Tag: Love

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Worship

Worship the God of Steadfast Love

How can we not be moved to bow down and worship our God of steadfast-love when we read and ponder the amazing and incredible story of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to provide a wife for his son, Isaac, in Genesis 24? (I encourage you to slowly read all of 24.)

We read in Genesis 24:2-7 of Abraham instructing Eliezer, his oldest and faithful servant, to go to the land of Abraham’s birth and obtain a wife for Isaac. To which his servant said “what if she is not willing to go”? Abraham then spoke out such a faith-filled statement it astounds me: “The Lord God of heaven… will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son”.

With that encouraging word, his servant arose and traveled to the land Abraham spoke of. Upon arriving, he prayed with expectant hope: “please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham” (Gen 24:12).

Then, with faith arising, he prayed again “Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master” (Gen. 24:14).

Oh, how we serve the great Promise Keeper, as we dazzlingly read in v15 “And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah… came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.” How can we not stop, bow down and worship our spectacular and marvelous God?

Upon seeing Rebekah, the servant ran to her asking her to provide water for him and his camels, and if her household had room for, he and his group. To which Rebekah replied “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge” (v17-25).

“Then, the servant bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord” (v26). Think about this a moment; God, fulfilling His promise, moved this man to bow down to the ground and offer unashamed, unabashed worship to God Almighty! Father God has fulfilled a promise to us to send His Son that you and I could be forgiven, redeemed, and sanctified to live with Him for eternity! How can we not bow down in deep awe and respect and worship our Lord, who loves us and gave His life for us?  

And as the servant was bowing down to the ground worshiping God with awe-struck wonder, he cried out “”Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren” (v27). Absolutely astonishing and breathtaking is our Holy God Almighty!

Oh, Jesus, your steadfast love never ceases to amaze us. You have never forsaken Your never-ending mercy and truth towards us. Regardless of our mistakes and failures, Your mercies are new every morning. How can we not be enraptured to bow down to the ground and worship You as we read and ponder the amazing, incredible stories of the fulfillment of Your promises?

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Worship

Why Worship?

My wife and I had a pastor many years ago who would say he thought of worship as “worth-ship,” that God was worth our worship, that He alone is worthy of all our worship.  

During the time the Holy Spirit was teaching me how to pray, I fell in love with the Psalms. I studied David over and over as I just could not get enough of him, his life, and accomplishments. The thought came to me that David was a worshiping warrior, and thus I chose to emulate his life the best I could, especially his worship of his faithful Father.  

David knew God is worthy of our worship. He wrote, “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised” (Ps. 18:3). In Psalm 29:2, he cries out: “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord.” 

Philippians 2:9 tells us, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”   

If God highly exalted Jesus, should we not highly exalt Him with our worship?  

We also worship God because “He is Holy,” as written in Psalm 99:3, 5, 9, and 22:3 “You are holy.” And just in case there is any doubt, God Almighty Himself declares “I am the Lord, your Holy One” in Isaiah 43:1 (see also Isa. 57:15; Ex.15:11).  

We are actually instructed to worship Him “because He is your Lord, worship Him” (Ps. 45:11b). Psalm 95:6 admonishes us with, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down”, and also “Oh, worship the Lord” in Psalm 96:9.  

We read the desire of His heart for you and me in Psalm 22:27: “And all the families of the nations shall worship before Him.” Also, “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, and shall glorify Your name” (Ps. 86:9). 

Our Father knows what is best for His children. He knows what keeps our heart in love with His heart. He really does want us to exalt Him and worship Him, for He alone is worthy, He alone is holy.

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Worship

Overwhelmed With Rapturous Love

We can learn the heart and posture of true, intimate worship from Mary Magdalene, in Luke 28:9, when she and her friends went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Her first response to seeing her Lord was to fall to her knees, grab His feet… and WORSHIP Him! She really knew from experience, that worship was loving Jesus back. We must ask ourselves, does this describe our worship? And if not, what heart changes must we make?

Oh, Jesus, we are deeply touched by Mary’s example of a heart overflowing with awe and adoration of You. So much so, that we want what she demonstrated – a heart enraptured with passionate love of the Lover of her soul. Change us, touch our heart—give us a heart like Mary’s—a heart overwhelmed with rapturous love that causes us to fall on our knees and offer unbridled worship to You, Jesus. Oh, how we love you.

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Worship

What is Worship?

What do you think of when you hear the word worship, or are asked “Where do you worship?” What comes to your mind? Do you think of a church service with three songs before a preacher’s message? Or does the thought, What a waste of time or boring come to mind?  

Or do you get all excited about the opportunity to lift up your voice singing songs of praise and adoration to our great and awesome King? Do you think of being consumed with bowing down in worshiping our Savior, our Deliverer, our Healer, the Lover of our soul? Of being captured and embraced by His never-ending love? Do you hope and pray the worship time will last for hours so you can go even deeper in experiencing more of His presence with awestruck wonder?

Lord, we do not want to miss out on experiencing more of You—and experiencing the indescribable, overwhelming joy of expressing our deep love to You through worship. Oh, how we love You! So we ask You,  Jesus, to draw us nearer to You and give us a heart to passionately worship You. Amen