"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
There are so many "dead" churches in this world today, where the doors to the church buildings are open only once a week for people to gather together, as they sit idly in the pews, glancing at their watches, longing for their weekly "obligation" to hurry up and end. How is it, I wonder, that they ever feel the presence of God among them? There is a strange silence within the building ~ meaningless motion and voiceless sound going nowhere! How does one penetrate to the ear of God in this type of building?
Jesus means what He says: "God is spirit" and that we "must worship him in spirit and in truth." It is our heart that must go to church, not merely our well dressed fleshly body! Our heart will go to church if, so to speak, our heart is a church ~ a temple of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus lives in our hearts, by faith, His Holy Spirit will work through God's Word to spiritualize our worship. He will move us to repent of our mechanical worship and make our singing and praying a child-like "Abba, Father." That, my friends, is worship!
God's presence is everywhere! And He can be worshipped anywhere! However, if you feel "obligated" to join in fellowship and worship each Sunday morning, to get "ready" for church, then you may just as well stay at home folks! Because God will not acknowledge your presence anyway. Meaningless motion and voiceless sound will not penetrate His presence within you! How will you worship Him today? Will it be with genuine truth? Will you allow the Holy Spirit's help? The Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26), teaches us the words of Christ (Romans 14:26), and tells us we are loved (Romans 5:5).
May God bless you as you take your heart to the house of God this morning.
Love in Christ Jesus, Sandy |
