Falling in Love with God: Worship as a Lifestyle (Part 3 of 7)

Monday, February 7, 2011

“You are the love I need
You are the air I breathe
You are my love my life always forever
I would lay down my life
Just to be by Your side
You are my love my life always forever”  Phil Wickham Lyrics  

Valentine’s Day. A day filled with romance, love, and treasuring our most valued relationships; especially our significant other.  For some it’s a time of happiness, hope, and cherishing what we have. Yet for many others it’s a time of depression, guilt, or resentment. Our society puts so much weight on “falling in love” and romantic relationships that it seems like our value and significance is found only if we’ve got someone to share life with. Commercials, greeting cards, movies, magazine articles, the colors of red and pink, and a huge majority of music is aimed towards this thing we call “being in love”. Even the church tends to overlook singles and aim all their energy on marriage and the family.  Is there anything wrong with “falling in love”? I don’t think anyone with a heart would object to pursuing it, craving it, and longing for the sensation it gives us. I think where we fault is that our focus is off-centered. When we get so caught up with placing our identity in what others think of us; we’ll lose sight of our first love. Someone who has never left our side, is kind and compassionate, full of mercy and wisdom, and loves us more than anything else in all of creation–Jesus Christ. Because when you’re in love with someone everything changes.

If you’ve ever fallen in love with someone you can relate to your life being turned upside down. Every moment spent with them seems like your world’s on fire. You put up with their annoying habits and accept their shortfalls. You’ve willing to spend money of them with little hesitation and would go get lengths to make a sacrifice for that one special person. When you’re away from that person it’s often painful.  If it’s for a long period of time, you go about life miserable. You view life through a whole new set of lens. There’s a reason why we all crave this sensation–because God wired us this way. He created us to love and be loved because He Is Love. God doesn’t  just display love or command us to do love–He is the entity of Love. Our worship can’t possibly we in proper context towards God without a desire to love Him. Worship without love is like meaningless and more or less legalism. Yet, it often times is where we are in our relationship with God. Just going through the motions giving Him our Sunday mornings and 15 minutes a day; living comfortable lives by our own admissions. Whenever or not you want to admit it right now, God loves you and is downright crazy about you.

Our problem with romance lies deeper than our overblown emphasis on guy-girl relationships that our society strongly emphasizes. It cuts into how we often look at our God. The distorted view of God is sometimes a matter of fact that He exists to give us our needs and is our buddy or a good friend to have. Our fear of God is lost in our often muddled, chaotic lives. What happened to being in awe of God? Have you ever just sat in silence pondering the amazing wonder of it all? Think about this: Something instead of nothing exists. Have you ever pondered why? There is a God who created everything you see. There are over 350,000,000,000 estimated galaxies in the universe(this is no misprint!) There are 228 separate  muscles in a caterpillars head. Or the fact that there are 3,000 different species of trees within a square mile in the Amazon jungle.  The moon and the sun’s precise location is so astonishing that if altered life couldn’t exist at all.  Or the fact that there are 1,250,000 species of animals existing in our world today.  As the Psalmist writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1-3) And the creator of it all is madly in love with you. We are called to worship Him and be in an intimate, loving relationship with Him. No one is all of creation comes close to Him. Yet we still forget Him, ignore Him, and choose to go about our own ways.

“God loves you.” For many of us, our first natural reaction to this statement is boredom and apathy. We’ve heard it countless times throughout our lives and it’s become nothing more than a nice concept to encourage us when the times are tough. If pressed we’d say that it’s almost insulting at times to be told this because we’re so numb to this truth that it goes in one ear and out the other. The concept just isn’t fresh to us anymore and it’s lost its luster. Another reason for the boredom is because we’re in love with learning about God and not in love with the one we’re learning about. There’s very little relationship to base our vast amount of knowledge on. Sure it’s easy to read about God through our daily quiet time in His Word or through devotional books. Or hear about Him through sermons, testimonies, music, etc. But when it comes to maintaining a vibrant, passionate, all-consuming relationship with the One we’re learning about it’s a whole other story. Finally, we lose sight of who God really is. A. W. Tozer writes on our view of God:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us….Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low throughout of God….the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a give time may say or do, but what he is his deep heart conceives God to be like.” If we don’t see God as worthy of all of our time, praise, and honor; then obviously we’re not going to have a deep sense of conviction to do so.  It’s time for a refreshment course in who God really is…

1) God is Holy. He is set apart, distinct from the rest of creation. God is without fault, blemish, or error. Words cannot contain Him. No matter what, we can’t exaggerate His greatness. One day every knee will bow before Him in reverence or fear. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)

2) God is omnipotent. There is nothing that is impossible for God. If He wants to do something; He’ll do it. The only reason you can breathe is because God wills it to happen. “How great is out Lord! His power is absolute!” (Psalm 147:5) “O Sovereign LORD! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

