Thursday Open Heavens Devotional - Worship: What State Of Maturity?

MEMORISE: Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Psalm 113:2.

READ: Psalm 113:1-6.
1.Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2.Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. 3.From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised. 4.The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5.Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6.Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

MESSAGE
It is a great thing for you to seek God, but it is a far greater thing for God to seek you out.   From experience, most people only seek God because they are in need, and because they want Him to do something for them. This is self-centredness. God may not seek out such people. Those who God seeks after are the ones who worship Him for who He is. Jesus, at Jacob's well, revealed the class of people that God seeks out: true worshippers (John 4:23). For God to seek you out, you must be of high value to Him. If you take someone like David as a case study, you will find out that David had resolved to always bless the Lord, whether the going was good or not. Hence, in Psalm 34:1 he said: "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." That is a very hard attitude to adopt and sustain. It is not easy to praise God when it appears the whole world is turning against you. It is not easy to worship God immediately after experiencing the loss of someone or something precious. Why would God seek out someone like David? It is because he always had what God wanted, which is praise and quality worship in his mouth and from his heart, always! This implies that anytime God visited David, He received praises. Can the same be said of you? No wonder God also decided that only goodness and mercy would continually follow David all the days of his life (Psalm 23:6).
In our trip to Israel not too long ago, I told those who travelled with me that there are two categories of worshippers. The first are those who praise God only after something good has happened to them. In other words, such people believe that God should earn their praise and worship. If He has not met their expectations, then there is no need to praise Him. These are baby worshippers. God may never seek such people out for anything. The second category of worshippers is made up of those who worship God even when their miracles have not come. Such people believe that God has already earned the right to be praised and worshipped,
because of who He is and for all He has already done. They feel indebted to God; hence, their worship of Him is not conditional. They will praise God in any circumstance. These are adult worshippers. Such people always get more than what they desire from God. They are the ones whom God seeks after. What category do you belong to?

KEY POINT: The quality of worship you give to God shows the place that God occupies in your life.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: NUMBERS 33-34 AND GALATIANS 3:15-4:7.