work together, or even just to sit and talk together. He promises he will be there. So again, why do we go to church; so we can get something from it? If that is the case we are there for all the wrong reasons.
We should go to church, knowing that God will show up! We should go expecting to meet GOD! You should bank on it! Walk in and know that God is there! That's why He says, "worship me in spirit and in truth!" The truth is that God says He will be there. The spirit is, you putting away your "feelings" and allowing God to nourish your spirit with His being - The Holy Spirit.

Church worship is about serving others:
So many times we go to church to be "fed". I hear that a lot. Do you know that we are to go to church to feed and not be fed? To serve and to not be served? Wow, that's novel, isn't it? But that is the truth. Look in 1 Tim 2:1. Timothy says...requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving (should) be made for everyone. Timothy was saying: Look, your people need to come and pray for everyone, not just their friends, but everyone, even their enemies.
In Ephesians Paul writes: It was he (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants...we will in all things grow up into...Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together...grows and builds itself up in love...
Wouldn't it be great if we all went to church to serve others, instead of going to get our own needs met? Don't get me wrong, there is a time that we are to bring our needs before the body. In Acts 4 it talks about how ...the congregation had no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales. That my friend is serving.

Worship is done to the very end of your life:
I absolutely love this passage. If this passage doesn't give a one sentence definition of worship, I don't know what will. Heb11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying…worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. Picture the devotion of Jacob. He couldn't even stand on his own strength anymore, leaning on his staff, yet he was full of worship! That is powerful!

Worship is serious business:
I think too many times we just show up to church, sing a little, listen to our pastor shower the congregation with holy knowledge and then get out into our cars and get out of there as fast as possible. But where is God in all of that.
Have you ever prepared for church? I know how it goes, we all yell at the kids and argue while trying to get ready to go to church sometimes (that's satan by the way). But have you ever stopped to meditate before you go to church? Have you ever gotten up early before you have to leave that day and mentally prepared yourself to meet God? That is what we are expecting...isn't it? You prepare yourself for work, you prepare for school, you prepare for a test, don't you? Why shouldn't we prepare ourselves to be in the right frame of mind to meet the Creator of our souls?
Heb 12:28 let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. The writer is saying that this is a series game. We are to have a reverent fear of God. Not fear to approach Him, but fear of who He is. God describes himself this way, "I am that I am". Which means He is. Think about that for a second. He is! He is what?...He is everything! He is more than words, He is more than spirit, He is more than a material being, He is more than what we can even understand. The reason why science is against God is because they can't put a definition on Him. They can't give Him a molecular schematic. They just can't put God into a quantitative or qualitative chart, so it is easier to say He doesn't exist.
An angel that carried Christ's life story yelled to survivors in Revelation, saying in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
We cannot accept salvation through Christ without truly honoring the fear of God and His awesome presence.
Americans don't really place any value on bowing down to anyone. In countries that still have kings, the people immediately kneel and bow down to them when they come in to their presence. These kings are just people. But when the King of kings comes to claim His property (His people) every knee will bow and every person will say that Christ is Lord. Why, because it will be inescapable! You will bow and if you don't want to, you will bow anyways! Get it? You won't have a choice. There before you is the God of the universe. There will be soooo much majesty in His presence that you will hit the floor quicker than a Texas twister in June! Now that is power, that is majesty! That is the God we serve!

Worship is for God alone!:
There are several times in the Bible where it talk of angelic visitations. Many people that came in contact with these heavenly, celestial beings fell to the ground, much like in the previous paragraph. They fell to the ground in fear! Like the times an angel of the Lord appeared to John (Rev 19:10 & 22:9) I…fell at his feet to worship him. But he (the angel of the Lord) said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
Even Christ pointed his glory to God! Remember when he taught us to pray. Remember when he would confront the pharisees and say that he was here only for his Father's will. If you look closely into Christ's teachings you will see that everything he did pointed to God getting the glory. So even he, Jesus Christ, worshiped God alone.
God says that He is a "jealous God, a consuming fire". Can you picture a consuming fire. It encompasses and totally changes the being it posses. Like a wild fire takes a vast forest and changes it to a barren and desolate waste land, so is God's anger. Also in Deuteronomy it says that we are not to bow down to idols or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me...Wow, that's pretty clear, right? And as we know, anything other than God can be an idol. Anything that takes precedence over God is an idol.

