JANUARY 15

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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Psalm 22:27

“All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.”

Psalm 95:6 &7

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand.”

John 4:24

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Matthew 15:9

“And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Luke 24:52

“And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,”

Psalm 29:2

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

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This month we’re reading  the new devotional   “Becoming New”,  written by  Warren W. Wiersbe and compiled by his grandson.  Pastor Wiersbe was the President of Moody Bible Institute before the current President, Erwin Lutzer.  

WORSHIP PLEASES GOD

Read Psalm 95

Worship doesn’t please God for the same reasons applause pleases performers or cheers please athletes.  God needs neither affirmation nor encouragement.  Worship pleases Him because of what it says about the worshippers and what it does for them.  When we worship, we are loving and obeying God and opening our inner being to Him.  In true worship, we surrender ourselves and our circumstances and focus on the greatness and glory of God.  We yield ourselves to Him and submit to His perfect will.  In prayer, we look up and tell Him our needs, but in worship, we bow down in awe and acknowledge His majesty and glory.  This is a cleansing and a maturing experience that brings joy to the Father’s heart as He sees His children grow in grace.  It also prevents us from drifting into idolatry and paying more attention to the gifts than the Giver.

Whether alone or with others, when we come to the throne of grace in heaven’s Most Holy Place, the Spirit of God uses the Word to cleanse and renew us (Hebrews 10:19-25).  We confess our sins, and the Father forgives us.  He tells us (or reminds us) of tasks to be done and opportunities to seize, and we dedicate ourselves afresh to serving Him.  During our working hours, we are conscious of time passing and tasks being completed, but when we worship, we center in on God and are bathed in the eternal and grow hungry for greater holiness in our lives.  Just as parents appreciate fellowship with their children and that fellowship deepens as the children mature, so the father is pleased when His children devote time to fellowshipping with Him.  The father loves His son, Jesus Christ, and the more we become like Jesus, the deeper is our experience of God’s love – and the opposition of the world.

Worship is not just an occasion for adoring God, although that is certainly primary;  it is also a time for us to become new.  One of the greatest joys of worship is having the Spirit teach us truths from the Word that encourage, transform, and edify us.  “When your words came,  I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty (Jeremiah 15:16).  Ignoring God’s Word and being in a hurry to read and to pray are the two greatest enemies of a satisfying devotional life.  There is something seriously wrong with our priorities if we can’t “take time to be holy.”

The angels in heaven are perfect.  They are stronger than we are, and they live and serve in the presence of the Lord.  But God cannot have the kind of fellowship with angels that He can have with us!   Jesus did not become an angel:  He became a human being just like us, only without sin.  He did it so that He might save us and give us the privilege of communion and fellowship with Him and the Father through the Spirit and the Word (Hebrews 2:14-18).  Worship must never be reduced to music or  stage.  Our song forever is Jesus, who on the cross of Calvary purchased so great a salvation to redeem us.

When we gather as God’s people, we please God and we are blessed.  Worship is not “a part of the Christian life”; it is the very essence of the Christian life, just as breathing is to our physical life.  Worship makes service a delight, the Christian life an adventure, and bearing burdens a privilege.

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