Worship God how He wants (not how you want)

Really, for the spiritual Christian, their desires line up with God's desires.  This means that they will want to worship how God wants them to worship.

 

But it's worth highlighting that there are many who would worship God in their own way.  I don't mean in an individual way, which of course we will do.  I mean that some prefer certain rituals, songs, candles, locations, etc.

 

This misses the point on a number of levels.  First, they fail to realise that worship is not an event that you schedule into your week.  Worship is an entire lifestyle with every decision reflecting the love that you have for your Saviour.  Second, for those who doggedly insist that these rituals are needed to get into the right frame of mind, they often are the same people who misunderstand what it means to be spiritual (to worship in the "spirit" part of worshipping in spirit and in truth).

 

The truth part is the truth about who God is, as revealed in his Word (the bible).  The spirit part is nothing to do with a demonstration of the gifts of the spirit.  The spirit part is the spiritual lifestyle modelled after Christ and showing much fruit of the spirit.  In these two things is the knowledge of how to worship God as He wants.  Don't be led astray from the simple, but hard to walk in, truth.

 

In a group of people (some churches even)

It's not just in individual people, but in groups of people that the Spirit works at times.  While the coming of the Holy Spirit was a unique occasion in church history, that doesn't mean that He won't come again in such a way, if God wills.  But that side is not what we are discussing here.  And, to a large extent, signs and wonders and amazing external gifts don't even matter since Satan can cause lying signs in these last days.

 

Whether these external "gifts" are present and on display or not, if the fruit of the Spirit is not evident in a gathering of professing believers, then it is doubtful whether God is in their midst.

 

The corporate expression (the whole group as seen together) is just as important a testimony and display of God's glory.  The church should consistently demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their dealings with each other and with the outside world.

 

One is easy to explain away, but when a non-believer comes face to face with many Christians who continually surprise him because of their holy character, that is an effective lifestyle that can lead someone to Christ.  They will often say that Christian values are good, even if they reject the God who causes those values to be displayed.  But either way, God is glorified!  Pray that they acknowledge the God behind the work.