Worship
ascribes and declares value to God, so everything we do that points our
heart godward is worship. Worship is
the very essence of what a Christian is and does, the linkage between all
aspects of the Christian life and the product of the Holy Spirit revealing Christ
in us. Bible study, prayer, fellowship, communion, service, ministry and
giving are worship as is demonstrating the attributes of our Lord, showing
Love, Joy, Peace, etc. A saint’s life becomes a rhapsody of worship as he grows
in grace... becoming Christlike in nature. Since the primary purpose of the
Christian life is our conformance into the nature and likeness of our Lord, our
transformation is the greatest offering of worship we can ever give our Father.
Worship
then, is much more than a part of a church service... corporate worship, where
we sing songs of praise and adoration to God. We live in a time of imbalance,
as corporate worship is being exalted as the End-All of the Christian experience,
portrayed as the door into the very presence of God. We allow our personal
“feelings” to measure our corporate worship, as if “Goosebumps” or other
physical sensations meant God was present. These “feelings” are what we do to
our selves... just our emotions, when we think God is near. How often we heard our
corporate worship services qualified in some way as great or awesome: Do we
really know what God thought of it? We seem to have a lot of pride in something
that is for God, and not us!
So
what am I saying ... are Goosebumps bad... No! Thank God for Goosebumps. What
is bad is to think the ever present God is only present when we ‘Feel” Him, to
relegate His presence to corporate worship, and to think that “feelings” during
corporate worship somehow mean we are
OK, that God is pleased with us even when our life does not reflect the DNA of
His Beloved Son. God is ever present... He has said He will never ever leave or
forsake us... He doesn’t lie! Transformation is God’s will for His children;
its importance cannot be overstated. God’s presence will be strongest as we
reflect the nature of Christ in our daily lives, and will grow as we grow in
Christlikeness. This is where imbalance is good, in our quest to be like
Jesus...
TRANSFORMATION
THE GREATEST OFFERING
OF WORSHIP
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