Are you a True Worshiper?

There's always a lot of finger-pointing going on whenever people of different faiths assembly in close proximity to one another ...each group wants to accuse the other of a lack of faith and the practice of true worship. The only thing that usually comes out of such encounters is bruised feelings and wounded egos.

Christ dealt with such problems of faith whenever he encountered the religious sects of his time...the Pharisees and the Sadducees always seemed to have some type of perpetuating skirmish or conflict brewing. They were always ready, willing and anxious to do battle of who was the true protector of the Jewish faith.

Christ gave his best answer to this perplexing problem in a sit-down interview with the Samaritan woman at the well when he said, ""Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." John 4:20-24

Jesus made it very clear to her that there was indeed a new way to worship...true worship of God the Father in SPIRIT and TRUTH....but was does that mean? Well, for me it means that we must first get our heart right (our spirit/soul/mind) by coming to the Father and accepting that we can do ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING TO EARN OUR SALVATION; rather we are TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD'S GRACE AND HIS ABUNDANT MERCY to save us through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our spirit must become one with our Heavenly Father and that can never take place until our sins have been forgiven and our right relationship with God has been restored....we must surrender our desire to "make it on our own" and enter into a new covenant with God...a covenant that replaces our will with our desire to do His will. When this takes place, God breathes His spirit, the Holy Spirit, into us and then we can begin to worship Him as He forever intended.

But what about this TRUTH thing?

Again for me, its very simple...we live out a life of worship in the everyday nitty and gritty of life...when we worship God with our lives in service to Him, we do so in truth. Our very existence takes on the supreme element of truth as we live each day trusting God for our very next breath...our next meal...our next opportunity to share with someone how our relationship with our Heavenly Father has made all the difference in who we are and in what we are becoming and where we are going.

As a child of his, the truth of the matter is evident in our lifestyle, our choices, our demeanor and our every action....we are HIS and so we worship Him in EVERYTHING....THE GOOD AND THE BAD....and when we are able to do that in a world that is lost and spinning out of control....God's Truth is shown and becomes known.

So next time a crowd of religious wannabes gather and begin to point fingers and take sides....excuse yourself from the impending Malay and just stick to the basics of true worship....keep your heart right with God and live in the truth of each moment....now that's TRUE WORSHIP.

Living in the moment ...worshipping with every breath,
WPQ