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We
are looking at how we as Christians, can worship our Lord with our
heads, our hearts and our hands. Last month, we explored a few ways
we can worship with our heads, this month we will look at our hearts.
Our
hearts should have some attributes that are universal to all Christians,
such as love, obedience, forgiveness, self-denial, self-sacrifice,
and perseverance, to name a few. Our hearts are human hearts, prone
to weakness, worry, false assumptions, and selfishness. Many times
our hearts are filled with trouble, anguish and anxiety. We can lump
these three attributes under the heading of ‘trouble'. Jesus recognized
that our hearts are prone to trouble. He told us that we should not
let our hearts be troubled, because as we live for Him, He will set
a place for us…so we can eternally worship
Him.
“Don't
let your hearts be troubled, trust in God; Trust also in Me. In my
Father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told
you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you
also may be where I am. ( John 14: 1-3 NIV)
We
have a place set for us. Jesus is referring to heaven. This is marvelous
thought. Notice that Jesus is saying “I am going there to prepare a
place for you”. He is not summoning an angel to take care of this for
Him, He is doing this preparation Himself on our behalf. Many of us
have invited guests to our homes, and the more we value these guests
the more preparation goes into making them feel comfortable, the more
fuss we make in making sure their comfort is tended to. Jesus Himself
is making the fuss for us, He is preparing a place for us! Our heart's
hope and deepest desire should be to spend eternity in God's glorious
presence . However, our fellowship with God is not meant to wait until
we get to heaven, we can be in fellowship with Him right now.
What
is fellowship? Fellowship is defined as, “the condition of being
together for the sharing a similar interests or experiences”. God wishes
to have fellowship with us now. Do we have similar interests with God?
I hope so! Do we have hearts filled with love, obedience, forgiveness,
self-denial and perseverance? If we're honest with ourselves the answer
is no, not always. Can we cultivate a heart of these attributes? I believe
so. The first place to start is with prayer, fervent prayer. In prayer,
we turn to God and seek His wisdom, His assistance, and we turn to God
as our Deliverer. Prayer is communicating with God. I don't believe God
desires deep intellectual or meaningless repetition, but rather heart-filled
sincerity. (Matthew 6:7)
Our
hearts play a huge role in our worship and in our prayer. Jesus offered
a pattern to us on prayer. In this pattern, we are to see that our hearts
should be void of selfish desires, but rather we recognize and affirm God's
sovereignty, righteousness and majesty, and that our prayers conform to
His will and His glory. As Christians, our hearts ought to be focused on
God, so that our communion with Him is routine, natural and part of our
daily lives.
To
worship with our hearts, we need focus and redirection. Like most other
things in our lives, we see that in and of ourselves, we are inadequate.
Without God in every aspect our lives, we fall short. So focusing our hearts
on God requires assistance from Him. He had foreseen this need and sent
His Spirit as a Counselor, Spirit of Truth. In our prayers, we should ask
God's Spirit of Truth to come live in us. With the Holy Spirit living in
us, we are on our way of true fellowship. Our hearts will be filled with
worship, and we can see that manifest in our prayers. Our prayers will
be from the beginning to end filled with the glory of God. (John 14:13)
As we glorify God, routinely and daily, and the Holy Spirit lives in us,
our love for God will enhance and our hatred for our sins will grow more
intense. As this love for God grows and fully captures our hearts, a natural
by-product will emerge - a thorough self-examination of ourselves. These
examinations will reveal our sinfulness, our rebellion, our selfishness,
and our need for a Savior. Fortunately for us, we have a Savior.
Another
aspect of worshipping our Lord with our hearts is intricately interlocked
with the virtue of forgiveness. Nothing is more paramount to a Christian
than forgiveness. God deals judiciously and in accordance to how we have
forgiven others. Having a forgiving spirit is to be cultivated deep within
our hearts and is a great mechanism by which to worship God. Jesus tells
us in Matthew's Gospel that if we forgive men for their transgressions
against us, God will also forgive us. But it we do not, God will not forgive
us. All of this starts in the heart. A person proclaiming to be a Christian,
certainly cannot experience the wonderful forgiveness from God and yet
not impart the same forgiveness to another person. This is so greatly illustrated
in the parable of the man forgiven of the huge debt in Matthew 18.
What
is Jesus trying to tell us here? I believe it to be summed up by the
phrase….”it's all about your heart”. Do you have a forgiving heart?
You can say the words, “I forgive you”, but if it isn't deep within your
hearts, they are empty words. The Lord God has forgiven us of a debt we
can not repay … the debt of Sin. What is Sin compared to what another person
does to us in human terms? To compare these will require a whole separate
thesis on the Holiness of God and the severe contrast of the darkness of
sin. The point is; there is no comparison and that is the same point Jesus
is making in this parable.
The
heart is vital and so important to fully worship our Lord. There is one
massive interruption to this heart worship, the continual and ongoing problem
of Sin. It squirms and weaves its ugly head and disrupts our fellowship
and our usefulness to God. We are so fortunate that our God is bigger than
sin, and offers continual forgiveness. How can we worship with our hearts?
There are many ways, but a few to mention are: by confessing our sins,
and seeking God in our prayers. Also by avoiding selfishness, pride and
bitterness, and with a heart-filled knowledge that God has forgiven us
and with that same attitude in our hearts we should also forgive others.
Next
month we will look at a few ways in which we can worship with our hands.
Scripture
taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan
Publishing House. All Rights Reserved. The “NIV” and “New International
Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark
Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires
permission of the International Bible Society. |
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