Worship: August 25, 2010

Today's Word for Wednesday August 25, 2010

WORSHIP

DEFINITION

Reverent honor and homage paid to God; formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor; adoring, reverence or regard.

SCRIPTURE

"Because He is your Lord, worship Him." Psalm 45:11

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker." Psalm 95:6

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Worship is our way to show that we honor and revere God. He is all powerful and all knowing but more than that He is a loving and just God. He loved us so much that He was not willing for us to die in our sins so He sent His only Son to suffer and die for our sins. Because of this alone, He deserves our worship.

We worship the Lord with praise and thanksgiving for who He is and for the salvation He provided for us through Jesus Christ. We also worship Him for all the blessings He has given to us. James reminds us that every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from our father in heaven [James 1:7]. We have an awesome God! How can we not worship Him?

We have been in Kenya several times representing our ministry, World Opportunities International. One of the highlights of each trip was visiting some of the 75 churches we sponsored. We learned from them what true worship was all about. These dear people filled their churches to capacity every time the doors were opened. Most of them walked for miles to get to their church. They had no cars and could not afford any city buses that may have been available. Many were standing outside looking in through the open windows. We never have heard such singing from the heart. They would sit or stand for hours taking in every word that was being preached.

And when the offering was taken we learned so much about worship through their giving. Even though they had very little they worshipped God in the offering with a tithe of what God had given them. There gifts were simple things like a live chicken, or a piece of fruit. What is important was that they were given sacrificially and from the heart.

Many times we have compared the worship of these dear Kenyans with the church here in America. What a difference! We are sure you know what we mean. What happens when the preacher speaks too long or the service is longer than an hour? People look at their watch and shake it to see if it is working.

After we were first married and went to Korea for World Vision, one of the first things that we could not help but notice was the early Morning Prayer meetings. At 6:00A.M. EVERY MORNING the church bells rang and churches were filled to capacity for prayer. They prayed daily for their country, for their churches and for their countrymen who did not know the Lord. South Korea was recognized as a Christian nation because over 50% of their population was professing Christians and they made prayer and worship a part of their daily life. This was a great lesson to us about worship. Our world today needs to make the worshipping of our Lord a priority in our daily lives.

When you are worshipping in the presence of God, this is a time for God to talk to you. A good indicator of our spiritual temperature is our eagerness to worship God. Our worship of God here on earth is only a prelude to the great worship services we will have in the future when we are in the presence of God. We encourage you to worship God daily and live for what you will not regret when you die.

LEARNING

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ephesians 6:10.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

PRAYER

Give me today a spirit of worship. Help me to worship You, my God, my Lord and my Savior. I bring all that I have to You today so that as I worship You, You can use me as You see fit. Bless my family, my friends and those in the world we live in that are lonely, hungry and searching for hope that only You can give.