Tag Archives: beauty

WORSHIP THE LORD

Apologetics, ,

I sometimes wake in the morning with nothing on my mind, like turning the page of my life, waiting to record the day’s thoughts and activities. At other times, my clean page already has a heading…

“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

My earliest memories of church are of people gathering in an old church building, probably built in the 1800’s, with long, uncomfortable wooden pews, and a choir stall in the front, opposite to the raised pulpit…all the trappings of a conventional “church”.

Across the front wall, above the platform, were emblazoned these words on an ornate cement scroll… “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”. Although I did not understand their meaning then, I woould gaze at the words throughout the long sermon, tracing each letter over and over with an invisible finger to occupy my mind until the church service was over.

This verse, taken from Psalm 96:9, was a silent reminder to the congregation of our solemn duty to worship the Lord whenever we gathered in that building on a Sunday…or was it?

Had we then, and do we still now, relegate worship to a once-a-week ceremony on a Sunday? We have, in the latest dispensation of doing church, come to view our gathering on a Sunday as a “worship service”.

These ideas are so deeply engraved into our thinking that we hardly ever stop to evaluate what we are doing? We are “holy” during that brief time in church but for the rest, we get on with living our ordinary lives. We relegate worship and the spiritual feelings we enjoy, to a Sunday, satisfied that we have been faithful to God’s requirements.

Am I being harsh in my thinking?

Jesus had a conversation with a woman outside a village in Samaria, an unlikely situation for a Jewish man. He was on His way to Galilee. She was fetching water in the middle of the day. They met at the well.

Jesus kicked off the conversation by asking the woman for a drink of water. She was startled by His words because Jewish men don’t talk to Samaritan women, but Jesus didn’t care. He broke protocol because He was thirsty and she was lost.

Carefully, Jesus unpacked her need in their conversation, guiding her to the point where He revealed God’s dream for all humanity. Worshippers! The Father wanted worshippers!

John 4:23-24 NIV
[23] “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

True worshippers…in spirit and in truth? What does this mean? Did my verse, painted on the front wall of the church, somehow hold the secret to God’s dream?

Worship…what is worship? In its simplest meaning, to worship is to prostrate oneself before a superior person, not necessarily God. So, for example, Joseph’s brothers fell down before him after their father had been buried, when they thought that he would have his revenge.

Genesis 50:18 NLT
[18] “Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.”

However, to worship the Lord means far more that prostrating ourselves before Him. In that action is enshrined an attitude, as Google explains…

“In the Bible, worship encompasses more than just religious rituals; it signifies a deep, reverent devotion and heartfelt response to God, encompassing both outward expressions and inward attitudes. It involves acknowledging God’s worth, submitting to His authority, and expressing love and adoration through various means.”

Can you see, then, how far short our modern concept of worship falls before this definition?

Our verse continues…

” …In the beauty of holiness.”

What constitutes beauty in this requirement?

Again, Google helps us…

“The phrase “beauty of holiness” refers to the intrinsic attractiveness and desirable quality of being set apart for God and living a life that reflects His holiness. It encompasses both an inward purity and an outward expression of that purity in actions, attitudes, and worship.”

We ascribe beauty to the Lord, not in any physical way because God is spirit, but in the comeliness of His attributes and actions. Just as a beautiful sunset calls forth feelings of pleasure and delight, so God’s beauty lies in His being and doing that delight us and draw from us expressions of satisfaction and pleasure.

So, God desires that we express, in our worship, that beauty, “attractiveness”, in our ways that brings Him pleasure and delight.

What is the holiness that must accompany our worship? What is the holiness God requires that allows us access to Him and qualifies us to “see” Him?

Again, we turn to Google for help.

“Holiness, in essence, is being set apart, consecrated, and morally pure, primarily associated with God and His divine nature. It signifies a state of being entirely devoted to God and separated from sin and the things of the world. For humans, holiness involves striving to reflect God’s character through obedience, righteous living, and a growing relationship with Him.”

2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV
[1] “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

The holiness of God’s people is not only beautiful to us…
It’s beautiful to Him, the lives of His people

So, the verse I stared at every Sunday sets out clearly the desire of God’s heart that we, His people, should approach Him with clean hands and a pure heart and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Psalms 24:3-4 NIV
[3] “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? [4] The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.”

Before I end this short meditation, why is it so important that we worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness? What difference does it make to us if we do or do not worship the Lord in this way?

God had a plan for people from the beginning. Like the intimacy between two people in a marriage relationship, their union produces new life. God uses the picture of marriage to illustrate the union within the Godhead that produces life…God’s life that continually perpetuates and sustains all life.

God has called us into partnership with Himself to fulfill His purpose to restore the life on earth that sin has destroyed. Through the intimacy of prayer and worship, He impregnates our spirits with His “seed”, His Word through which He carries out His will.

