Archive for the ‘Worship’ Category
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 29; 2 Chronicles 30; 2 Chronicles 31; James 4 (The Message)
July 15, 2010 God Is Fire
Today’s Bible Reading: Isaiah 22; Isaiah 23; Isaiah 24; Hebrews 12 (The Message)
Scripture Focus:
Hebrews 12:28-29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
Observation:
Reminds me of the passage that says our works should be of things that last, gold and silver, not wood, hay, and stubble, for all of that will burn. God is the Fire!
Application:
How am I living? What will last for eternity?
Prayer:
Help me know the difference between wood and gold in my life.
Scripture Focus:
April 28, 2010 Worship Actors
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 3; 1 Chronicles 12; Matthew 15 (The Message)
Scripture Focus:
Matthew 15:9
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they’re worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”
Observation:
People, even spiritual leaders, even I can act as though we’re spiritual, as though we’re worshipping God, when in reality, it’s just a big show. There’s no reality behind the actions. We’re just play acting for an audience, or, in the case of the spiritual leaders Jesus was talking about, to teach whatever they wanted to. For their own gain or power.
Application:
People may be fooled by my play acting at worship, but God isn’t. Not for one minute. If I’m going to worship, it had better be real and from the heart.
Prayer:
God, help me worship you in spirit and in truth. Help me forget about who’s watching and put my heart into worship, because, after all, you’re the One who counts.
September 4, 2009 Crafting Idols
Today’s Bible Reading: Ezekiel 22, 23, 24; Revelation 9
Scripture Focus:
Ezekiel 22:3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made.
Revelation 9: 20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
Observation:
Idols are made by people. Sometimes we make our own idols—a business empire we’ve built, a home we pour all our time into, a reputation; sometimes we worship idols made by others—television, books, music. The things we worship—and whatever we give all our time to is what we treasure or worship—can never be a substitute for the living God.
These verses from Ezekiel and Revelation show how difficult it is for us to give up our idols. Even when God tries to get our attention through disaster or discipline, we tend to hang on to our idols.
Application:
As a Christian, a member of God’s family, I am not exempt from crafting idols with my own hands. Anything that becomes more important than God, anything I “idolize” is paramount to idolatry. The Ten Commandments tell us, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Prayer:
Father God, keep my heart loyal to you. May I see the things made by my hand for what they are and not place them above you.
Scripture Focus:
August 2, 2009 Seeking Worshipers
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33; John 4
Scripture Focus:
John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
Observation:
This verse speaks of true worshipers. If there are true worshipers, then there must be false worshipers. God is seeking true worshipers. What is a true worshiper? Once who worships in sprit and in truth.
Worship is not performing a set of rote religious acts. That kind of worship can be faked. True worship takes place in the spirit of a person. That can’t be faked, for God knows the spirit of men.
The other characteristic of true worship is that it’s based on truth. Could that mean it’s based on God’s revealed truth? Or that our worship is true, real, not faked. Probably both.
Application:
God is actively seeking true worshipers. Will I be found by Him?
Prayer:
Father God, teach me how to be a true worshiper!
June 30, 2009 Sweet Meditation
Today’s Bible Reading: Amos 7,8,9; Psalms 104; Titus 2
Scripture Focus:
Psalm 104: 33-34 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the LORD.
Observation:
God likes us to sing songs of praise to him. In Psalm 104 the psalmist says he will sing praises to God as long as he lives. This isn’t something we do as a child in Sunday School. This is something the old and the young get to do forever!
I love the phrase, “May my meditation be sweet to Him.” And the psalmist makes a conscious decision to be glad in the Lord.
Application:
I have a choice what I will allow myself to meditate on. Will I be worried, distracted, anxious today? Or will I meditate sweetly on God as I go about my duties today. It helps to sing songs of praise. Maybe that’s why the psalmist declares he will sing songs to the Lord as long as he lives. It’s hard to be desperate or scattered or upset when the thoughts you think and the songs you sing put God in his rightful place—in Control.
When my kids were little and I taught Sunday School, I used to turn Bible verses into little songs that made them easier to remember. I did that today with these two verses from Psalm 104, and it immediately gave me a feeling of calm.
Prayer:
Father God, you’re in control today. That’s worth singing about!
April 28, 2009 Irresistible Faith
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 3; 1 Chronicles 12; Matthew 15
Scripture Focus:
Matthew 15:25, 28 Then she came and worshiped Him saying, “Lord, help me!” . . . Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Observation:
A Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking for healing for her daughter. For some reason, Jesus ignored her, so she tried again. This time she worshiped him and said “Lord, help me!”
Charlie tells me that the word worship is used interchangeably for the act of worship as we tend to think of it today—praising and praying—and for bowing down before someone, which is probably what she did here. Such a posture indicates a subservient relationship, where the one bowing acknowledges the supremacy of the one worshiped.
Jesus still doesn’t fulfill her request, but he at least starts talking to her, and she answers in a way that shows her humility and understanding of her position before Jesus. Jesus finally says, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.”
Application:
Faith is irresistible to Jesus! When he sees great faith, he comments on it. Also on the lack of faith.
I shouldn’t give up when it feels like God is ignoring my request. Sometimes all he wants to see is that I have enough faith to press through.
Prayer:
Abba Father, I need your help, too. Give me the faith to press through to you today.
March 26, 2009 True Worship
Today’s Bible Reading: Joshua 23–24; Psalms 44; 1 Corinthians 11
Scripture Focus:
Joshua 24: Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!
Observation:
I was struck by how similar this verse is to John 4:24 where Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
While the style of worship has changed since Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins instead of having to sacrifice animals, the central issue of worship has not changed. It’s possible to go through all the actions of worship and appear very spiritual without actually worshiping God in our spirits, in sincerity, in truth. Worship without sincerity is a lie.
Application:
It’s good to examine my spirit with regularity to see what kind of worshipper I am. Though worship can be faked, God is never hoodwinked.
Prayer:
Father God, give me a vision of who you are so that my worship may be based in reality, in the truth, and flow from a sincere heart.
