True worship doesn't put on a show or make a fuss; true worship isn't forced, isn't half-hearted, doesn't keep looking at its watch, doesn't worry what the person in the next pew is doing. True worship is open to God, adoring God, waiting for God, trusting God even in the dark.
Interpretation
True worship is a sincere, heartfelt connection with God, free from distractions and pretense.
This quote emphasizes that genuine worship is not about external displays or social expectations. Instead, it is a deeply personal and intimate experience with God, characterized by openness, love, patience, and trust, regardless of circumstances or how others may perceive it.
In practice
During a church service, the pastor could use this quote to inspire the congregation to focus on their personal relationship with God.
The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating thet God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven." "The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.
Most of the things that really matter require faith. How do I know that my wife loves me? How do I know that Mozarts Jupiter Symphony is sublime and beautiful? There are all sorts of things which come at a more lowly level than that - How do I know that two plus two equals four? There are different layers, different types of knowing.
To get overprotective about particular readings of the Bible is always in danger of idolatry.
Without God's Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God's kingdom. Without God's Spirit, the church simply can't be the church.
I'm not a universalist, and the way I talk about final loss is this: People worship idols - money, whatever. Their humanness gets reshaped around the idol - you become like what you worship. That's one of the basic spiritual laws.
We could cope—the world could cope—with a Jesus who ultimately remains a wonderful idea inside his disciples' minds and hearts. The world cannot cope with a Jesus who comes out of the tomb, who inaugurates God's new creation right in the middle of the old one.
Spirituality is not about what you know. It is about growing, deepening, evolving and becoming a living reflection of your spiritual identity.
Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.
Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.
Lord Jesus, cause me to know in my daily experience the glory and sweetness of Thy name, and then teach me how to use it in my prayer, so that I may be a prince prevailing with God.
There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes.
A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men, but mentally he is knocking at the gates of heaven with prayer.
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