Connecting The Dots - Week 11 (Worship)

      Connecting The Dots – Week 11

                         “Worship”

Key Verse: "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24 NASB)

 Our worship to God can come in nearly any form and be given in nearly any outward posture at any time. It must however, begin with three things to be authentic; in spirit and truth.

1. Surrender – In saying to God with a heart full of sincere Faith, “Lord, all I am and have is for you”, we acknowledge that we live by, for, through and to Jesus Christ. Our lives are no longer our own.

2. Humility – With the realization that apart from Him we can do nothing there is a revelation of God’s Grace. Even our best attempts at anything good fall far short of the mark minus the perfect Love in Him that saved us.

3. Wisdom – Wisdom that is from Heaven is first and always aware of the character of God. This is most evident when we choose to hear the Holy Spirit’s direction, then act on what we know.

When we are surrendered, humbled and moved along by wisdom, every kind of worship is possible. God is concerned primarily with the condition of our hearts after all, and the abundance of our hearts as believers, whether we are constantly aware of it or not, is to worship Him.

“God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NASB)

It makes perfect sense if you consider that our hearts are now through Jesus the very dwelling place of God, (His Mercy Seat, Exodus 25:21-22) that every molecule and every strand of our DNA should long to sing His praises.

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1 NASB)

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” (Hebrews 13:15 NIV)

Because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), worship is an easy thing for us to do. If we take time daily to be still and remember the warm embrace of His loving arms around us, loving him in return becomes a natural thing; worship in spirit and truth becomes instinctively the innermost desire of our hearts.

"Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth!” (Isaiah 42:10)

“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.” (Psalms 63:1-4 NASB)

            Discussion Questions:

1. What is your favorite time, place or expression of worship to God?

2. Try to think of a few simple ways, beginning this week, that you could make worshipping God a priority during a typical day. Where? When? How? 

Additional Scripture references: (Jeremiah 17:7-10 NASB), (Psalms 98:1-9), (Proverbs 21:2 NASB), (Luke 4:7-8 NIV), (Revelation 4:8-11 NASB), (Revelation 5:11-14 NASB), (Deuteronomy 10:20-21 NASB), (Deuteronomy 6:13-15 NASB), (1 Chronicles 16:23-26 NASB), (Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV), (Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB), (Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV)