My only Hope

WE’RE MADE TO LOVE AND WORSHIP GOD

Life has no meaning without a purpose. The purpose of life begins with God, our Creator. Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth (the things we can see and the things we can’t); the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. (Col. 1:16, LB)

The first purpose of our existence is to love and worship God. “And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ’Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Rev. 5:11-13)

When a lawyer asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt. 22:36-38) Worship is the overflow of a heart that truly loves the Lord. It is not just going to worship services, singing, listening to messages, and attending Bible studies as a habit. God loathes lip service from a person whose heart is cold toward Him. True worship is our response to who God is, what He has done and what He will do. It involves daily presenting our “bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.” (Rom. 12:1)

The key to worshipping God from the heart is gratefulness. “I bless the holy name of God with all my heart. Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me. He forgives all my sins. He heals me.” (Ps. 103:1-3) God wants us to be grateful, thankful people. Too often, we are grumblers and are unappreciative of His many blessings. In Luke 17, we read that Jesus healed ten lepers but only one came back to Him, fell on his face and thanked Him (v. 15-16). Jesus healed him not only physically but also spiritually because of his thankful attitude (v. 17-19). The secret to becoming thankful from the heart is not to focus on problems but to count God’s blessings and to express our gratitude to Him.

As we thank and praise God in worship, we know Him more and live Him more from the heart. God has everything but He cannot have our love until we give it to Him. Instead of making us into robots, He gave us a free will so that we could choose to love and worship Him. This was a risk He took because He loved us and wanted us to love Him back voluntarily.

Not only does God want us to love and worship Him with our whole heart but He also wants us to love and worship Him with our mind. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24) Worshiping God in spirit is in the heart and worshiping Him in truth is with our mind based on God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible. God desires for us to know Him so that we can worship Him in truth, with our mind.

We can learn to worship God in spirit and in truth from King David who worshiped Him, singing heartily to the Lord even in the midst of his extended suffering because he knew God. He prayed to God, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” (Ps. 13:1-6, NIV) David worshiped God with praises and songs even before God solved his problems because he knew the truth about God’s faithfulness and loving kindness.

Do you know how much God loves you? If you judge God based on your circumstances, you may doubt His love. We must never judge God based on circumstances but we should judge circumstances based on God’s love. You may be like some Christians who fear that if they give their lives to God, He will make their lives miserable. But God is love. “For God so loved the world, He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Are you convinced God loves you? “Since he did not spare even his own Son for us but gave him up for us all, won’t he also surely give us everything else?” (Rom. 8:32)

Our response to God’s unfathomable love should be a life of worship. How do we do that? Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters… (Col. 3:23) Jesus said, “Love God …with all your strength…” (Mark 12:30) Why? It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking. (1 Cor. 10:31) Everything becomes an act of worship when we do it for God. We can be the best mother, father, employee, employer, teacher, engineer, account, student, cook, for God. Brother Lawrence learned this secret of worship. Daily he practiced the presence of God and whatever he did, even menial work, he did with all his strength for the Lord.

We were made to love and worship God. This is first purpose for us. If we don’t worship Him, we will worship something or someone else. The Bible warns us that “those choosing other gods shall all be filled with sorrow; I will not offer the sacrifices they do or even speak the names of their gods.” (Ps. 16:4, LB) However, God promises… “to those who delight in the Lord, He will all their hearts’ desires." (Ps. 37:4)

You were created for God’s pleasure and you please Him most when you “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength,” and in response to His love, “worship Him in spirit and in truth” in all that you do.

Are You Willing to Give Sacrificially to God?

Sacrificial giving is giving above and beyond what is required of you. God gives us a good illustration of sacrificial giving in the book of Haggai. Haggai is a story of how the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. The temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonian army. Rebuilding started in 538 B.C. but was stalled because the Jews forgot their purpose and lost their priorities as they put their energies in beautifying their own homes. Haggai encouraged the people to finish rebuilding the temple. Opposition from hostile neighbors had caused them to feel discouraged and to neglect the temple, and thus neglect God. But Haggai’s message turned them around and motivated them to pick up their tools and continue the work they had begun. Judah’s problem was confused priorities. Like Judah, our priorities involving occupation, family, and God’s work are often confused. Jobs, homes, vacations, and leisure activities may rank higher on our list of importance than God. What is most important to you? Where is God on your list of priorities?

Where Your Treasure Is…

…there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). When you give sacrificially, you make God your top priority. You say, “God, You’re number one in my life.” You are also saying that He is the one great passion in your life. As you do this by faith, you will be amazed that as you give to God, you will love God more and more. The more you give to anything, the more you will love that recipient of your giving. When you give sacrificially, you are making His purposes upon which your life is built. And that your life becomes significant only in light of the pursuit of God’s purposes.

