WHEN DO YOU WORSHIP?
Mark 12:30, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, this is the first commandment…
Lately I have been studying worship…
A really good question that could be asked is, “What is Worship?”
Have you ever really thought about that subject? I mean really…really, thought about what Worship is…?
The question that we must answer before we can determine, “When do you worship…” is “What is worship…”?
Let see if we can define what worship is…
“Worship is setting your hearts affection and your mind’s attention on the Lord…praising Him for who He is and what He’s done…all the time…”
That, “all the time” part is what I believe separates mature Christ followers from some beginners…
REAL WORSHIP FLOWS FROM LOVE…
Real worship must flow first from love…
In the Scripture text we started with, it says Love the Lord your God with all your what? With all your heart…with all your soul…and with all your mind and with all your strength… That seems like allot doesn’t it, but guess what, “God wants all of you…”
Our Heavenly Farther is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and bits and pieces of our time and money…He desires our full devotion, not little morsels of our life…
Lately I have been studying worship…
A really good question that could be asked is, “What is Worship?”
Have you ever really thought about that subject? I mean really…really, thought about what Worship is…?
The question that we must answer before we can determine, “When do you worship…” is “What is worship…”?
Let see if we can define what worship is…
“Worship is setting your hearts affection and your mind’s attention on the Lord…praising Him for who He is and what He’s done…all the time…”
That, “all the time” part is what I believe separates mature Christ followers from some beginners…
REAL WORSHIP FLOWS FROM LOVE…
Real worship must flow first from love…
In the Scripture text we started with, it says Love the Lord your God with all your what? With all your heart…with all your soul…and with all your mind and with all your strength… That seems like allot doesn’t it, but guess what, “God wants all of you…”
Our Heavenly Farther is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and bits and pieces of our time and money…He desires our full devotion, not little morsels of our life…
So how do we give Him our all…? It takes surrender…
Four times in the New Testament alone, we are commanded to Love our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength…It seems like God is really trying to drive this point home…
But Even before the New Testament, Moses spoke these words to his people…Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB) 4 "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Do you do all these things? It really seems like allot doesn’t it…? It seems like it would take much time and effort to bring our lives into union with all these commands…
Moses first of all said we must “love the Lord with all of our heart…” and from the heart of an real authentic worshiper, surrendered love must flow…”
Elsewhere, Joshua, as the eastern tribes return home, gives his people this command…Joshua 22:5, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to Love your God; to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and all your soul…”
Elsewhere, Joshua, as the eastern tribes return home, gives his people this command…Joshua 22:5, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to Love your God; to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and all your soul…”
Here Joshua briefly restated the central message Moses gave the people in Deuteronomy: Obedience should be based on love for God…
The Israelites had completed their military responsibility, but Joshua reminds them of their spiritual responsibility…
Sometimes we think so much about what we are to do that we neglect thinking about who we are to be…If we are to be who we are supposed to be, then we must do what is necessary to please God… “Love your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart…”
If we know we're God’s children, we will love Him and joyfully serve Him with a heart-felt attitude of love along with a surrendered life and lifestyle…
We must not let our daily walk take away from our love for God…We must not get so wrapped up in our jobs and or pleasures until we forget who we are…We are His…We belong to Him, He has created us for His good purpose…and we, most of all, were created to worship the Lord our God with all of our heart…
We are made in God’s image, so we are a spirit that resides in a body and God designed our spirit to communicate with Him…So when Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart and soul,” He meant that worship must be genuine and sincere…
Worship is not just saying the right words; what we say must come from the right place in our spirit…What we say and do must flow from a heart of surrendered love to our Heavenly Father…
Sometimes we think so much about what we are to do that we neglect thinking about who we are to be…If we are to be who we are supposed to be, then we must do what is necessary to please God… “Love your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart…”
If we know we're God’s children, we will love Him and joyfully serve Him with a heart-felt attitude of love along with a surrendered life and lifestyle…
We must not let our daily walk take away from our love for God…We must not get so wrapped up in our jobs and or pleasures until we forget who we are…We are His…We belong to Him, He has created us for His good purpose…and we, most of all, were created to worship the Lord our God with all of our heart…
We are made in God’s image, so we are a spirit that resides in a body and God designed our spirit to communicate with Him…So when Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart and soul,” He meant that worship must be genuine and sincere…
Worship is not just saying the right words; what we say must come from the right place in our spirit…What we say and do must flow from a heart of surrendered love to our Heavenly Father…
Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is worthless, it’s and insult to God…
So true worship—bringing pleasure to God—happens when you give yourself completely to God…
Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about… It takes an act of personal surrender…
So true worship—bringing pleasure to God—happens when you give yourself completely to God…
Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about… It takes an act of personal surrender…
(Romans 6:13 (GW) 13 Never offer any part of your body to sin's power… No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing... Instead, surrender yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive... Offer all the parts of your body to God… Use them to do everything that God approves of…
So far, I believe we have found out what worship is and now, we also know that the heart of worship is surrender…
WHEN DO YOU WORSHIP?