I really hope this helps you get a better picture on what true worship is about and how God should be worshiped, it helped me. God loves us and to prove it, He gave up His only Son on a cross, to save us, which is something that we can't do ourselves. God is a tri-une (3 in 1) being, made up of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So in giving up His own Son, He gave of Himself. That's what He is calling on us to do. Give of ourselves, back to Him, in the form of worship. To be holy, faithful and to be a light shining in the darkness, so that no one will die without receiving the awesome message that there is hope. Hope that comes from God never disappoints and never is forsaken! That is good news!

First Grade Education = First Grade Faith

I was reading Hebrews 6:1-2 the other day, which talks about faith, repentance, baptisms and the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. These are known as the elementary principals of God’s Word. A.W. Tozer referred to these as “first grade knowledge”, in his book, 'Success and the Christian, The Cost of Spiritual Maturity'. The writer of Hebrews refers to these by using common items: a baby, milk and meat. The baby represents most “Christians” (immature in their faith) and the milk represents the elementary principals of God’s Word. These are the basics of knowledge of Christ and God. Notice I didn’t say understanding! I said knowledge, big difference. Meat, of course, is the deep stuff of God; the goods!

Look at it this way…a first grader comes home and reads from a picture book. These books have simple words that tell a story and have pictures that show what the words are describing. Try covering the pictures! Chances are they can’t read the words anymore. Why, because they assimilate the picture with the group of words, but there is no understanding of the words, just knowledge of what the words should be (memorization). This is normal for a first grader, but is it normal for a mature person? Absolutely not!

In Hebrews 5: 11-12 the writer has a ton of important information that he needs to teach, but he couldn’t. Why? Because they weren’t able to understand. Why? The Greek words used here literally mean that one is slow to learn. Here, “slow to learn” doesn’t mean a disability or an inability. On the contrary, it is laziness, down right pure laziness! Literally, the people were slow to learn, they didn’t care to learn more. They were comfortable with the knowledge of the minor things of God with no desire to understand. Learn just enough to get by. As a matter of fact, not only did they not understand, but they were constantly rehashing what they already should have known.

Let me give you a very loose translation of what one of their services may have been like. The teacher stands up and tells everyone about Christ and that they should believe and hope in his true existence. He tells of forgiveness, about baptism and then being baptized in the Spirit. Next, that they should pray for one another’s needs and goes over healing real quick. After putting their faith in Christ, receiving their forgiveness, being cleansed and made whole, they were told of eternal life, through the rising of their souls into heaven, as Christ did. Those that didn’t go through the process are left with one option, eternal judgment.

Now then, when you return for the next message, usually the next afternoon, you heard the same message. Then the following day you hear the same set of messages, just maybe in different words. Over and over again. Hello!?!? Does this sound familiar to anyone????? Has anyone listened to the same message, time and time again, only with different words every once in a while? Have you been totally satisfied with it? The answer is “Yes!” by the way. You go, you listen, you bob your head up and down because you agree with it. You leave and return to church a week later to do it all again. That is what the writer is talking about: First grade with weekends off! Yeah Baby!

So what about you? What grade are you in? First grade? Have you even grown from your infancy yet? Do you go to church once a week and keep yourself at a safe-superficial distance, so you don’t have to deal with those life changing, transforming issues that God is just dying to tear out of you and bless you with His victory? If so, do something about it, don't stay where you are.

But how do we get passed a first grade level faith and begin to mature? God tells us to put these simple truths away. Don’t discard them, but put them away and desire more! Learn them, understand them, believe them, but grow in your faith! Use them for a foundation and build upon them! Start right now. Begin to read God’s word right where you are. Take time to meditate on what you learn and embrace the changes God has in store for you. You will never be the same, I guarantee it!

One thing is for sure, there are no short cuts. There is no one else that can do this for you. Just you and you alone. In the end, you won’t be standing next to your wife or husband or preacher, when you stand before God. They won’t be there for you to point to, and say, “Go ahead, tell them what I know!” Get out of your diapers, man! Grow and mature, that is what God is calling on us to do.

