(Genesis 8:21) “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.â€
God does not want worship that is a lot of show and no heart. Just as described in (Matthew 6:5) “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full.†This passage is talking about how you pray, but it goes for all things concerning God, your prayer life and your worship. Things done for the show and praise of men will be your reward. There will be none from God when the focus of your worship and prayer life is for everyone else to see how holy you are. That is self-centered worship giving you the praise and glory and not God.
(Isaiah 42:8) “I am the Lord; that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.â€
(Philippians 2:3) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.â€
Your worship, the songs that you sing, the praise from your lips, the way that you live and as you obey God’s Word must be sincere; it must be straight from the heart with a true, sincere devotion to God. It must be because you love Him and not because everyone else is doing it or because you think God will be pleased if you do it with an attitude of something you have to do. Praise pleases God when it is done in the right attitude, to please Him because you love Him and He is worthy of all praise!
(John 4:24) “God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.â€
(Romans 12:9-10) “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.â€
(Hebrews 10:22) “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart full of assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.â€
True worship is pleasing to God. True worship cannot contain itself. It shows from you no matter what you are going through, no matter what trials and overwhelming circumstances that you are facing, you worship God because of Who HE is and the salvation that is yours through the blood of Jesus! True worship shows itself as heart felt worship straight from the heart and it cannot be contained.
(Matthew 5:14-15) “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.â€
(Luke 6:45) “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.â€
(Luke 7:35) “But wisdom is proved right by all her children.†-- As in this verse, true worship will show itself as true to God; just as well so will false worship that is only done for show.
(I John 3:20) “For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.â€
As Christians you will go through many trials. These trials are to increase your faith and help you to grow and mature spiritually and able to withstand the fiery darts of Satan because you allow Jesus Christ to live and work big in you.
(James 1:2-4) “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.â€
(I Peter 1:6-7) “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proven genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.â€
Sincere love and devotion to God will radiate through you in your worship and everyday lifestyle despite going through trials and the fiery darts of Satan. Worshiping God is not only in how you praise Him in song, but you worship Him in how you live as well. How you live shows that you delight yourself in the Lord. Sincere worship is rewarded. In spite of the trials you are suffering through, sincere devotion to God will radiate through you and be a witness to others.
(Psalm 37:4) “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.â€
(I Thessalonians 1:6-8) “You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known everywhere.â€
(John 14:21) “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.â€
This kind of worship is pleasing to God. It shows a sincere faith. It tells Him that you love Him for Who He is and that you appreciate Him. It tells Him that you love Him for all of Who He is; your Most High God, your heavenly Father, your Provider and your Savior. Not just for what He can do for you. This kind of love is perfected through the fire of affliction; through the trials you go through and is still evident to all; like smoke from a fire, it is a sweet aroma that is pleasing to God. This kind of faith, love and devotion will bring about your deliverance from God because you are seeking all of Him, not just His rewards.
(Exodus 29:18) “Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, and offering made to the Lord by fire.â€
(Leviticus 1:9) “It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.â€
True worship will radiate straight from your heart. It starts from within and will reflect outward and not only is it pleasing to God, but it is an awesome witness to those around you.
(Proverbs 27:19) “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.â€
In seeking deliverance from the hell that you are going through, you need to seek the deliverer. Jesus is the light of the world, where HE is there is no darkness! When He comes into a church, a heart, a home, a circumstance that you are dealing with, your family, all darkness must leave! So seek Jesus, seek the deliverer! Not just deliverance! He’ll deliver you from all of your problems; even ones you did not know that you had! When the light comes, the darkness has to leave!
(Psalm 139:11-12) “If I say, ‘surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.â€
(Jeremiah 29:11-14) “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and bring you back from captivity.â€
(John 8:12) “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.â€
When the woman (Mary, sister of Martha -- John 12:3) with the alabaster box washed the Lord’s feet with her tears and anointed them with expensive perfume, this pleased Jesus. We are to give Jesus our best worship! He deserves it! He died for us! Do you want to please Him? Then give Him your best in everything you do. For the glory of God! His blessings will automatically overflow into your life. He will want to bless you as He did for her.
(Matthew 26:10-13) “Aware of this, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me. When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.â€
(Luke 7:37-38) “When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought and alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.â€
During those times that perfume was costly. We have freedom from sin and hell because of Jesus. Our sins cost Him suffering, brutal beatings, ridiculing and death on the cross.
(Isaiah 52:13-15) “See my Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him--His appearance was so disfigured beyond tht of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness--so will He sprinkle many nations, and kings willshut their mouths because of Him.â€
What cost are you willing to pay; to go through for Him to be a witness to the world? Or do you expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter. Life does not work that way. Jesus died for you. What are you willing to go through for Him that He may be glorified; which increases your faith and devotion because of it? Are you truly seeking Jesus? What are you doing for Him? Or are you just living for the moment and yourself and you do not care who or what you hurt in the process. He died that you might have life and have it more abundantly. He died to free you from the bondage of sin. He died that by His wounds, your would be healed. He died to give you peace and joy. He died that He would always be with you. He died for the forgiveness of your sins. As He hung on the cross He thought of you.
(Luke 23:34) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.†What are you doing for Him?
Is the relationship that you are seeking with Jesus one-sided and selfish? Do you only want Him because of what He can bless you with? You will not find Jesus that way, nor will you find blessings. Jesus carried the cross of death and hell for us. What cross are you carrying to find true love for Him? Isn’t HE worth it? I think so. His blessings far outweigh the cross we must carry. He loves you and will not hurt or abandon you. Place your love and trust in Jesus, seek Him alone and He will deliver you from all your troubles.
(Deuteronomy 31:6) “He will never leave you nor forsake you.â€
(Psalm 34:17-20) “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.â€
(Luke 9:23-24) “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.â€
He will heal all your hurts. He loves you. Humble yourself and repent. Come back to Him. His arms are wide open, He will forgive you and restore you.
(Isaiah 55:6-7) “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.â€
When you find true love for God and praise and worship Him in all sincerity, you will find Jesus. When you do this and truly get your praise on, Satan’s demons will have to go! They do not want to stick around where there is love and praise for Jesus going on!
Put on the true “garment of praise†and seek the Deliverer! Satan will flee!
(Isaiah 35:4) “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.â€
What kind of praise and worship for God is in your alabaster box?
