April 29, 2018
Worship
Tribe Recap April 29, 2018 | Heb 4:16| Josh 5:13 & 6:1-5 | Romans 12:1
Sometimes we forget that we can come into the presence of God with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 invites us to approach God’s throne knowing he will extend his gracious favor to us, cover our failures, and give his provision for our needs in the time that we need it. God is inviting us in. He is asking us to come fully in as ourselves, hiding nothing. The danger facing us is the temptation to fear that we are not welcome before God, and thus avoid going in.
But we must not do this. We must choose to enter all the way in just as we are. Do you think God is fooled by our façades or loses track of us when we avoid him? No. So enter into his presence with CONFIDENCE as YOURSELF! He knows everything already. Psalm 62:8 encourages us to pour out our hearts before him. We need to be honest with God and enter into his presence without the slightest pretense that we need to perform. Go all the way in, be yourself, and be honest.
True worship begins with dropping the games we play with God. It’s not about us. When we change our focus from our own undeserving nature or the deception that we ourselves are good enough and look at God alone, the impulse to worship God takes over. When the Lord appeared to Joshua in Joshua chapter 5, the natural response was simply to fall on his face before God. Submission to God and acknowledgement of his person are an act of worship.
When we encounter God, a sense of awe and reverence is natural because he is magnificent. Joshua listened carefully to all the Lord told him about Jericho and was ready to obey everything he heard. Joshua worshiped by honoring God’s word over him and was ready to apply all his resources to follow those instructions.
Worship is all about where we place our reverence, honor, and worth. How we spend our time, energy, and money indicate what we are worshiping. What do we assign value to? We worship what we consider most valuable.
Often in church we think of singing and music when we think of worship. Of course! Psalm 66:4 tells us to sing praises in worship to God – something most of us love to do, but the Lord is asking for much more than that. He is asking for the entirety of our being.
John 4:23-24 describes how the Father is looking for worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth, which means, with their whole being. God is being and he is looking for those who worship him with their entire being. He is looking for those who worship with a Colossians 3:23 and Romans 12:1-2 mindset, which means the Lord is looking for your passions, moments, and endeavors to all worship him as a whole. He is looking for everyday ordinary activities to be placed before him as an offering – to be done as if you were doing them for him.
You yourself are an instrument whose life plays the most wonderful song of worship. THIS is the song God loves to listen to. YOU are a delight to God when you point your entire being and all that you have towards honoring his name. When you get to heaven, and your life and its days plays across the screen, a sweet aroma of worship will go up before the throne of grace that is surely enough to cover your sin and offer the grace needed to be an instrument of inspired worship.