What God Wants Most For You

“God loves you very much. But God also loves Himself, because to do anything less would mean not being God. More than any of us, God knows how valuable He is. He knows He???s God. He knows He???s central. As a result, He values Himself most.No, He???s not egotistical, thinking more highly of Himself than He should. He???s the only God, thinking of Himself as He truly is. But God???s centrality hasn???t stopped Him from loving you with the greatest love known to man. And through the death of His Son, God has made a way for you to return to His loving arms, washed clean and forgiven because of the price He paid at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Breathe in, breathe out

What God wants most for you

God loves you very much. But God also loves Himself, because to do anything less would mean not being God. More than any of us, God knows how valuable He is. He knows He???s God. He knows He???s central. As a result, He values Himself most.No, He???s not egotistical, thinking more highly of Himself than He should. He???s the only God, thinking of Himself as He truly is. But God???s centrality hasn???t stopped Him from loving you with the greatest love known to man. And through the death of His Son, God has made a way for you to return to His loving arms, washed clean and forgiven because of the price He paid at the cross of Jesus Christ. Where your spirit was once dormant because of sin, God seeks to stir your soul to life again, giving you the capacity to walk in intimacy with Him. Restoring your ability to worship with all your heart. God tells us we were redeemed ???that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.??? God loves turning rebels into worshipers ??? for what could possibly bring Him more glory than that? What God wants most for you is for you to have a worthy God. Only then will you live a full and satisfying life.

Who, Not Where

God doesn???t require ornate or elaborate expressions. The worship He???s looking for is spiritual and true. Genuine. Authentic. Worship from the heart. That???s how Jesus put it in a conversation He was having with a Samaritan woman one afternoon while resting beside a common well. Soon into their talk, Jesus was disclosing His knowledge of her private affairs. (After she mentioned that she was unmarried, He pointed out that she???d actually had five husbands, and the man she was now living with wasn???t one of them). That immediately tipped her off that this guy had some kind of special wisdom. She might as well tap into it. She quickly posed a question that evidently had been bothering her for some time. Her people (the Samaritans) worshiped on one mountain, His people (the Jews) on another. Who was right? Which mountain was better? Where should she worship? For a total stranger who knew everything about her past, this simple ???where??? question shouldn???t be too hard. Right? But as we???ve come to expect, Jesus took the subject to another level, answering a basic ???where??? question with a riveting ???who??? answer. Here???s His comeback:Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship that which you don???t know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.Wow! After that, I???m surprised the woman could gather herself for a response, but she did: ???I know that Christ the Messiah is coming and when He comes He will explain everything to us.??? (To which I say, ???Lady, you???re getting very warm!???) But to which Jesus replied, ???I who speak to you am He.??? Jesus has come. Messiah is here. And He???s announcing that worship isn???t about where you do it, but about the heart. It???s not about what church you belong to, but whether or not you have a personal relationship with God. The kind of worshipers God is looking for are those who will worship Him as their Father ??? in spirit and truth. To worship God in spirit requires that we be alive on the inside, experiencing the life He gives by spiritual birth. Without His life, you can never truly worship. And to worship in truth means to worship God as He really is, and bringing more than our words ??? bringing words amplified by an authentic life that flows from being spiritually alive within.

It???s Something You Do

Worship is a verb ??? at least that???s what author Robert Webber says in his book by the same title. I think he???s right. Practically speaking, worship is always a verb. Worship is something you do.Worship isn???t something you watch, contrary to the thinking of many of us who attend church. That may be hard to believe, given that in most churches the rows of seats (or pews) are arranged with sight lines in mind. The lights also point to the stage. And to help you with your viewing pleasure, you???re handed a program at the door ??? a line-up card for what???s happening up front in today???s ???show,??? if you will. After all, it???s all put on for you, is it not? A few ministers even act like actors. Some singers and musicians seem to perform. In many cases you can even watch the whole thing on a big screen. Often there???s even a matinee or evening performance for the non-morning crowd.But here???s a new flash for you. Worship isn???t something you attend, like a film or a concert. Worship is something you enter into with all your might. Worship is a participation activity in a spectator culture.Check out the Psalms, both the longest book in the entire Bible and the one that deals almost exclusively with the subject of worship….filled with verbs: Shout to God. Sing a new song. Dance before Him. Clap your hands. Bow down. Lift up your heads. Tell of His might. Stand in awe. Meditate on His truth. Walk in His ways. Still your heart. Cast down your idols. Run to Him. Make a loud noise. Lift your hands. Strike up the band (okay, so that one???s a bit modernized). Clash the cymbals. Praise Him with a trumpet sound. Seek His face. Tell the nations.True worship is a whole-life response to God???s greatness and glory. A response that taps our mind, our soul, our heart of passion???..and all our strength.

It Doesn???t Start with Us

The key word is “response.” Worship is our response to God. In other words, we don???t initiate worship; God does.He reveals; we respond.He discloses; we respond.He unveils; we respond.He chooses to show us how amazing He is; we say ???God, You???re amazing!???Our whole relationship with God works the same way:He loves. We love in return.He calls. We answer.He leads. We follow.

Look Up

Unless we see God, we cannot worship Him. Worship is what spontaneously flows out of us when we come face to face with Him. It???s the natural response to all of who He is. Our grateful response for all He has done. Sure, we get a massive amount out of the experience of worshiping Him. But at its core, worship is all about God. It???s for Him. Our worship is to Him.Source: Louie Giglio. The Air I Breathe: Worship As a Way of Life. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2006.

What God Wants Most For You

“God loves you very much. But God also loves Himself, because to do anything less would mean not being God. More than any of us, God knows how valuable He is. He knows He’s God. He knows He’s central. As a result, He values Himself most.

No, He’s not egotistical, thinking more highly of Himself than He should. He’s the only God, thinking of Himself as He truly is. But God’s centrality hasn’t stopped Him from loving you with the greatest love known to man. And through the death of His Son, God has made a way for you to return to His loving arms, washed clean and forgiven because of the price He paid at the cross of Jesus Christ.