Is God the object of your worship?

[Brucea]

The object of your worship is the true object of your faith.

Now I'm not talking about how your song service goes at church!

It is a lifestyle of intimacy with Jesus! Jesus said the members of His family are those who do the will of the Father.

The only true object of faith is Jesus Christ the crucified one!

The only true worship is like the Aposle Paul said:

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Worship through surrender!

I might not fit in: however God is faithful to the misfit!
God bless
Bruce A

 

[MoNiCa4316]

Good topic...
There are times when I just want to 'feel something' during worship, and recently God has helped me see that I should just offer my heart to Him and want to bring Him glory. And I've found that the times when I forget about feelings and just focus on God, that's when I feel the most.
By definition, worship is putting God first and giving everything to Him; it's not about us. It's just about loving God.
When we just offer our hearts to Him, then we are able to have sincere worship; both in church and in our everyday lives.

 

[ECHELON]

I was reading an article and it caused me to think about this question quit a lot. I love to worship God but I had to examine myself if I loved to worship God because it "felt" good and because I was "refreshed" and "felt unashamed" because I do it or if I truly worshipped God without me in the equation somewhere.

What about that worship in Spirit and in Truth?

I want the purity to worship without thinking about what there is to gain from worshipping God.

NewSong, if a may, it's the New Song within you that is purified. That born again spirit that was created when you first believed, called God, Father, and asked for forgiveness of your sins.

You say you want the purity to worship but you already have it, in your spirit! If you don't want to think about yourself and what it is you are to gain but just love God and praise Him and thank Him? Start with thanking Him for the purified spirit that was birthed in you. The new woman, the new song...now sing it out loud!!!

 

[ECHELON]

Good topic...
There are times when I just want to 'feel something' during worship, and recently God has helped me see that I should just offer my heart to Him and want to bring Him glory. And I've found that the times when I forget about feelings and just focus on God, that's when I feel the most.
By definition, worship is putting God first and giving everything to Him; it's not about us. It's just about loving God.
When we just offer our hearts to Him, then we are able to have sincere worship; both in church and in our everyday lives.

I agree and we can and should praise God more for who He is, not as much for what He has done or is about to do. He is our King, our Father, our protector, our provider and he alone deserves all the praise and glory no matter what.

 

[NewSong]

NewSong, if a may, it's the New Song within you that is purified. That born again spirit that was created when you first believed, called God, Father, and asked for forgiveness of your sins.

You say you want the purity to worship but you already have it, in your spirit! If you don't want to think about yourself and what it is you are to gain but just love God and praise Him and thank Him? Start with thanking Him for the purified spirit that was birthed in you. The new woman, the new song...now sing it out loud!!!

Yeah that is it exactly. Welcome ECHELON! Thank you for your insights.

 

[he4rty]

NewSong, if a may, it's the New Song within you that is purified. That born again spirit that was created when you first believed, called God, Father, and asked for forgiveness of your sins.

You say you want the purity to worship but you already have it, in your spirit! If you don't want to think about yourself and what it is you are to gain but just love God and praise Him and thank Him? Start with thanking Him for the purified spirit that was birthed in you. The new woman, the new song...now sing it out loud!!!

I know this was posted to Newsong but it is so uplifting God bless.
Just insert your own user name.

 

[NewSong]

I know this was posted to Newsong but it is so uplifting God bless.
Just insert your own user name.

You mean so each of us can personalize this ourselves not just NewSong?

I agree!

 

[ECHELON]

Yeah that is it exactly. Welcome ECHELON! Thank you for your insights.

NewSong, I just love your name! For several years I struggled with the same thing you are wanting to talk about. I've learned that when we allow that new spirit in us to grow it can and will take over if we let it, and if we feed it. This usually doesn't happen over night and for alot of us it may take a lifetime but if we're ever going to truely worship God in both spirit and truth, growing our spirit person is a must.

Our souls are pretty much no good. The passage doesn't read "worship God in soul and truth but in spirit and truth. We can only commune with God when we are connected with Him Spirit to spirit and that is what Jesus was telling that woman at the well. Our souls have learned from a lifetime of sin. In most if not all cases, sin is all that person's soul knows about. That's why Paul said that we are to renew our minds to the new man, our born again spirit. We do this mainly by reading God's word and by worshipping and staying connected with Him, our Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit.

Here is a passage from Psalm's that I just love to quote when talking about this subject. I pray His word here speaks to you as it did me!

