Worship

This morning I began to sing a hymn. I really don't sing to myself very often, but as I did this morning I realized I meant what I was saying. I remembered the verse that says his Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are his children and as I worshiped God in song I realized this is how Christians commune with the Spirit of God. I also realized that before I was worshiping the Lord I had almost subconscious troubled feelings. If we live in the Spirit and walk in step with the Spirit, the Kingdom of God is now for us as Christians and we can experience the fruits of his Spirit now. This is how we should live daily. So, my point here is we never have to be worried, or anxious, or afraid because of the Spirit of God living in us. Worship helps us connect with God and be able to live constantly with the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. Worship is an expression of faith. It is faith put into action. The action may not be as great as we might imagine some acts of faith, but it is possibly the most important act of faith we should make. I say it is an action because I not only intelectually affirm a theological idea in my mind, but I profess it aloud and when I do this in song I can express precisely how I feel about my statements. Worship in song is not the only kind of worship, but I've found it to be an incredibly bonding one. Eph. 5:19 says "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord" Whatever music you make to God it should be sincere and from your heart. The reason I say worship is possibly the most important act of faith is because it is something I am realizing I should be doing every day and even every moment if possible. (Remember the verse that says pray continually.) It not only is a way to express love to my savior, but it also affirms my faith in His love and solidifies/strengthens my bond with God. I know we can worship without singing and I believe that is important too. If I speak a psalm or hymn or Bible verse of encouragement in faith I am worshiping. Whenever we speak something whether good or bad it has great power over our own perception and the perception of others around us. (Remember the verse that says do everything without complaining or arguing.) This is because it directs the focus of those who listen. Focus is simply attention or in more general terms putting your eyes on something. Have you ever noticed if you are driving and you start looking at something on the side of the road sometimes it is really hard to not start driving off the road towards what you are looking at! This is because we naturally start following what we focus on. Someone said, you become like what you worship. This is very true. Take a look at people who idolize skate boarders, certain kinds of rock stars or people in a club that they want to be a member of. Appearances of these people change and their minds are quite frequently on becoming more like what they are focusing on all the time. Their characteristics sometimes even subconsciously become like those of the ones they idolize. The awesome thing about becoming more like Christ is that it is more fulfilling than any drug, more satisfying than any vice and it is in fact precisely what God planned for us when he created us. It's side effects are all good things unlike things of the world that we try to satisfy ourselves with sometimes. Being like Christ, knowing him and living in him is what we were created for. Our lives will continually be void and we will always feel as though some huge gaping invisible whole is secretly in us somewhere until we find him and live in his Spirt. He completes us. Worship helps us solidify our bond with him.

"It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men." --C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms