Portable Sanctuaries

“The purpose of nature is to lead us to the Creator and to worship Him. The purpose of man’s feelings and emotions is to lead to the One who implanted those within the heart of man, to the Creator. Everything in all of creation is to point to the Creator and evoke within adoring wonder and admiration and worship. Wherever we go, we can worship. Jesus taught essentially that we are portable sanctuaries, and if we are worshiping in spirit and in truth, we can take our sanctuary around with us.” A.W. Tozer

From the top of the highest mountain to the depths of the lowest valley, we can take our sanctuary around with us! We no longer have the problem posed by the Samaritan Woman, “Where are we to worship?” We worship in Spirit and in Truth. “Do you not know that you, yourselves, are the temple of God?” We are portable sanctuaries! As we move through this world, the creation of our Creator, may we be moved to worship Him fully in the depths of our hearts–a sanctuary of praise.

The Music of Religion

“It is easy to confuse the music of religion as true worship because music elevates the mind and raises the heart to near rapture. Music can lift our feelings to a sense of ecstasy. Music has a purifying effect upon us so that it is possible to fall into a happy and elevated state of mind with only a vague notion about God and imagine we are worshiping God when we are doing nothing of the sort.” A.W. Tozer

This is not to say that the music of religion cannot lead us to a place of worship. But the key is if our mind and heart have only a “vague notion about God,” or if we are intentionally bowing before our Maker, worshiping, praising, loving and serving. Help us, Father, to examine our hearts and discern the difference between real worship, and the natural response to the gift of music.

A Bloodless Sacrifice

“Abel offered unto God the sacrifice of blood while Cain offered a sacrifice without blood. Abel brought to God according to His delight, while Cain brought to God what delighted him without any regard to God. God condemned and rejected the worship of Cain, because it lacked atonement. Cain came to worship without a blood sacrifice, which is atonement; he came to God with a gift of his choosing for his Creator. he plucked a nice bunch of flowers and some nice delicious fruit and took it to God. God inquired after the blood and Cain said, “What blood?” Cain did not understand that he could not come to God without blood atonement. Cain objected, “I don’t care about sin, I’ll just bring a gift.” He came before God with a a bloodless sacrifice and offered flowers and fruit and the growth of the earth to the Lord…this path to worship, no matter how gentle and tender it is or how it may be adorned with beautiful flowers plucked from all parts of the world, is still false, and God frowns upon it because it is false in itself. God simply rejects the path of human excellence to worship.” A.W. Tozer

And today we are often guilty of bringing a bloodless sacrifice to Yehovah. Our little sacrifices of praise and worship are only acceptable if they have been washed in the blood of the ONLY acceptable sacrifice, Jesus. May we never grow weary of offering thanks and praise to The Lamb of God. May I worship You, my God, in the way that You have commanded with no concern for human excellence, but instead, complete submission to Your Holy Spirit.

Silver Waters

“For the redeemed, the well of the Holy Spirit is an effervescing artesian well, and you do not have to prime the pump. The silver waters of the Holy Spirit flooding up and out of the redeemed and cleansed heart of a worshiping man are as sweet and beautiful to God as the loveliest diamond. We need to learn how to worship to please the God who deserves it.” A.W. Tozer

Oh, I really do pray that the worship that wells up from my heart is clean and pure as the silver waters of the Holy Spirit, Himself. May it be all of HIM so it may truly be worthy of the God who deserves it. This is truly a work that only HE can do. And I must trust Him to make it so.

Empty Works

“When the Christian church in any generation ceases to be a company of worshipers, their religion succumbs to mere outer effects, empty works and meaningless rituals.” A.W. Tozer

May we become a company of worshipers again, Dear Father! May we not be guilty of outer effects, empty works and meaningless rituals.

With Thanksgiving

“Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving (towdah)…” (Psalm 147:7)

“Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving, or ‘respond to Jehovah.’ He speaks in His works, so let us answer Him with thanks. All that He does is gracious; every movement of His hand is goodness.. Let our hearts reply with gratitude and our lips with song. Our lives should be responses to divine love. Jehovah is ever engaged in giving, so let us respond with thanksgiving.” Charles Spurgeon

Today, I sing to You, Father, with thanksgiving….

Futile Searches

“In the Old Testament, a priest could not offer a sacrifice until he had been anointed with oil, symbolic of the Spirit of God. No man can worship out of his own heart. Let him search among the flowers, let him search among the bird nests and tombs and wherever he chooses to worship God. Such a search will be futile and lead to spiritual frustration…only the Holy Spirit can worship God acceptable, and He must in us reflect back to God His own glory. If it does not reach our hearts, there is no reflecting back and no worship” A.W. Tozer

Father, lead me away from futile searches to worship You. Keep me from spiritual frustration. Teach me to worship You in truth and in the anointing of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Worship Decree

“It is important to understand that nobody can devise their own pattern of worship or worship God any way they please. The pleasure here belongs to God alone. The One who created us to worship  Him also decreed how we shall worship Him. We cannot worship God as we will, our worship must always conform to God’s pleasure…God does not accept any kind of worship. He accepts worship only when it is pure and directed by the Holy Spirit.” A.W. Tozer

We cannot claim ignorance–His decree for our worship of Him is found all through Scripture. Do we take time to seek HIS guidance in worship? Do we truly seek to bring Him pleasure in the way He has ordained?

May our worship be pure and completely led by His Holy Spirit.

His Special Instrument

“We do not believe we are as dear to God as He says we are. We do not believe we are as precious or that He desires us as much as He says He does…If everyone could suddenly have a baptism of pure cheerful belief that God wants and desires us to worship, admire and praise Him, it could transform us overnight into the most radiantly happy people in the world. We would finally discover our purpose: that God delights in us, and longs for our fellowship…God created man as His special instrument of music–offering to Him natural sweet praise.” A.W. Tozer

May we be transformed. May we have that baptism of pure cheerful belief that God wants and desires us to worship, admire and praise Him. May we become His special instrument of music.

A Worship Compulsion

“Not only does God want man to worship Him, but man, even in his fallen state, has something within trying to respond, but not succeeding…When a man falls on his knees and stretches his hands heavenward, he is doing the most natural thing in the world. Something deep compels him to seek someone or something outside himself to worship and adore. In his unredeemed condition, man has lost the way and cannot clearly define the object of his wistful adoration, and so his search takes him far from God. When he does not find God, man will fill the void in his heart with anything he can find. That which is not God can never satiate the heart exclusively created for God’s presence.” A.W. Tozer

May we put away the “idols” of our life, that which we have mistakenly sought to worship and adore, and instead allow our hearts to be satiated by the filling of God’s presence. Only then will the void in our hearts be truly full–full in the way they were created to be full. Fill me Jesus.