Worship has become the playground or the battleground. However, the Bible teaches us that true worship should be done on HOLY GROUND. The fundamental challenge we all face regarding worship is to find the right balance; a balance that makes worship a blessing instead of a curse. Lucifer exalted himself and was humiliated, while Jesus humbled himself and was highly exalted.
The problem we face regarding balanced worship is not a generational problem, young vs. old, IT IS A THEOLOGICAL PROBLEM. God is love, yet he also is holy. In other words, God wants us to delight in Him and express our love to Him, but He also wants us to remember that He alone is the Lord. Thomas Merton said: “The professed Christian who uses God’s love as an excuse to sin and violate God’s holiness is living on the doorstep of hell.”
Jewell, Iowa
COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.
Worship Series
Daniel is also an incredible example of true worship. In other words, prophecy and worship must go together. The book of Revelation is also a book of worship. Jesus being revealed to the world as the only one worthy to receive worship and praise.
We might study Daniel and his visions and revelations for the purpose of knowing future events, but such would miss the whole point. The ultimate theme of the book of Daniel is GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND GOD’S GLORY. God had touched Daniel, he was a man of purpose, prayer, power and worship. This man put his trust and confidence in God alone.
Daniel saw God, not a prophetic chart. Daniel was not pursuing the knowledge of future events. He was pursuing God and he saw God’s glory.
What is striking here is the fact that as Jacob is on the run, he certainly was not seeking God. Jacob is certainly not a candidate for a holy experience of worship! Grace and worship must go together. GOD’S GRACE MUST BE A PART OF TRUE WORSHIP. My friend, true worship must be an experience of God’s Presence. Jacob, overcome with fear, realized that he was at the very house of God, the gate of heaven. What he thought was a dead-end street was actually the gate of heaven, giving him a new purpose to live for God. Jacob the schemer started to acknowledge his need for God. When we worship the Lord, we will experience God’s purpose, which is a transformed life. It may start slowly, but God will do his work until it is done.
“When the outlook is bleak, try the uplook.” He saw the Lord Jesus Christ because the invisible became visible and the spiritual became real. The HEBREW word SERAPH comes from a root meaning “to burn” suggesting that the seraphim are the guardians of the blazing holiness of God. It is not enough in our worship only to see the Lord, for if we truly see Him as He is, we will also see ourselves as we are. It’s unfortunate that we often minimize the importance of feelings in our experience of worship. We certainly want to avoid shallow emotionalism, but we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit because we strive to be ‘PROPER’. Real worship, true spiritual worship always leads to surrender, which means that we see the need and volunteer to do the work God wants us to do for Him.
What is it that these disciples did not understand, yet the child Jesus brought into their midst did understand? How could this be that the Disciples who where chosen by the Lord Himself to become the Apostles, the movers and shakers of the 1st century, could not understand what this little child understood? Scientific studies and tests show that a child’s creativity – which includes imagination and wonder – diminished by 90 % between ages 5 and 7. When adults get to be 40, they have about 2 % of the creativity they had when they were 5 years old.
The more we know about God, the more overwhelmed we are with wonder.
Moses was changed because he was amazed by something God did in his life.
Worship involves ATTITUDE, which is awe, reverence, respect.
Worship involves ACTION, which is bowing, praising, serving.
Worship is always voluntarily offered to Him as he has offered Himself to us. TRUE WORSHIP IS NOT CHEAP ENTERTAINEMENT; it’s a costly experience. Worship God in Spirit and Truth, and you will be personally enriched and equipped with spiritual strength that helps you carry the burdens and fight the battles of life. If we know the truth but merely go through the outward motions of worship, our worship will be hypocritical and empty. Objective truth never changes, but our understanding of it deepens and our experience of it should become more and more meaningful.