Mark 12:30
God desires my whole heart, mind and soul; not
half-heartedness, or partial commitment or even second best. God desires all
and He deserves all. Where you or I worship is not important, it’s why you
worship and how much of myself I offer as a living sacrifice to God that truly
matters.
There is a right way and a wrong way of worshiping. Our
worship must be scriptural, based on Biblical facts, not based on opinion or
assumptions of man. And we are to worship in spirit and in truth.
When we are told to worship in spirit and in truth; the spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but rather the genuineness
of our hearts. God looks beyond words, and He focuses on the attitudes of our
hearts. It’s about meaning what you say to the Lord; heartless words are
meaningless to God – they are an insult.
God gave us emotions to worship Him, our emotions must be
sincere, not fake. God hates hypocrisy, He desires your most sincere and truest
love for Him. We can worship God imperfectly, not we must not worship
insincerely.
God pleasing worship is deeply emotional
and deeply doctrinal. We use both
Our hearts and our heads.
There is a
difference between being emotionally moved by music and being moved by the
Spirit. Real worship is your spirit responding to God; not to the musical time.
In fact, some sentimental, meditative songs hinder worship because they take
the spotlight off God and focuses on your feelings. You are your own biggest
distraction in worship – your worries, interests and what others think about
you.
There is no “most
appropriate or authentic” way to express praise to God, these arguments are
often based on one’s background and personality differences. But the Bible
mentions many ways of praising God – there is: confessing, singing, shouting,
standing in honour, kneeling, dancing, making a joyful noise, testifying,
playing musical instruments, and raising hands. The best style of worship is
the one to which you express your most truest love for God, and that is based
on your background and personality that God has given you.
Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas
“There are nine
ways people draw near to God:
Naturalists – they are the people who
are most inspired to love God in an outdoor settings; they admire His wonders,
His handiworks and are amazed at the beauty of life He has formed.
senate’s – love God with their senses and appreciate beautiful
worship services that involve their sight, taste, smell and touch, not just
their ears.
Traditionalists – they draw closers to
God through rituals, liturgies, symbols, and unchanging structures.
Ascetics – these people prefer to love
God in solitude and simplicity.
Activists – loves God through
confronting evil, battling injustive, and working to make the world a better
place.
Caregivers - love God by loving others and meeting their
needs.
Enthusiasts – love God through celebration
Contemplatives –love God through
adoration and intellectuals are
people who love God through studying with their minds.
If worship is
mindless, it is meaningless.
Singing hymns,
praying of clichés and careless exclamations of “praise the Lord” are
meaningless and not pleasing to God.
It is easier to
offer clichés of worship rather than making an effort to honour God with fresh
words and ways. This is why it is very important to read Scripture to expand
your expression of worship.
The best style of worship is the one that
most authentically represents your love for God
 |
| The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. |
Make a list of
synonyms you use and be specific in what you say to God. If someone came up to
you and said; “I praise you!” ten times, you would probably wonder why and
would rather receive two specific compliments than twenty vague general
compliments. So would God.
Make a list of
different names of God and focus on them; they tell of the different aspects of
God’s character.
Real worship is
rooted in the Word.
“I’ll
bring You more than a song,
Because
the song itself if not what You’ve required
You
search much deeper within
Through
the way things appear
You’re
looking into my heart” (Matt Redman)
Point to ponder: God wants ALL of me
Verse: Mark 12:30
Question to consider: What is more pleasing to God right
now – my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?
No comments:
Post a Comment