David is described in Acts 13:36 as one who had served God’s purpose for him. What an epitaph! David served the purpose of God in his own generation. We are called to serve the purpose of God in our generation. Among David’s many accomplishments was the raising of funds that built the first and most magnificent temple in Jerusalem. David’s son, Solomon, was the one who built the temple, but it was David who gave generously of his own money and encouraged others to give to completely fund the project. Calculating what David and his congregation gave for the temple at present value, he gave 1.5 billion dollars while the congregation whom he inspired raised the equivalent of 53 billion dollars! And so like David, you are called to serve the purpose of God in your generation.

Today, as we intend to build a worship center, we are not just building a building. We are pursuing the dream that God put in our hearts to make committed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, to transform this nation and then the world through evangelism and discipleship. Building a building is just a step in the pursuit of our vision to obey the Lord. When we give sacrificially to God, we are giving to the highest cause on earth, which is the salvation of souls. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul" (Mark 8:36)? God’s priority is the salvation of souls "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). The highest cause on earth is to seek the lost souls of men and women and to help save them through the Holy Spirit’s work by faith in Jesus Christ. When you give sacrificially to God, you will be living in the highest plane possible, because you will be basing your life on the highest cause available on earth.

…to See Your Faith & Spirituality

When you give sacrificially to God, you see the extent of your faith and spirituality. But you can’t live in sin and give to God and claim to be spiritual. You cannot live in sin and give to God and buy your spirituality. You see the extent of your faith and spirituality in sacrificial giving because it is risky at the human level. You expose yourself to financial need because to the world’s eyes, sacrificial giving does not make sense. You just believe in God and put your life in God’s hands, acknowledging by faith that He is the Great Provider – the Jehovah Jireh. Like Abraham, you have no idea what you’re doing except you’re trusting God (Genesis 22:6-14).

Sacrificial giving, financially, is as strong an expression of faith as Abraham’s offering of Isaac, because like Abraham, you would be walking by faith and not by sight, which is what God wants you to do. Sacrificial giving will test how deeply you have internalized certain ideas that sound good and that you have a mental agreement to them, but sometimes you don’t believe them. Concepts like: God is good; God is almighty; nothing is impossible with Him. Does God keep His promises? Yes. Does God love you and care for you? Yes.

"And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on’” (Mark 12:41-44). It’s not the amount that is at issue, it’s what it means to you.

Superabundant Blessings Guaranteed!

When you give to God sacrificially, you guarantee to yourself God’s superabundant material blessings. When you give to God sacrificially, you cannot outgive Him. During Haggai’s time, the people forgot their purpose, and lost their priorities. They abandoned the building of the temple, and so it just stood there in ruins. Then Haggai showed the Jews how their wrong priorities had made their lives poor financially (Haggai 1:5-6). Since they were not paying attention to the building of the temple, they were paying attention to building their homes, and to feeding themselves, clothing themselves at the expense of the house of God. He said, “You are making money, but it’s put in a purse with holes. The Jews obeyed very quickly so God blessed the people immediately, even before the temple was completed (Verses 12-19). When you obey God, when you do something for Him, God says, “I am with you. I will bless you."

Giving to God will not make you poor. Rather it will lead to even greater material blessing. "But remember this—if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much" (2 Cor 9:6). "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return" (Luke 6:38). As a matter of fact, it is the lack of giving that is guaranteed to put you in financial need. If your life is characterized by financial need, you have to ask yourself this question: Am I a giver or am I not a giver? "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Gal 6:7). When you give sacrificially, you not only guarantee your present income but you also guarantee the increase of your future income. You can’t buy spirituality and you need to walk in the Lord and be godly. But you also need to give.

In Malachi 3:10, God is condescending His Almighty personality to our level, and saying, “Why don’t you test Me? Give to My causes. Test Me if I will not open up for you the windows of heaven.” Do you get the picture of God opening up the floodgates of heaven? When you give to God, He will open up the floodgates of heaven as when He flooded the earth. And He will pour out for you not water but overflowing blessings.

Knowing all of these things now, are you willing to give sacrificially to God? Why don’t you do it and see for yourself the results of giving sacrificially to Him?

