THE HEART OF WORSHIP (PART 2)

"The true worshippers will worship

the Father in spirit and truth;

for the Father is seeking such to worship"

John 4:23 (NKJV)

The greatest pleasure of the Christian life is WORSHIP, though we scarely realize it until we've dive in WHOLEHEARTEDLY. We often approach it at first as an obligation. We're fairly self-focussed, and it's hard to turn our HEARTS toward God. But if we do, IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH (i.e., with zealous inspiration and according to who God really is), we find in expressible delights. Jesus seeks to turn us, like the woman at the well, into WORSHIPPERS with substance rather than WORSHIPPERS of ritual. How do we make that change?
Many of us ask God this question: "What is my responsibility toward You?" While not a bad question, there is a better, more HEART WARMING question: "What can I offer You to show my devotion?"
Do you see the difference? The first question presupposes a requirement we must meet. It almost assumes that there will be a minimum standard, and after having met it, we will cease our "God-ward" activity and resume our "self-ward" obssession. The second question presupposes a desire to express LOVE and DEVOTION. It assumes that there can never be enough we can offer Him, but whatsoever we can find to offer, we will. There is no "self-focus" in it at all; it is entirely enamoured with God.
Jesus would have us not ask which requirement we are to fulfill, but what more of ourselves we can offer Him. When we look for our required obligation, we do not WORSHIP IN SPIRIT, because the Spirit of God would not inspire us to fulfill quotas of devotion. And we do not WORSHIP IN TRUTH, because we understand God's worth. He is worth all we are, and more!
Blessed is the WORSHIPPER who can truthfully - and with pleasure - say to the LORD: "What can I do for You? You name it, it's Yours. Whatever I can offer You, please let me." This is the kind of WORSHIPPER the Father seeks.
(an extract fromAt His Feet Devotion by Chris Tiegreen)

Be blessed with this song as we choose to BE A WORSHIPER who WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

THE HEART OF WORSHIP

"The Lord said, 
         These people claim to worship me, 
but their words are meaningless, 
and their hearts are somewhere else."

Isaiah 19:13a(GNT) 

A few years back in our church, we realised some of the things we thought were helping us in our worship were actually hindering us. They were throwing us off the scent of what it really means to worship.
We had always set aside lots of time in our meetings for worshipping God through music. But it began to dawn on us that we'd lost something. The fire that used to characterise our worship had somehow grown cold. In some ways, everything looked great. We had some wonderful musicians, and good quality sound system. There were lots of new songs coming through, too. But somehow we'd started to rely on these things a little too much, and they'd become distractions. Where once people would enter in no matter what, we'd now wait to see what the band were like first, how good the sound was, or whether we were "into" the songs chosen.
Mike, the pastor, decided on a pretty drastic course of action: we'd strip everything away for a season, just to see where our hearts were. So the very next Sunday when we turned up at church, there was no sound system to be seen, and no band to lead us. The new approach was simple - we weren't going to lean so hard on those outward things any more. Mike would say, "When you come through the doors of the church on Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God? What are you going to sacifice today?"
If I'm honest, at first I was pretty offended by the whole thing. The worship was my job! But as God softened my heart, I started to see His wisdom all over these actions. At first the meetings were a bit awkward: there were long periods of silence, and there wasn't too much singing going on. But we soon began to learn how to bring heart offerings to God without any of the external trappings we'd grown used to. Stripping everything away, we slowly started to rediscover the heart of worship.
After a while, the worship band and the soundsystem re-appeared, but now it was different. The songs of our hearts had caught up with the songs of our lips
Out of this season, I reflected on where we had come to as a church, and wrote this song:

When the music fades,

All is stripped away,

And I simply come;

Longing just to bring something that's of worth

That will bless your heart.

I'll bring You more than a song,

For a song in itself

Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear;

You're looking into my heart

In the chorus I tried to sum up where we were at with worship:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship,

And it's all about ou,

All aout You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord for the thing I've made it,

When it's all about You,

All about You, Jesus

(written by Matt Redman)

"WORSHIP IS IN THE HEART

AND NOT IN THE ART"

An extract from : The Unquenchable Worshipper by Matt Redman 
Blessing - TPWC

PASSION TO WORSHIP THE KING (PART 10) - THE THREE HEBREW CHILDREN

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV)

