How do we worship God in spirit and in truth

Worshiping God in spirit and truth

The bible says in John 4:24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth.
How do we worship God in spirit and truth?   This is a good question and one that I hope to help you understand. 
In order to worhip in the spirit our worship needs to show reverance to God and bring glory to his name.

Hebrews 12:28 tells us:

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

You can show God reverance in several ways.  Have a smile on your face.  Enjoy the service and join in by giving him praise, singing songs, being attentive to his word.  Show him respect by not playing games, eating in his santuary, playing with the children or talking to the person sitting next to you.  Worship is Holy to God and  in order for our worship to be in the spirit and be acceptable to him, we need to be sincere in heart and strive to be holy.

Psalm 89:7 tells us:

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
1Peter 1: 15-16 tells us:
 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

We should prepare ourselves to be in his presence by getting our thoughts upon him and when we walk into the  church we should  come in with praise on our lips and a song in our hearts.  We need to honor him by trying to always be on time for worship services and having our minds set only on lifting up his name. 

Psalm 47:6 tells us:
Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

At all times our worship should be to glorify God.  He is the creator of all things and holds our very souls in the palm of his hand.  He loves his creation unconditonally and is deserving of all honor and praise.  He paid a great price that we might live with him eternally. We should strive at all times to live our lives to please him.  Others should be able to look at us and know that we are christians not only by our speech but also by our actions and yes, even by the way we dress.

I Corinthians 6:20 tells us:

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

2Corinthians 6:17 tells us:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

1 Timothy 2: 8-10 tells us:

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

So far we have talked about how to worship God in spirit.  Now let’s take a look at worshiping him in truth.

He told us to worship him in spirit and in truth.  We know that the bible is the infallible word of God and what is written is truth.  Therefore in order to worship God in truth, we are to worship him according to his word. 
God is the same yesterday, today and forever and his truth is the same for everyone.  He is no respect of persons and what he expects from me, he also expects from you. 

Hebrews 13:8 tells us:

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.

Romans 2:11 tells us:

For there is no respect of persons with God.

There are many people today that think they can serve God any way the choose.  They believe that all they need to do is live good and do what they believe to be right. This is not God’s truth.  If we don’t apply the word of God to our everyday lives and live according to his word, we are not worshiping him in truth and we are placing our souls in jeopardy.

Proverbs 14:12 tells us:

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

2 Peter 1:3 tells us:

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Ephesians 5:17-19 tells us:
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

The last thought I leave you with is this, Jesus taught us the way to live pleasing to God.  His way is the only acceptable way and the only way to prove ourselves acceptable.  If we live and worship according to Christ’s teachings, we are worshiping in truth!

Mathew Chapter 5

¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

¹⁹ Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

²² But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

²³ Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

²⁴ Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

²⁵ Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

²⁶ Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

²⁷ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

²⁸ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

²⁹ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

³⁰ And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

³¹ It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

³² But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

³³ Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

³⁴ But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

³⁵ Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

³⁶ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

³⁷ But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

³⁸ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

³⁹ But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

⁴⁰ And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

⁴¹ And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

⁴² Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

⁴³ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

⁴⁴ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

⁴⁶ For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

⁴⁷ And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

⁴⁸ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible

What is LOVE?

If you ask this question of ten people you would probably get ten different answers.  Some might say Love is when a mother holds a newborn child for the very first time.  Others might say that Love is when a man loves a woman so much that she fills his every thought.  There would be a few that would say  God is Love.  These are all good answers, but to fully understand Love, we must embrace God and have a relationship with him. 

What I want to talk about is God’s love for mankind.  To me it defines what LOVE is.  This is a special kind of Love that I don’t believe can be compared to any other.  Most of us know the scripture

John 3:16

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We know the scripture, but have you ever really thought about the depth of love that this is.  God the Son loved us so much that he stepped outside his deity to become a man in order to die for our sins.  That is LOVE.  Most of us that are Christians talk to Jesus and thank him every day for loving us enough to give his life for us, to suffer and die so that we might live with him eternally.  I thank him every day that he loved me so much when I didn’t deserve his love, but right now I would like to ask you to look at God the Father when thinking of this scripture.  Those of you that have children will relate to what I am about to say. 

John 15:13 says

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

I look around at all the people in my life; family, friends, neighbors and I ask myself, if it ever came to the point of dying, could I die to save them.  I have to say that God has filled me with such love that I would consider it.  Then I look at my son, my one and only son whom I love beyond life and I ask myself the same question.  You guessed it, my answer is emphatically NO, not even for an instant would I consider allowing him to die to save another, not even to save the world.   I am human and not capable of that kind of Love.  My son means more to me than the whole world.   Yet God the Father did just that for you and me.  He allowed Jesus, his one and only begotten son to step outside his deity, to suffer and die for you and me.  That my friend is what LOVE is.  God is LOVE beyond human comprehension.  He is LOVE of the purest kind.  The kind of LOVE that can take a drunkard and wrap him in his arms, save and heal him body and soul.  That can look down on an adulteress, a murderer or any other kind of sinner and LOVE them still.  God loves you more that any words could ever say. 

