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NASB | John 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 4:23 "But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers. |
Subject: Is it true worship? |
Bible Note: IS IT REALLY WORSHIP? I wondered why it was that in situations of "praise and worship", that I at times felt a distinct unease as to the credence of much of what was being done in the name of God, and felt a reluctance to join in with what my heart could not witness. I asked Jesus to please show me what it was that caused me to so feel so ill-at-ease, or to hold back. He has since shown me that much of what is offered as Praise and Worship is in fact self-centered and self-seeking. We think that God wants our Praise, so like idol worshipping pagans we tender our praise hoping that in return the god(s) will hear and grant us what we desire in return. This is not what God wants, He wants us to come to Him with a pure heart desiring only to Know Him - for this is eternal life. Some time ago, I heard a widely published and well respected speaker say to a congregation that we were to give God all the Glory because He wants it and He needs it. The Holy Spirit spoke up on the inside of me and said, "no I don't need it, I have all the Glory I will ever need because I am Glory". God's Glory, or the Glory which results from us doing the will of God, is like a loaded gun in the hands of a child. We are to commit it to Him, for safe-keeping. This is the treasure we are to lay up in Heaven, this is also your eternal reward for your earthly obedience, and your "good deposit", or storehouse. (Matt 6:19-21, 12:35, Mark 10:21, 2 Cor 4:17). I recently watched a replay of T.D. Jakes speaking at the "Woman thou art loosed - 2001" conference, and it electrified me! What The Lord opened to me through this was that when people want what we have they will seek to gain it through giving us what they believe we want. This is the basis of most transactional exchange. So when advertising salespeople come into my shop trying to sell to me, the first thing they invariably do is to try and "stroke" my ego be telling me what a wonderful shop I have, and or what a nice guy I am, thinking this will gain my favor. This is all based in fear, greed and manipulation. So, if we are given to the thought that God "wants" or needs our praise and worship, and that we in turn "want" what God has for ourselves, then we will try to make the transaction by attempting to buy His favor with our "adoration". We try to manipulate God, when we still hold (any of) our own life in our own hands. Our (real) life is hid with Christ in God, so if and when we do not live in true submission to the Will of God and under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, (why do you call me "Lord", and do not the things which I say?) then we seek to manipulate Him by maintaining lordship over our own will - get it? When we hold up our up-turned hands in true Praise and Worship, and yield ourselves as a vessel of and to righteousness, we cease from manipulation. We ought then also see our manipulating of others for what it really is, and so seek deliverance from this most odious and onerous of human character traits. If we come seeking to "worship" God, and there is any duplicity in our heart, any unresolved unforgiveness, unrepented attitudes and actions which contradict the Word of Truth and the Love nature of God, then we deceive ourselves, because we do not "know" the Truth, and they that (truly) worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, with clean (empty) hands and a clean heart. As in communion, if we do not "rightly discern the body, we eat and drink judgment to ourselves." Jesus told me that the reason He wants our Praise and Worship is not for His sake, it is for our sake - it is so we can learn how to love unconditionally with the unconditional Love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. So we can learn to align our will with His Will and walk in the righteousness He has established for us, and in the freedom He bought for us with His life's blood. -- Strom |