Worship is
the pinnacle of the spiritual disciplines and everything points to Him.
May’s Awakening, Day 29
Jesus
said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your
God, and serve him only.’ ” Matthew 4:10 NIV
Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:30 NIV
The spiritual disciplines can be
broadly categorized as inward, outward, and corporate. The inward disciplines
are the ones we are most familiar with and the ones we are most likely to
undertake. They are those we use privately to renew our mind and spirit by
being quietly in His presence with His Word. They include worship, prayer,
fasting, study, meditation and reflection, and a
well-ordered heart. Worship is the true pinnacle of the spiritual
disciplines and as such is really an inward attitude of the heart, an outward
expression of our awe of God, and a corporate experience among a group of
believers. We have already looked at worship in this devotional during the
second week of January, but there are some additional points we will make here.
Worship.
There is no higher priority as a believer than worship. Our worship must
permeate every aspect of our being and there are avenues that will help us
achieve that. First, we must cleanse our hearts and our minds, quiet our
activities (both physical and mental), and have a holy expectancy of meeting
God—this is the mental avenue into worship. Second, we express our awe and
admiration to our God, the only One worthy, through praise, thanksgiving,
prayer, singing, music, and even exuberant shouting—this is the vocal avenue
into worship. Third, we may, as the Spirit leads us, stand, kneel, bow, lift
our hands, lay prostrate, clap, lift our heads upward, and even dance before
the Lord in a joyous celebration—this is the physical avenue into worship. The
final avenue into worship is tapping into the fullness of your emotional energy—bringing
the right attitude, humility, rejoicing, sincere sorrow, repentance, and
submission of self to His leading.
Worship is learned best by
worshiping. Let go of your agenda, tune out all the distractions and everything
around you, and tune in to God—it’s all about you alone, meeting Him. Worship
brings you closer to God like nothing else can.
Author Web Page Link
No comments:
Post a Comment