TODAY’S
WORD FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 1, 2013.
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 reverence 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 1:17.) 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
or bicycles and could not afford any city buses that may have been available.
When every seat was full and the walls were lined with people inside, many were
standing outside looking in through the open windows. We never have heard such
singing. Their singing really came 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. They worshipped God in the offering with a tithe of what God had given
them. We saw chickens, vegetables and even clothes being given. They gave sacrificially
from what God had blessed them with.
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?
After
we were first married and went to Korea for World Vision, one of the first
things that was brought to our attention was the early morning prayer meetings.
At 6:00A.M. EVERY MORNING the churches were filled to capacity for their daily
prayer meeting as they worshipped God together. They recognized the importance
of worshipping God and were willing to get up before daybreak to honor the Lord
by joining with fellow believers to begin the day with worship. By the way,
their churches were not heated and it was very cold in the winter, some days at
least 20 degrees below zero.
They
prayed daily for their country, for their churches and for their countrymen who
did not know the Lord. South Korea was known as a Christian nation at that time
because they demonstrated their faith in God through prayer and worship. Over
half of their population was classified as Christians. This was a great lesson
to us about worship and prayer. 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 Philippians 1:21.
For
to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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.
