The Heart Of Worship
The heart of worship is surrender.
Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the world submission. It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser. Surrender evokes the unpleasent images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yeilding to a stronger opponent.
In today's competitive culture we are taught to never give up and never give in-so we don't hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable. We would rather talk about winning, succeeding, overcoming and conquering then yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering. But surrendering to God is the heart of worshipo. It is the natural response to God's amazing love and mercy.
True worship-bringing God pleasure- happens when you give yourself completely to God.
Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about.
This at of personal surrender is called many things: consecreation, making Jesus your Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit. What matters is that you do it, not what you call it.
There are three barriers that block our total surrender to God: fear, pride, and confussion.
Can I trust God? Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender.
Admitting our limitations. A second barrier to total surrender is our pride. We don't want to admit that we're just creatures and not in charge of everything.
We aren't God and never will be. We are humans. It is when we try to be God that we ned up most like Satan, who desired the same thing.
What it means to surrender. Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed.
The blessing of surrender. The Bible is crystal clear about how you benefit when you frully surrender your life to God. First you experience peace. Next you experience freedom. Third you experience God's power in your life. Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can be defeated by Christ when given to him.
The best way to live. Everybody eventually surrenders to smoething or someone. If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego. You were designed to worship God-and if you fail to worship him, you will create other things(idols) to give your life to.
Letme warm you: when you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will meandoing invoncentient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing.
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Point to ponder: The hear of worship is surrender
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Question to consider:
What are of my life am I holding back from God?
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