Todays study is the first two keys to experiencing God in worship.
The first key is spending time in God's presence. If we look at Monday's study then we see the seventy and how they followed Jesus and spent time at His feet which prepared them to be sent out and do the work of ministry and worship the Lord.
I know for me personally one of the hardest disciplines in this life is having a consistent quiet time. There is always something that gets in the way, everyone is busy and there is never enough time in the day. But a quiet time is life and death for a christian. If we don't spend time in the word we being to lose or fellowship with God and that leaves us open to attack and frustration and depression and all those things we have been saved from.
I read a book called the Secrets of the Secret place by Bob Sorgie (I think I spelled that last name right) and he helped me to look at our time with God in a little different manner. Bob titled one chapter radiation therapy. When we spend time with God its as if we are being irradiated by His presence and the cancer (aka sin) is being killed the more time we spend with God. Every moment in Gods presence helps us to be more like Him and kills our sin, it gives us a clear picture of who God is and how much He loves us and in turn helps us to worship Him. The thought of God killing the sin inside of me by spending time in His presence makes me want to spend as much time with Him as possible. "The only way we can know the will of the Lord and be filled with the Holy Spirit is to spend time in God's presence." By spending time with God we remove the influence of sin and can know the will of God. Apart for Him we can do nothing.
The second Key to worship is to count the cost.
Most christians don't like to think about this at all. We don't like to think that following God will cost us something. We are selfish at the core of our being and it is very unsettling to think that God would ask us to do something that might hurt us in some way. The truth is that God has always asked His people to do things that put themselves at personal risk for the sake of the Gospel.
One thing I have learned is that God is not going to ask you to do something that He will not provide the grace for you to do. I remember living in Kansas City and I was attending a local church that had a service on Tuesday nights. Well I couldn't wait to get to church that night, work had been crazy and I was ready to see my friends and worship the Lord. Well I was on my way in a hurry of course to get there when I saw a car stalled in the middle of an intersection. People were going around this guy and were rather annoyed that His car had broken down in the middle of the intersection. I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to stop and help this guy. Well to be honest it was more like the Holy Spirit was yelling at me. I was listening to the song by Casting Crowns "If we are the Body" and right as I was passing this guy I made eye contact with him and the lyrics at that exact moment were "why aren't His hands reaching". Well I said to myself I am on my way to church I need to get there I don't have time to stop. I got about a block and finally gave into the Holy Spirit and turned around and helped the guy. Turns out he was on his way to church as well and just needed to use my cell phone to call for some help. I had no idea but at church that night we had the Lord supper service and man did I worship it was awesome. When we are obedient to Gods call in our life it produces joy and fulfillment. Had I not done what the Lord had asked me to do then I could not have worshiped Him that night.
Worshiping God will cost you, it may cost you some money, it may cost you some time, and it may cost you your life. But we need not worry because God will provide were He guides. Our problems start when we go and do things were He has not guided and then expect Him to provide.
Tomorrow Dave Roberts is back and will talk about the last two keys to worshiping the Lord. I hope all of you have a great day and look for opportunities to serve the Lord as you go about your day.
In Christ
Chad <><
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