Time With Christ: 17 February 2015 Tuesday Daily Devotion - Worthy Worship?

Topic: Worthy Worship? (Tuesday, February 17, 2015)

Memorize: But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. - John 4:23-24

Read: (Revelation 5:11-14 KJV)

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

MESSAGE:
The first to learn about worthy worship is that worship should be in accordance to the commandments of God, but it should not be mechanical. In other words, obedience must precede any act of worship and it and it must come from the depth of our being. 1 Samuel 15:22 says,

“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than fat of rams.”

After worshipper who is not living in obedience to the word of God worships in vain. Of such are Christians who call Jesus “Lord, Lord”, but fail to do the will of God. Their effort is fruitless and their act of worship does not move God. You will not worship God in vain in Jesus’ Name.

Any act of worship that is mechanical, devoid of true love, faith, reverent adoration, honour and praise to the Almighty God will not be acceptable. Worship that is worthy and acceptable to God must be offered in spirit and in truth; it must be offered wholeheartedly and with total submission to the will of God. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus enjoined us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and might; this means that worthy worship requires putting in everything we have. The right attitude is required for our worship to be counted worthy and acceptable to God. The first step is to carry out a self-examination to be sure that our heart is right with God (1 Corinthians 11:28). Then we are to carefully follow the footsteps of David in 2 Samuel 12:20a:

“Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped:”

David got up from the earth; this means he separated himself from earthy things. Next, he washed up to properly cleanse himself from every form of dirt and iniquity. He proceeded to anoint himself and change his filthy garments to that of holiness and righteousness. Only then did he have the confidence to enter the presence of God and was able to worship God without any hindrance. As you approach the presence of God today, your worship will be counted worthy and acceptable before Him in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer Point: Father, let the blessings of worthy and acceptable worship be mine today in Jesus’ Name.

Bible in one year: Lamentations 1-2, and Acts 27:33-28:10