There's an Army Rising Up!
There is something so beautiful about pure and honest worship. It doesn't matter if it is "good" according to the world's standards, whether singing, playing an instrument or dancing. When worship comes from a genuine place in a person's heart, it softens the hearts of those who witness it. Like when you see children dancing and singing freely. Even if it is terrible, we love the freedom and innocence children have as they sincerely put their heart and soul into what they are doing, untainted by the fear of what others may think. Their pureness of heart speaks so much that it outweighs the quality of what they are doing. But, what if we could combine pure, genuine worship together with excellent skill.
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” -John 4:23-24 ESV
What does it mean to be a true worshiper? I used Strong's Concordance (a great resource you can access online through Blue Letter Bible) to find the definition of "true" from John 4:23's original Greek text: "that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine; opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended; it contrasts realities with their semblances; opposite to what is imperfect, defective, frail, uncertain; true, veracious, sincere." And...selah. There is a lot to think about right there. In order to be a true worshiper, we must resemble and embody the character of God. We are already made in His image, but we must study His nature in order to truly be Christ-like. We become like the people that we hang out with. Spend time with God and you will become more like Him.
What does it mean to worship in spirit? According to Strong's Concordance, in this verse, the Greek word for "spirit" refers to the Holy Spirit. We connect with God through the Holy Spirit that lives in us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! It is the Spirit of God that gives us the power to minister to people's hearts by bringing healing and fresh revelation. Worship can only truly minister and be effective if we are connected with the Holy Spirit by keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord and our mind free from distractions in order to be available and obedient to any direction we receive. Sometimes we don't know how to pray or what to say through our worship, but Romans 8:26-27 (NLT) says: "the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will". The Spirit allows us to go beyond ourselves to meet the unknown needs of the people around us and sometimes even our own subconscious needs.
What does it mean to worship in truth? Strong's Concordance gives an objective and subjective definition for the Greek word for "in truth". Objectively, "in truth" means "of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly". So how do we know what is ultimate truth? The Bible. The living, breathing word of God. The Bible is full of truth and will always teach you more about God's father heart for His people. Many people think that they can't understand the Bible with all of it's stories and parables (I used to be one of them), but I urge you to try again. Start with some of Paul's letters in the New Testament, and I promise that you will find that this book written almost 2,000 years ago can still speak into your life today. It will encourage you, sharpen you, give you wisdom and direction. It will reveal the truth about who you are and whose you are and how to live life abundantly.
The subjective definition from Strong's Concordance for "in truth" is "truth as a personal excellence; that candor [quality of being open and honest in expression] of mind which is free from affection, pretense, simulation, falsehood, deceit." Truth as a personal excellence. There is something about truth that calls us to be excellent in all that we do. Being excellent in a craft can help to eliminate distractions, the things that would pull our attention away from what is being expressed. And I love that it says "personal excellence" so we can't compare ourselves to other people as we strive for our own personal excellence in our lives and in our craft, according to our individual giftings. Truth requires us to know our identity as beloved children of God so we are untainted by the things of the world that try to tell us otherwise.
So, how do we get to this place of spirit and truth and excellence in our worship? First, we must know the one whom we worship. How can you genuinely worship someone if you don't really know their character and what they are really like? It is hard to give adoration to someone we don't love. The best way to get to know anyone is by spending time with them. Through relationship we learn the ins and outs of a person, their character, and their nature. One way to know God is by reading His word and learning what is true about Him, ourselves, and the world. Second, as we connect with God we connect more with the Holy Spirit. And third, we train in our gifting and learn to do it with excellence. As we grow in these areas, we train up others in the same way, discipling them to know God, walk in the Spirit, learn truth, and to do everything with excellence.
This is my desire for my time at YWAM. As I serve the campus by teaching dance, I am focused on getting to know the Lord more, knowing His nature and His truth, fine-tuning my ear to His voice. As I continually learn what it means to worship in spirit and in truth, I pray that I will be able to deposit the things that have been revealed to me into my students whom I am pushing in my classes to train with excellence. I will learn more about discipleship through my DTS as I am mentored myself, so I will be able to disciple others more effectively. It is my prayer that I can help to raise up a generation of true worshipers, who worship in spirit and truth, and with excellence so that the glory of the Lord will be undeniable to all who see.
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” -John 4:23-24 ESV
What does it mean to be a true worshiper? I used Strong's Concordance (a great resource you can access online through Blue Letter Bible) to find the definition of "true" from John 4:23's original Greek text: "that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine; opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended; it contrasts realities with their semblances; opposite to what is imperfect, defective, frail, uncertain; true, veracious, sincere." And...selah. There is a lot to think about right there. In order to be a true worshiper, we must resemble and embody the character of God. We are already made in His image, but we must study His nature in order to truly be Christ-like. We become like the people that we hang out with. Spend time with God and you will become more like Him.
What does it mean to worship in spirit? According to Strong's Concordance, in this verse, the Greek word for "spirit" refers to the Holy Spirit. We connect with God through the Holy Spirit that lives in us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! It is the Spirit of God that gives us the power to minister to people's hearts by bringing healing and fresh revelation. Worship can only truly minister and be effective if we are connected with the Holy Spirit by keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord and our mind free from distractions in order to be available and obedient to any direction we receive. Sometimes we don't know how to pray or what to say through our worship, but Romans 8:26-27 (NLT) says: "the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will". The Spirit allows us to go beyond ourselves to meet the unknown needs of the people around us and sometimes even our own subconscious needs.
The subjective definition from Strong's Concordance for "in truth" is "truth as a personal excellence; that candor [quality of being open and honest in expression] of mind which is free from affection, pretense, simulation, falsehood, deceit." Truth as a personal excellence. There is something about truth that calls us to be excellent in all that we do. Being excellent in a craft can help to eliminate distractions, the things that would pull our attention away from what is being expressed. And I love that it says "personal excellence" so we can't compare ourselves to other people as we strive for our own personal excellence in our lives and in our craft, according to our individual giftings. Truth requires us to know our identity as beloved children of God so we are untainted by the things of the world that try to tell us otherwise.
So, how do we get to this place of spirit and truth and excellence in our worship? First, we must know the one whom we worship. How can you genuinely worship someone if you don't really know their character and what they are really like? It is hard to give adoration to someone we don't love. The best way to get to know anyone is by spending time with them. Through relationship we learn the ins and outs of a person, their character, and their nature. One way to know God is by reading His word and learning what is true about Him, ourselves, and the world. Second, as we connect with God we connect more with the Holy Spirit. And third, we train in our gifting and learn to do it with excellence. As we grow in these areas, we train up others in the same way, discipling them to know God, walk in the Spirit, learn truth, and to do everything with excellence.
This is my desire for my time at YWAM. As I serve the campus by teaching dance, I am focused on getting to know the Lord more, knowing His nature and His truth, fine-tuning my ear to His voice. As I continually learn what it means to worship in spirit and in truth, I pray that I will be able to deposit the things that have been revealed to me into my students whom I am pushing in my classes to train with excellence. I will learn more about discipleship through my DTS as I am mentored myself, so I will be able to disciple others more effectively. It is my prayer that I can help to raise up a generation of true worshipers, who worship in spirit and truth, and with excellence so that the glory of the Lord will be undeniable to all who see.
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