Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of song and lyrics from the group Hillsong United singing … Here I Am To Worship … poignantly singing of how we were so wonderfully and fearfully created in the image of God for us to live for His glory.need to dedicate our lives to the worship of our Lord … true worship becoming our service to the Lord.
==============
Highlight Verse[s]: Zechariah 7:4-6 [NLT] … 4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?
… When we come to worship God thru corporate worship, fasting, or prayer, is our worship genuine?
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Zechariah 7:1-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Thru the Prophet God challenges His people to genuine worship thru service to Him.
==============
Reference Passage : … Matthew 4:4 [NIV] … 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ [Deut. 8:3]”
… Jesus responds to Satan’s worship challenge with the response which should lead any disciple or worshipper to genuine worship, which would be to feed on God’s word.
Reference Passage : … Romans 12:1-2 [NIV] … 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
… Paul exhorts true believers to genuine worship which is “living sacrifice.”
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 10:24-25 [NIV] … USE THIS LINK … … Our coming together in worship should be to spur us onward to serve the Lord with our love and good works. My
Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, uses a personal story to illustrate how our worship, whether it’s fasting, prayer, or corporate, should be focused on God. And the ODB author wrote: Hunger pangs gnawed at my nerves. My mentor had recommended fasting as a way to focus on God. But as the day wore on, I wondered: How did Jesus do this for forty days? I struggled to rely on the Holy Spirit for peace, strength, and patience. Especially patience.
If we’re physically able, fasting can teach us the importance of our spiritual food. As Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Yet, as I learned firsthand, fasting on its own doesn’t necessarily draw us closer to God!
My very personal question from today’s ODB entry, challenges me to focus on God with my worship thru service. Which leads me to ask myself (and maybe my readers to ask) … Is my [our] fasting and prayer really focused on God?
God challenged His exiled people, thru Zechariah (see highlight passage), to show their worship thru service to widows and orphans and questioned their genuine surrender when they were fasting. The Apostle Paul and the Author of Hebrews challenge all of us (see Rom. 12:1 and Heb. 10:24) to worship God as living sacrifices with our service of good works.
And this morning I’m challenged by feeding on God’s word (as Jesus challenged us in Matt. 4:4) to live my life, feeding on God’s word and serving others, which is true worship by sharing God’s love. Perhaps any reader might be challenged in the same way by feeding on God’s truth today.
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for giving us the opportunity to be living sacrifices of service in worship to You today.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to serve the Lord thru our worship of service to Him today. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment