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The True Spirit of Worship

02 Oct
The True Spirit of Worship

In my last post, we began looking at Philippians, chapter 3. Paul is writing about true worship. A lot of people are going to churches to “worship” today. How much of it is truly worship? What is worship? Here’s what we looked at last time.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh – though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

Philippians 3:3-4 NIV

The question we need to answer is; do we really put no confidence in our flesh? Especially when it comes to our relationship with God, many believers are driven by their flesh. Paul knew that this was something to watch out for.

He saw the temptation in his own life.

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

Philippians 3:4-6 NIV

He had the lineage and training to be at the pinnacle of spirituality…if that was what God looked at. However, it’s about our heart, what’s under the surface.

We’re proud of our trained voices and our professional sound. We want to be moved emotionally by our corporate experiences.

Please understand me. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of those things – if you’re talking about praise. But here, Paul is talking about true, scriptural worship.

In worship, we put no confidence in our praise, our singing, how long we practiced or even our obedience. The only confidence we have is in Him. That’s why most of what we do in church is actually praise.

Praise can be done loudly and in a group. As a matter of fact, the bigger the group, the more stirring the praise – usually.

Worship is different. It’s intimate. It’s personal – one on one, just me and God. Even if I’m with a crowd of believers, I have to zone them all out and just focus in on the Lord.

This is the essence of worship. Not clapping, shouting, preaching or praying. It’s simply standing in the presence of a holy God and acknowledging who He is. Most of the time worship is done in silence.

Praise is public and exciting. Worship is one on one with the God of the universe. It is where I humble myself before Him and offer Him the glory that is due Him. The Greek word used for worship in the New Testament literally means to lean forward like you do when you are about to kiss someone.

It’s a time of intimacy with God. Worship is coming into the presence of God, and meeting with Him spirit to Spirit. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo, Sunday morning experience. Press into that intimate place with God. Truly enter the spirit of worship and let your inner man find the fulfillment you were created for.

The easiest way to do this is to begin praying in the spirit. That’s how our relationship with God is built, spirit to Spirit. It’s time for God’s people to stir up the spirit of worship within them. Let’s stop calling everything we do in church “worship”. It’s time to simply bask in the presence of a holy God and spend some quality, intimate time with Him.

Question: How often do you worship God in the spirit?

© 2023 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2023 in Music, Prayer in the Spirit, Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Spiritual Intimacy

27 Sep
Spiritual Intimacy

We’re continuing our walk through the letter to the Philippians. As we start chapter 3, Paul begins to talk about our spiritual walk with the Lord. There are those who only look at our outward existence.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…

Philippians 3:1-3 NIV

In this section, Paul is talking about those who were trying to place Old Testament rules on Gentile believers. It’s about the overcoming church that he writes, “It is we who worship God in spirit.” We are the ones who boast only in Christ. True Christianity places no confidence in flesh.

The Scripture is clear that flesh and blood cannot worship at the level of the spirit. The Biblical picture always shows that in worship, our flesh must be prostrate and silent. That’s why we read things like, “I fell at His feet like a dead man.”

This means that my hands cannot worship God. Neither can my mouth, my feet or my entire body.

Worship can only be an act of my spirit. So, if I don’t understand how my spirit operates, then I really can’t understand true worship.

Let’s start with the basics. God created us all in His image. He is a three-part being – Father, Son, and Spirit. God created us with the same three parts. We have a body, a soul, and a spirit.

Our soul is who we are. It’s the seat of our mind, memories, personality, and emotions. My soul is the real me. When I want to talk to you, it’s not your body I want to talk to, but your soul – the person inside the body.

Your soul is housed in a thing called your flesh or your body. This is the part of your being that allows your soul to interact and communicate in the physical, natural realm. It’s the part of you that can taste, smell, touch, hear, and see.

Unfortunately, this is the part of your being that’s marred by sin. Because Adam chose the path of rebellion, the flesh now desires to be first place in your life. This is what causes most of our trouble.

The third part of our being is our spirit. This is the part of us that allows our soul to interact and communicate in the spiritual realm. This is the dimension where God, angels and demons usually dwell. It’s with your spirit that God desires to have fellowship with you on His level.

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

Revelation 4:2 NIV

This is the Apostle John describing what took place just as the Lord was about to show him the Revelation he recorded in the Scripture. He went out of way to let us know that he was not just eating breakfast or reading the newspaper. He was in the spirit.

It sounds like this is a special place. Of course, that’s only logical. Even in our natural lives intimacy with another person requires a special time and place. A man could not be intimate with his wife in the stands at a hockey game.

