Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Worth-ship

The fuel of worship is the grand truth of a gracious and sovereign God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is worship, pushing its way out in tears, confessions, prayers, praises, acclamations, lifting of hands, bowing low, and obedient lives.”
-John Piper

This is an amazing quote that summarizes our joy and duty to reflect the majesty and worth of God by worshiping Him with our all. Please remember, worship is not soley about singing hymns or praise songs in a worship service on Sunday mornings. We worship God when we delight in Him and find our joy in His worth in every circumstance of our lives. We worship Him when we choose to value His worth instead of finding our joy in the things the world offers. When we choose to love what He loves and find our satisfaction in Christ alone (not because we are instructed to - but because our hearts are overflowing with adoration for our Creator), we engage in worship. If I am tempted to find pleasure in the lusts of the world, but with His help I choose to find my pleasure in His grace, I am worshiping Him. It is at that moment that my heart is singing a life song with the ringing lyrics: "Rich or poor, God I want You more, than anything that glitters in this world, be my all, all consuming fire" (Charlie Hall, All We Need)

However, even though worship is not simply singing songs in a service, look at how amazing that time is. Music provides an opportunity for our hearts to overflow into joy. Not everyone can write music, so the words that some other believer wrote about his/her outlook of worship in their lives might strike familiar chords within the instrument of your heart and produce the desire to sing along with those truths. If I have been worshiping all week long in my attempts to obey the Father in fighting sin then when I come to church on Sunday and I hear the words of Charlie Hall resonating "Rich or poor, God I want you more than anything that glitters in this world..." my heart cries out, "Yes, God! Oh Praise You Father! This is what I have been feeling this week! These words that are put together into a musical rhyme and rhythm are my words! They are what I long to pour out to you in this moment! I truly want You more!" Regardless if this is done by shouts of joy or silent adoration, the music helps to serve our worship to God... it is not in itself our worship to God.

Please be encouraged to "worth-ship" (as a friend calls it) our Father, by focusing on Jesus Christ and willingly offering up our bodies as living sacrifices unto Him. In dying to our self, we are telling God that He is all we want. This is everyday kind of stuff. Piper nails it. Worship is a verb. Go back and read the quote again.

Owe no one anything except to love them,

Not my opinion but HIS WORD

"I've been assessing the church for a long time, my conclusion is basically that the church is politely bored with God. You expect me to entertain you. You expect me to do something that will attract your attention and titillate your emotions because frankly if all I do is talk about God, you'll be bored."   -  A.W. Tozer

I had someone recently walk out of a service as we prepared to open God's Word together who said "I'm not going to let some 'young buck' tell me how to live my life." With all do respect, I personally have never sought to tell anyone how to do anything when it comes to teaching God's Word. As the prophets in the Old Testament did, I am simply a spokesman for God. I don't share my opinions or thoughts but instead seek to communicate God's everlasting relevant message for us today. As long as I do that...if if bores you, frustrates you or turns you off I cannot be concerned.