TWO IMPORTANT THINGS IMPACTED BY WORSHIP
~ Pastor Biakson
Q. What is Worship?
Worship is all about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is about an encounter with God, obedience to His word, and seeking God's satisfaction. Doing acts of worship without having a connection with Jesus, with whom God is well pleased, is meaningless.
- Worship is the satisfaction of the One being worshipped. It is not about our satisfaction, our feelings and emotions. As Romans 12:1-2 states, spiritual worship is 'presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.'
- Worship is a transforming experience. As you live a life of worship, your life will transfrom to become more like the One being worshipped.
External Transformation - To Conform to the World:
Changing and adjusting our behaviour to suit the world and living in a way the King of the World (Satan) would be pleased with. Subjects like philosophy, that plant doubts in the believer's mind, is a theory introduced by humans. Hence, it is the WORLD's theory. Whereas, the Bible is the Word of Truth, GOD's Word. We must ask ourselves, why the views of the world are affecting our point of view more than the Word of God is. It is time to evaluate where we spend more time of our time on - wordly things or the Bible.
As Believers, we must not conform to the world, and like Daniel, fight against the current of the world, with the help of our Almighty God.
Internal Transformation - To Metamorphosise:
The egg of a butterfly undergoes internal change (metamorphosis) inside its cocoon to attain its final beauty in the form of a butterfly. Matthew 17:1-8 describes the transfiguration of Jesus - 'His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light' (v.2). The bright light radiated by Jesus was due to his internal shine, not because of an external spotlight. Like this, worship should cause an internal transformation in the worshippers life, which lights up our external appearance. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we must grow in the likeness of Christ, day by day.
To see internal change in your life, do the following things:
- Present your body before God.
- Give Him your mind. As Colossians 3:2 says, 'Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.' Think whatever is good (Philippians 4:8); Be renewed in the spirits of your minds (Ephesians 4:23-24) in the likeness of God, in true holiness and righteousness.
- Remember that YOU are the sacrifice. Your body is a living sacrifice and everywhere you go is the Holy Altar. Thus, we must live according to the Will of God at all times and with the power of God, refrain from commiting sin.
- Feed your mind with God's word and purify it by banishing all evil and unpure thoughts.
- Lay down your will before God. Your mind controls your body and the decisions you make through your free will controls your mind. Human's decisions can be imperfect, but God's will is always perfect. So always pray that His will be done, not ours. Christian love is based on action of the will, not feelings.
Ask yourself, in which direction is my worship causing me to change? In the likeness of Satan/the World OR in the likeness of Jesus Christ?
