Monday, May 10, 2004
40 Days of Purpose Day 13
Worship that pleases God
We talked about what worship is and it isn't, and it is no surprise then that God wants all of you. Not a part of your life, not even the biggest part of your life, all of you. Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." It is important too, to realize that where you worship is not as important as why you worship and how much of yourself you offer to God when you worship. Here are four points to see when God is pleased with the worship you offer.
God is pleased when our worship is accurate. Rick Warren says that "People often say 'I like to think of my God as..' and they share what kind of God they want to worship. But we cannot create our own image of God to worship, that is idolotry! God's true image is in the Scripture, and we must worship Him as He is revealed in the Bible.
God is pleased when the worship is authentic. God wants to know that your worship comes from your heart and not echoed in vain. When Jesus said you must "worship in spirit," He wasn't referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit. You were made in God's image, so you are a spirit in a body; and God designed your spirit to communicate with Him. God can also tell when your worship is flat or unemotional, as the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7b: "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Unemotional? True worship stimulates the emotions, so we can worship God with deep feeling. But remember that God hates hypocrisy, and can see when we grandstand or worship with pretense. He wants our honest, real love!
God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful. God is not pleased with thoughtless worship; as Warren relates, "thoughtless singing of hymns, perfunctory praying of cliches or careless exclamations of 'Praise The Lord,' because we can't think of anything else at the moment." Jesus commanded us four times in the New Testament to "love God with all of your mind." Here is something you can try to avoid "vain repetitions:" instead of using the words praise, hallelujah, thanks or amen," make a list of synonyms that use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere, honor and appreciate. And throw repetition out! If I walked up to you and said "I praise you!" ten times, you'd probably walk away after the third. You don't need to hear repeated, vague acclamation; neither does God. Be specific in your worship.
God is pleased when our worship is practical. Romans 12:1 says, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." Warren answers the question, "Why does God want your body; wouldn't he want your spirit instead?" God wants all of you, your body is useful for anything you do! Without it, you can't do anything. Even though in eternity, you will have a new body without the aches or discomforts of the years here on earth, God wants you to give Him what you have! Another thing that Warren writes is that of-used statement we say when we can't make a church meeting: "But I'll be there in spirit!" Guess what: your spirit is attached to your body! So your spirit is working wherever your body is. Keep it practical.
God doesn't want us to abandon Him during the week, either. Being a "living sacrifice" means we are to live for Him and not the world! Real worship does cost, and David knew this and said, "I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." One thing true worship costs is self-centeredness; you can't please God and yourself at the same time. It's not about you, it's about Him.
Next time, when God seems distant.
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We talked about what worship is and it isn't, and it is no surprise then that God wants all of you. Not a part of your life, not even the biggest part of your life, all of you. Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." It is important too, to realize that where you worship is not as important as why you worship and how much of yourself you offer to God when you worship. Here are four points to see when God is pleased with the worship you offer.
God is pleased when our worship is accurate. Rick Warren says that "People often say 'I like to think of my God as..' and they share what kind of God they want to worship. But we cannot create our own image of God to worship, that is idolotry! God's true image is in the Scripture, and we must worship Him as He is revealed in the Bible.
God is pleased when the worship is authentic. God wants to know that your worship comes from your heart and not echoed in vain. When Jesus said you must "worship in spirit," He wasn't referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit. You were made in God's image, so you are a spirit in a body; and God designed your spirit to communicate with Him. God can also tell when your worship is flat or unemotional, as the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7b: "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Unemotional? True worship stimulates the emotions, so we can worship God with deep feeling. But remember that God hates hypocrisy, and can see when we grandstand or worship with pretense. He wants our honest, real love!
God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful. God is not pleased with thoughtless worship; as Warren relates, "thoughtless singing of hymns, perfunctory praying of cliches or careless exclamations of 'Praise The Lord,' because we can't think of anything else at the moment." Jesus commanded us four times in the New Testament to "love God with all of your mind." Here is something you can try to avoid "vain repetitions:" instead of using the words praise, hallelujah, thanks or amen," make a list of synonyms that use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere, honor and appreciate. And throw repetition out! If I walked up to you and said "I praise you!" ten times, you'd probably walk away after the third. You don't need to hear repeated, vague acclamation; neither does God. Be specific in your worship.
God is pleased when our worship is practical. Romans 12:1 says, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." Warren answers the question, "Why does God want your body; wouldn't he want your spirit instead?" God wants all of you, your body is useful for anything you do! Without it, you can't do anything. Even though in eternity, you will have a new body without the aches or discomforts of the years here on earth, God wants you to give Him what you have! Another thing that Warren writes is that of-used statement we say when we can't make a church meeting: "But I'll be there in spirit!" Guess what: your spirit is attached to your body! So your spirit is working wherever your body is. Keep it practical.
God doesn't want us to abandon Him during the week, either. Being a "living sacrifice" means we are to live for Him and not the world! Real worship does cost, and David knew this and said, "I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." One thing true worship costs is self-centeredness; you can't please God and yourself at the same time. It's not about you, it's about Him.
Next time, when God seems distant.
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