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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.   --Romans 12:1 More than ever, I believe Christians today need to remember that worship is a verb. It’s not sitting and watching, it’s something you do. It is participation. It is not mere emotion. It is not a feeling or a thought process, but rather the active response of your heart, your life, and even your body to God! If you go to a worship service and watch everyone else worship, you haven’t worshipped—you have become a religious consumer rather than a spiritual communer. You’ve become a spectator rather than a true worshipper. Perhaps you grew up in a church where you sang hymns and participated at some level. But, maybe, just maybe, you have never had a genuine experience of encountering the presence of God in true worship. If not, I challenge you to take time even today to tell God you desire to be a genuine worshipper. He will honor your prayer because He has made you to worship Him! You were created that you might know Him and make Him known. As a believer in Jesus Christ, worshiping Him intimately and intensely should be the driving force in your life. That’s why I want to call you to become a true worshipper of the Lord Jesus Christ today, whether in or out of church! YOU WERE MADE TO WORSHIP GOD!

God Is at Work

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.”
Luke 24:19–20
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was a treasure for both students of history and the Word of God. The ancient scrolls dated back to the time of Christ, and had been hidden safely in caves until their discovery by shepherds shortly after World War II. The scrolls contained some entire Old Testament books and portions of all the others—except one. The excluded book was Esther, which the Essenes who copied the scrolls disapproved because it did not contain the name of God. Yet though His name does not appear, the hand of God is very visible in the story of the deliverance of the Jews from the plot of Haman to destroy them.
The reality is that God is always at work, whether or not we see and understand His plan. Often it is in the moments of what appear to be our greatest defeats that God is working His greatest triumphs. The victory is never lost because God is not faithful, but it can be lost because we lose heart and give up before it is won. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
Those who were closest to Jesus during His ministry had faith in Him as long as they saw Him, but once He was dead they found themselves doubting what He had taught. They believed only what they could see. But before we judge them too harshly, we should remember that often we fall into the same trap rather than keeping our faith strong.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

The true demonstration of our faith is when we cannot see any evidence that God is working but trust Him anyway.