In Spirit and in Truth
Hi Everyone,
I am writing about a vision that the Lord gave me just last week. It is about the true worship of God. I hope you will read it and understand more of how we can bring him praise and honor, and how our worship can truly please him.
A Vision of Glasses
I saw a row of ten clear glasses sitting on a table, each about 3-4” apart. I saw these glasses as having the purpose of creating music. As most people know, when glass tumblers are filled with water at a variety of depths, distinct notes are heard as the glasses are struck with a metal spoon. The pitch changes with the various depths of water. However in the vision, I do not see any water in the glasses. They cannot make the sounds that would be possible, if they are not filled with water.
I believe that this vision is about worship. We were designed to worship our creator. The ten glasses I believe represent us as worshipers of God. We are vessels, vessels of honor, useful for serving the Lord. “Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21
But something is missing in the vision. It is the water. The water represents the Holy Spirit, which is given to those who are born again. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer that sets us apart for God. It is his presence within, that gives us the desire to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and to sing his praises.
The lack of water shows that the Holy Spirit may not be present in our worship. Our worship may be in vain. The Holy Spirit is necessary in order to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth. Without the Holy Spirit, our worship is worldly and performance based. “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to keep receiving greater in fillings. “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 13:52
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18
Why do we worship?
We are moved to worship the Lord when we experience the magnificence and power of God. We are moved when we become overwhelmed by his love for us, or when we are truly grateful for what he has done to deliver us from evil, or from our fears. Our response to his love and mercy is to worship him. When he shows his tenderness towards us, or gives us confidence to face difficult situations, we simply adore him. Sometimes when we feel his presence and are so aware of his holiness, we are compelled by our emotions, to sing and dance with all our might. There are times when our strong and passionate emotions are aroused by his unfailing love for us. He forgives us; he restores us; he heals us and holds our hands through the fiery trials of life. These emotions can be expressed in many ways. We can dance, jump, turn, spin, shout, run through the aisles, and take hold of others to encourage them to join in. We can also weep, sob, and collapse onto the floor. I have experienced it all.
One such time, I was thrown back 5-6 feet and landed on my back with my knees tucked under my body, my back in an arch, and the crown of my head touching the floor. Only God knows how that happened. It was supernatural. There is no doubt that I was moved upon by the power of God. I had never experienced such power before. I was not hurt, but one moment I was in exuberant worship and the next minute I was resting on my shins, shoulders, and head. I still remember the song and the intensity of worship. The words were not nearly strong enough to convey my emotions. “The Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name!”
I am sure that is how King David must have felt the day he brought the ark into Jerusalem. For his entire life, he was devoted to the Lord and was zealous in his praises to Almighty God.
“Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
And Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death.” 2 Samuel 6:12-23
David’s praise and worship brought honor to the Lord. He was extravagant in his worship and did not care what others thought. His sole concern was to please God. This was true worship.
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness.” Psalm 98
True Worshipers
The Lord takes pleasure in our praise and in our heartfelt worship. Jesus said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
And how do we worship “in Spirit and in truth”? To worship the Lord in truth is to worship the one that we know. If we do not know him, then our worship is in vain. In the passage immediately above, Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He told her, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” John 4:22
Why did Jesus say such a thing? They did not worship the Lord in truth, for they had long ago forgotten who the Lord was, as the story that follows explains:
And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings. 1 Kings 12:26-33
King Jeroboam set up the two gold calves to keep the people from traveling to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. By doing so, he separated his people from their brothers in Judah, and caused them to engage in idolatry. They no longer worshiped the Lord God.
The Lord hates idolatry. It is the worship of anything or anyone other than God himself. Idolaters worship what they do not know—it is the worship of demons and Satan himself.
“Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” 1 Corinthians 10: 19-22
The Lord also detests insincere worship, worship that comes from wrong motives. Sometimes worship is more about the worship leaders, the music, the beat, or the sound and style. One local church boasts that they have “killer worship.” Who or what are they worshiping? Is it God or is it the worship style, talent and performance of the worship team? When worship becomes a performance, or a concert, then it is no longer true worship, it becomes entertainment. For some people worship is simply a physical or emotional response to the music. They love to worship, because they love to sing, or to dance, but have no real love for the Lord. This dishonors God. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8
Make a Joyful Noise
Going back to the vision, we know that musical tones made with glasses filled with water, are not particularly beautiful sounds. We can recognize the pitch, and we can hear the tune, but it may or may not be very pleasant. But the word of God tells us to: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” A noise is a sound. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, for the Lord to enjoy it. God is more pleased with the genuine praise and adoration of a devoted believer, than with a beautiful voice from a talented performer.
