For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit.
To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two
postings preceding this one.
We continue from
our previous message.
How do we worship Father in Spirit and in Truth? We can
only do it when we truly experience Him in our spirit through His Spirit. To explain this I want to
present two scenarios.
Imagine you are very poor and someone sends you money
in the post to buy food and clothes. You will open the envelope and say: ‘Wow, this is great. This is real kind. I will
buy me this and that and send her a thank you letter. I can maybe have my
picture taken and include it.’
For the second scenario I want to use a story about a
poor, hungry street boy who was taken into the house of a woman who gave him a
hot bath and clean clothes, a huge meal and a soft warm bed to sleep in. The
next morning when he was rested another hot meal awaited him and the good news
that he could stay on. The story went on about his awe of what he had experienced.
Should you be treated like this if you were in the
boy’s position, how would you react? You will probably rave about this person nonstop,
telling her how great she is and what you would like to do to be good to her in
return. You will avail yourself as a willing ‘slave’ to such a person and do for
her whatever she wishes.
What is the difference between the two scenarios? The
first gift was from out there – from someone you do not have a relationship
with. You were blessed by it, but the donor was not a reality to you and you
did not experience her touch of love. Your ‘thank you’ was also impersonal – a
letter. This is what worship in church is like when we only worship with our
minds as a duty. If we do not have a deep personal relationship with the Lord,
having seen the Holy Spirit making a difference in our lives, and in those of
others whom we serve, our worship can be very mechanical and without emotion.
But if we walk in the Spirit and are involved enough
with the Lord to rely on Him for all our
needs, and to experience Him in action in our lives and in the lives of those
we serve in obedience. And if through us He fulfils any true Christian’s
heart’s desire; the establishing of the Kingdom of God in our community, we get
ecstatic about it and just adore the Lord for His love that He has shown
towards the lost souls. In serving we see His miracles and the change in people’s
lives, and it fulfils our need to mean something worthwhile to somebody. This
is when we realise the truth about an intimate relationship with the Lord and
worship Him for it. This is when He bathes us in the warmth of His love and we
become aware of all our needs met, and then we rave about Him and just desire
to return His love through more obedience – just like the little street boy.
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them; he is the one who loves me. He
who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show
myself to him ... Jesus replied, if anyone loves me, he will
obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our
home with him,”
(John 14:21, 23).
Lord,
I desire to be intimate with you. Please show me how, Holy Spirit.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
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