Worship as all of life devotions

Devotions: Worship as all of life

Worship as all of life

How do I serve Jesus with the whole of my life?

Romans 12:1-2, Luke 9:23-24

Possible verses:

Ps 51:17

John 4:21-23

Matt 15:8

Phil 1:20-21

Eph 4:18, 23

Ps 34:8, 119:18

Eph 1:18

Mat 5:16

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/all-of-life-as-worship

Place and external form dont matter in worship - it is about the heart (spirit and truth)

Authentic worship comes from treasuring Christ (Phil)

Devotion 1: Our Proper response to God is worship

James Packer is widely respected as one of the great Christian authors of the 20th Century. He passed away on July 17, 2020 at the age of 93. He has left a profound legacy. Through 70 years of ministry and writing he has encouraged Christians around the world in their spirituality, their daily fellowship with God and their worship of God.

He once wrote, “We do not spend much time, alone or together, in dwelling on the wonder of the fact that God and sinners have communion at all; no, we just take that for granted, and give our minds to other matters.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/j-i-packer-1926-2020/

Today we will look at worship that is a wonderful gift to us because we have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ work on the cross. Worship is about honouring God and joyusly and gratefully giving back to Him all the good gifts He has given us. As we grow in our understanding of the greatness and graciousness of God we delight in praising Him. We thank Him for who He is, and what He has done, through His mercy, judgement and power. Psalm 95:6-7 describes how we worship God because He made us, loves and cares for us.

True worship is not about the shape of worship, what songs we sing and how well we do church, it is an attitude of the heart and a new attitude of the mind. Matt 15:8 warns us not to offer praise with our lips when our hearts are far from God. We need to have a new attitude in our thinking toward God too. Eph 4:18, 23

As we worship God we can feel wonder and joyful excitement. We can enjoy feeling these wonderful emotions as we sing to God and praise His name or when we see His name honoured or learn more about his wonderful character. In 2 Samual 6:14-16 David is swept up in passionate zeal as he dances in celebration while the ark of the covenamant is carried up to Jerusalem. He also sat in humilty amazed in 7:18 as he was promised a dynasty. His worship at both times pleased the Lord. Learning from God is worship as is a life lived for His glory equipped by the Holy Spirit. Ps 24:4 describes as living with “clean hands and a pure heart”. Ps 51:17 says this starts with a recognition that God is God and we are not. This attitude leads us to reprentance and faith. When we are willing to live a life servicing God with works of service and speak words of adoration, all of our life is Worship!

Psalm 95:6-7

Ps 24:4

Ps 51:17

Devotion 2: The Act of Worship

As we saw yesterday, our worship of God involves the whole of our life. Worship is a blend of awe and joy. In Romans 12:1 Paul says that in view of God’s mercy to us we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices. In other words because Jesus sacrificed His life for us to offer us God;’s mercy, our proper responce is to live our lives for him. True worship comes from treasureing Christ. Paul describes this as our proper act of worship.

We worship God by putting away sin Heb 7-10; being baptised Matt 28:19; remebering the Lord’s supper Matt 26:26-29; doing good on the sabbath Luke 13:10;14:1-6, coming together as the church to praise God, hear from His word, preach his Gospel, sing songs and hyms of praise, pray to Him, and care for eachother.

Again in Romans 12 Paul points out that worship involves not being conformed to the pattern of this world but rather being willing to be shaped by God’s Word to live out a radical counter cultural life of love. We are being transformed and renewed. This is lived out by putting aside our personal priorities for the sake of the body, the church. The Holy Spirit equips us with gifts of service so that we might have sincere love for oneanother. This worship changes the world. In effect Jesus is building his church and we are called to express our new found identity in Him. We worship God with our lives as living sacrifices partnering with Jesus as He builds HIs church.

Worship changes the way we see church. We are not just individual Christians who consume church. We are not transient, going from church to church looking for the best worship experience. Worshiping God at church helps us to be loyal to the other Christians in our local church because we see ourselves as part of the body. This is part of our spiritual act of worship. We offer back to God the good things he gives us by serving the body, using our gifts to build others up. Worshiping God brings a stability to the local church as Christians commit to serving in a long term low key, relational way.

Romans 12

Rev 4:8-11

Col 3:17

Devotion 3: Worship brings Joy to Life

In John 10:10 Jesus said he had come to give us life and life to the full. Worshiping God is the best way to have a full life both here on earth and into eternity. Ps 34:8 Worship will be central to our life in heaven Rev 4:8-11 and as result it should be central to the life of Christians and the church hear on earth. Col 3:17.

Yet so often living the Christian life is portrayed as restricting peoples behaviour and a dull way to live with no fun. Many people today see Christianity as a list of do’s and dont’s. Yet the Bible always paints our new life in Christ as a positive exciting adventure.Luke 9:23-24 Following Jesus does involve denying selfish and sinful living. It does involve change, and change for the better. We are to take up our cross and follow Christ. But the Bible describes this as freedom from sin that holds us back from enjoying a great relationship with God and other people. Rom 6:22.

In John 3:3 Jesus talks about the new life of the believer as though we were born again. Jesus gives us forgiveness from our past and a new start. Ps 43:8 says that we can taste and see that the Lord is good. As we worship God with our whole life we will see that this is the best life we can live. In Psalm 119:18 the writer asks God to open his eyes so that he might discover the joys of the word of God and all the benifits living his word out brings. The Christian life is not a duty or a chore. Worshiping God brings joy and delight. Even in the darkest of times we know that our future is brighter than our past because we will enjoy God forever.

The benefits of worshiping God are to be enjoyed every new day. In Eph 1:18

The benefits are for ourselves and for the people around us. As we live to worship God others will benefit from our compassion and love.

Paul prays that we might understand the hope we have been called to and the riches that are ours in Christ. While we wait for the day we will meet our Lord in heaven we can enjoy worshiping God now too. God is renovating our heart, day by day as he gives us new pasions and a new purpose. We live by faith and not by sight. 2 Cor 5:7

Col 3:17

Luke 9:23-24

Ps 119:18

Eph 1:18

Devotion 4: Our Worship Brings God Glory

When we Worship God with our whole lives we bring glory to God. While we live on this earth Christ will be excaulted in our Body as we love and serve God and others. The kind of worship that God seeks from us is that we worship in spirit and truth. John 4:21-23 In 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Paul descibes the spiritual person as one who calls Jesus Lord. To call Jesus Lord is to put his teaching into practice. When Christians worship Jesus as Lord it makes a difference.

Jesus says in John 13:35 that the world will know that we are his disciples if we follow his comand to love oneanother. Loving Worshipers of God stand out. In Matt 5:16 Jesus again says that our lives as Christians will shine before other people and this will bring glory to God. When we live self sacrificial lives others notice. When people expereince the love of God lived out buy his followers they praise God. God is glorifyed. There are thousands of stories of Christians serving others in ways that stir other people to ask why? We are encouraged to always have an answer when others question why we believe and live the way we do. 1 Peter 3:15.

As surprising as it may seem the church brings glory to God. Even with all our failings, the Christian church is evidence of God’s saving power though Jesus. We can take great encouragement tha by simply living a life of worship we are bringing glory to God. Even the spiritual enemies of God see the evidence of the power of God in that he has redeemed, renewed us and saved us from sin. Eph 3:20-21

John 4:21-23

1 Cor 12:1-3

John 13:35

Matt 5:16

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.