What did you go out into the wilderness to see? Matthew 11:7-9

When Sunday comes, what do we expect in the worship service?

A reed shaken by the wind?

The latest trendy ideas.
The best formulas and formats.
The best technology.

But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments?

Soft words
Uplifting platitudes
Feel-good stories.

But what did you go out to see? A prophet?

The very words of God.
An encounter with holiness.
Conviction and consecration.

When we go to worship … what happens if we find what we’ve gone out to see?

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Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!” Exodus 32:5 NLT

Admittedly, Aaron had a tough job. No one had ever been the high priest before. He was no theologian. A few weeks ago, he was a slave like everybody else. Moses was gone and had been for an uncomfortably long time and he left very little in the way of instructions. Now Aaron was faced with a nation on the verge of becoming a mob.

Their request, their demand, is fascinating. It wasn’t, “Lead us out of here.” It wasn’t, “Find us some food.” It was, “Make us gods.”

We want to worship something,

Aaron. Make us gods to worship. Something outside us. Something greater than ourselves. Things are uncertain. Restore a sense of balance, familiarity, comfort to us. Make us gods.

So Aaron took their earrings and bracelets, melted them down, and molded and sculpted a calf. Not a bull, mind you. A calf. A manageable, harmless god. One that had potential, but one that was not especially imposing. The people were ecstatic. The god was exactly what they wanted. “This is your god, Israel. The one who brought you up out of Egypt.”

And Aaron, wanting to capitalize on the moment, wanting to harness the emotion, announced, “Tomorrow is a festival to Yahweh!” They took something they had created out of their own imagination, using their own resources, called it GOD and worshipped it.

We live in a culture that is grasping for gods.

God help us not to use our own resources, our own imagination, and craft for them what they want. An emotional experience. A platitude. A compromise. Call it God and worship it.

Sometimes we are not much different than the culture we live in. Too often we seek the comfort of a god we design, a god who is close to the True God but whose standards are more flexible … and familiar. Too often, we look for emotional gratification, an experience, intellectual validation, or reassurance rather than spiritual transformation, repentance, or holiness. More often than we’d care to admit, we create something, call it GOD, and worship it.

God help us point people to what they need. God help us not settle for anything less for ourselves. The gospel. The truth. Transformation. The One True God, Maker of heaven and earth. He is God alone, worship Him.

Why do people settle for something less than the One True God? 

The post We would never worship a golden calf, would we? appeared first on Paula Wiseman.

Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2

Incense was a vital component of worship in Israel, but one that we don’t often incorporate in Protestant services. However, knowing that incense symbolizes the intercession and prayers of God’s people, and knowing that so many facets of tabernacle worship were also object lessons, we can learn some important things about our worship and prayer.

The background on incense

In Exodus 30-34-38 God instructs Moses on the makeup and usage of the incense for Israel’s worship. He said to use stacte, onycha, and galbanum, and mix with pure frankincense in equal amounts. Frankincense you’ve probably heard of. Of the others, galbanum is the only one that scholars have positively identified. (However, if you Google them, “essential oils” is one of the autocomplete suggestions for each.) The bottom line is, it smelled terrific, distinctively terrific. But before any of the spices could be used there was some prep work. Each of the ingredients had to be crushed and ground to a fine powder. During the tabernacle and temple ceremonies, it was burned by fire on an altar. One final note: Israel was not allowed to copy the recipe and whip up a batch of the incense for their own personal use.

So let’s take some principles from all that.

Ground – Our sincerest worship often comes from our authentic brokenness and need.

Mixture – Worship and prayer is a mixture, not based on a meticulous, legalistic formula, but definitely a combination of God-honoring things like adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition, and lament.

Fire – Fire is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so prayer and worship that are not Spirit-infused are empty.

Distinctive – If we treat worship and prayer as common and ordinary, we dishonor God.

Sweet – The aroma lingered in the space, on the worshiper after it was over. If we don’t carry the impact of our time with God out beyond the designated time and place, it has been empty. I think it’s a fair extrapolation to say that if we bring hypocrisy and sin into our worship, it’s a lot more skunky than sweet.

How would our prayer life and our worship life change if we, like David, came before Him with authenticity, directed by the Holy Spirit, if worship and prayer were a sacred blending of our heart’s cries, and if those moments were lingering and longed for?

Lord, let my prayers be set before You like incense.

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They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt. Psalm 106:21

This is a cautionary tale.
The exodus is an object lesson.
God delivered Israel from Egypt
He delivers us from the bondage of sin.

But after the rescue,
After the Israelites were saved,
Other things competed for their attention
Situations made them doubt God

They forgot God their Savior
They forgot what He done.
They ignored what He was doing.
They discounted what He would do.

We must remember what God has done.
He loved us.
He sent Jesus to die for us
To save us from the consequences of our sins.

We must recognize what God is doing right now.
He loves us.
He sent His Spirit to live within us.
To teach, guide, comfort and confirm us.

We must rejoice in what God will do.
He will love us with an everlasting love.
He will send Jesus for us
To consummate our salvation in eternity with Him.

Forgetting is easy.
It is passive.
It requires no effort.

Worship is active.
It is intentional.
We must do no less, though.

Worship Him! God your Savior!

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And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. Psalm 78:35

A Redeemer pays a required price
To secure the release
Of a slave. Or a prisoner.

God redeemed Israel from captivity
In Egypt and Babylon,
Making them His own.

Christ redeems us
From captivity to sin
Paying a price we could not.

Israel, in their pride
In their hardhearted, stiffnecked rebellion
Forgot the God who paid that price.

Until they needed Him again.

Let us not follow Israel’s example.
Let us live in grateful submission,
Remembering we are not our own.

Let us honor God with every moment,
Knowing He purchased our freedom,
Out of the depths of His love and mercy.

Worship Him, your Redeemer.

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The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? Psalm 27:1

The LORD IS your light.
Not that He GIVES it.
HE IS.
So what does this mean?

He is the light within me and you.
All the good, the hope, the joy,
All the wisdom and understanding,
All the guidance and counsel.

He is the light around us.
He gives discernment in the situations we face.
He connects us with fellow believers
To strengthen and encourage us.

He is the light revealed in us.
He is the compassion and love we show others.
He is the gospel we carry out.
He is in our every word and action.

He is your Light and my light,
Who rescues us from the darkness of sin.
He is our salvation.
With that eternal question settled…

We have nothing to fear.
We have only to worship.

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