Psalms 24:3-5, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is what worshipping God in spirit and truth is all about. During the OT the Jews had to work at keeping their hands clean and their heart pure in order to meet with God and commune with Him. We don't have to work at it though because Jesus Christ did all the work for us when He shead His blood on the cross and died for us, and then rose again. There is something we must do however and sometimes it may seem hard to do...we must believe and have faith.

Paul makes it clear to us, to me anyway, that our new born spirit, our new man, was created in righteousness and true holiness.

EPH. 4:20-24, You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it's deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Your new self is your new song, learn the lyrics and start to sing it, louder and louder. Eventually your mind will catch up to what your new self is singing. Well, that is if you remain faithful in believing and having faith.

 

[ECHELON]

I am a catholic but I don't usually go to church. My reason is I don't feel His presence there, I mean, I don't feel spiritual thing during mass (with it's routinary activity). I have nothing against with catholic church coz i am part of it, but sometimes I don't think i'm growing spiritually in attending mass.

Sometimes, i feel more comfortable in my room praying alone. But i know i have to participate in a community to grow spiritually but i really find it difficult. Maybe the problem is within me, it's just i'm so confuse right now.

I really want to worship God in Spirit and in Truth but I don't know how... :-(

God bless you leonizel! I grew up Roman Catholic and I felt the same as you do right now. I'm not going to tell you to change denominations or anything like that because I think it's important for you to know that anyone can worship God in spirit and truth no matter what church or denomination they are in. You can worship God in spirit and truth just as easily being a Catholic as you can being anything else as long as you have put off the old self and put on the new.

Worshipping God in spirit and truth is about having a Spirit to spirit relationship With God. When God communes with us He isn't communeing with us in body, and there is no way we as created beings will ever come close to communeing soul to soul, mind to mind with God. But in spirit Jesus has made it possible for all of us to become the spiritual sons and daughters of God! The real miracle in becoming born again is that we receive God's spiritual DNA!

Grow that spirit man in you by studying His word, and His Word Jesus Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to train you and I pray that you will start to make a difference in that Catholic Church you sometimes attend.

God has a purpose for all of us, we all have a function within the Body of Christ. Maybe that pupose of your's is to usher in His presence in that congregation? LOL, actually I don't quite agree with that as I believe God's presence is everywhere. I've come to understand that what people think His presence is is actually His power...that might be a whole different topic though...

 

[NewSong]

NewSong, I just love your name! For several years I struggled with the same thing you are wanting to talk about. I've learned that when we allow that new spirit in us to grow it can and will take over if we let it, and if we feed it. This usually doesn't happen over night and for alot of us it may take a lifetime but if we're ever going to truely worship God in both spirit and truth, growing our spirit person is a must.

Our souls are pretty much no good. The passage doesn't read "worship God in soul and truth but in spirit and truth. We can only commune with God when we are connected with Him Spirit to spirit and that is what Jesus was telling that woman at the well. Our souls have learned from a lifetime of sin. In most if not all cases, sin is all that person's soul knows about. That's why Paul said that we are to renew our minds to the new man, our born again spirit. We do this mainly by reading God's word and by worshipping and staying connected with Him, our Father, His Son, and His Holy Spirit.

Here is a passage from Psalm's that I just love to quote when talking about this subject. I pray His word here speaks to you as it did me!

Psalms 24:3-5, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is what worshipping God in spirit and truth is all about. During the OT the Jews had to work at keeping their hands clean and their heart pure in order to meet with God and commune with Him. We don't have to work at it though because Jesus Christ did all the work for us when He shead His blood on the cross and died for us, and then rose again. There is something we must do however and sometimes it may seem hard to do...we must believe and have faith.

Paul makes it clear to us, to me anyway, that our new born spirit, our new man, was created in righteousness and true holiness.

EPH. 4:20-24, You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it's deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Your new self is your new song, learn the lyrics and start to sing it, louder and louder. Eventually your mind will catch up to what your new self is singing. Well, that is if you remain faithful in believing and having faith.

Thank you Eichelon! I really appreciate your posts. I have been told before by my pastor to do as you suggested here.

Eventually your mind will catch up to what your new self is singing. Well, that is if you remain faithful in believing and having faith.

 

[faithopelove]

I was reading an article and it caused me to think about this question quit a lot. I love to worship God but I had to examine myself if I loved to worship God because it "felt" good and because I was "refreshed" and "felt unashamed" because I do it or if I truly worshipped God without me in the equation somewhere.