I hope I have given you something to think about and if you haven’t given your heart to him and accepted the Lord Jesus as your savior that you will think about how much he loves you.  He is always standing ready, with outstretched arms waiting for you to walk into them and be made perfectly whole. 

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible

Will God give you burden too heavy to carry?

A friend of mine ask me something about burdens and it got me to thinking.  Will God ever give us a burden that is to heavy for us to carry?  Sometimes when we stumble from the load we may think that he does, but let me assure you that God will never burden his children with so much that he can't lead them through it. 

1 Corinthians 10:13

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Jesus taught us that if we will only trust in him and come to him with our needs and our burdens that he will be there and see us through. 

Matthew 11

 ^28:Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
  ^29:Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
 ^30: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

In times of great sorrow in our lives when we feel that the burden is weighing us down and that we can't carry the load, Jesus will be there to lighten it and give us the strength we need.  We can run to him and he will lift us up.  Remember that it is not about how a heavy a load you can carry, it's about how heavy a load Jesus can help you carry. 

Psalms 18:2

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

2 Corinthians 12

⁹ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible

 

God hears every prayer!

Sometimes we may feel that when we cry out to God that those cries reach no further than the ceiling in the room. God hears us the very first time we call out to him. Obstacles may stand in the way and prevent us from seeing this, but it doesn't change that fact that his ears are inclined to listen. Daniel cried out to God for 21 days and thought God didn't hear him. But he got his answer and God let him know that he heard him the very first time he called. Samuel, David and so many others are good examples showing that when God's children cry out to him, he will hear from heaven.

Psalm 20:6
Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Daniel.. 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears

Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible

Does God hear sinners when they pray?

I believe there is a common misconception that God doesn’t hear sinners.  This belief comes mainly from the scripture in John when Jesus healed the blind man.

John 9:31 “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”

In order to get the full understanding of this verse in the bible, it should not be taken out of context.  You have to first ask yourself who said this?  Was it Jesus or one of the Apostles?  No, it was a blind man that Jesus had healed.  He was saying this to the Pharisees when they questioned him about being able to see.  He didn't even know who Jesus was.

The Pharisees told him in verse 24 that Jesus was a sinner and he replied that he did not know: 
John 9:24 ^“Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.”
Verse 25 lets you know that he didn’t even know if Jesus himself was a sinner. 
John 9:25  ^“He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”

One of the best scriptures I can use to show you that God does indeed hear the prayers of sinners is found in chapter 10 of Acts.  Acts 10:2 teaches us that Cornelius was devout and God-fearing, but it doesn’t teach that he was a Christian.  There are many devout, God-fearing people that are not Christians. 

Acts 10:2 “A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.”

Cornelius did not accept Jesus and become a Christian until after he sent for Peter and he heard Peter preach the gospel to him and his household. 

If you read Acts chapter 10 you will see this is clearly the case.  This should not leave you with any doubt as to whether or not God hears sinners.  He heard Cornelius and gave him a vision while he was yet a sinner.

Some may say that Cornelius knew God and that's why he heard him and that may be so, but there are other examples showing that God hears sinners.  Take a look at the harlot, Rahab.  she hid the spies when they were searching out Jericho.

^{Joshua 2:1}  And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

 ² And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

 ³ And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

 ⁴ And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

Nowhere in the book of Joshua do we read that she was anything but a sinner, a harlot, yet in Hebrews we read that she was saved by faith.  Not because she came to know God, she was still a sinner, but God heard her and saved her because of her faith in what the spies told her they would do.

^{Hebrews 11:31} By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

I believe that just because God hears a sinner does not mean he will give them the answers to their prayers.   Isaiah teaches us that God’s hand is not so short that it cannot save and his ear is not so heavy that it cannot hear.  That it is our iniquities that separate us from God and it’s our sins that cause him to turn his face from us that he will not hear.  He NEVER says that he does not hear, simply that he chooses not to listen.

Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

I believe the sinner must be sincere at heart when asking God for something and just like he heard Cornelius  and Rahab he will turn his face again and hear the sinner. 

I sincerely hope this has helped someone to understand that God hears and see all things.  Whether you are a Christian or a Sinner, he hears.  Whether or not you choose to heed his call will determine if you get the answer to your prayer. 

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible