15-5

To Live for God's Glory

If we are truly worshiping God, we are in a constant state of change. We are constantly becoming more and more like Him! Encountering God changes people, and it changes them every time they encounter Him. Worshiping God should make us more humble. "If we see even a glimpse of the glory and splendor of God, it will produce a genuine humility in our hearts. There is nothing about encountering God that should exalt us." It is impossible to be prideful and worship God at the same time? Why? Because when we worship God we come face to face with the fact that God Himself paid the price for our rebellion against Him! How backwards is that? "I am a worshiper of God because Jesus died and rose to make me one, not because I earned the right to be one."

Worshiping God should make us secure. So many of us rely on ourselves for our security. We rely on our homes, our families, our jobs, you name it, it all comes back to us. But our ultimate security comes from the unchanging love of God, which we see most clearly at Calvary. When Calvary isn't at the center of our focus, we start to drift back to the same things we used to rely on before we came to know Christ. Calvary is the reminder that nothing will ever 'separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

Worshiping God should make us grateful. On his radio show, Dave Ramsey almost always responds to the question, 'How are you doing?' with 'Better than I deserve!' I used to think that was kind of weird. I mean the guy has worked hard his whole life and is now a multi-millionaire who helps people get control of their finances using the teachings of the Bible. I thought, he does deserve to be doing that well! But "the truth is, we're all doing better than we deserve! Because of our sin, we deserve hell!" Maybe we should all start saying 'better than I deserve.' When I think of it in those terms, it is hard to not be grateful for every breath I take that isn't in hell. "When we gaze on the cross of Christ and truly recognize that we should be hanging there instead, what response can there be but overflowing gratefulness?"

Worshiping God should make us holy. Being holy means to be 'set apart.' God asks us to be holy because He is holy. He is fiercely opposed to all evil and sin. If He wasn't, He wouldn't be good, and He wouldn't be who He is. Although few of us really talk about holiness and many in our culture either mock or don't understand it, we have to remember that it is precious in God's eyes. We as worship leaders need to remind the church of this when we gather to worship Him.

Worshiping God should make us loving. 1 John 4:20 says, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Wow. Now that is a hard teaching. Because let's face it, there are some people who we just don't get along with at all. But God calls us to love those people. In fact, He says that if we don't love them, then we can't love Him! "It's inconsistent to profess that we love God while withholding love from those He came to save." We need to be reminded, and we need to remind others that if we are not displaying love to others, we cannot display love to God.

Worshiping God should make us mission minded. Jesus had one mission when He came to earth. To seek and to save the lost. When He left He gave His disciples one mission: to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything that He commanded them! God desires that all people come to know Him, and we are the instruments that He has chosen to fulfill that mission!

"If worshipers leave a service with no thought of becoming more godly in their lives, then the purpose of worship has not been achieved." Do you believe that? Do you come to worship each week seeking ways to become more godly? When you do, worship will be a joy. "The joy is ours. The glory is His."

Enjoy the Journey