The life of a worshiper (one who is intimately acquainted with and has a daily relationship with God exhibited through OBEDIENCE) is not without tests, nor is without the pressure that comes with living in a sinful world. The story of the three Hebrew worshipers who lived a life of Faith, Obedience and Sacrifice. The three men were given one more chance by the king to bow to the golden image but they stood firm even if it caused their lives. Here are eight excuses they could have used to bow to the image and save their lives:
1) We will fall down but not actually worship the idol
2) We won’t become idol worshipers, but will worship if this one time, and then ask God for forgiveness.
3) The king has absolute power, and we must obey him. God will understand.
4) The king appointed us – we owe this to him.
5) This is a foreign land, so God will excuse us for following the customs of the land.
6) Our ancestors set up idols in God’s temple! This isn’t half as bad!
7) We’re not hurting anybody
8) If we get ourselves killed and some pagans take our high positions, they won’t help our people in exile.
(Please feel free to add on if you have more thoughts …)

Although all these excuses sound sensible at first, they are dangerous rationalizations. To fall down and worship this image would violate God’s command in Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me.” It would also erase their testimony for God forever. Never again could they talk about the power of their God above all other gods.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were pressured to deny God, but what made them choose to stay faithful to God no matter what happened? I believe it was because they were CONSISTENT in living a life that were intimately acquainted with and have a daily relationship with their GOD exhibited through OBEDIENCE. That was why they were able to trust God to deliver them and were determined to be faithful regardless of the consequences. This same exhibition of Faith, Obedience and Sacrifice could be seen throughout the Scriptures on the lives of many other “worshiper-saints” like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, King David, Queen Esther, Prophet Daniels and many more heroes of FAITH.

Hebrews 11 has been called faith’s hall of fame. But do bear in mind that while we do read of many being rescued by our faithful God for their faith; there were also many who were tortured, flogged, stoned, sawed in two, put to death by the sword for their faith (Hebrews 11: 35-40). True worshipers are those who are able to say like the three Hebrew children : “But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."

PASSION TO WORSHIP THE KING (PART 9) - DANIEL

DANIEL THE WORSHIPER

A Worshiper Is One Who is Intimately Acquainted With 

And Has A Daily Relationship With God Exhibited Through Obedience 

 John W. Stevenson

Daniel was a man who was greatly beloved of God. Daniel had a fervent love for God and had set his heart to worship Him all the days of his life.
We know that Daniel was a man of prayer. Three times a day he would get down on his knees and give thanks to God (Daniel 6:10). This was a practice he observed every day, and evil men would use it against him to seek to destroy his life. But Daniel’s love for God outweighed any fear of what man could do to him, and he continued to openly display his love for his King. Unashamedly opening the windows of his house, he prayed to the God of heaven just as he had done every other day. Even though it meant he was signing his own death warrant, Daniel preferred to worship God and die, than to live and not pray.
What possesses a man to seek God and pray even when it means certain death? I believe the answer to this question lies within the heart of the worshiper. Daniel was a worshiper of God, and he would bow to no one and no thing other than Him! Nothing could prevent him from worshiping the living God. Not fear. Not death by hungry lions. Not anything.

Daniel In The Lions' Den

As a worshiper, Daniel had enjoyed God’s favor all his life, and when king Darius appointed Daniel as one of 3 administrators to oversee the kingdom he so distinguished himself that king Darius thought to give him sole administrative
 authority over all the kingdom. This of course made the others jealous and they sought to discredit him, but Daniel was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent (Dan 6:4). Finally they devised a scheme to trap Daniel by making it illegal for him to worship God. They convinced king Darius to make it mandatory for all his subjects to worship him for the next 30 days and anyone caught worshiping anyone else must be thrown into a den of hungry lions (Dan 6:6-9).
Daniel of course remained true to his God and since he made no attempt to hide this, he was caught praying and worshiping God and was thrown into the lions' den. From the original language of Dan 6:16-20 it appears that king Darius believed God was obligated to save Daniel because he was intimately acquainted with and has a daily relationship with God exhibited through obedience. 
"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den.The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” (Daniel 6:16-20 NIV)
In Dan 6:23 the word translated trusted means to trust continually. The fact that the lions immediately devoured Daniel’s accusers in the morning proves they had been hungry all night long. 
"The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." (Daniel 6:23 NIV))
This faith became one of the great examples in “The Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11:33). “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:11 (NIV). Faith is trusting what the eye can’t see. The natural eyes see the prowling lion but faith sees Daniel’s angel.