21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” — John 4:21-24, NKJV
I’ve heard more than one minister say that everyone is worshiping something, and I believe that’s true, whether we realize it or not; we were created to worship. Of course, we were created to worship (adore, revere, respect, honor, serve, obey) the Father, Jesus Christ, the Living God, the LORD of all!
But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you: to love the Lord your God and to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and to cling to and unite with Him and to serve Him with all your heart and soul [your very life].–Joshua 22:5, AMPC
God (The Holy Trinity of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is the only One Who is truly worthy of our praise and worship. He is Light, Life, and Love. There is no darkness, no lie, no shadow, nothing perverse or ugly or unholy in Him! Hallelujah!
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. 2 He was present originally with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him, and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.–John 1:1-3, AMPC
He has a soul (Lev. 26:11); He has emotions. He loves it when people love on Him and brag on Him. Don’t you? Our emotions came out of Him, and were given to us to be used correctly. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden by listening to the enemy instead of God (Genesis), then their thinking and emotions and everything else became corrupted.
But then God sent Jesus to restore us to His wonderful original Plan (John 3:15-17). Hallelujah!
So what does it mean to “worship in spirit and truth?”
First, God is a Spirit, and the real and eternal part of us is spirit. The life we have comes out of God. We are spirits with a soul (mind, will, and emotions), and we (each of us a spirit, birthed in and from God) live in a body (our “house” or “tent”).
When we worship in truth, that simply means we are not faking it. However, we can choose to worship, even when we don’t feel like it, although we may feel like a fake! Feelings cannot be trusted; they can change quickly, depending on circumstances, other people’s opinions, etc.
As one well-known minister said, “Faith is not a feeling.” Hallelujah! It is a choice! So we choose to worship the LORD, even when our bodies don’t feel like it (kind of like choosing to exercise when we don’t want to, although choosing to worship God is a much more valuable and eternal act!), and even when our minds are screaming the opposite. There is great power in praise and worship, especially in the middle of wrong circumstances!
It is a process to learn how to release our faith and be able to get into an attitude of worship. But, just like anything else, practice helps us improve. Also, our dear sweet, faithful Holy Spirit helps us worship the Father and the Son, for that is part of His job–to glorify them and never draw attention to Himself.
What a truly awesome God we serve!
Also, when we worship, we forget ourselves and challenges, and we turn our focus on the LORD. It is the ultimate fellowship to me, although some feel closer to God in prayer or reading and speaking the Word. I like all of it; it is all fellowship–practicing and deepening the relationship–with the LORD, our Father God, and Jesus the Son when we are sincere.
Just like any relationship, it grows and deepens and gets sweeter and stronger the more we invest in it.
So to worship the Father in spirit and truth means to come before Him honestly, and understand that He loves us so much that He adores us and desires to spend time with us; that He is forever faithful, the perfect Parent, Who watches over us 24/7, and is always working all things together for our best and His glory, because we are (once we have received Christ Jesus His Son as our Savior and LORD) His kids (Romans 8:28)! Even before we receive Him, He watches over us from the womb, because He sees all things and knows those who will receive and follow Him. Hallelujah!
He is so very worthy of worship–every good thing in our lives comes from Him, and only from Him! Even if we work hard and have lots of success, that is a gift from Him (Neh. 2:20, Deut. 8:18, John 3:27, Eph. 4:28).
We true Believers desire (which is inspired by the Holy Spirit, for truly we cannot even want to worship Him without His help!) to worship our LORD, first because we love Him and are eternallly thankful for Jesus’ shed blood on the cross that has saved us from our sins and provided for us The Covenant, in which every good thing from God is provided for us (Psalm 25:12)!
You don’t have to take my word for it. Please talk to God yourself and ask the LORD to show you verses in the Bible to help you understand. He will help you, and He knows the exact Scriptures that will help you understand and believe. However, the Word of God never returns empty, but accomplishes that for which it is sent (Isaiah 55:11-12), so I know that the Scriptures in this writing are already ministering to you!
So turn up the worship music (There are several good Christian radio stations online and otherwise!) and, if you can, keep it going 24/7 in the background. You will very soon find yourself learning the words and singing along. Your kids will quickly pick up on the songs. You will realize that you feel better when you are worshipping, and it will become more and more of a lifestyle.
Worship is a powerful way also for the LORD to cleanse and heal our lives. As His Spirit, the Living Water, flows through us, He can work in our hearts and souls and bodies to restore to us what has been lost–including and especially our understanding of His Covenant Love for us (Psalm 89:34)! So when we truly believe His love, we know He truly has forgiven and cleansed us, and accepts and celebrates us as His own.
Hallelujah!
Speaking of that, For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.–Hebrews 10:2, KJV
What are you waiting for? If you don’t have a computer or radio, sing! He loves it, and you never have to be concerned with “sounding good.” Just worship from your heart, and our sweet, dear God, the LORD of Heaven and earth, will accept it and draw closer to you–which is the ultimate goal of all worship!
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITERS
