THE ESSENCE OF TRUE WORSHIP (PART 25): PAUL - TRUE WORSHIP GLORIFIES GOD

Therefore, whether you eat or drink,

Or whatever you do,

Do all to the glory of God

1 Corinthians 10:31

1) GOD'S GLORY IS OUR PURPOSE
It is one thing to say that GOD'S GLORY is our purpose in life, but it is quite a different thing to understand the statement we have just made. What is GOD'S GLORY? GOD'S GLORY can be briefly defined as His awesome supremacy and divine mode of being. Yet because God is the everlasting, self-existing, Almighty Creator, His full glory must escape our complete comprehension. He is infinite, but we are not.
In fact, GOD'S GLORY is so immense that it would be deadly for us to see it's fullness. Moses asked the LORD, "Please, show me Your GLORY" (Exodus 33:18). God agreed to "make all My goodness pass before you" and "to "proclaim the name of the LORD before you," but He warned Moses, "You cannot see My face: for no man shall see Me and live" (Exodus 33:19-20).God could reveal only small portions of His GLORY to His creation.
In the Bible, we read scores of accounts in which God reveals His GLORY through His mighty works: the Creation, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Exodus, the Conquest. It is no wonder that David recalling such awesome displays of love and might write,
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours: Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all" (1 Chronicles 29:11).
The classical Greek word from which we derive our English word glory denotes an opinion. We, as God's created beings, should have a right opinion of God. This concept of glory is evident often in the Old Testament as the Israelites revere YAHWEH (or fail to revere Him) in recognition for what He had done.
In the New Testament, however, the concept of glory as an "opinion" regarding God's past works is completely superseded. GLORY becomes in the New Testament a term to convey recognition of His intrinsic divinity. We read that God is "worthy ... to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" (Revelation 4:11). Since God intends for all His creation to glorify Him, glorifying Him should be the burning desire of those who claim to be His people. "Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My GLORY: I have formed him, yes I have made him" (Isaiah 43:7).
(An extract from True Worship by David Whitcomb and Mark Ward, Sr.)

2) GOD'S GLORY IS OUR GOAL

God reveals His GLORY in the hearts of His people who are tender and sensitive to hear Him. Paul expressed this truth when he expressed his desire "that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Philippians 3:10). The Greek word that is translated "know" means to learn through intimate experience. A person first believes God in his heart, then learns ofGod in his heart, and at last, comes to know God in his heart. When that happens, we know God intimately, we can truly honor His GLORY.
So it follows that if God tells us to do everything for HisGLORY, it must also be true that anything e do - if done in the right way, for the right reasons - can GLORIFYHim. That applies even to eating and drinking, as in the passage 1 Corinthians 10:31. In other words, anything can become AN ACT OF WORSHIP.
In theory, we have no problem believing that, but in practice, it's hard to grasp. For example, how does it GLORIFY GOD for someone to keep doing the same menial task in a dead-end job? How can we go shopping to the GLORY OF GOD or study history to the GLORY OF GOD? How do we eat for His GLORY or dress for his GLORY? Is GLORIFYING GOD just for ministers and missionaries, or can the daily grind of average people be honoring to Him?
Intellectually, we know the answer. If the Bible tells us that anything we do can be AN ACT OF WORSHIP, then we can approach anything with that ATTITUDE. The same menial task may demonstrate to others that we have an otherworldly source of fulfillment. The stewardship of shopping and the dignity of dressing may demonstrate otherworldly values. Our studies, our habits, our interests, and our relationships are all able to reflect some aspect of His character. And reflecting Him is critical; making the invisible in this world is what GLORIFYING Him is all about.

The most important question to ask yourself in any decision, no matter how small, is whether it will reflect GOD'S GLORY or deflect it. Is your lifestyle a distraction that obscures a clear view of Him? Then take Paul's words to heart. Learn to live them. Remind yourself daily until they become part of the fabric of your life. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT FOR HIS GLORY!
(An extract from: Worship The King by Chris Tiegreen)

#TrueWorship #GlorifyGod #ActofWorship #GloryofGod

THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP (PART 12): GIDEON - OBEDIENCE PRECEDES WORSHIP

It is possible for us to be so concerned about the acts of worship, that we run ahead of the necessary steps of God requires as He leads His people to True Worship. In a sense, True worship is not an act but rather a natural response to foregoing knowledge or experience. In other words, whereas God's people can run hither and yonder trying to discover genuine ways to worship God, He would rather they obediently follow Him throughout the week so that Sunday worship will be a natural expression of their relationship with Him.

