Real Worship to a Real God

Read: John 4:23-24

Reflect: What does it mean to worship God in spirit and in truth? How can you be a true worshiper of God?

Request (Prayer): Lord, help me to be a true worshiper of You.

We hear the phrase, “worship God in spirit and in truth,” all the time. But what exactly does that mean? There are 2 ways that we are told to worship, and one way that both of those things can be accomplished.

We all worship something, and more often than not, we worship the wrong thing! We can easily worship our friends, status amongst our peers (popularity), money, success and many other things. But we, as Christians, have been called to worship God and God alone.

When we worship God, and nothing else, we are worshipping in spirit and in truth because we are acknowledging that God is the only one worthy of such praise!

Let’s put this into perspective…

Jesus gives us a clear picture of how worship is to be conducted, and how our time should be spent. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that we cannot serve 2 master for we will serve one or the other. And the problem with a lot of us is that we want to worship two things at the same time, but that can’t happen because we will give more attention to one over the other.

You cannot worship God AND money. You cannot worship God AND friends. You either serve God or money. Which will you choose?
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Smash Those Idols!

Read: Psalm 96:4-5

Reflect: Do idols get in the way of worshipping God? Are there any idols in your life that are keeping you from truly worshiping Him?

Request: God, You are the one true God, please help me to not put any other gods before you.

It is true to say everyone worships something. Wherever our attention and focus is that will show what we worship. In this psalm we read about idols that people would make and worship. These were stone or wood things that they would carve with their hands and then give it attention that only the TRUE God deserves.  Today we may not have wood or stone things that people carve and are bowing down before it but there are other things in life that take our attention.

What takes your time and thoughts and attention today? We live in a culture of distractions and I believe these little distractions can be idols in our lives. It could be just the music you have to listen to or the television show that you must watch. We may not bow down before our computers but even technology can be an idol if we are not careful. A test I like to do is to see how I do without that thing for some time.  If I get weird or freaked out because I do not have this thing in my life I realize that it probably was an idol in my life.  As it says in verse 5, “For all the gods of the people are worthless idols, ” technology and stuff can be helpful but it does not save us.

God deserves our time and focus. God is worthy of the praises of our lips. Be careful of the things of this world. As James says in 4:4, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Our worship only belongs to God. Watch out for those little distractions to not control your worship!

Born Again Worship

Read: John 3:3-7, Ephesians 2:8 & 2 Corinthians 5:17

Reflect: The only way to truly understand worship and to truly worship is if you are born again by putting your faith in Jesus. Have you put your faith in Jesus?

Request (Prayer): Ask Jesus to make you born again and to make you a new creation.

True worship comes by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Worship is something that every person in the world practices, but true worship can only come from the believer of Jesus Christ.

A lot of people don’t actually realize this, but there are other things in the world that people can worship other than God. They worship there own little gods, and put those in place of the one true God. Who or What do YOU worship?

If you are a believer of Jesus Christ, the Bible says that you are a new creation, the old things have passed away and the new things have come. You are no longer bound in chains by sin, but you have been freed by Christ and now have a relationship with Him. How cool is that? God, sent His one and only Son, into the world to die for us so that we didn’t have to. Because of that fact alone, we should worship and praise God for sending His Son to die in our place. That alone should be the reason we worship.
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CRUX November Calendar

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Chillin’ By the Waters

Read: Psalm 1

Reflect: Take a few minutes and think about how you can be the “Blessed” person this Psalm is talking about. Write down your thoughts.

Request (Prayer): Jesus, teach me to follow after Your ways so that I can be blessed.

The “blessed” man is the one who does not hang out with the non-believer, but is the one who finds peace and satisfaction in Christ alone. The word, “blessed” could be translated as, “happy”. Happy is the man who does not walk in the path of sinners, who stands in the path of sinners or who doesn’t sit in the seat of scoffers, the happy man is the one who delights in God, for his way will be made straight.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I hang out with a group of people I know I shouldn’t, the Lord always reveals to me that I should cut ties with those friends and pursue friends that will lift me up in the Lord, rather than bringing me down. Have you noticed that too? When I am with friends who are not believers, I always tend to stumble a lot quicker with them. When I am with friends who can encourage me in my walk with Christ, I tend to be strengthened by them.

As a Christian, we have the opportunity to commune with God on a very personal level. So much so, that He wants to have a relationship with us! How cool is that? To know that the Creator of the universe wants to hang out with me is a pretty big deal. The God of this world wants to spend time with us! And we should in turn want to spend time with God.
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