Success and Failure Blog

The Spirit of God

John 14:15-17  … ”If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

1 Corinthians 2:13-14  … This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit (of God) does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Ezekiel 11:19-20 … I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

1 Corinthians 2:6-12 ,,, We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age (when Jesus walked on the Earth) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:  ”No eye has seen,  no ear has heard,  no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.       Isaiah 64:4 The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?  (you know you better than anyone)  In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  ( I can’t give you my spirit, but God gives us his Spirit so we can understand what he has freely given us)

John 16:12-14 … ”I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes,  he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

Colossians 1:25-27 … I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Romans 8:26-27  …  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints (believers throughout all time) in accordance with God’s will.

Romans 8:9-11 … You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 … Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

John 4:23-24 …  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, (through the Holy Spirit according to the truth revealed in God’s Word) for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 … Now the Lord is the Spirit, (The Spirit is God  is the Spirit of Christ) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Colossians 3:12-17  … Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ (God’s revealed Word found in the Bible) dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

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What comes to mind when you think about worship? Do you think of a particular place or time, or way to do it?

Two thoughts come to mind when I think about worship. First of all, God’s Word tells us to do it, so I should be obedient, but secondly, I admit I need to do it more than I do.

Worship simply means to bow down, and it always comes from our love, admiration and adoration of our Savior. It’s a personal response of gratitude for all He has done for us. Therefore, we do not have to adhere to a set of rules about when, where or how to do it. We can worship Him by “bowing down” in our hearts, while we’re standing up, sitting down, or on our knees. He hears our worship even when we’re in line at the post office, driving our car, or working around the house. We can worship any time of day or in the middle of the night, when the cares of our day keep us from sleeping.

Since it is so easy to worship, why don’t you and I do it more often?

We all know the benefits of staying physically fit, and scripture tells us spiritual fitness (godliness) has “value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8 NIV). Isn’t this what we want?

I like to take time each day to include worship in my “spiritual fitness program.”

Bowing down is my favorite posture in which to worship. As I do so, I often visualize God on a large thrown-like chair – a living, loving Savior looking tenderly at me, gently inviting me to come to Him. There, as I see those nail pierced feet, I’m reminded once again of the sacrifice He made on my behalf, and just why I love and worship Him.

Have you experienced how difficult it is to worship with sin in your life, how much you enjoy it when your relationship with the Lord is as it should be? One person who is known as a worshipper is King David. Yes, his sins were great, but he humbly confessed His sins, asked for forgiveness and then worshipped the Lord. This is such a great example for us today when we sin.

Many verses in the Bible mention worship. Here are a few of them:

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; He is holy (Psalm 99:5 NIV).

A time is coming and has now come, when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth; for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks (John 4:23 NIV).

Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God (Psalm 95:6 NIV).

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness (Psalm 29:2 NIV).

With all that He is, with all He has done and wants to do for us, why would we NOT worship Him?

Why would we NOT worship our Creator – the One who knows all about us and planned all our days before there were any of them?

Why would we NOT worship the All-Sufficient One? He has the answers and resources to meet our needs.

Why would we NOT worship the Lord, Our Righteousness? He is the only one who can forgive our sins.

Why would we NOT worship the Lord, My Shepherd? He very tenderly cares for us, guiding and leading us each day.

Why would we NOT worship the Lord, My Peace? I can cast all my cares on Him for He calms the storms in my life.

And why would we NOT worship the Lord of Lord and King of Kings? Above Him there is no one higher.

He’s all knowing, all powerful, everywhere at once. He will rule and reign forever.

With such a Savior, I can’t think of any reason NOT to worship Him, can you?