From 7-14 Daily Devotions, I share: Worship God His Way Read James 1 Adapted from Live|Dead Joy by Dick Brogden We have reduced worship to what we like. One key to experiencing the ongoing presence of Jesus is to worship Him in way He wants to be worshiped. God did not respect Cain’s worship. Cain essentially killed his brother Abel over worship. Herod killed innocent children when the sages worshipped Jesus. True worship not only costs us something, it also costs something to those close to us. Many people resent God’s preferences for worship. Nations also resent the rule of God; they do not want to worship Him in the way He directs. Collections of people want to worship God according to their own customs and preferences, outside the super escalation of the divine Son. He who sits in the heavens laughs at this shortsighted rebellion. Every tongue will worship Jesus eventually. The only question is whether we do that joyfully now or fearfully at the last day. God has highly exalted Jesus that we might worship Him that all peoples might worship Him. In the midst of perversity, God goes to war, and He wars by demanding that we worship Him on His terms. Writing to the Early Church, James offered this guidance about what God’s terms include: Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:26–27). God’s expectation of worship is that it costs us something. It also costs something of those who love us and whom we love. He expects us to lay our treasures at His feet. He expects us to walk against the flow of perversity in our day. He expects us to open our mouths and praise Him loudly—even when we do not feel like it . . . especially when we do not feel like it. Praise that costs us something is worship Jesus is pleased to receive. Crucial to walking in the unmitigated presence of Jesus is the ongoing battle with ourselves to worship Jesus on His terms.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 12:23:34 +0000
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