I came across a podcast on this topic a few weeks ago and since I am involved in leading worship in the kids ministry at my local church, I thought I'd check it out.What I found out is that the word 'worship' has several different meanings. Here are a few that I found online...
Merriam-Webster Definition (noun):
1. chiefly British : a person of importance —used as a title for various officials (as magistrates and some mayors)
2. reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence
3. a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
4. extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>
MW Definition of "worship" (verb):
transitive verb
1. to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power
2. to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion
Now these definitions are acceptable from the world's perspective, but in my quest to answer the question for myself and discover what God says about worship and what it means to Him, I wanted a biblical definition. So I turned to my bible. What I discovered there, is that God's Word has quite a bit to say about what 'worship' is supposed to be.
The main truth I uncovered in the scriptures below is that God considers our obedience to Him an act of worship. We worship God by obeying Him. We also prove we love Him by our obedience to His Word and to the Holy Spirit.
Now these definitions are acceptable from the world's perspective, but in my quest to answer the question for myself and discover what God says about worship and what it means to Him, I wanted a biblical definition. So I turned to my bible. What I discovered there, is that God's Word has quite a bit to say about what 'worship' is supposed to be.
The main truth I uncovered in the scriptures below is that God considers our obedience to Him an act of worship. We worship God by obeying Him. We also prove we love Him by our obedience to His Word and to the Holy Spirit.
John 14:23 (NKJV)
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."
Romans 12:1 [NASB] "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." ~The Apostle Paul
In other words, as believers and true disciples of Christ, we are called and expected to offer up our lives in sacrifice as an act of worship to our Lord Jesus, who laid His life down for us that we might become sons & daughters of His Father, the Most High God.
Jesus told us this very thing many times throughout his ministry here on earth.
Matthew 10:37-39 [NASB] “He
who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." ~ Jesus
Luke 9:23 [NASB] And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." ~Jesus
Matthew 16:25 [NASB] "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." ~Jesus
Brace yourselves for what I'm about to say next. Some of you may not be able to grasp or accept it, but it's what my Lord has revealed to me these last few weeks and I am compelled by His Spirit to share this eye opening truth He has given me. This 'sacrificing of self' and 'devoting our lives to Christ' that Jesus spoke about and that I just mentioned above, is our sole purpose in this life and in this world my friends. It's what we were all created for by our Father in heaven.
John 4:23-24 "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.”
Our heavenly Father desires worshipers who worship him in their spirit; from their hearts, their souls & in truth; how they live their lives. This is the same thing Jesus tried to tell the Pharisees--the religious leaders of his time.
Matthew 23:25-28 [NASB] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full
of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." ~Jesus
We are told many times throughout the scriptures to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; Matthew 6:33 , and not to love the things of this world; 1 John 2:15-16.
Galatians 5:13-14 (TNIV) "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ~The Apostle Paul
We are not here by accident. The earth and everything in it did not just spontaneously appear out of thin air one day. We were not put here by God to satisfy our own selfish ambitions and see how much we can 'get out of life'. We were not created to chase after our own success and achievement and fill our lives with treasures of this world.
Matthew 6:19 [NASB] "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." ~Jesus
We were all, every single one of us, created by God to live with Him, in obedience to His Word and for Him, in order to bring about His perfect purposes for His own creation. Hear what I am saying friends! This life isn't about us!!
2 Corinthians 5:15 (NKJV) and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Galatians 2:20 (NIV) "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives
in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me." ~The Apostle Paul
Romans 6:2-8 [NASB] "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him..." ~The Apostle Paul
In Acts 20:17-35 the Apostle Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus. I love how he put his life into perspective for them in versus 22-24...22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." (NIV)
Do we really live like this? Sadly, from what I have observed my entire life, it seems that the majority of Americans today who claim to be Christians, do not. But we who believe should all be 'compelled by the Spirit' just as Paul was, to the point that we consider our lives 'worth nothing' except for completing the work the Lord Jesus has called us to for the glory of our Father in heaven. Only then, when we are totally & completely sold out to living for God, will we truly be able to make any difference in this world! Only then will we be able to reach the lost for Him and increase the inhabitants of HIS Kingdom in heaven!
Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV1984) "Not that I have
already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But
one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is
ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."~The Apostle Paul
As Christ followers we must continually examine our hearts and our lives, and ask ourselves the tough questions. Questions like...
Do I live my life under God's divine direction or my own?
Do I follow the leading of His Holy Spirit daily?
Am I putting my worth in what the world says is of value or what God tells me is?
We must not only have the courage to ask these things but to really search our hearts for the answers, and, if need be, bow down to our Lord humbly in prayer and ask for help with what we struggle with. Be encouraged brothers and sisters, Jesus is waiting and ready to give you everything you need!
Hebrews 4:14-16 [NASB] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I know this isn't an easy thing to do. I am one of the most stubborn people I know, but I have personally seen the difference in my own life as a result of following His lead in this. My Lord revealed this truth to me a few weeks ago and I am certain that this is what He desires of us. How can we expect God to help us if we don't go to him with a surrendered heart and ask Him to? As long as we are determined to do things on our own we are not able to fully embrace the power of Christ living in us.
Romans 8:37-39 (NKJV) "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~The Apostle Paul
Only in our total and utter surrender to HIM are we able to embrace the freedom of life that God intended for us to have from the beginning of time.
Only in our total and utter surrender to HIM are we able to embrace the freedom of life that God intended for us to have from the beginning of time.
Are you ready to embrace the power of Christ within you? Are you truly ready to be the conqueror your heavenly Father created you to be? If so, open your heart to Him! Let Him in and surrender EVERY AREA of your life to Him-give Him ALL OF YOU, not just what you're comfortable with because He already knows every single thing there is to know about you--even what you don't want Him to know! There is NO hiding anything from our all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at one time, holy, loving, faithful, true, and merciful God.
Truly worshiping God means holding nothing back!!
There is sooo much more to 'worship' than the few songs of praise we sing on Sunday morning at our local churches! That is just scratching the surface of it and I plan to go into detail on what the Lord has revealed to me about that in my next post. Until then.....
Romans 12:9-13 (NIV1984) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
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