Showing posts with label why we worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label why we worship. Show all posts

Sunday

Why We Worship 26


If you have been visiting with me for "Why We Worship" each week I would like to thank you for your company and your comments.

I have been writing this for 6 months and today we come to the final post in the series.  I think this is the only thing that I could have chosen for our final one.

(If you have missed any of the posts in this series you can catch-up by clicking on the Devotionals tab at the top.)






And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:    Exodus 3v14


 This is the holiest name for God in the Old Testament.


There is no-one else who can make such a statement.







We serve a God who is the only "I AM"


He is the God of NOW!

Not a god of the past.


He is the God who is ALIVE with us!

Not an idol made of bronze or stone.


He is the God who is PERSONAL!

Not something that doesn't relate to us.



"What does it mean I Am?   He is what?"  some might scoff.


We could not answer that to suit them 

because




He is unfathomable to us.


He simply exists and is everything we could possibly think of
and even more besides.







Who could ever think of worshipping anyone else.





Why We Worship 25






I am taking time each week to ask myself 
"Why we worship"

We are coming to the end of our series based around the attributes of God.

Next week will be the last one to be contemplated.

So this week I want to look at something that I really only started to think about in the last year or so.








Of course we have always thought of God as the only true God.


But here I want to think about God as God the Most High God meaning that He is Sovereign over everything.


He is in control in every situation.








So there is nothing or nobody (not even ourselves) that should come before God in all aspects of our lives.

Yes that is hard because most aspects of our lives we can quite easily say we are handing over to God but it should be all aspects of our lives.


In everything we should put God first.


In every day nothing should dethrone Him from being the King, the Lord of our lives.







All reverence must be given to God.

All honour must be given to God.

All glory must be given to God.


All worship must be given to God.








Is God the MOST HIGH GOD in your life?


Do you give Him all the worship?







Why We Worship 24





I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


This is Trinity Sunday

                so there is no doubt as to what we should consider today.






This is often a difficult thing for us to comprehend.


I actually think it is harder to explain the Trinity in words than to believe it in your heart.


We have a Godhead which is:  


3 in 1  and  1 in 3






God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are mentioned often in the Bible.


They have different roles which means that we are never alone, are always under the blood and we can bask in the Father's Love.









I think it is wonderful to be included in the Father's love, be cleansed by the blood of the Son and have the Holy Spirit teach and guide us. 



In our church one of the things I love the most is the fact that we end each service with the Grace, extending this blessing on each other as we leave.







I think it's wonderful to have the Father's Love, be cleansed by the blood of the Son and to have the Holy Spirit teach and guide us.



Do you think of The Trinity when when you mention God or simply God the Father?







Why We Worship 23





I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


This is Pentecost Sunday

                so there is no doubt as to what we should consider today.




  

This is probably one of the hardest things for us to comprehend.


We are so used to everybody having a physical being 

but God is not a physical being 

He is a Spirit.



We can't see a spirit, we can't reach out and touch a spirit, 

we cannot fully understand what a spirit is.






But something we do know is God's Word and in the Bible it clearly states that we must

                                             
Worship God in Spirit and in Truth.


We must worship Him in line with these two attributes that belong to Him.










From this we can know that we have a spirit too because if we were only a physical being God could not require this of us.  


              
What a great privilege we have to be like God and be 

invited to worship Him.







Did you worship God today?











Why We Worship 22




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"

A chorus that we sing and a memory verse we learn as children tells us that


  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.



And today I want to think about truth.





Perhaps one way to think about it is to consider the opposite of true which is false. 


So we can say that God is not false.



God has no lies in Him


          God has no deceit in Him


                    God has no evil in Him

                                             
Also it means that God is not a false God.



God is not an imitation God


          God is not an idol or image


                    God is not the wrong God




God is the right God


God is the true, living God.





When Jesus was praying to His Father (in John chapter 17) on behalf of the ones who would trust in Him He described God the Father as the only true God.

The verse above also tells us that knowing God, the only true God is what it means to have Eternal life.







We mostly tend to talk about Eternal life as the life we have after we die and that living forever is the main goal or reward for a Christian but here Jesus is saying that


it is not 


living forever that we should be looking forward to 

but  

instead it is knowing God

and 

surely that must start 
in this life







Do you know this one true living God?

Do you know the right God?




Why We Worship 21




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"



God does not need anything that we humans need to be able to live.


He does not need air, food, water or sleep.

               He doesn't need help or advice.

                              He doesn't need money.

                                             He doesn't even need us.







Isn't it marvellous that even though God does not need us, 





This verse above comes from the passage of Scripture where the Apostle Paul speaks to the people in Athens on Mars Hill.

Verses 22 - 31  cover it more fully.

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 
23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 
27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 
28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Paul was explaining that God doesn't need people to do things for Him, He has no need of anything but instead is the reason we all exist.  He cannot be imagined by us,  or completely understood by us however He has determined that He loves us and wants us to come through repentance of our sins to Him.  
God can do everything He needs or wants to do, through His knowledge and wisdom He is in control of all things.   
He lacks nothing.



When we know that God is Self-Sufficient and doesn't need us we can be encouraged because this shows us that He really cares for us.
When we know that God is self-Sufficient and hence is everything He needs to be we can also be encouraged because if he doesn't have to depend on anything or anyone then He truly is the only one we can put our full trust in.




Why We Worship 20




I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


Have you ever thought about how thankful we should be that God is not like us?

Have you ever thought about how we are meant to become like Him and not the other way round?

I am so glad that He is not to become like us because we are flawed.

God is not flawed because 







Just think about that, 

                       
                            that means



there is not one thing wrong with our God.





No matter what we do we will never be perfect as only God is perfect so we know that the verse above does not mean just exactly as it sounds.

However God does want something from us.

The previous few verses in that chapter of the Gospel of Matthew will help us.


43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.


We are to do the things that are more unnatural for humans to do.

We are to show the love and goodness of God to others by being different to the norm in this world.

We are to have a different attitude toward others because God has instructed us to be like Him.

We are to walk in the ways of God.








I am thankful that God is Perfect because this means we can fully trust Him?




Why We Worship 19





I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


Do you know that God loves to give us what we don't deserve?

  •  He loves to pardon our sin.
  •  He loves to be good to us.
  •  He loves to give us His Gifts.
  •  He loves to extend His Mercy to us.


And really we don't deserve any of this.

This is all because 






What does this mean?



It simply means that :

  • Jesus the Son of God took our place.
  • Jesus the Son of God bore our punishment.
  • Jesus the Son of God gave His life for us.



And He did it for our benefit not His.



No wonder we sing and talk about God's Grace being AMAZING.



Of course the verse above is not actually a full sentence.

So let's look at the full sentence here in verses 11 - 14.


11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Because of the Grace God has shown us we then need to react by turning from our ungodly ways to God's Way and look forward to seeing Jesus who has made this all possible.  
We are to be His own special people and ready to do good just as He does.






I am very thankful for God's Grace  -  aren't you?