Day 3:

Revealing the WORSHIP of God

 

"Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the

LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

There is no other."

Deuteronomy 4:39

The deeper we dig into God's Word, and the greater our understanding of our Lord grows, the more we realize how infinite the knowledge of Him is. We could spend a lifetime seeking Him out and not even begin to brush the surface of all that He is, but that should not hinder us from making the daily pursuit of our Lord our utmost and greatest priority. He promises that we will find Him if we seek Him with all our heart (reference Jeremiah 29:13). 

 

One of the great benefits of spending time with our Lord is how much more deeply in love we fall with the One Whom we have come to know more fully as our Creator, Provider, Protector, and Savior. The Lord desires all His children to abide deeply in Him, for it is here, recognizing that He is the Sovereign control and Creator of everything, that we come to a place of full surrender to His Lordship and the commands of His Word.

 

It is in this place of submission that true worship is expressed. When we are fully surrendered it is no longer about us doing anything - it is about Him doing something in us. Worship is not about us. Worship is our response to the revelation of God as He shows Himself in His Word and in His creation. When we get quiet enough to allow God to speak to us it won't be long before we are on our face in a humbled posture of praise, or on our feet boldly proclaiming His Truth. From our face to our feet, our expression of awe and reverence toward our God is worship!  May our lives be a sweet reflection of worship to our Lord as we daily acknowledge and respond to all that He has done and is doing in our lives.

 

"Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the LORD our maker."

Psalm 95:6 

Breakfast: Three French Hens  - Focus on John 17:20-26 

 

"I am the first and the last;

apart from Me there is no God."

 Isaiah 44:6

 

Worship is expressed in humble reverence and awe. There is nothing more awesome than the mystery and reality of our God. There is no other God like Him Who is both infinite and intimate. Having just celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior our focus has been on the "with us" aspect of our God. He is "God with us" - a personal God who dwells with us and is involved with our everyday life. At the same time He is infinite - completely self-sufficient-- and apart from the work of Jesus Christ, completely unattainable. What (or Who) could possibly deserve our worship more?

 

"On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...three french hens..." Our God is the One Eternal God, the Lord - He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three persons in one Godhead. "The Lord our God is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The unity of the Godhead is the standard set for all believers - His desire is that we be unified in our relationship with Him and with each other and in response to our mission. 

 

Ecclesiastes tells us that "a cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12b). Our response to God, with humility and reverence, strengthens our bond with Him. Anything that we allow to distract us from being fully surrendered and dependent upon Him weakens that bond. Our relationship with the Lord is our utmost priority, but second to that is our relationship with others. We hinder our relationship with the Lord, and our ability to worship Him, when there is disunity in the Body of Christ. May we begin today by asking forgiveness for those pursuits, and, or, broken relationships, that have hindered us from daily living our lives in total worship towards our Lord. Let us worship the Lord and serve Him only (reference Matthew 4:10).

 

"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,

"and My servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe Me

and understand that I am He.

Before Me no god was formed,

nor will there be one after Me.

I, even I, am the LORD,

and apart from Me there is no savior."

Isaiah 43:10-11 

 

 

 

Lunch: Finding Meaning...in Worship  -  Focus on Ecclesiastes 3:11-14

 

"I know that everything God does will endure forever;

 nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

God does it so men will revere Him."

Ecclesiastes 3:14b 

  

The first eight verses of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes are a beautiful meditation of time.  Everything has been Divinely planned and positioned to accomplish the Lord's purposes. He has placed us here to live a life of worship towards Him. This world has nothing to offer that will bring us the satisfaction that our Lord can, and does! Therefore, all our attention, all our pursuits, all our desires should be focused on the One True God. "You alone are the LORD, you made the heavens...You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you" (Nehemiah 9:6).  

 

Every aspect of our life is a gift from God. Our lives were created to be wrapped around Him. We should be consumed with Him as much as His love is consuming towards us. Unfortunately, this world offers many enticements that are meant to draw us away from a life of constant worship; the prince of this world is bent on hindering our relationship with the Lord - he is vigilant about preventing the Lord from receiving the worship and glory due His name.

 

Of all the pursuits we can place on the top of our list for this new year - the first, middle, and last position all belong to the Lord. He should not just be our top priority on a long list of pursuits - He should be our only priority and pursuit! Everything good that we will experience, have, or gain will spring forth from our worship towards the Lord. May we find that each day we spend in His Word and in prayer that we experience deeper levels of worship towards our Lord. "Therefore stand in awe of God" (Ecclesiastes 5:7b). 

 

 

"We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world

and that there is no God but one."

1 Corinthians 8:4b

 

 

 

Dinner: The Sovereignty of God - a Matter of Worship  -  Focus on Daniel 3:8-18; 28-29

 

 "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

Who has sent His angels and rescued His servants!

They trusted in Him and defied the king's command

and were willing to give up their lives rather than

serve or worship any god except their own God."

Daniel 3:28 

Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were faced with the grim reality that their decision to worship the Lord God alone quite possibly could cost them their lives. Not many of us today are faced with such brutal consequences for worshiping the Lord, but all of us are faced daily with the same decision, whether or not to worship God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:29-30).

These three bold witnesses stood firmly in their conviction that the Lord is God and He alone had power to give and to take their lives, if He so chose to. They were standing on a foundation of Truth they had been taught their whole lives that the Lord God was their Deliverer and He alone had power to save His people. Their confidence rested in His past acts of deliverance and His future promise to send a Deliverer.   

 

Every day we are faced with the decision to live the life we have been given in complete reverence and awe towards the One Who has given us our very lives. We must be grateful for the freedom we have to worship our Lord without fear of persecution - for one day that privilege may be taken from us. Even if we are faced with criticism and contempt for our worship of the One True Living God, we must not be fearful of what man can do to us, because our God is ultimately in control. His purposes will prevail - for our good and His glory!

 

As we come to the end of our day, let us remain in prayer for our brothers and sisters around the world who have sacrificed the comforts of life to live fully surrendered to the Lord and His plans to bring the good news of the  gospel message to the remote (and often hostile) areas of the earth. May we fervently pray for the Church to wake up to the outside pressures of a world that is bent on muzzling this message of grace and pray for God's people to become diligent students of the Word and people of prayer so they will be equipped to make a bold stand for the Living God!

 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers,

in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,

holy and pleasing to God -

this is your spiritual act of worship.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -

His good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:1-2

 

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A Word of Encouragement

 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form

of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath

or in the waters below.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them;

for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God...

...showing love to a thousand generations

of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Exodus 20:3-5a, 6 

 

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If you keep a prayer journal, take time to record your prayers and thoughts.

EPIPHANY - Our Coming King!   © 2008, Traci A. Alexander

Trumpet and Torch Ministries    www.trumpetandtorch.org

 
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