Based on “Standing Strong” by Pastor Dave Folkerts; 7/7-8/12,
Message #DF166; Daily Devotional #2 - “Who Do You Worship?”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5-7) Jesus was faced with, and overcame, a greater temptation than any other person ever had to deal with. Rather than be the ruler of all the earth, Jesus chose to allow the world to arrest, abuse and eventually kill Him so that He could fulfill the will of His Father in heaven.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Scripture tells us that Jesus faced a very direct and literal attack from the enemy who wanted to steal worship from God. We as humans are created to worship; God created us to worship Him and that is the only place that we can truly find satisfaction. From the beginning of time the enemy has tried to trick man into redirecting that worship away from God and has misled man into worshipping stars, animals, deities and idols. As we learned this weekend, the Christ follower should be wary of the subtle devices the world uses to steal our worship from a loving God. Even though we may have not literally been tempted to worship the devil, many of us have focused our attention more on money, jobs, school or friends than we have God. We are to put on the full armor of God every day as we face this world (Ephesians 6:10-18). The enemy does not care what we worship, as long as it is not God. If you spend more time thinking about money or your favorite sports team than you spend in prayer or reading the Bible, then you are losing the battle. Rather than striving to be like the latest entrepreneur or celebrity, we should focus our every effort on becoming more like Jesus and spreading the Good News of the Gospel. It is great to strive for excellence in everything we do, but Jesus must come first, and all glory should go to Him and not ourselves. Worship is more than singing songs at church on Sundays. True biblical worship is a lifestyle, not a moment in time, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Also, the Word tells us that we must worship God in truth as revealed by Scripture (John 4:24). It is important that we worship with the understanding of Who is being worshiped and that it is always in accordance with the Word of God.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): There will come a time in every Christ follower’s life when he or she will leave this world. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross will allow us to live in heaven for all of eternity. Just as they will be in eternity, our lives now are to be lives of total worship of God. It is not enough to worship on Sunday, then center our focus on something else from Monday to Saturday. True worship is offered from the depths of our being and should center on the holy, just, righteous, perfect, powerful, loving and sometimes wrathful God revealed to us by Scripture.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): 1 John 5:21; Revelation 22:8-9
WSK
Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.