"For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them…” (2 Chron. 16:9)

God is looking for people He can bless and He looks at the heart in doing this. What kind of a heart does He look for? It is a heart that is completely or wholly His. A person after God’s heart is someone who will do ALL His will (Acts 13:22). God wants total obedience. He wants your whole heart, not half or three-fourth of it. David was such a man whose heart was totally devoted to God. But he also sinned. When he fell and God spoke to Him, he repented. You may fail like David but if your heart is 100% devoted to the Lord, you will respond to Him and His correction. Where you are right now is not as important as the direction of your life. The moment you give your heart to God, your direction will determine if you are going to move close to God. Sadly, some are moving away from God. Are you moving toward God because you have given Him your whole heart? Or are you moving away from God because of painful experiences? If you move away from God, you won’t be able to experience the reality of God’s power in your life.

God owns everything. He does not want your money. He does not want your power or strength. God wants something only you can give – your whole heart, your love for Him. He gave you His whole heart when Jesus, His only Son, died on the cross for you. And for Him to ask you to give back your whole heart to Him is not unreasonable. God gave you His life, why should you not give Him your whole heart?

God Will Bless You!

One good example of how God will bless a person who is fully committed to Him is found in 2 Chronicles 14. Asa, king of Judah, did good and right in the eyes of the Lord as he obeyed Him totally. As God saw that his heart was right, He gave Asa REST; meaning peace and security from wars and without any trouble from neighboring nations. Similarly, God says to you, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). A famous cartoonist wrote before he took his own life, “I have very few problems. I have many friends. I have traveled all over the world. But I’m tired of inventing devices to fill the 24 hours of the day.” Famous Elvis Presley tried to drown out his troubled heart by playing his guitar and experiencing all the things that money could buy. He died from drug addiction without ever experiencing the peace that he was looking for. Money, prosperity, people, relationships, will not give you real peace. You won’t find peace or rest in a place or in anything in this world. You may also be burdened with sin and vices. You cannot have peace until your heart is right with God. When your heart is right, God will give you rest.

God will also give you PROSPERITY as He did to Asa (2 Chron. 14:7). God says that when you seek Him, He will supernaturally provide for you (Matt. 6:33). It is His desire to give you an abundant life – meaningful and joyful (John 10:10). Of course, having peace and abundance does not mean the absence of problems. God also wants to give you VICTORY (2 Chron. 14:9-12). And the secret to having God’s support is to give your heart completely to the Lord. And that means becoming prayerful, in whatever circumstances – in and out of problems that are big or small. Your prayer life determines how devoted you are to the Lord. If you are devoted to the Lord, you are dependent upon Him; and therefore, your prayer life is vibrant. You will not be prayerful until you realize there is a big war out there, and Satan is alive and active. He comes up with many strategies to discourage and pull you down (Eph 6:10-12). And the fiercest battle is now being waged in your heart. But it is God who gives the victory! The day that you make the decision to give your whole heart to God is the day that He will set you free.

Obstacles to God’s Blessings

In 2 Chronicles 16, King Asa committed mistakes that can be considered as obstacles to God’s blessings. When he was young, he was faithful to God. But when he became old, something happened to him. God actually tested him and he failed.

Because of his past success, he became PROUD. In reality, the more you walk with the Lord, the more He will bless you. When God blesses you, you become successful. But the danger is to forget that the blessing comes from God and you can become proud of yourself. "Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall" (Prov. 16:18). When you become proud of yourself, you begin to depend on your own (human) wisdom.

It’s so easy for believers to block God’s blessing once you’ve become proud and begin to listen to human wisdom, instead of listening to God. This is MISPLACED CONFIDENCE. But "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Prov. 16:25). "The best-equipped army cannot save a king—for great strength is not enough to save anyone. A war horse is a poor risk for winning victories—it is strong, but it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are watching over those who fear him, who rely upon his steady love. He will keep them from death even in times of famine" (Psalm 33:16-18)!

Once you stop trusting God, it would be easy for you to REACT TO CORRECTION. Asa became angry with the person who warned him about his disobedience. He may have started well at a young age because he was devoted to God. But he did not finish well because he was afflicted with disease and died miserably. He became STUBBORN and did according to his own wisdom. In the same way, Christians can become stubborn that no matter what God does to them, they will not listen.

A Heart that Believes

"For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation. For the Scriptures tell us that no one who believes in Christ will ever be disappointed" (Rom. 10:10-11). God says that if you trust Him, you will never be disappointed. You might be facing enormous challenges and problems right now and people may be disappointing you tremendously, but God won’t ever do that to you.

A true Christian is somebody who gives his heart completely to Jesus. He trusts Jesus 100%. Have you given your heart completely to Jesus without any mental reservations? Or do you have a mindset that wants to follow God only when it’s convenient? This is deception. You have to be honest with God. “Lord, I am weak. But Lord, I want to follow You. And no matter what it takes, I will follow You. I surrender my life to You…” This is the heart that is completely His. Think about it. Have you really given your whole heart to Him?