Worship is my word for 2019! It is the most powerful weapon for all of the battles we will face in life.
I’ve been writing for almost 8 years now, heading into my 9th year. If I could pick one thing for any new Christ follower to know, it is that when we worship Jesus and focus on Who He is…it becomes our most useful weapon to battle our unseen, but REAL enemy, Satan. All battles on this earth are spiritual ones.
I am diverting from the four gospels and taking you to Ephesians today. It is a book in the New Testament written by another disciple of Christ, Paul. I won’t take the time right now to tell you about Paul, but if you are following along with my blogs, I will eventually write about his fascinating life.
Allow me to teach you something useful right here. A great way to study God’s Word is to get a Bible that has an introduction page for every book of the Bible. This page tells you who wrote the book, if known, and a good educated guess about when it was written and who it was written to and what for. Often when you know this, it helps you have a clearer understanding of the meaning…and how you can apply it to your life.
I love to read the books of the Bible that Paul wrote. He wrote Ephesians from prison and it was written to encourage all Christ followers. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul writes, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
In previous blogs I’ve written about the “Light” which refers to Jesus and Scripture tells us this Light dispels the darkness. When we worship the Light, Jesus, darkness cannot prevail. It ushers in a heavenly power from God. Darkness is from our enemy, Satan, and while I would rather focus on Jesus I feel that often the “elephant in the room” is not taught on or talked about enough. It is better to know our enemy and his tactics and how to do battle than not and worship indeed dispels darkness.
Often we may have to live in a state of worship to keep the darkness at bay…if you are breathing and interact at all with people on a daily basis, you can easily see or hear about numerous battles all the while being in one yourself. It can be physical, emotional, relational or a combination thereof. Don’t get me wrong, while there are physical and logical moves we can make like seeing a doctor, a counselor, etc., I have come to apply “worship” as my go to before I engage in any other resource. Often, after worship, peace comes, clarity comes, and confidence of what step I should take next. Sometimes I find there is no step to take except to exist in the faith to know God has my back!
I can give personal testimony to private worship and how God’s spirit flows and encompasses my mind and heart. But there is another worship that I want to encourage us all to engage in and that is corporate worship! In the four gospels you read about the crowds following Jesus and listening to His messages. You read about Jesus gathering with His disciples to pray and travel.
Today, church is a fabulous place to plant and worship. It surrounds you with others who are worshiping and it also allows a stream of holy encouragement from others who are seeking the same things. In Matthew 18:20 we learn “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” It is a holy act to gather with others to worship together.
My parents took me to church at a very young age. We went often and it took priority in our weekly schedule. Looking back, I am so very thankful for parents that were faithful and stayed the course. They hardly ever took a break from church worship or active service. All those who went to our church either directly or indirectly had a tremendous impact on my life–from a hug, to an encouraging word, to doing life with them through years of church activities and fellowships. I know I have benefited from the prayers offered up on my behalf and the layering of teaching and Godly examples to watch.
By the way, my eyes were never closed. I absorbed it all and didn’t really realize it until I became an adult and parent myself. It doesn’t matter your age. If you have never been in a church or haven’t been in a long time, ask God for the courage and direction to pick a church and just do it….Go! Press Send in your life… worship individually with God and collectively with others….that will press the Power button in your life.
When I/you/we worship:
1. We are agreeing with the unchanging nature of God and disagreeing with the lies of the enemy.
2. It elevates our perspective, causing us to see from God’s vantage point.
3. It ushers in the safety of God’s presence.
Somehow our worship takes us deeper. Being thankful opens the gate and we are flooded with the supernatural presence of a Holy God. If you are a new Christian or considering a relationship with Jesus and are unsure of what I am saying, I understand. It is impossible to write in one blog post all there is to a relationship with Christ and what all that can mean to anyone and if you have never experienced it, it is hard to imagine. I am trusting and I am writing from a point of full faith in God that as HE inspires the words I am typing and posting that HE will take them and use them to help someone…right where they are.
I can honestly say…I know that will happen…God is so great. He can take these words and resonate them in someone’s spirit where they will either decide to worship on their own, go to church or both…and then it is not up to me. It is up to God and I know that I know that I know, HE shows up when we sincerely seek Him. HE looks at the heart.
So if you have a heart that is sick and tired of being sick and tired, try worship. Just ask God to help you narrow your focus to who He is…not on your needs or your wants…just worshiping Him. HE is that big, that Great. So big that HE sees each one of us individually and is attentive to us individually.
My relationship is to obey what He tells me in my spirit to do. I cannot take the credit for what I write. All glory goes to God. I just know I have to obey and trust Him with the outcomes in others lives.
Worship, to date, has been the most powerful, most holy, most encouraging act that I engage in on a daily basis…It truly is where all life battles can be won.
“Without worship we go about miserable. ~ A. W. Tozer
