The Master's Worship (Part 2)

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In his book “Worshipping God – Rediscovering the Full Dimension of Worship”, R. T. Kendall quotes George Watson to have said two levels of worship attainable are Gratitude and Excellence.  Worship of God at the level of gratitude is worship in thanksgiving for His loving kindness, favour and mercy towards us.  Worship at the level of excellence on the other hand means to worship Him for His transcendent glory; for His magnificence. 

 

In true worship, the triune entity of man; spirit, soul and body are involved.  Worship is in two facets: Physical and Spiritual. It releases an outpouring of great wisdom that enhances creativity and productivity. With consistent worship, low capacity and low prosperity will be completely eradicated. Heart application is a necessity in worship expression.

Worship is a reflection of your heart’s attitude; it produces a high effect in the life of the worshipper when it flows from a clean spirit.  Signs, miracles, grace, empowerment, boldness endowments and dominion become your take away pack even in excesses. True worship is an addictive involvement that expedites God’s action. Stephen was an intense worshipper whose depth of love for Christ elicited Jesus standing up from His throne even though the Bible declares that when He ascended He was ‘seated’ at the right hand of the Father. (Acts 7:55)

What about the worship that shakes heaven? It will require a level of secret and public involvement of your heart to produce the kind of worship that can shake heaven. When your heart and life become a living sacrifice, which is your spiritual act of worship, then your worship has taken the divine tone that moves the heavens.

In true worship, the totality of our being is filled with awe and wonder and like the Psalmist we declare “Bless the LORD oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name”. 

In the words of A. W. Tozer, worship means to “feel in the heart”.  In other words, worship is a heart posture. Tempo and solemnity do not define worship. Worship that is not felt in the heart cannot be worship because worship is an expression of the stirrings of the heart of the worshipper towards God.  Going through the forms of worship without any impact on the heart is not worship at all. ...to be continued

Jesus Be Exalted!!

(c) Chinelo Dillimono 2016
Follow on Twitter: @chinelodilimono

The Master's Worship (Part 1)

God is a God of purpose. He never does anything without an original intent.  God created worship to achieve something, to promote and enhance change. Its sole purpose is to give Him pleasure. Have you wondered what God’s pleasure is?

He is God of all and above all and desires reverence and adoration to be given solely to Him by His creatures. Nevertheless, what is worship? Why do we worship? How do we worship? Why do we go through weeks and weeks of gathering together to worship God? Does worship have any lasting effect or impact on the worshiper?  Is worship about us or about Him? What was God’s original intention for creating worship? It must have been of great importance to Him to have created a being – Lucifer, solely for giving Him worship. God selected a whole tribe, the tribe of Levi for the assignment of creating worship in the Temple and attending to the vessels and place of worship.

Why does God demand sole worship?

“I am the LORD your God,…You shall have no other gods before me…You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,…

Ex 20:2-5

God is one. He is Sovereign and has sovereign rulership and authority over all creation. All things were made for His pleasure.

 “Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory, honor and power,

for thou hast created all thingsand for thy pleasure they are and were created

Rev 4:11 [KJV]

 From the Old to the New Testaments, it is obvious that God’s desire from the foundation of the world and His original intention for the creation of man is that man should give Him pleasure; spirit, soul and body.

God created man so that man could know Him and love Him. Worship flows from a love relationship with God. It’s all about loving God. All relationships are based on trust. In worship you step out and trust what God has said about Himself and His ways.

Imagine a man taking a walk into a supermarket to buy a piece of antique just to give him pleasure. He might as well have purchased something else but rather having the power of choice, chooses a particular piece for his pleasure.  In like manner, God says in Gen 1:26 “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness…”  God made a divine choice to create man. Gen 2:7.  In other words, man is God’s instrument to whom He gave the power of choice.  God created man to give Him worship. Worship thrills God. It has great significance with God.

From the beginning of time, worship has been paramount in the heart of God. Little wonder King Solomon in his entire quest, as seen in the Book of Ecclesiastes, discovered that the whole duty of man, in all his earthly endeavors, is to fear God and worship Him. ...to be continued

Shalom!!

(c) Chinelo Dillimono
Follow on Twitter: @chinelodilimono

I CAN'T PROMISE TO BE PERFECT

I'll be totally straight with you . . . I don't like it when someone tells me that I'm making a mistake or that am wrong. Call it foolish pride I suppose. Can you relate with that too? After all, no one's perfect and I know I make mistakes. There are things I have done that only God knows and I sure thank Him for His mercies that endure forever! I have found myself in places and positions I never in my wildest dreams would have contemplated. There are also things I have failed to do and many times I wonder if I will ever have another opportunity to make amends. Anyways, truth be told no one's perfect living here. This goes for many of us Christians who want to see life through perfect spectacles! Amazing teaching from the Master himself that there are two different kinds of houses-the one built on sand and the one built on the rock. When the rains, winds, waves and storms (4 different categories of trials and temptations) come, only those founded on the Rock will stand. Brings me to a simple conclusion. I can't determine what nor when the storms will come. Its not in my power to decide when a trial or a temptation comes. They may come at weak moments and I find myself making some gross mistakes. So I can't promise to be perfect but you know what? I sure can promise to love Him with a perfect heart. I can promise to run to Him even after the mistakes I make. His love and mercies (notice its in plural) endures (is longlasting) forever! O la la! That's a spot for a Faith Shout!!! No wonder our Blessed Savior when asked what the greatest commandment is; without equivocation said, its two of a kind- Love the LORD thy God with ALL thy heart... and Love thy neighbour as thyself. I can promise to do that!!!!! SELAH!! See you next time. (c) 2011 Chinelo Dillimono

