Daily Devotion

What would it look like to daily worship God in spirit and truth?

Exodus 20:3 ...'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'

Deuteronomy 6:5 ...'And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.'

What do the above verses mean to you? What does it mean to have no other gods before our Heavenly Father? What does it mean to love Him with all our heart, soul and might? Well, exactly as it says! If there is something or someone that we spend more time with than God our Creator, then that is our god. Worshiping God is not confined to one day a week when we go to church on the Sabbath day. It should totally consume our lives. Our lives should be saturated with worshiping our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. How can anyone say they are a "Christian" and that they love the LORD, but not spend much time with Him? Every waking moment should be spent in devotion to our LORD and Saviour. Are you a part-time Christian or a full-time Christian? You need to be a full-time Christian, because that is the only type of Christian that God will accept.

Psalm 16:11 ...'Thou will show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.'

We should be searching the scriptures daily like the Bereans did, to find out the Bible truth that Jesus has revealed to us through His Word ... Acts 17:11 ...'These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.'

What was it that made the Bereans a noble people? The fact that they received the Word of God and studied the scriptures EVERY DAY! And they were ready and willing to be taught by God, rather than just rely on what others said. Are you reading your Bible every day? And I don't mean just glossing over a few verses or just reading a devotional written by someone else, but real prayerful Bible study. The Word of God in the Bible contains life giving advice. It is the very foundation of our faith, because without it, we would have nothing to base our faith on. Unfortunately, many Christians would rather read novels or books written by other Christians, than read the very Word of God. This is a very sad, but a true fact of the Christian world. How do you think that makes our loving Heavenly Father feel, to know His people would rather read anything but His Word? Please, if you do not study the Bible every day, then I urge you to start and to pray and ask God to give you the desire to do so.

2 Timothy 2:15 ...'Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.'

1 Chronicles 23:30 ...'And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at even.' ... We need to come before our God every morning and evening with praise and thanksgiving, as David says in the Psalms ... 'I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.' (Psalm 34:1). Let us come before our Creator on our knees with reverent prayer every morning and evening.

A true relationship with Christ means that we live with Him every hour of every day, not just now and again. He should be continually on our minds. Most people in the world work for a living, which takes up a lot of our time, but this doesn't mean we can't worship God during work. Talk to God and pray to God throughout your working day. Share your faith with your work colleagues. Ask Him to bless your working day and to help you be a witness to your colleagues.

Unfortunately, there is something in most houses in the world that keep Worship the TVpeople busy and cause them to have no time for God. That "idol of the hour" is TELEVISION! When God is looking down on His people seeking those who are worshiping Him in spirit and truth, what does He see? Does He see all His people busy studying His Word, or on their knees praying to Him, or spreading the gospel message to the world? No! He sees many of the people who profess Him as their God, sat wasting their lives in front of the television. I truly believe that the tv is one of satan's tools to draw people away from God. And this is why my wife and I got rid of the one tv we had over three years ago. This is one of the best things we have done and I would urge all people to do the same. Time is short friend, Jesus will return soon. So get rid of that mindless box and give your spare time to Bible study and prayer and doing good works and getting back that good Christian family unit. Yes, the tv is also used for spreading the gospel, as God can make light out of darkness, but most of the time consumed in front of the tv is watching the many mindless sinful programs the world has to offer.

Satan has conditioned our minds so much through television, the movies and secular music, that Bible study has become boring to the average Christian. We now have a generation of youth that spend most of their time seeking worldly pleasure, rather than seeking to please God and do His will.

1 John 5:21 ...'Little children, keep yourselves from idols.'

How much time do you spend in front of the tv? Do you spend more time watching tv, than studying the Word of God in the Bible? If so, then you really need to get rid of that box, because that has become your god. Remember, anything that we spend more time with than God, then that thing is our idol and god. Do you think that when you stand in front of Jesus, your Saviour and Judge, that He will say, "well, you spent more time watching TV than you did with me, but hey! come on into My kingdom anyway!" Friend, this is NOT going to happen. He will more likely say, "depart from Me, I do not know you!"

Psalm 101:3 ...'I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.' ... We need to heed David's advice and stop watching those sinful programs full of violence, sex, swearing and all sorts of unrighteousness. If you have pleasure in sitting in front of the horrific programs on the tv, then I'm afraid you are not right with God, as it says in Galatians 5:19-21 ...'Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' ... Television programs are full of all the above sins, and yet most Christians think it ok to sit and watch it. Anyone who continues to take any part in the above sins of the flesh, and try to justify it, CANNOT enter the kingdom of God. If you are happy to watch such things, then you are giving your approval to them and rejecting the Spirit of God. Are you going to risk losing your salvation by spending more time in front of the TV than you spend with God?

Christ did not die to redeem a bride who would keep Him outside, while she sat inside watching television.

What will it take for you to throw that thing in the trash??

Unfortunately, Christians are now even conditioned to criticize those who expose these evils ... 2 Timothy 3:2-5 ...'For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.'

Galatians 4:16 ...'Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?'

Are you now going to try and justify your watching tv? Don't try and justify it to me or anyone else. Go and justify it to God.

"Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? Can you cry out "my God and my all"? Do you desire nothing but Him? Are you happy in God? Is He your glory, your delight, your crown of rejoicing? (John Wesley)

How much time do you devote to prayer? Do you, like a lot of people just pray when you are in need of something? Praying to God is part of our worship to Him in spirit and truth. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ...'Pray without ceasing.' ... This doesn't mean that we are to literally pray every second of the day, as this would not be possible. But we are to pray to our Heavenly Father each and every day. We should come before Him day and night in reverent fear on our knees in humility and faith ... Matthew 21:22 ...'And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'

Philippians 4:6 ...'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.'

James 5:16 ...'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' ... Prayer is a powerful tool that the Christian has, with a loving Heavenly Father waiting to bless those who come to Him with reverence and in humility and faith. Getting on your knees before God in prayer would be the perfect way to start and end every day, just as Daniel did ... Daniel 6:10 ...'Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.'

Look also how Daniel came before the LORD to earnestly pray for something ... Daniel 9:3 ...'And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.' ... With fasting, sackloth and ashes! Wow! He truly humbled himself before God. Daniel certainly knew how to worship God in spirit and in truth. Unfortunately, we don't see much of this kind of praying today. Christians today think it enough just to say a quick casual prayer and believe our Mighty God will answer it. Maybe we would see God move in a much more frequent and amazing way if we prayed the way Daniel did.

Remember every day what Christ Jesus did for you. Jesus, the Creator came down from His lofty position in Heaven and gave His life for you. He went through untold pain and suffering for you. Are you going to just sit back and do nothing? Or are you going to give your all for Him. So many people gave their lives and were persecuted and tortured and killed trying to preserve the Bible. Are you just going to leave it on your shelf and just flick through it quickly "when you have the time"? God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and truth. He is seeking those who give their all for Him, not those who give Him 30 mintues a day, but those who give their ALL. He will not accept anything less than to be first in your life.

Ephesians 5:18-20 ...'be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.'

So what does daily worship of God in spirit and truth look like? Go and ask people what they did today. The person that speaks all about what they did for God will be the one who worshiped Him in spirit and truth. Unfortunately, most Christians will just talk about work, play, or family, or just gossip about someone else and not even mention God.

Friend, it's time to put God FIRST in your life every day. One day soon you will stand before Him in judgment. Will you be able to justify what you spent your time on? Will God say, "well done thou good and faithful servant"? or will He say "depart from me, I do not know you"?

I plead with you to devote yourselves to Christ Jesus every day. Our daily devotion to God should be a joyful time that we look forward to, out of love for our Creator and Saviour. Not something we do because we "have" to.