This month so far I have been reading in the Bible on the topic of worship. A few days ago in a previous post I talked what I was learning about worship reading through Deuteronomy. Since then I have been read passages about worship from places like 2 Chronicles, Job, and Psalms. Through these passages I have learned more about worship in that it is not an action we do, but it is a lifestyle we live. Worship is who we are. Worship is not a light switch we can turn on and off. Worship, yes is an action we can do in church or our home, but in a much deeper sense worship is an attitude and culture that we must build in ourselves to the glory of God.
First, I saw in 2 Chronicles that worship comes from the upright and glad heart. This tells us that worship is motivated by our hearts and minds. Worship comes from the dispositions of gladness and joy in us. Remember that joy and gladness is not something that is effected by our circumstances, but is an attitude that effects how we see our circumstances.
And this leads to the truth about worship found in Job. Job even worshiped God after he lost everything. Right after Job was informed about the loss of all his cattle, possessions, and family, Job gets down and worships God for who He is. Job and his worship is not effected by what happens in his life. But Job's life leads him to worship God right away. Seeing the character of Job in the rest of the book, we can imagine that Job is thanking God, is grateful for all that God is, and realizes that God is who he needs more than ever. Job is such a man of worship and his heart is bent towards the glory of God so much, that even broken circumstances in life lead him to worship God all the more.
Finally reading through some of the Psalms, specifically 15, I came to realize that God cares so much about the heart rather than the actions, becasue the heart affects the actions. This means to truly have an action of worship, like singing a hymn, one must have a heart of worship first. The heart of worship is an attitude, lifestyle, or culture that is cultivated in a person who truly desires God alone. This brought me full circle into the truth that if I want to be a true worshiper of God by giving back, praying, singing, or making disciples, then I must first have a heart and attitude of continual worship. Yes, there are times in life when I will not feel like worshiping but that is a sin on my part and something that I must repent of. If I truly love Jesus and call the Creator God, my Lord, then I must have worship perpetually flow from my attitude, heart, and lifestyle of worship. I am asking and praying now the question of, do I need an attitude and heart adjustment of worship?
Asking or praying about needing an attitude or heart adjustment of worship!!! That is Just what i was praying about before reading this in the blog. I asked God to clear my mind, so that I could be focused on praising God. I also asked God who should i pray too. Should i pray to God only, or should i pray to Jesus, so i could be more like him. Either way, i just want him to know that i am thankful for the gifts he has given me in my life, ( my family, my church family, my friends and my Christian friends ).
ReplyDeleteAlso, if i could get an updated reading list, so that i may follow along and be more prepared for your up coming sermons.
Went to psalm 37:4....delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
ReplyDeleteEverything we talk about or study about God comes down to a heart issues. We need to delight in God alone....then His desires for us will become our desires and he will give them to us......according to His will and in his timing. This blows my mind.......to be more like him we need to be in constant fellowship with Him.
And Bruce.....amazing how God lays on our hearts what we need to do at just the right time. Your prayer today was no coincidence. Love your gratitude for everything and everyone you have.
By the way.....it was really nice having Karen join our ladies group last night. She had a lot of good things to add to our discussion. Our group is a real blessing.