WORSHIP

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).

 

Jesus says that we are to worship the Father in spirit and truth.  We understand the truth--it is a right understanding of all that God is and all that God wills as revealed through Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6).  Spirit is a bit more shadowy.  It has to do with your soul, your whole being, your passion.  If truth deals with facts, then spirit deals with feelings.  We are to worship with our mind AND with our emotions, with our liturgy AND with our love, with our head AND with our heart.

 

Today, the Father is seeking your worship.  As often as you eat and drink, remember Him...

WORSHIP

"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22)

 

What is the source of your salvation?  And by salvation, I mean "deliverance" or "rescue".  What, or who, do you look to in order to have your needs met?  Go ahead and think of something . . . job, family, relationship, finances, etc.  Here is why it matters: The source of your salvation happens also to be the focus of your worship!  We naturally give honor and priority to whatever it is that we believe is providing for our security and our happiness.  Another way to gauge the object of worship is to consider the source of potential despair?  What would devastate you if you were to lose it?  Anything or anyone that can cause despair in our hearts is an object of worship.  Jesus says, that we worship what we do not know.  In other words we ignorantly worship unreliable gods.  In reality, salvation is from the Jews.  It is gift-wrapped in a Jewish body.  Salvation is Jesus!

 

Today, let's consciously choose to worship Jesus.  Let's move our allegiance from the fragile to the firm--from the unreliable to the undeniable!

WORSHIP

"'Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.'  Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountian nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father'" (John 4:20-21).

 

It's consistent throughout history for men to dedicate "places" to worship God.  There is nothing wrong with that as long as we remember that God is too big to fit in our building and that "our place" isn't any better than "their place".  Acts 7:48 declares, "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands."  1 Corinthians 7:19  reveals the kind of house that God lives in, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?"  God does not live in man-made houses.  He lives in God-made houses--human houses.  That means, as Jesus said, you don't have to go to a mountain to worship--you can worship God wherever you are--because where you are is where He is!

 

Take a moment right now and close your eyes.  Block out every thought except for thoughts of God's love for you.  Feel his love for you.  Allow Him to completely fill you with His love. Just rest in the warmth of His love.  Spend some time this morning surrounded by God's love.  You just might find yourself worshipping...

WORSHIP

"Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?" (James 2:7)

 

James says that it is the rich (those who have no needs) that blaspheme (slander) the name of Jesus.  Most of us can relate.  In those times that we have no needs--we tend to wander away from the God of our salvation.  But take away our job, our health, our family, or our emotional stability, and we come sprinting back to Jesus.  You see, you don't have to say a word to blaspheme Jesus--you need only ignore Him.  And ignore Him we do, when we think that all is well and that we have no needs.  The opposite of slander is praise.  One way to insure that we're not slandering God is to saturate our conversations with words of worship.

 

Today, let us worship God whether we have a little or a lot.  Find a way to publically express your love for Jesus.