WORSHIPPING GOD WITH AN UNREPENTANT/IMPERFECT HEART 2D

THINGS TO TAKE NOTE OF CONT’D:

2. God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. 

John 4:23-24, KJV

These are the two dimensions of acceptable worship (in spirit and in truth).

Cain worshipped God unacceptably while Abel worshipped God acceptably. How did Abel do this? He gave his best. Giving God your best determines whether you are a true worshipper or not. The quality of your sacrifice determines the worth of your relationship with God. Anything you cannot release to be in the perfect will of God has become your idol. May God remove every idol in our hearts and make us people who place him first in the name of Jesus.

Seven Things to Learn from Cain

1. Cain was the father of religious infidels.
The beautiful thing about the book of Genesis is that it is the book of beginnings. Cain was the father of those who worshipped God unacceptably. I believe that more Cains go to Church on Sunday mornings than Abels. It is so easy to align with the Cain company. Religious infidelity includes worshipping God with an imperfect heart, worshipping God with an unrepentant heart, worshipping God with a wicked heart, worshipping God with a perverse heart, worshipping God with a stubborn spirit, worshipping God with the things that are not consistent with the character and nature of God, and worshipping God in ‘high places’.

If you study the books of 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, you will see the emphasis God placed on this. When the deeds of a king are mentioned, the record will show that although a particular king did very well but he never destroyed the ‘high places’. When it comes to worship, God is very particular because God has told us that he is a jealous God. God is jealous about your devotion. You don’t give God ninety percent of your devotion; God wants it all, one hundred percent devotion. Whenever I study this, I tremble. It is so easy to be an idolater and think that you are worshipping the living God. It is so easy to get into primitive idolatry like the type you have in Africa.

The modern day idolatry is using God to make money; it is, loving things and using God to get them. I have done a lot of research on this and discovered that it is one of the major weaknesses of the prosperity message. The prosperity message has its benefits but a lot of weaknesses. Sometimes, I wonder if it can actually produce a true worshipper. The moment you reduce your walk with God to gold and silver, you are creating another god and it is very easy for the enemy to keep your focus there.

As a minister of the gospel, I can tell authoritatively that it is so easy to get into that slippery path. When trying to raise young ministers, I always tell them never to go into ministry with the wrong motive if they don’t want to have heart attack. One of the best things God did for me is that he empowered me. I saw this early in ministry and so I entered into a very simple covenant with God. I stand to testify that after thirty years of being actively involved in ministry, that God is faithful. Where do you place God in your heart? Remember that anything you place side by side God in your heart has become your god. There is nothing that the devil cannot use to tempt you but you must not shift.

Receive the grace to be a worshipper of the living God in spirit and in truth in Jesus’ name.

TO BE CONTINUED.