Now back to the original question. “When do you worship…?”
I asked one of my church brothers the other day, “When do you worship?” His answer was the same one I have heard many times, from many people, “I worship on Sunday when I go to church…”
Listen, if we are real Christ followers, then we are lovers of God and we need to know that Worship is a lifestyle…It should encompass every path, thought, and affection of our lives…
Now back to the original question. “When do you worship…?”
I asked one of my church brothers the other day, “When do you worship?” His answer was the same one I have heard many times, from many people, “I worship on Sunday when I go to church…”
Listen, if we are real Christ followers, then we are lovers of God and we need to know that Worship is a lifestyle…It should encompass every path, thought, and affection of our lives…
It is meant for Monday just as much as Sunday…It is, quite simply the one element of our lives that should drive all the others…
I truly believe if we would teach this, “That worship is a lifestyle,” we would all start to live our lives to the fullest…Out of true worship flows the abundant life Jesus has told us we could have, in Him…
I have been privileged to go into many different church services… Some are dead, some are not…Some are on fire, others don’t even give off any smoke…Some are “happy-clappers,” others are what I call the “frozen chozen”…
I truly believe if we would teach this, “That worship is a lifestyle,” we would all start to live our lives to the fullest…Out of true worship flows the abundant life Jesus has told us we could have, in Him…
I have been privileged to go into many different church services… Some are dead, some are not…Some are on fire, others don’t even give off any smoke…Some are “happy-clappers,” others are what I call the “frozen chozen”…
I personally like to worship with anyone, but I perfer the "happy-clappers..." I love to be in the presence of anyone who get alittle excited about worship... But don't get me wrong...God loves the "Frozen Chozen" just as much as He loves anyone else...
Why are some more alive than others? I believe that for all the good that happens in our corporate worship gatherings, it seems many are content to live off of the often rich experience of Sunday morning, trying to make it last throughout the entire week…Unfortunately, this is one reason so many corporate worship services lack power, urgency, and fire…We have people filling the pews, but those people are empty on the inside...
Why are some more alive than others? I believe that for all the good that happens in our corporate worship gatherings, it seems many are content to live off of the often rich experience of Sunday morning, trying to make it last throughout the entire week…Unfortunately, this is one reason so many corporate worship services lack power, urgency, and fire…We have people filling the pews, but those people are empty on the inside...
I believe this is largely because there is a misunderstanding among churchgoers over what worship really is…Yes! It is meant to take place when we join together, but it is also meant to happen when we come humbly before God as individuals 24/7…
I am convinced that what makes corporate worship most powerful is the gathering of Christians who have spent time with Jesus all week and who have learned that, their life is blessed, because they have learned that worship is a lifestyle…It’s not just something they do once on Sunday, but something they do all week long, and then, they come to church charged up with a attitude of praise and worship…
This is what I believe separates churches that are on fire and the ones that don’t even have a spark of life in them…
For me, when I can go to church and have a real worship experience, its then that I am able to experience even deeper moments of intimacy with the Savior in my personal private times…
In those quiet moments, I often feel as if Jesus is right there, only a touch away…It’s then, I can hear, that still small voice of His Spirit…It’s those moments of solitude that I gather strength for weak times that lie ahead…
Worship is not just something we do on Sunday’s at church…it’s certainly more than singing or attending a service, although those are certainly included…
When we worship God, 24/7, it brings Him pleasure…
Thanks and remember...
I am convinced that what makes corporate worship most powerful is the gathering of Christians who have spent time with Jesus all week and who have learned that, their life is blessed, because they have learned that worship is a lifestyle…It’s not just something they do once on Sunday, but something they do all week long, and then, they come to church charged up with a attitude of praise and worship…
This is what I believe separates churches that are on fire and the ones that don’t even have a spark of life in them…
For me, when I can go to church and have a real worship experience, its then that I am able to experience even deeper moments of intimacy with the Savior in my personal private times…
In those quiet moments, I often feel as if Jesus is right there, only a touch away…It’s then, I can hear, that still small voice of His Spirit…It’s those moments of solitude that I gather strength for weak times that lie ahead…
Worship is not just something we do on Sunday’s at church…it’s certainly more than singing or attending a service, although those are certainly included…
When we worship God, 24/7, it brings Him pleasure…
Thanks and remember...
Worship is a lifestyle…
Worship is not a destination, it’s a journey…
Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully…
Worship is not a destination, it’s a journey…
Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully…
Worship from a loving heart is beautiful…
Rev. Robert N. Graves, Sr. Fisherman for Christ
Rev. Robert N. Graves, Sr. Fisherman for Christ
posted by Fisherman For Christ at 1/19/2009 10:55:00 PM
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