Disciples of Christ are called to worship God. But how do we do that all the way down to our souls? This daily devotional looks at how Clarkson’s list of choosing to put God first in every way increases our worship of God.
Nuggets
- We can esteem God — hold Him in high value — because of the value He has placed on us.
- To worship God, we need to shift our focus from the world to Him.
- Worshiping God is a choice, of which we must be intentional.
- We must choose to totally submit to Him and worship Him in spirit and truth.
- We follow God’s law when we love God and others.
- We worship God because we trust Him with all our hearts.
- Since we worship the Creator of the universe, we can be confident in God.
Devotions in the Soul Worship series
I had thrown this sermon in the drafts folder when we were stepping through Ephesians. It grabbed me this morning.
The sentence that did it was this one. Clarkson wrote, “There are thirteen acts of soul worship; and to give any one of them to anything besides the God of heaven is plain idolatry, and those idolaters that so give it.”
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Worship is an important duty on a disciple’s job description. Let’s see what we can learn from this to help us up our worship.
It is going to take us two devotions to get through all of Clarkson’s points. We are going to wait until the end to do the connections and application.
Let's Put It into Context
“For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5: 5 CSB)
When we were going through Ephesians, we looked at this through the lens of inheriting the kingdom. That is important as the end goal.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
But this verse comes just after the “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children” verse (Eph. 5: 1 CSB). What can we learn that we can implement now by looking through the lens of worship?
How Do We Esteem God?
“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (I Pet. 1: 18-19 ESV)
We can esteem God — hold Him in high value — because of the value He has placed on us. He has redeemed us from our sinful state to restore our relationships with Him.
To do this, God had to find a way to pardon our sins and break its hold on us. This was necessary after Adam and Eve committed the original sin.
Glossary
God designed the Plan of Salvation before He even created us. Jesus was born, died, and rose again to be the sacrifice for our sins. Only He had never sinned, so only He could be an acceptable sacrifice.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Glossary
No, we can’t be saved on our own. Nothing we could do or not do would bridge the separation we had with God.
Until we value what God and Jesus have done for us, we can’t truly worship Them. Martin summed it up by saying, “Christ, according to the Scriptures, is the Word made flesh. The blood of Christ is the blood of the flesh in which God was manifest.” Jesus shed His blood so that we might be restored to God.
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Glossary
That puts the value of Jesus’ blood very high. We should worship Him for His selfless sacrifice.
How Are We Mindful of God?
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3: 2 ESV)
To worship God, we need to shift our focus from the world to Him. This is a conscious choice.
Some may question how we can worship the unseen. Cumming explained, “We may love the unseen, not the unknown. We know them through the Scriptures.”
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If we are setting our minds on things above, we are not focusing on what is ours in this world. We aren’t looking at family, friends, job, possessions, etc. as our #1 priority,
What we are looking at is Jesus’ wonderful face. We are focusing on God’s promises and provision over the lies and chaos of this world.
God offers us so much more than the world. “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” (I Jn. 2: 16 NLT).
In order to truly worship God, we need to set Him as a priority in our lives. We need to focus on Him.
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Lauren Daigle
How Intentional Are We in Worshiping God?
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30: 19 ESV)
Worshiping God is a choice, of which we must be intentional. We have to choose God over everything. This is a life or death matter.
The choices are diametrically opposite. We can choose life and blessings (good) or death and curses (evil).
- Good, in the biblical sense, is the workings of God within His people.
- Evil is equated with sin because it is that which goes against God and His purposes.
We’ve talked before how being intention is applied to James 1: 25. “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it — not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it — they will be blessed in what they do” (Jas. 1: 25 NIV). Looks intently was translated several wa
- “… must never stop …” (Jas. 1: 25 CEV)
- “… looks intently …” (Jas. 1: 25 NIV)
- “… look carefully …” (Jas. 1: 25 NLT)
- “… peers …” (Jas. 1: 25 NET)
- “… gazes …” (Jas. 1: 25 ABPE)
- “… fixes his view …” (Jas. 1: 25 DBT)
- “… looks closely …” (Jas. 1: 25 WNT)
- “… catches a glimpse …” (Jas. 1: 25 MSG).
God wants us to make an informed decision on whether we are going to submit to Him or not. Since the choices are so different, one would think we would have an easier time choosing.
That may not be the case. Satan masks the evil with shiny pleasure. He makes it very tempting for us.
We must choose to worship God because He is the giver of life and good. Each of us must choose today.
How Resolved Are We to Worship God?
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24: 5 ESV)
Worshiping God is a choice we must make daily. We must choose to totally submit to Him and worship Him in spirit and truth.
It is our choice whether we have a relationship with God or not. But it is an all or nothing choice.
We have to choose to totally submit to God. That means we have to agree to follow all of His laws and commandments.
Yes, all of them. We can’t be picking and choosing what we will believe from God’s Word.
How Much Do We Really Love God?
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” (Mt. 22: 37 ESV)
We follow God’s law when we love God and others. We cannot change God’s laws and expect Him to think we love Him.
God is wanting us to completely follow His laws and commandments. No, we won’t be perfect in this human form. When we aren’t, we ask forgiveness and repent.
Glossary
What God is asking is that we do not pick and choose which laws and commandments we are going to follow. We can’t change His laws to fit our purposes.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
All of those laws and commandments are summed up in love. That should be easy, right?
Beecher pointed out one way we go wrong. He wrote, “Christian people spend much time watching their motives and actions that they have little or no time to attend to anything else. There is but one thing required of man, and that is, that he shall have love. If you take care of that, everything else will take care of itself.”
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We have to love the way God loves. We can’t follow the worldview definition of love.
How Much Do We Trust God?
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1: 9 ESV)
We worship God because we trust Him with all our hearts. We gain strength and courage when we do.
When we trust God, we have the assurance that events will play out according to His plan, regardless of the outcome. We know we can approach life with courage and strength because we have assurance of victory.
We worship the Creator of the universe. How could we lose?
Also, we know that living under God’s laws and commandments provides that strength and courage. Raleigh wrote, “A man shows himself more brave in an inflexible adherence to the law of God as the the rule of his life in all things than in any feats of arms or deeds of daring.”
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Worship helps us grow in grace and knowledge. That, in turn, helps us grow in strength and courage. Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Glossary
Do We Let Our Fear of Others Steal Our Worship?
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27: 1 ESV)
Since we worship the Creator of the universe, we can be confident in God. Since God is Sovereign, we have no reason to be afraid.
This is a song David wrote. Witherspoon thought David was in exile at the time of writing.
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Hmmm. That can really rock our confidence in God — but it shouldn’t.
We should worship God in the good times and the bad. God is still God regardless of our circumstances.
Because of that, we have nothing to fear. The Omnipotent God has us. That is cause for worship!
We just have to look outside of our selves and look up to God. He is our light and salvation.
Father. We worship You. We totally submit our lives to You and choose daily to put You first in our lives. Amen.
What do you think?
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