What about that worship in Spirit and in Truth?

I want the purity to worship without thinking about what there is to gain from worshipping God.

I haven't read all the post but this part jumped out at me:

I want the purity to worship without thinking about what there is to gain from worshipping God.

I have felt the same way and I believe God spoke to me that there are times when He will test our reactions without us knowing what the outcome will be, but when it comes to worship, It's so important that He wants us to know of the benefits and still be able to truly lose ourselves in worship.

 

[NewSong]

I haven't read all the post but this part jumped out at me:

I want the purity to worship without thinking about what there is to gain from worshipping God.

I have felt the same way and I believe God spoke to me that there are times when He will test our reactions without us knowing what the outcome will be, but when it comes to worship, It's so important that He wants us to know of the benefits and still be able to truly lose ourselves in worship.

Thank you for sharing. I appreciate your comments and insights. God Bless.

 

[synger]

I think of worship as a spiritual discipline, much as I look at prayer or service or Bible study. If I waited until I "felt like it", or only did it because I got something out of it, I wouldn't do it at all. I'm human, and selfish, and lazy, and if I were left to my own devices I'd probably rather go to a movie (or surf the boards).

But God is gracious, and is faithful to us even when we're not faithful to Him. My church is highly liturgical, and I love it. I study and pray the liturgy, I pay attention, I pray for the Spirit's movement through each worship service. But sometimes I'm just not feeling it. Does that mean the Spirit is not at work? Not at all! I just need to trust to God's promise, and my duty to keep on keeping on.

Granted, most of the time I am completely edified by Divine Service (worship). But it takes a week-long background of daily sacrifice, confession, prayer, and service to prepare for the once-weekly "boost" of church.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Simon_Templar]

I think of worship as a spiritual discipline, much as I look at prayer or service or Bible study. If I waited until I "felt like it", or only did it because I got something out of it, I wouldn't do it at all. I'm human, and selfish, and lazy, and if I were left to my own devices I'd probably rather go to a movie (or surf the boards).

But God is gracious, and is faithful to us even when we're not faithful to Him. My church is highly liturgical, and I love it. I study and pray the liturgy, I pay attention, I pray for the Spirit's movement through each worship service. But sometimes I'm just not feeling it. Does that mean the Spirit is not at work? Not at all! I just need to trust to God's promise, and my duty to keep on keeping on.

Granted, most of the time I am completely edified by Divine Service (worship). But it takes a week-long background of daily sacrifice, confession, prayer, and service to prepare for the once-weekly "boost" of church.

I hope that makes sense.

I think, ideally, we would have both the discipline aspect and the more personal aspect, in both prayer and worship.

I think often times people from the evangelical/protestant community fail to recognize the great benefits that can be found in disciplining the mind and emotions through more formal prayer and worship.

On the same score, often times, people in the more traditional groups fail to recognize the fact that God wants us to relate to him also as Father, and also as beloved Bridegroom.

While, I've still got along way to go in both realms, I've seen great benefits in both, from both types of activity.

 

[NewSong]

I think, ideally, we would have both the discipline aspect and the more personal aspect, in both prayer and worship.

I think often times people from the evangelical/protestant community fail to recognize the great benefits that can be found in disciplining the mind and emotions through more formal prayer and worship.

On the same score, often times, people in the more traditional groups fail to recognize the fact that God wants us to relate to him also as Father, and also as beloved Bridegroom.

While, I've still got along way to go in both realms, I've seen great benefits in both, from both types of activity.

I think of worship as a spiritual discipline, much as I look at prayer or service or Bible study. If I waited until I "felt like it", or only did it because I got something out of it, I wouldn't do it at all. I'm human, and selfish, and lazy, and if I were left to my own devices I'd probably rather go to a movie (or surf the boards).

But God is gracious, and is faithful to us even when we're not faithful to Him. My church is highly liturgical, and I love it. I study and pray the liturgy, I pay attention, I pray for the Spirit's movement through each worship service. But sometimes I'm just not feeling it. Does that mean the Spirit is not at work? Not at all! I just need to trust to God's promise, and my duty to keep on keeping on.

Granted, most of the time I am completely edified by Divine Service (worship). But it takes a week-long background of daily sacrifice, confession, prayer, and service to prepare for the once-weekly "boost" of church.

I hope that makes sense.

This is certainly a lot to think about. I like what you have to share here.