Give Me One Good Reason

If you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, you probably don't understand why Christians worship. You might not comprehend why we spend so much time and effort with the things of God, going to church, praying, reading the Bible, sharing our faith, etc. You may say that you need some good reasons to praise the Lord. Okay then, I'll give you just a few:

1. He created the universe. (Gen. 1)


2. He created earth. (Gen. 1)


3. He created life. (Gen. 1)


4. He created mankind. (Gen. 1)


5. He created you. (you didn't just evolve from some monkey)


6. He loves you and sent His Son to die for your sins. (Jn. 3:16)


7. He is merciful and ready to pardon, slow to anger and has great kindness. (Neh. 9:17)


8. He is gracious and full of compassion. (Ps. 145:8)


9. He will forgive your sins if you confess. (1 Jn. 1:9)


10. He removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. (Ps. 103:12)


11. He's the way, the truth and the life. (Jn. 14:6)


12. He'll never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb. 13:5; Josh. 1:5)


13. He's your Savior. (Hs. 13:4)


14. He's your only access to Father God. (Jn. 14:6)


15. He has given you the gift of eternal life. (Rom. 6:23)


16. If you believe in Jesus you can know that you have eternal life. (1 Jn. 5:13)


17. His mercies are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-23)


18. He will fight against your enemies to save you. (Deut. 20:4)


19. He's the Alpha and Omega. (Rev. 1:8)


20. He's the Mighty God, Everlasting Father & Prince of peace. (Isa. 9:6)


21. He's your provider. (Jehovah-Jireh)


22. He's your healer. (Jehovah-Rapha)


23. He's your peace. (Jehovah-Shalom)


24. He's your shepherd. (Ps. 23; Jn. 10:11) (Jehovah-Rohi)


25. He's your banner. (Jehovah-Nissi)


26. He's your righteousness. (Jehovah-Tsidkenu)


27. He's your ransom. (Mk. 10:45)


28. He's your deliverer, strength, rock, fortress and high tower. (Ps. 18:2)


29. He will give you the desires of your heart if you delight in Him. (Ps.37:4)


30. Nothing can separate us from His love. (Rom. 8:38-39)


31. He has prepared great things for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9)


32. If you trust in and acknowledge Him, He will direct your paths. (Prov. 3:6)


33. His name is above all other names. (Phil. 2:9)


34. Every knee will bow and tongue confess Jesus is Lord. (Phil. 2:10-11)


35. He's worthy of all praise, honor and glory. (Rev. 4:11)
    

I'm really just getting started, because as Christians we have way too many reasons to list. If someone were to ask us for one good reason why we worship God, the best one we can give is our personal testimony. We should tell them how He forgave all our sins, washed us in the blood of the Lamb, saved us from an eternity apart from Him, prepared a place for us in heaven for all eternity, and about all the great things He has done for us! He is so worthy of all our praise!
Joey C.

The Heart of Worship

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 (KJV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

I'm sure that we would all say that we want our hearts, our words and our very thoughts to be acceptable to God. In order to ensure that, we need to be careful about our actions, what we say, and the things we think about when we attend worship services. Every so often we should examine our hearts and ask ourselves some hard questions like:
Why do I go to church? To worship? To learn more about God's Word? Or maybe just to socialize? Could I be going just because it's a habit or the Sunday thing to do? What am I expecting when I worship? Is it all about what I like? Am I always complaining and saying things to myself like: "I really don't like this particular song", "I wish the guitar or drums weren't so loud", "So and so prays too long","I wish the pastor wouldn't bore me with all these historical details and Greek words and stuff", "Look at what she's wearing!", "I think we sing too many songs", etc.?

Worship is not about all those things. It's not about what we want or what we can get out of it. It's about what we put into it and what our true motives are. It's about the One we worship. We need to focus our attention on Almighty God not on petty things that don't amount to a "hill of beans" as the old saying goes. There's a fitting worship song we sing here at the Ridge called "The Heart Of Worship" by Matt Redman. The lyrics say it better than I can:

King of endless worth, no one could express how much You deserve.

Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours, every single breath.

I'll bring You more than a song for a song in itself

is not what You have required.

You search much deeper within through the way things appear.

You're looking into my heart.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship,

and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus.

I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it,

when it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus.

Why are we really attending the worship service in the first place? Is it because of what we want to do, or is it because of what He's done for us? Let's turn away from our routine of church as usual, just going through the motions one more Sunday morning while we're thinking about what we're gonna have for lunch. I wonder what Jesus thinks when we let our minds wander and don't focus our attention on Him. We should set our mind's eye on the One we're supposed to be worshiping. Worship should be all about Jesus, not about us at all.


Joey C.