Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Everybody worships. At the core of our being is a worshiper. You could say, "You know, Rick, I'm not religious. I don't worship anything." Well, actually, to be a worshiper is to value something. It's what we ultimately value, or what makes us happy. Think about it. What in your life do you really value? What's important to you? What makes you happy, or brings you pleasure? Because that is what we worship. By the way, that is ultimately what controls our behavior.
Worship in Spirit and in Truth
Our Verse of the Day talks about what true worshipers really are.
It's John chapter 4, verse 23. Jesus says, "'But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.'"
The Gospel of John is all about it. He wrote these things that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you may have life in His name. Here in John chapter 4, this dialog with the woman at the well, Jesus starts out by saying again, "But the time is coming, and indeed it's here now." All this speaks to is that Jesus Christ, His death, His resurrection, His ascension—now physical location no longer matters. Now it's an issue of the heart. Very simply, there are two essentials of worship.
Number one, worship in spirit, worship in the Spirit of God. You may wonder, "What is that? Is that my spirit? Is that the Spirit of God? Who is that? What is that all about?" Well, I believe actually He's talking about both. He's talking about how the Spirit of God quickens, enlivens your spirit to worship Him.
Secondly, worship in truth. We know in John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me." He says right here, the essentials of worship in John chapter 4, verse 23 are to worship in spirit and in truth.
Practical Application
What do we do with all this? I know as we talk about worship, we might be thinking religious things. This is incredibly practical for us. Because really, as I said at the top, every single one of us at our core is a worshiper.
Number one, ditch the religious performance. Stop simply just going through the outward motions at church or at a Bible study or whatever it is, and just think that externally we're truly worshiping without the heart. It's not true worship.
Second, true worship is internal. True worship might be seen externally, and I have people and friends and family members who raise their hands, and I sometimes raise my hands or hold my heart, and that might be an expression of what's going on internally, and that is absolutely fine. But we know that worship is internal. It's heart and head, it's emotion and spirit. It's spirit and truth. It's thoughts. It's all these together.
As a matter of fact, in Philippians chapter 3 , verse 3, Paul talked about, quite frankly, what a true Christian is. He said this in Philippians chapter 3, verse 3: "For we are the true circumcision, are those who are truly saved, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh." This is one of the true indicators of a true Christian—they worship in the Spirit of God.
Thirdly, anchor your worship in Scripture. True praise is based in the Bible. John chapter 1, verse 14: Jesus was full of grace and truth. The perfect blend. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12: The Word of God is living and active, and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. It gets way down deep into our soul, into our conscience. It changes us.
Isaiah chapter 66, verse 2, I love this verse: "This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My Word."
The Father Is Looking
Do you know what? Sad truth: our worship will never be enough. A stupendous truth is that your worship is enough because the grace of God makes it enough.
Finally, an amazing truth. The Father is looking for these types of people who worship in this way. The verse says, so let's worship because God is looking for these types of people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Therefore, if you're worshiping this way, He's looking for you.
