Worship

John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

2 Samuel 6v14-15
David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

God wants us to worship Him. He deserves all our devotion, praise and worship for all He has done for us. In fact, if God had never reached down to rescue us, then He would still be just as worthy of our worship. God, by definition is totally worthy to be praised, He is God. He made the universe and he made us. The fact that He stepped down into His creation to show us such awesome Love, Grace and Forgiveness should only make us worship Him more.

Through Christ there is now complete forgiveness for sin to all who believe in Him. All you need to do is come to Christ and trust in Him. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves, God has done it all through Jesus Christ. We just need to come to Him. It's awesome!

He is completely deserving of our praises, of our worship, and all that we are.

I refuse to get side tracked by musical styles of worship. I can't even believe that it's such a controversial subject some of the time. Worship involves music but surely worship is really what happens between you and God. It's an attitude, a commitment and a lifestyle.

We do have to be careful what we sing. Obviously singing something that is completely unscriptural in worship is not right. I think any song we sing which helps us to focus on God and that is inline with scripture is useful.

I love hymns. 'And can it be that I should gain?' written by Charles Wesley in 1738 stirs my soul every time I sing it. It's full of amazing truth and solid doctrine.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Awesome! However it can be sung without passion, without any focus on God and completely void of any worship at all.

We need to worship in spirit and truth. These are the kind of worshipers that the Father seeks. Worship is putting God first in everything, it's letting God take first place in your life, it's focusing completely on Him and making Him King in every area of your life. It's taking your eyes off all the things that crave your attention and putting them under Christ. Making Him first. Realizing who and what He is. To be honest, you can do all that without ever singing a word.

We should worship God with every word that come from our mouths, with every action and decision we make. We should worship God with our jobs, our money, our spare time and our relationships. Honor Him in, and with, everything.

I'm not denying that music is special to God, I think it is special and God wants us to worship Him this way individually and as His Church. I think though it needs to start with a right attitude towards God and towards each other..we need to forgive one another in church. There is far too much grudge holding in church, things which should have been dealt with years ago that have been left to grow into strongholds that stop God moving. We have no choice but to forgive each other, to show the same Grace that God has shown us. If we don't do this continually then how can God move? We are human, imperfect, and we will offend each other and hurt one another at times but how much have we been forgiven by God? By the same measure we need to forgive one another.

Go out of your way to build one another up. When someone offends you, forgive them immediately. In fact, love them all the more! Christ has shown us extravagant Grace and love. We need to live each day armed with that same Grace and Love.

King David danced before the Lord in nothing but his underwear, with all his might! We need to come before God and strip ourselves of the stuff that hinders us. God is so willing to help us with that, He wants us to unload the things that hold us back onto Him, then He can deal with it. We carry so much stuff around and we don't need to.

Come before God stripped of all the stuff that holds you back, seek and worship Him with all your might. He can see your heart, so just be totally open with Him, be yourself, He made you that way. He loves you with a passion you can't possibly understand, be secure in your God! Loose your inhibitions before God and don't worry about what other people are doing, or what they will think. We need to realize that when we meet together in His name, He is actually there with us. It's a promise, it's real! Know that God is with you.

Just put Him first. Trust in Christ. Live in His Grace and keep pressing on! Honor Him, remain in Him and He will remain in you.

We need to get things right, but we also need to keep focus on the stuff that really matters and we need to love and forgive one another constantly.

Seek Him with all of your heart.