This should be good news to everyone, for not all of us have musical abilities. We can all make a joyful noise unto the Lord. We should be able to enter into worship without concern that we are “off key, too loud, too exuberant, too passionate, too free….” because the Lord gives us the freedom to worship and to do anything that he asks of us. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
The Lord wants us all to worship in Spirit and in truth. To worship in Spirit can involve dancing or movement, shouts of praise, and singing in the Spirit using our heavenly language. We can sing acapella, or in harmony with instruments and other voices. The Spirit of God works with our spirit to create a melody as we yield ourselves to him. This wonderful interplay with the Holy Spirit brings us into harmony with God. True Spirit filled worship honors him.
Years ago, the Lord gave me a vision of a man dancing with a woman in his arms. I heard the Lord speak, “Will you let me lead?” He wants us to yield to him, and to allow him to lead us, whenever and wherever that may be. Just as we yield ourselves in prayer to the Holy Spirit we do so in worship.
“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 through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
“What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” 1 Corinthians 14:15
Holiness
There is another aspect to worship and that is holiness—honoring God with our bodies. “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1
The Lord puts great value on holiness, because without holiness we will not see him. “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrew 12:14
We need to be holy, “for it is written: ‘Be holy for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16
If we are truly born again and filled with the Spirit, then living a life of worship should be a natural outcome. Knowing God and being yielded to his Spirit brings him the highest praise. That should be our greatest desire, for the last thing we should want is for the Lord to say: “If they remain silent, the rocks will cry out!” Luke 19:40
Jesus speaks these words to the Pharisees on his entry into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey….
The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:36-40
So, let us shout! Sing! And praise the Lord! Let us make music and a joyful noise! He is worthy of all of our praise! And even when you are down, and don’t feel like praising God, praise him anyway, for there will be a blessing in it. “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10
Perhaps you may feel that you have never been as free in worship as you would like to be. Perhaps you are self-conscious and concerned for how others see you. The Lord wants you to be able to dance, sing and shout with nothing that holds you back. Perhaps you want to be able to sing or pray in the Spirit but have never received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. All that is necessary, is that you ask God. So if you would like to pray to receive a greater manifestation of the presence of God and a greater infilling of his Holy Spirit, you can pray this prayer with me:
Dear Jesus,
I know that you are Lord over all, that you can Baptize me with fire and the Holy Spirit. I want to surrender my will to yours this day. I want to declare with all my heart that you are Lord, God and King over my life. I am asking that you take away all self-consciousness, and fear that keeps me from serving you fully or worshiping you the way I know you deserve. I submit myself to your authority and to your purpose. Use me to bring you glory. Use my strength, my hands, and my feet to do your will. Use my mind and my mouth and my Spirit to bring you praise. Help me to forgive others of anything that has offended me. And I ask you to forgive me for making worship a hindrance rather than a blessing. Help me to worship you with all my heart and with all my mind and with all my soul. Please Baptize me in the Holy Spirit so that I may be able sing and pray in the Spirit, in concert with your Holy Spirit. Thank you Jesus! You are great and worthy of all my praise! I love you; and I commit my life to you! Amen!
In order to speak in tongues, you have to give it breath. You can put worship music on or simply be quiet before God. Start with a sound like “la.” The Holy Spirit will take over, and suddenly you will have words and sounds that you have never said before. Fill your mind with thoughts of God, thoughts of thanksgiving, thoughts of his wonderful attributes: his worthiness, his holiness, his perfect love, his mercy towards us, his faithfulness, his infinite wisdom, his guidance, his peace, his friendship, his provision, his kindness, his patience….. God is worthy - he is wonderful. When you pray in the spirit you are not inhibited by your vocabulary in your native language. You can speak the wonders of God and pray for hours in the Spirit. So worship and pray whenever you can. Praying in the Spirit, in your heavenly language will strengthen your spirit, and you will grow closer to God.
Be blessed! and again, please share this post with others.
Please share this message with those you love, and with those who need to know.
God bless you, and sing to the Lord a new song. One that you create just for him!
