He has a purpose for your life - part 3
Worshipping Him
We are created to bring glory to God.
1. The heart of worship is surrender
Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.
Romans 6:13 (NLT)
Surrender to God is worship. The more we worship Him we fulfil our purpose and He reveals to us the more specific areas He would want us to serve Him.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
Changing the way we think is part of our worship
2. Fear is a hindrance to surrender
You cannot trust anyone if you fear them. When trust is absent fear is present.
Fear is often rooted in past experiences, present uncertainty or a lack of understanding.
How can we trust God?
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
Christ would rather die than live without us.
Christ draws us to him by loving us; not breaking our will or forcing us. Surrender is NOT giving up rational thinking. Surrender is an act of the heart surrendering to God and the mind thinking the process through.
To be consistent in our faith we must worship him with our hearts and mind.
Jesus replied: ?Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ?Matthew 22:37 (NIV)
Everyone surrenders to something eventually. If not God it will be
- Opinions or expectations of others
- Money
- Resentment
- Fear, pride, lust or ego
You were created to worship God. If you fail to worship him you will surrender to something else. Worship is the REASONABLE (only sensible way) we can live.
I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (Amplified version)
It may take years, but eventually we all discover that the greatest hindrance to God?s blessing in our lives is not others but ourselves: our stubborn pride and personal ambition.
We should be a living sacrifice.
The problem with a ?living sacrifice? is that it can crawl off the altar
- Rick Warren.
The solution
I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]. Philippians 4:13 (Amplified version)
3. Worship makes you a friend of God
What did these people have in common?
Adam and Eve
Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)
Abraham
*2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8 (NKJV)
Moses
*Exodus 33:11, 17 (NKJV)
David
Acts 13:22
Not all people are friends of God.
Jesus wants us to be His friends
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:13-15 (NKJV)
The secret of friendship with God
The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant. Psalm 25:14 (NKJV)
Such wicked people are an abomination to the LORD, but he offers his friendship to the godly. Proverbs 3:32 (NLT)
4. Perfection is not a requirement of friendship
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children." Matthew 11:19 (NKJV)
You can be open and frank with God. Tell him exactly how you feel. Moses, David, Abraham and Job did. Don?t have a ?hidden rift with God?.
5. Obedience is a condition of friendship
You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14 (NIV)
Note how the bible sums up the first thirty years of Jesus? life
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. Luke 2:51 (NIV)
Obeying God in the small things is far more important than doing ?big things? for God, which come few and far between.
6. Choose to value what God values
Like Paul
I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. For I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NLT)
Like David
Passion for your house burns within me,
so those who insult you are also insulting me. Psalm 69:9 (NLT)
Care about the people around you. Especially those of the household of faith.
So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [morally] to all people [not only being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God's family with you, the believers]. Galatians 6:10 (Amplified)
Intimate friendship with God is a choice not an accident.
God is not mad with you, He is mad about you.
7. How we worship God matters
A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. John 4:23 (Amplified)
True worship means worshipping God as He is revealed in the Bible. Do not be sincerely wrong. [Example of dropping glass bottles].
Engage your heart and mind in your worship of God.
Are you convinced doing the right think is profitable?
It will stop you sacrifice from crawling off the altar.
8. Dealing with doubt.
Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.
Dealing with dry periods
1. Tell God exactly how you feel
2. Focus on God?s unchanging nature
3. Trust God to keep His promises
4. Know the promises of God
When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in spite of your feelings, you worship Him in the deepest way.
Remember what God has done for you already
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
Conclusion
1. Surrender is the heart of worship
2. Fear is a hindrance fuelled by ignorance
3. Worship makes you a friend of God
4. Perfection is not a requirement of friendship
5. Obedience is worship
6. Value the things that God values
7. Worship God with your heart and mind
8. Deal with doubt
Adapted from the Book
The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?
by Rick Warren