CHARACTERISTICS OF A WORSHIPER (Part Two)

1. A THANKFUL LIFE

To live a life of worship before God requires a thankful heart and attitude.

Thanksgiving is a gate into the presence of God and as we give Him thanks and praise, He comes and dwells with us. Paul exhorts us in Eph 5:19-20 to “make melody in our hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things.” Thankfulness changes things. It changes attitudes, changes us, and changes situations eg. Jonah in Jonah 2:7-10.

When we love God and have a thankful heart we are able to rise above the circumstances we find ourselves in. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 & Philippians 4:4) As we consider what God has done, is doing and will do in our lives, it brings us into closer intimacy with Him.

2. A SANCTIFIED, HOLY LIFE

If we are to be true worshipers of God, we are to be a holy people, separated unto Him - Holy in speech, thought and deed.

Matt 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” God is a holy God and without holiness none of us will see God. We are to be holy for He is holy. We must be a person who is yielded to God’s Spirit for it is as we yield ourselves to His Spirit, He changes us from from glory to glory. Joshua 24:15 – “Choose you this day whom you will serve”.

When we allow Christ to be revealed in our lives, there comes a hunger for purity and righteousness. We must crucify daily the deeds of the flesh with its passions and desires. Paul said to the Corinthians in 2 Cor 6:12 - “You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.” Let us set our affections on things above, constantly presenting ourselves as living sacrifices.

3. A REPENTANT HEART

God is looking for people that constantly come with a repentant heart seeking His cleansing and knowing that it’s only by His grace that we can enter into His presence. One of the reasons why God said that David was a man after His heart was because he would always come to God in repentance when he made mistakes.

4.A HUMBLE HEART

By function, you should be committed to serving. You should be constantly involved with people (ie. those whom you are leading). There should be more concern about the “people” of worship than the “music” of worship .A true worshiper recognizes that without Christ we can do nothing. God detests pride and if we ever get to a place where we think we've got it together and are better than others we are in serious trouble. E.g. Luke 18:9-14.

5.AN OBEDIENT HEART

The true worshiper is obedient to God’s commands because they don’t want to in any way grieve the one that they love. God considers obedience far more important than any external expression of worship. E.g. 1 Sam. 15:22 – “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams.”

6.HE IS A LOVER OF GOD’S WORD

It is in God’s Word that we discover more of who God is – His character and nature. God can speak to us in a number of ways, but the most common way is by bringing revelation through the reading of His Word.

7 A PASSION FOR HIS PRESENCE

In Him is our life, our health, our peace, our prosperity, our hope, our joy. He has created us so that everything we need is in Him.

God’s command is that we love Him with our whole being – body, soul, mind and spirit. We must realize that there is a longing within us that cannot be satisfied by anything else, but our intimate communion with Him. We must so desire His presence in our lives that we allow nothing to take His place, or to distract us from knowing Him. No one else, nothing else can fulfill the cry of our hearts.

God the Father desires a people who are awakened in their affections and passions for Jesus. Like Mary in John 12:1-8 the true worshiper is prepared to give extravagantly unto God, holding back nothing. God requires our all and when we give it, the rewards are beyond compare.

Mary’s sacrifice cost her a lot in monetary terms (300 denarii – a year’s wages), was an act of public humility, opened her up to criticism of the guests and challenged the other not so devoted guests.

We constantly must ask the question – “Can I ever pour too much cost, time and effort into achieving greater levels of worshiping God?” When we consider Christ’s love and sacrifice we realize that we could never give too much back to God.

8.A PERSON OF FAITH

A true worshiper becomes a man or woman of faith because they have built an intimate relationship with God and have come to know His attributes. Therefore they have the confidence to believe that He will perform what He has promised e.g. David and Abraham.