A Father's Love

I was watching my kids today as they were playing one second and then arguing the next. It struck me how they could be so great with each other one minute and so horrible to one another the next. After the arguing, they both make a run for me, presenting their side of the case, accusing one another and then the separation; each storming off to their respective rooms.

Isn't that just how life is? I thought, this must be how God sees us, one minute we are good and smooth sailing. Next thing you know we are off, hurting others and doing things we know we shouldn't do. Then satan goes running to God, accusing us. Next step, you guessed it, the separation...that distance we place between us and God. The long pause of communion, because of our guilt and shame we receive on account of our sin. Thankfully, we have one that covers our sin and removes our guilt and shame and the distance is brought short with repentance and forgiveness. Christ is good!

Have you ever watched a child as they color or draw? When they are young they continuously scribble three lines, lift up the paper and ask, "Daddy, how does this look?" Seeking your acceptance, longing for your attention and approval of what they are doing. Or how about when they are sleeping...have you ever just watched a child sleep? Or have you ever watched a parent, watching their child sleep? There is an unexplainable joy in watching your child simply sleep. Wondering what is going on in their little minds. What are they dreaming about? Man, there is an absolute flood of thoughts and excitement going through the mind of the parent. And isn't it amazing that there can be so much activity one minute and such a sweet rest the next?
I truly believe that is how God looks at us...with excitement! He looks at us with such anticipation and adoration...watching us sleep and then, waiting by our side the very second we wake. I picture God, just waiting for us to rise with a big ol' smile on His face. He knows what is in store for us and I believe that He wants to shout to us and say, "Do you know what I have for you today? Ask me, talk to me, tell me what you desire!" There has to be so much anticipation on God's part to want to hear from us. To hear, "Hello God, I love you!" Or even a simple, "Good morning God."

What would you do if your child got up from bed, got ready for school, walked right passed you, totally ignoring you, ate their breakfast (that you prepared), got their shoes on (that you bought) and left for the day? Came home after school, ate dinner (that you took the time to make), talked to all their friends on the phone (that you pay for) from 3:30 to 8:59, took a shower, got dressed (in the clothes that you provided for them) and went to sleep (on the new bed you just bought them, instead of getting one for yourself)? After they got into bed, they yell out to you, "Don't forget I have to go to soccer at 4:00 tomorrow and I can't be late and oh yeah, I need more lunch money! Nite!"

Of course, we would never allow this to happen. We wouldn't allow our children to pass through their day without speaking with them, sharing their day, being concerned about their struggles and enjoying their happiness. Yet, we do this to God, don't we? I am not saying that God is following us around like a well beaten dog that longs for a simple pat on the head. But what I am saying is that He waits for us! He longs for us to have a relationship with Him. He longs for us to talk to Him and share our lives with Him, connecting with Him.

David cries out to God throughout the Psalms, sometimes he down right yells at God! David says, "All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you." It sounds like David was really pouring his heart out to God. Isaiah tells us that the Lord longs to be gracious to (us); He rises to show (us) compassion. Try going to some king on this chunk of stone and tell him to rise and be gracious to you, it ain't gonna happen.

Man, God loves you soooooo much! And He demands the same from us! Just as we demand the same in our earthly relationships. God spoke to Moses, face to face, as a man speaks to a friend. How do we talk to our friends? We call them, ask them what's going on. We go here and there with them, we share our lives together, good times and bad.

What is more precious in this life than having a "best friend"? Someone you can share everything with, no matter how bad. Someone you tell everything to, because you already know that you will still be accepted and loved by them, even though you may bring pain and hurt upon them. Someone that will never let you down. If you don't have that kind of friend, you aren't alone, because they don't exist in flesh. That kind of friend is found in your loving Savior Jesus Christ. And He waits for you to call upon his name.

Before your feet hit the floor and before a single breath escapes from your mouth, tell the Lord you love him. Thank him for what he has done for you. Praise God and just tell Him what you have on your heart, He already knows, He just wants to hear it from you. Tomorrow is a new day and God wants to provide for your needs on a daily basis. That's why the Bible says His mercies are made new every morning and that we are being inwardly renewed day by day. God doesn't say that He will tend to us once a week or once a month, He says daily. He gives us what we need only on a daily basis because He wants to hear from us, every day! Cry out to Jesus, call upon the Lord! He loves you and he is waiting! P.S. We can learn a lot from our children!