I CAN BEGIN AGAIN

Life is truly amazing. My recent mantra has been "I can begin again with the passion of a child!" and I truly believe it. God always gives us new opportunities to start again. The Prophet Isaiah spoke about God doing a new thing. Jesus through John the Revelator says "Behold I make ALL things new". I can give a Faith Shout for that! Failure, it is said, is never final. The battle is not over until you win. Most often it seems we are at the end of the road and we tend to put a closure on it but its usually a bend. The end of one road is the beginning of a new one! If there happens to be a mountain on my way, then I bore a hole through it. I won't give up now because its not working. I won't throw in the towel because I made a mistake; or putting it succintly, I sinned. I will not let the enemy have a field day because I have messed up my last opportunity. I won't stop dreaming because I have hit the big 4 and looks like I'm stepping into the evening of life! I won't give up on friendships because one went sour! I won't stop being a blessing because someone didn't appreciate my last sacrifice. I can't stop loving because I have been hurt by someone who probably didn't deserve my love (I wonder if there's really anyone undeserving of love). That I failed at something doesn't mean I can't win at something else. Truth is; I CAN BEGIN AGAIN! I can be renewed and ready for a fresh start. Yes I can! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. I can begin with a new passion and make a success of whatever I have set my heart to. So what do I do then? I will wake up from my slumber; look myself in the mirror and tell myself one more time: I CAN BEGIN AGAIN! SELAH! See you next time!

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE

There is such a craze to have, to be and to show! Many struggle to be like or to be more than! Others strive to have as much as or if possible have more than other! There is such a blind competition that is tearing God's people apart rather than unify as the Spirit of Christ desires. For instance every Saturday there is a wedding and many seek to 'out-dress' the others if possible be the silent star of the day or probably the one to make the fashion statement of that day. Many-a-singer (that's my department), wants to 'out-sing' the others who went upstage so they get the loudest applause and the list goes on and on. Paul speaking to the Corinthian church taught us all a blessed way to live where each one simply lives to their optimum comparing themselves with whom they see themselves to be through the eyes of the scriptures and with no other mortal. When we compare ourselves with ourselves, we are not wise he says! You cannot be running a race and looking backwards for who is closest to you, catching up with you or even about to outrun you! That will certainly slow you down! He gives the best prescription to the Hebrews when He says to each one of us, 'Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith'! Each one of us needs to keep our eyes on the mark for the prize of our HIGHCALLING in Christ Jesus! I feel like shouting a big HALLELUYAH!! When I cease from comparing myself with anyone, then I begin to see the uniqueness and beauty in others and strive to encourage them to be their best. I will see that I do not have everything but a portion of the divine nature that needs absolute expression on earth and everyone created by God has a unique portion of the Divine that needs full manifestation and interestingly we are all interlinked and cannot get to the apex of our purpose without others. So, when all is said an done, truly LIFE IS A STAGE and each has a part to play, when your part is done, you leave the stage for someone else to play their part. In His eyes though, even when you are not one the centre stage but either are waiting to play your part, have played your part or are right now on the centre stage, each one is a STAR in His eyes if we walk with Him and do His will!! Hmm! Here's a thought. How would it be when each STAR learns to celebrate every other STAR? When you are offstage you stand in high applause for the one onstage and celebrate the courage of the ones who are now offstage. Hmm! I really wonder!! SELAH!! See you next time!! (c) 2011 Chinelo Dillimono

ANYTHING FOR MY JESUS!!

When she woke up that morning, I guess her sleep must have been pretty light. Somewhere in between her sleep thinking, wondering, possibly calculating. She alone knew the burden on her heart. She alone knew where He had touched her life. Truly, she who has been forgiven little loves little and she who has been forgiven much loves much!

She loved Him but she needed to show it. But how? What does she have to give Him? What can she do to make Him know how much she appreciates Him? She's heard it Him teach about not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing so how can she show her Master her love for Him?

Then she remembers! Alas! There is an Alabaster box worth a whole year's wages that she'd kept for sometime in the future. It was her priceless possession. It was her savings for her future. She alone knew the cost of that oil! She alone knew the attachment she had had to it. She alone knew what it meant to her but you see, ANYTHING FOR JESUS! had become her mantra! Anything to show Him how much He is loved.

Interesting how Simon the Leper could criticize her! He had forgotten that according to the Jewish laws he was what my people (the Igbos) call an OSU! An outcast, one who's place of dwelling according to the Law was outside the camp but who had by virtue of the mercy of Christ received access yet he boldly could criticize this young lady who only Jesus knew the weight she's carried, why and for how long!

Yet, inspite of the criticism, the snares, the behind the scenes whispers, the gossip, the side comments (she too dey do), out of the depths of her heart was a simple determination; ANYTHING FOR MY JESUS!

He was worth it all! He had given her hope for a better life, a better future, a stable existence. He had become her all and deserved her all!

My heart sings, ANYTHING FOR MY JESUS! I will let down my pride, I will take the scoffs and snares! I will endure the disbelief and silent abuses; ALL FOR MY JESUS! I will serve for Him, Love for Him, Live for Him, Deny myself for Him, Go through the pain for Him, Touch for Him, Stand for Him,Sing for Him!! ANYTHING FOR MY JESUS!!!