In the same way, intimacy with God requires a special time and place – that’s being in the spirit. When Jesus talked with the woman at the well, He explained it to her this way…

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

John 4:24 NIV

That’s the underlying truth – God is spirit. This word, worship, speaks of intimate relationship. How do you have intimacy with a spirit? There’s only one level of interaction, and that’s in the spirit.

That’s why daily prayer in the spirit is so important. It’s the vehicle by which we have intimacy with the Father.

Question: How intimate is your walk with the Lord?

© 2023 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on September 27, 2023 in Legalism, Prayer, Prayer in the Spirit, Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Cain – Worship On My Terms

21 Mar

WomanI’ve been posting about the offerings of Cain and Abel. What we’ve seen is that Abel was God’s designated prophet. If Cain’s gift was to be accepted, he had to bring it to Abel. This would have required Cain to humble himself.

“You mean I have to go to my little brother for God to accept my offering?”

The truth is that there’s only one way to worship God acceptably – God’s way. Cain had a problem with that.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8

The result was that Cain killed Abel. Cain’s thinking was that God wanted him to worship through the prophet. But what if there was no prophet? Then God would have to accept an offering from Cain’s hand.

Cain wanted to worship God on his own terms. He thought that God would have to accept his offering regardless of how he brought it. But that wasn’t the case.

Cain became the world’s first murderer. He was cursed for this sin.

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 4:10-12

What was Cain’s response?

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:13-14

Cain said that his punishment would be unbearable. Why? Not only was he driven from the land, but he would be hidden from God’s presence.

Does that sound like an angry, hardened reprobate to you? I don’t see any of that as he stands before God.

He is starting to understand his situation. He can no longer fulfill his calling – being driven from the land. He can’t find forgiveness in the presence of God. The only advocate that he could have gone to – Abel – is dead. It even dawns on him that he deserves death.

His answer to God sounds sorrowful to me. He sounds more humble that Adam and Eve did when they sinned.

This shows the mercy of God. The conversation between Cain and God still sounds like the interactions of a father and a wayward son.

We serve a God who always desires restoration over judgment. The outcome of this event is no different. Cain was sorry for what he had done. God had a remedy.

In my next post you’ll see how the story ends. It’s probably different than you think.

Question: How has God’s forgiveness affected your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2016 in Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Four Mistakes that can Kill Worship

05 Feb

Heart CellEvery weekend thousands of Christians around the world attend church. They think that they’re worshipping God. Unfortunately, in many cases, they’re doing just the opposite and God isn’t pleased with them. Learn from their mistakes and offer true worship to the Lord.

I invite you to read the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, verses 1 through 20, which is the basis for this post. Here are the four worship mistakes commonly made by modern Christians.

Making sure the outside is cleaned up, and not the inside. Most people get all cleaned up and looking their best for church. That’s just normal. You want to look nice when you’re around others.

It’s far easier to hide the dirt that can accumulate on the inside. As we live and interact in the world, we can pick up thoughts and attitudes without ever knowing it. Over time, they can lead us off track in our Christian walk.

We need to continue in the repentance and forgiveness that only comes from time in the presence of Christ. That’s where our true beauty should come from – a life that’s kept clean before God.

Saying all the right words, and not living them. You may not want to hear this, but every service, churches are filled with liars. How can I say that? Think about the songs we sing.

“Lord, you are more precious that silver…Nothing I desire compares with you.”

The whole time we’re thinking about what’s for dinner. We sing passionately about how we would do anything for God or how deeply we want to know Him. Yet, once we leave the church, we don’t think twice about it until next week.

In many cases we act like the fact that we’re singing the words, automatically makes it true. To live a life of worship, our lives need to line up with our “Sunday personas”.

Preferring to follow a set of rules rather than cultivating a relationship with God. Sometimes we get the idea that just because we don’t murder, cheat, steal, or do drugs, then we’re okay. We read the Bible and pray for our needs every day, because that’s what a Christian is supposed to do.

What about simply spending time in God’s presence because He’s God? The Father wants us to get to know Him personally. He wants to speak to our hearts and enjoy our fellowship.

Being a Christian is not just a choice to do good things. It’s a living relationship with a holy God. Worship is not a chore to complete. We are to become worshippers.

Giving money in the offering rather than giving yourself. This is one of the biggest mistakes that we can make. Thinking that we own everything except what we willingly give to God.

God is the Creator of Heaven and earth. It’s all His. It’s my responsibility to acknowledge that fact. I am His. My greatest act of worship is to, willing, give myself to Him. Only Christ is worthy to receive an offering like that.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
John 4:23

Don’t waste your life being a superficial believer. Enter into a lifestyle of worship. True worship is not a matter of what you do on Sundays, but who you are all week long.

Questions: What’s your definition of worship? Have you ever had to deal with these issues in your walk with God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2016 in Legalism, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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