Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Chapter 9.5: Spirit and Truth: Spirit

       My brother Arthur Criste, who is a worship leader for God's House Maui, has helped me author the last part of this chapter. In this chapter we have covered worshiping God in the truth and now we will look at what it means to worship in spirit.


       John 4:23, Gal 5:13-22, Romans 8:1, and 12:1. These are the first few verses we will be looking at when it comes to what it means to worship God in the spirit. First thing we must be is filled with the spirit but what does that mean? Well, being filled with spirit means having the fruit of the spirit manifest. Which are all connected to pleasing and honoring our Father through worship and praise. This is powerful because being filled with His spirit will allow the truth to operate the way God intended it. The truth of course is the word of God. His truth is the breath which brings forth life and life more abundantly. The Bible says the truth shall set you free!!! The only way you can truly be set free is through Jesus Christ and His spirit. Which is why I believe Jesus, the son of God, is the only way to please the father. God desires to be worshiped by His spirit and truth. We can't please God just by our earthly desires because it will always be tainted and misguided by our own desires but we can do this through the Holy Spirit. That is why it says in John 4:24: God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 14:6 truth John 6:63: Spirit



       The Bible says the He is the way the Truth and it also says that He is the light. The Bible goes on to say God is spirit which is why I believe God desires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. One of the ways His spirit is described is a movement of air or in other words a gentle blast of the wind. Simply put He is a breath of fresh air. We need the spirit of God like we need the very air we breathe. Just one breath of God that is all it takes. The Spirit of God will bring life, comfort, peace, power to break any chain, it brings love, it brings hope, and takes us into that place of pureness where you are stripped down to nothing but yet feel so much more fulfilled because of His spirit. These two things cannot be separated because it is a unit He didn't want us to separate. We can not have one without the other because to have the fullness of worship you will need to have both. When you try to separate the two and only operate in one or hold one above the other you are not tapping into the fullness of what God has in store for you. It is like if you took the peanut butter away from a peanut butter jelly sandwich, it is stills good when it is on its own but they are best when they are put together.
       So, if we desire to give God our best worship we should have the desire to worship Him the way he would liked to be worshiped. A way of looking at is like this: I'm happily married to a wonderful beautiful wife and she has a certain way that she would like to be loved. She desires that I do some house work like wash the dishes, fold the laundry, throw out the trash, and etc. She also desires that I communicate with her better, like having conversations about our day, what is coming up, and etc. So these are just a couple examples of the way my wife feels loved. If I would just ignore some of these things and hardly ever did them, would she feel like I do not truly love her? No, but she would probably think that I am not listening to her and therefore do not really truly care about the way she would like to be loved. When you are in a relationship you are not trying to get what you want from them. Instead think of how you can best please the other person, which is what really makes for successful relationships, if you are only thinking about yourself and what you can get out of the relationship it will not flourish into all what that relationship can be. I believe this is the same way with God. When it comes to worship and loving our Father He makes it very clear on how He would like to be loved and worshiped. He is such a loving father He designed worship in the easiest most fulfilling way possible. You won't only please Him but you will learn to draw closer and closer to Him. The more you do this naturally your whole life will reflect the fruit of the spirit and you will have more love, joy peace, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and self control. Then through the spirit God's truth will be able to function the way He intended it to function with no ulterior motives just purity and truth.
       So I propose this as we end, how are you worshiping our father? As I expressed early, is it what our Father Desires? Lets really dig deep into His word and dive into the depths of His heart to find what He desires. All He wants is your yes, but lets really give Him our all by studying His word, spending time with Him in prayer, filling yourself with His songs, and most of all living this life as a worshiper of Him. As Eddie mentioned in the last chapter, lets serve others be it at work, at school, at home, with our family, and our friends as if we were serving Jesus himself. How much more would we respect one another, how much more would we give the shirt off of our own back, and how much more would we spend time with people we feel we can't stand. Lets make a difference in this world by living a life of services to our God by being that servant to all as we would serve Him. Let us all die to our selfish desires and look to Him.
       I love you all my brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us all link arms and represent Christ the way He intended us too. Lets not regard ourselves by race, culture, social status, denomination, church, or anything else society says instead lets be a people of who are lovers of God and His ways!!!! Being the most loving and encouraging people on this earth. We can only do all these things if we submit to the Holy Spirit which is the kind of worship the Father really desires.


       Thank you very much brother. We must not get side tracked by tradition, which we love to call the spirit, but instead submit to what God has said in His word and is saying now to our hearts. To worship God in the way He desires is simple; being lead by the spirit and submitting to the truth. When we do this we make God look good. When we do not and say that we are, we are making God look bad. Let us no longer take for granted the freedom given to us through the death and resurrection of Christ but rather take that freedom to worship God the way He intended us to.

No comments:

Post a Comment