3) God is omniscient. God knows everything. Everything that has taken place in the past, present, and future. His infinite wisdom can never matched and the world’s libraries of information cannot even scratch the surface of his knowledge.  ”O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.” (Psalm 139:1 NLT)

4) God is creative. God loves variety. He has unlimited creative expression that is seen in the vast uniqueness of animals, plants, landscapes,  and people. He made it so that there would never be two people in human history exactly alike. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” (Psalm 139: 13-14 NLT)

5) God is eternal. God is without beginning or end. There never was a single moment in time or outside of time that God hasn’t existed. This is impossible for the human mind to grasp, but it doesn’t made the statement any less true. Each of us has a beginning and everything in creation had a starting point–everything except God. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28)

6) God is omnipresent. There is no place in all of creation that God isn’t present. His presence is felt throughout the immensity of the galaxies to where you are right now. This is another characteristic that we can’t possibly wrap our minds around as we are limited to being in one place at one specific time. From the highest mountain to the lowest valley, God is there. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8)

7) God is immutable. Immutable simply means unchanging. God by His very nature is unchanging and has never changed in character. He can always be counted on to keep His promises and never fails. He cannot lie, commit a sin, or contradict Himself.  He and He alone is worthy of all of our trust. “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19)

8) God is just and fair. No matter how carefully we are to investigate the facts and orchestrate our legal system, it can’t begin to compare to the only One is has a right to judge us. God and God alone is good and His standards are just. He hates sin and punishes those guilty of sin. Every crime and injustice is seen in His eyes and justice will be carried out according to His prefect standards.  “LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” (Ezra 9:15)

9) God is personal. God is not separate from His creation or a bystander. He is God of relationships who desires to have a personal, intimate relationship with you. He is actively involved in creation and invites us to get to know Him on a personal level.  He is jealous for us!  ”You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. (Exodus 34:14 NLT).

10) God IS Love. Last, but certainly not least, God is the essence and entity of love. He exists in a perfect relationship within Himself through the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created us for relationships with each other and with Him. He willingly gave us His Son who became human, showed us what Love looks like, and died to take our penalty of sin. What an awesome God He is!  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Most of you already know all of these truths. In fact, it’s become such common place that we’ve completely lost any sense of awe and wonder of who God is. This is something we all struggle with from time to time and for life-long believers it’s even more of a daily fight because we’re heard it countless times before. Perhaps it’s the distractions that are all around us or the fact that we’re become obsessed with the thrills this world provides us that blocks out the excitement of a loving God who wants us passionately and relentlessly. There has never been a time in human history like ours where we there are so many options and opportunities in front of us. We are truly blessed and live in period that is vastly unique. What’s missing? Our fear of God. When I speak of fear; I don’t mean we should cower our heads and watch out for His impending judgment.  Instead, we need to learn to respect, honor, and obey God. This is what it means to fear God. Not out of obligation, but love.  

“Before I formed you in the womb I knewyou, before you were born I set you apart;” (Jeremiah 1:5) Before the foundation of the world, before anything was created, before time began–God knew you and had a plan for you. This is inconceivable to imagine that long before we entered into the story unfolding around us, God knew who you are, your strengths, weaknesses, character, and every event that would happen from your birth into eternity’s reaches. What’s more He has a unique plan that He prepared for us in advance to do. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)  Nothing in your life happens by random coincidence and there is a grand purpose behind everything. We also have an inheritance waiting for in Heaven with no unspeakable joys and wonders. “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2) But we can’t help to ask: Why does God bother with us in the first place?

Why does God choose to love us? He doesn’t need us or owe us anything. We are unloving, undeserving, unfaithful, offensive, abusive, rebellious, wicked, people. Our pride tells us differently, but under the surface we all know this to be true.  Don’t assume just because your sins aren’t as great as your neighbors that you’re a good person. No one is good. I repeat no one. Our good deeds can never outweigh the filth of our sins. Yet, God chooses to love us. Not because of you we are, but because of Who He is. The fact that the God of infinite love, mercy, faithfulness, grace, and power loves you and me is simply astonishing, amazing, and indescribably awesome!! The great irony is that despite that fact that He doesn’t need us bur still wants us, we desperately need God yet most of the time don’t want Him. This isn’t being harsh. It’s reality. But God is waiting patiently for us; drawing us to Himself  hoping that we’ll come back to Him. So how do we return to a passionate, intimate romance with our Savior?

