The Results of Genuine Worship Part 1

James 4

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [ESV]

God Delights In Us

  

Genesis 1:31(a) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. [ESV]

God delights in worship and all creation was meant to worship Him. If you will sit outside at daybreak and be still and listen, you will hear God’s creation worship Him. What do you hear?  A bird sitting in a tree singing, singing praise to God. What else do you hear in the stillness of the early morning? The wind blowing causing the leaves in the tree to make music that blends perfectly in praising God, with the bird. God’s created order praises Him in Worship the only way they know how, yet God’s greatest and most loved Creation is you. As you sit listening do you begin to praise Him also? Do you follow the bird and the breeze and sing praise of thankfulness to your Father who loves you so much He sent His Son to die a cruel death on the cross, to be resurrected on the third day just for you? Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. The Heavenly Father desires your worship that is in spirit and truth, for your worship in the flesh is unacceptable to God. You can feel within your spirit the stirring of acceptable worship. It is when all that is within you is focused on God and not the things going on around you. It is when in your quiet time or time of prayer is focused completely on the Father who rejoices in your devotion.

For Thought:

1.    Do you recall a time when in worship whether corporate or alone you were so in tune with God that all else around you was tuned out? This was worship in the spirit.

2.    When worshiping God in the spirit you are worshiping the Father from the heart. As you worship God in truth and in spirit, God is delighted in your worship, for you are worshiping the creator as you were created to do.

John 4:23-24

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” [NIV 1984]

I think worship is a lifestyle, first of all. (Michael W. Smith)

As you spend time in prayer, find a place where you are completely alone. A place you find the most comfort. It is here you can worship God in the manner He desires you to. It is here you will find God accepting your worship and delighting in you.

Isaiah 62:3-4

3 You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 It will no longer be said to you, "Forsaken," Nor to your land will it any longer be said, "Desolate"; But you will be called, "My delight is in her," And your land, "Married"; For the Lord delights in you, And to Him your land will be married. [NASB]