Bible Verse:
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:21-24 (NLT)
Devotional:
When I think about the new building project, I think about spiders. No, it’s not because of all the creepy, crawly inhabitants of our current buildings. It’s because of the example of my friend John. About six years ago John’s life was changed forever by a venomous spider bite. It took John two years to discover that the spider caused his symptoms — debilitating, chronic pain and muscle spasms — and several more years of experimental treatments to learn that there would be no cure for him in this lifetime. Yet, if you were to talk to John or read his letters, you would clearly hear, “It’s not about the spider!” And he would go on and on about God’s abundant love, and how the Lord has used this very painful and difficult circumstance to draw John and his family into a deeper love relationship with Him than they ever would have imagined. As I read John’s letters, I see a family worshipping God in spirit and in truth despite their circumstances.
So, when I think about the new building project, I realize that it’s going to be a long, difficult, inconvenient and even painful process. I know it will require sacrifice on my part. But as a parent of three children who are scattered throughout various places all over campus on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, I’m very excited about the vision for a more welcoming, efficient and secure building plan. I also know that our circumstances could change, my husband’s job could transfer him, and we may not be here to see the final results of our investment.
But the thing is, it’s really not about the building. It’s about worshiping God in spirit and in truth wherever and with whomever I am. By nature, I’m a goal-oriented, rather than a process-oriented, person. But I’m learning that God cares more about my heart towards Him and my attitude and actions towards others throughout the process than He does about the end product. Recently I have found that sincerely praying, “Jesus, I want what You want,” helps my attitude a lot in this respect.
Prayer:
Reflect on your worship of God. Is God truly preeminent in your heart, or is there something or someone else that holds that place instead? Have you invested the time to get to know the one you worship, or are you like the Samaritans who “know very little about the one you worship”? Ask the Father to help you know Him better so you can worship Him fully in spirit and in truth. Ask Him to use the circumstances in your life today to draw you into a deeper relationship with Him.
Written by Kay Halligan. Kay and Kevin have attended Northwest for 20 years. They have three children: Emily (11), Erin (8) and Elissa (5).
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3 comments:
I was praying and reading the devotional this morning and it dawned on me, we don’t need a new building to keep our children safe, we need to trust that God will keep our children safe. We don’t need more spacious hallways to be patient, we need to ask God to make us patient even when the hallways are crowded. We don’t need a new building to guarantee that the next generation will have a place to worship, we need to trust that God will provide the next generation with a place to worship and pray that the next generation will have the desire to worship him.
I then thought in a moment of excitement, I will actually be disappointed if all that comes of this is a new building. If we pray and God provides the money for the new building, what will that prove? That God can provide money during hard economic times? I think we all already know he can do that and besides, his provision might actually be a temptation for us to say, “We are so Godly that we gave all this money during a down economy.” I’m hoping that God does something far more wonderful in our lives... that he changes our hearts to where we would joyfully worship him on a street corner if that pleases him and that, building or no building, we trust he will provide for us beyond our wildest expectations.
Kay,
Thanks for this great reminder. As citizens of another kingdom who are living on earth it seems to me we walk a fine line. We live on this earth, we live in houses, we go to work, school, and church in buidlings that we can see and touch yet God is also working in ways we cannot see. I like anonymous' comment when they said, "I’m hoping that God does something far more wonderful in our lives." I have this sense that He is already on the move in doing this. Praise God!
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