The greatest goal and pursuit in life should be drawing closer to a personal relationship with God. All other pursuits under the sun are trivial and worthless compared to this one shining jewel of a treasure we find in Christ. In terms of worship, we cannot correctly worship God without love towards Him. Not a half-hearted, passive, once-a-week guilt trip to church, reading our Bibles a few times a week, giving a small portion out of our wealth, and praying only when we feel like it. God doesn’t offer us salvation so we’d get a get out of hell card and then continue to carry on with our lives without a care in the world. God wants all of us and relentlessly pursues a relationship with us. God rightly deserves everything we own and yet willingly chooses to give back to us. The ultimate example was when we sent His Son so that we might spend eternity with Him. God has paved the way for a relationship with us but doesn’t force us to do so. Because love that is forced isn’t love. It’s manipulation. Provided below are a few ways we can rekindle our stale and cold hearts back towards falling in love with God:

First, we need to come to God with a sense of awe and wonder. How? Approach reading His Word like it’s the first time we’ve read the words. Don’t skim over the words like you’ve got it all figured out. Come with a sense of expectancy that God is going to reveal new truths, insights, and wonders to you each time you read His Word. Pray in honesty, humbleness, and brokenness.  Don’t try and hide what you’re truly feeling from God; He already knows. Don’t repeat the same things over and over out of habit. Instead talk to Him like you would a close friend. Let Him know what’s on your heart and don’t try to impress Him with fancy terminology. Also express gratitude, thanking Him daily for the simple blessings in life. Try and find something new every day to thank Him for. Fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Live life together and keep each other accountable. Share new insights and grow over time. Learn to serve and to obey God completely. You’ll be amazed at how refreshed, energized, and vibrant life is when you’re giving back your time, talents, and treasures to others for the sake of Christ. Express your gratitude in song and music. As stated last week, music is a powerful medium to pour out our hearts to God revealing our inmost thoughts and feelings. Make it a daily practice to worship Him and hold nothing back–this will go a long ways to helping you maintain a passionate love for God. Find time for silence. This isn’t easy to do in today’s society, but the benefit is not to be overlooked. Just for 5-10 minutes a day go somewhere away from life’s distractions and mediate on God. Think about Him and nothing else. By doing this, you’ll experience a much deeper walk with Christ. Finally, take time to enjoy and marvel at His creation. Take a walk in the woods. Visit your local zoo or natural park. Watch the night sky. Learn about your favorite animals. And awe at the wonder of it all. This is just a small sample size of things we can do to fall head over heels for God. The important thing while doing these things is to do them not out of obligation or guilt because we have to. But because we want to and desire to love Him more.

Love is a truly precious gift. Is it any wonder why we’re obsessed with it and passionately pursue it? But are you pursuing the entity of love, Jesus Christ? Is He your magnificent obsession? Hollywood tries and tries to come up with the perfect love story, but no matter how hard they try, everything fails to compare to the greatest love story ever told; Christ and the church. He is the Lover of our souls and the One who longs to carry us away to be with us forever. I can’t assure you that you’ll get married here on earth, but I can promise you that if you have a personal relationship with Christ you will get married one day and partake in the greatest marriage of all. As part of the bride of Christ, you will experience a love so rich, passionate, full of grace, and faithfulness that everything else fails in light of this one long awaited future event. Let the wedding bells chime for the wedding is on its way. Let Him carry you over threshold as He prepares you for your home one day. May our hearts sing out, “Won’t You dance with me, Oh Lover of my soul, to the song of all songs?”  He’ll take our hand and we’ll dance the hours away from now until eternity’s dawn. But you don’t have to wait to experience God’s relentless love for you. You can experience it right now, right here on earth. All you have to do is open up your heart to Him. Give Him your heart completely and pursue Him every day with everything you have.  This is the divine romance that will meet every need, desire, and longing you’re ever felt. Never will you thirst for love again. For Love is here and He’ll never let you go. Death will not part you from Him. Nothing can seperate you from His love. Beloved, the bridegroom is patiently waiting at the door. Will you let Him in?

Future Features: We have now covered three of the four pillars of worship: surrender, gratitude, and love. Next week we’ll look at the fourth pillar–justice and see the large connection between worship and justice. Below are several videos that cover the massive amount of information covered in this blog. There are videos from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan and a few music videos that capture the heart of this week’s message. When you get a chance check them out, do so–they’re worth viewing, trust me! This week marks the return of Glee and with it new Glee blogs will be posted every week from here until the end of the season. Stay tuned for Sunday’s episode’s blog later this week. Also the long awaited Randy Alcorn Profile is nearly finished and set to be posted mid-week. Much more is in store for this month, stay tuned! Stay warm this week wherever you are and God bless.

Sources: Francis Chan, Crazy Love. David C. Cook Distribution. Colorado Springs, CO, 2008, Pages 25-38, 56-63

Josh McDowell/Sean McDowell, The Unshakable Truth. Harvest House Publishers. Eugene, Oregon, 2010, Pages 54-56.