We look into the Old Testament story of Gideon. God put a heavy burden on Gideon, though he lacked confidence about his ability to lead God's people. Since Gideon was weak in faith, he begged God to confirm His will by making a fleece wet or dry. God obliged and then instructed Gideon to fight a massive enemy army with only a handful of men. When Gideon was unsure, God told him to go to the enemy's camp in the middle of the night. Gideon OBEYED this seemingly strange requirement and, in so doing, learned an important lesson about God's power. His natural response was to fall down in WORSHIP and then rise and serve in CONFIDENCE!

OBEDIENCE BUILDS FAITH

Gideon was going through a very difficult time. As the Bible records in Judges 6, God had allowed the nation to suffer seven years of enemy occupation because Israel was in sin. The Israelite cried out, and God sent prophet to confirm His promise. Gideon was minding his own business, doing farm chores for his father, when "the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor ... Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?' " (Judges 6:12-14)
We read of the progress of Gideon's faith through his obedience:
- He started out alone in faith protesting of his weakness but God assured Him (Judges 6:15-16)
- Then he began to asked God for a sign that it was God who was speaking to Him. God was gracious and gave Gideon a sign followed by a promise ("peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die." - Judges 6:17-24)
- Then Gideon obeyed God's further instruction to destroy Baal's altar. Although he received death threats God protected him (Judges 6:28-31)
- More importantly, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon." And the men of his town and tribe rallied to his cause, and messenger were sent to rally other tribes. (Judges 6:34)

Gideon was moving in the right direction. He obeyed God's command, then worshiped his Lord and was encouraged to start assembling an army. yet still lacking complete faith, he"put out the fleece" (Judges 6:36-40) so that God might give another confirming sign. God did so, and at the start of the events recorded in Judges 7. Gideon had amassed a host of twenty-two thousand soldiers. However God instructed Gideon to let the fainthearted go home and only ten thousand remain. But incredibly, God declared that "the people are still too many." So He proceeded to reduce the Israelite force to a mere three hundred men.  

FAITH BUILDS ENCOURAGEMENT
At this stage, Gideon had no army at all, but only a small band of soldiers. Yet that situation was precisely the place God wanted His people to be  - in complete dependence on Him. Gideon knew what he was supposed to do. God had given him clear instructions: "Arise, go down against the [enemy] camp, for I have delivered it into your hand." (Judges 7:9). If Gideon was afraid to scout the enemy alone, God had told him he could take his servant along. But that very night God commanded Gideon to go "down to the camp ... and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened  for the ensuring contest (Judges 7:10-11)
Gideon obeyed and his OBEDIENCE was no small matter since "the Midianites and Amalekites" were mighty and numerous. (Judges 7:12). The odds seemed overwhelming, but Gideon trusted God. To his surprise, in the enemy camp Gideon learned that his foes were apprehensive about him! One soldier even had a dream that, through his symbols, depicted the Midianites' destruction by the "sword of Gideon," the man who had God on his side (Judges 7:14). Like Gideon, we will not experience God's encouragement until we trust Him enough to obey Him. When Gideon heard of the fear among God's enemies, he bowed in humility before his Lord.
"And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped." (Judges 7:15)
The text uses a Hebrew word - SACHAH that speaks of a servant or slave's lowering himself before his master. Thus most depictions of worship in the Old Testament show worshipers bowing or prostrating themselves in humble recognition of God. That recognition was often gained as it was with Gideon, through OBEDIENCE. THE ESSENCE OF TRUE WORSHIP results when God allows His servants to see His mighty power and realize their own meager state.
Gideon could worship God truly because he had learned some important lessons from God. But in order to learn those lessons, he first had to obey God and trust Him. In the same way, when we are living or acting in OBEDIENCE, we learn to trust God more. As we grow in that trust, He reveals to us His great power. And in glimpsing that power, we fall prostrate before Him and worship. Does that pattern describe the kind of worship we have today? 

#Worship #True Worship #Obedience # Faith