Worship with Every Ounce
Published
on May 11, 2012
When you worship do you worship with every ounce of yourself? I know I don't and I know I should. Though the thing about worship is that it should be practiced all the time, not just in the church, but in our daily lives. In my last few posts I talked about the missional church and moving outward to change lives, rather than only doing things in the church. The need for authentic worship is a part of that missional goal and direction. We must ask the questions:
- What is worship?
- What is authentic worship?
- How does God want me to worship?
This post was started after I stumbled upon a video on [Vimeo](http://vimeo.com/) which caused me to start thinking about worshipping in a way that takes every ounce of myself and turns it outward. The joy we feel on Sunday should not fade on Monday morning as we sip our morning cup of coffee at work. The pursuit of worship starts with reading the Word of God and ends with us looking intently and deeply on the face of God. The world we live in should see the transformation in our lives and be led back to Him because they see such an incredible transformation in our own lives.
## Tear Down the Walls - Lyric Spot
## Worship
Worship is about going before God in humility and surrender. A notion we have forgotten because in that instance we can no longer control our lives, but we are subject to another.
> "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."
> John 4:23 > "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!"
> Psalm 95:6 God doesn't want partial worshippers, He wants "true" worshippers to come to Him in both spirit and in truth. He wants us to draw near to Him in worship so that we are close to Him. (James 4:8) Though in order to be close to God we must understand who He is and know His Word. When we come to God in worship we should be looking at praising Him for the things that He has already done for us and the things that He will do. (Psalm 100:4) Though as I read through Romans I am reminded of Romans 12:1-2, which talks about making ourselves a "living sacrifice". The idea of the spotless lamb and calf is throughout the Old Testament as a reminder of what the coming Messiah was to look like when He came to take the sins of all those who believed. However, how often do we conform our ways to this world. It is easy to start thinking and operating out of this world because it is always right in front of us. Though the change needs to happen when we put God at the forefront of our worship daily. Daily worship is about casting off ourselves and turning to God for the answers that we need and seek. To be conformed means to be like something. The concern should not be how would this world see me, but how would God see me. We miss the point in our worship and focus on the wrong meter to see the strength of our faith. When we use the world as our measure then we will probably look good, but that will not mean anything in the end. Measuring ourselves against God's standards may scare you, but remember we are clean, covered in the blood of Christ. We have been made spotless by His sacrifice on the cross, which made us right with the Father. We are what Paul talked about in Romans, but the last point is: Why haven't we been living that way?
> John 4:23 > "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!"
> Psalm 95:6 God doesn't want partial worshippers, He wants "true" worshippers to come to Him in both spirit and in truth. He wants us to draw near to Him in worship so that we are close to Him. (James 4:8) Though in order to be close to God we must understand who He is and know His Word. When we come to God in worship we should be looking at praising Him for the things that He has already done for us and the things that He will do. (Psalm 100:4) Though as I read through Romans I am reminded of Romans 12:1-2, which talks about making ourselves a "living sacrifice". The idea of the spotless lamb and calf is throughout the Old Testament as a reminder of what the coming Messiah was to look like when He came to take the sins of all those who believed. However, how often do we conform our ways to this world. It is easy to start thinking and operating out of this world because it is always right in front of us. Though the change needs to happen when we put God at the forefront of our worship daily. Daily worship is about casting off ourselves and turning to God for the answers that we need and seek. To be conformed means to be like something. The concern should not be how would this world see me, but how would God see me. We miss the point in our worship and focus on the wrong meter to see the strength of our faith. When we use the world as our measure then we will probably look good, but that will not mean anything in the end. Measuring ourselves against God's standards may scare you, but remember we are clean, covered in the blood of Christ. We have been made spotless by His sacrifice on the cross, which made us right with the Father. We are what Paul talked about in Romans, but the last point is: Why haven't we been living that way?