God has entrusted to us His promises, His declaration of intent, to which we agree and add our “AMEN!” which is far more than simple assent. Our “AMEN” implies our willing participation with the Father in the execution of His will on earth.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20, 22 NIV
[18] “But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” [19] For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” [20] For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 0
[21] Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, [22] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Can you see, then, how God has graciously involved us, in participation with Him, in fulfilling His will in earth? He impregnates us with His Word and gives birth to His purposes through us…and all this through the intimacy of true worship. His purpose is not possible outside of true worship, our hearts and lives at one with Him.

Hence the profound simplicity of Jesus’ prayer…

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” in not a call to worship for a few moments on Sunday morning in a building we call “the church”. It is a rallying call to all God’s people to exalt and honour Him in every part of our everyday lives, giving glory to Him in the mundane as a witness to His Lordship over us as the supreme authority in our lives in everything.

INNER BEAUTY VERSUS OUTWARD ADORNING – 5

Bible Study, ,

1Peter 3:3-6 NIV‬
[3] “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. [4] Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. [5] For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, [6] like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

Paul tells us THAT wives must submit to their husbands. Peter adds the beautiful gem of HOW and WHY wives are to submit.

Did Peter have personal experience in his own marriage? Perhaps Peter, a typical Jewish man in a Jewish culture, had treated his wife harshly in his unregenerate days. Did she teach him, by her quiet, inner beauty, how to relate to her as a partner, not a possession? The Bible does not tell us, but it does tell us the outcome of inner beauty versus outward adorning.

As we have already learned, following God’s pattern always works. Given the nature in us from Adam, women have always fought for independence. Even marriage does not change this continual power struggle, entrenched by the ongoing feminist, ‘burn the bra’ movement. Women demand their rights, at home, in the workplace, and on every level of society.

The roles of women and men have become so blurred that God’s pattern for marriage has all but been destroyed. It’s now two men or two women, accepted as the norm all over the world. Gender changes at will are being added to the mix in an attempt to obliterate God’s sovereignty in His creation order. It’s no wonder society is in chaos and confusion in its attempt to throw off God’s authority. The Bible calls these trends ‘suppressing the truth by their wickedness’.

‭Romans 1:18 NLT‬
[18] “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

However, despite what the world is doing, God’s pattern is the only way that will always work.

‭1 Peter 3:3-6 NLT‬
[3] “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. [4] You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. [5] This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. [6] For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.”

As always, God’s pattern requires God’s grace. Without His power in us, bringing our unruly desires into submission to Him, His pattern will always be only a pattern. Obedience to His pattern requires a change of heart, a change of mind, and a change of attitude.

God does not forbid outward adornment. Women want to look beautiful. Little girls pretend to be princesses, dressing up in ‘princess’ fancy dress with fake jewels that make them feel like princesses.

Women spend thousands building on this mindset in their adulthood. After all, they must do everything they can to catch a mate! However, to make this their goal is a dead end. Once they have caught a mate, it’s not their adornment that will keep them together. It’s the effort they put into building unity in a lasting relationship that counts.

How do we (wives) do this?

Peter says, “By cultivating inner beauty… ‘the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.'” Did you get that? When one brings God into the mix, one adds the only partnership in the universe that works. If God is pleased with a quiet and gentle spirit (attitude), we can be sure that His Spirit will make it happen.

Why must we focus on inner beauty?

The first reason is that outward beauty fades. The beauty of a twenty-year-old has mostly faded by forty, fifty or sixty. If it is only outward beauty that keeps a couple together, after a few years the magic goes. What’s left is strife and conflict.

The second reason is that outward adornment cannot achieve God’s core purpose of marriage…unity.

‭Genesis 2:23-24 NLT‬
[23] “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” [24] This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

God created male and female and brought them together in the permanent union of marriage to be a picture on earth of the unity within the Trinity in heaven. Paul affirms God’s purpose in his description of God’s pattern for marriage.

‭Ephesians 5:21-22, 25, 31 NLT‬
[21] “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. [22] For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord….
[25] For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church….
[31] As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

There is a deep mystery in this union between a man and a woman, a divine order that God established in marriage, a pattern for unity and harmony that works. A woman can only submit in heart to her husband when she is submitted to Jesus first. It takes God’s grace to enable her to put her own independence to death and to place herself under her husband’s authority with her trust in God that this attitude will work.

God did not say that wives must allow their husbands to walk all over them and to wipe their feet on them. Marriage is an equal partnership but with different roles. For marriage to work, someone must take the lead. God gave this assignment to husbands. There cannot be two leaders for this family dynamic to work.

A wife’s attitude is the key, the foundation to achieve this harmony. Her husband’s love for her can only grow and flourish when she willingly submits to his sacrificial service. Unless she chooses lovingly and willingly to submit, his sacrifice will be insulted and rejected, gouging out the heart of their relationship.

Again, it’s Jesus example that provides the pattern for this relationship to work. He gave His life for His bride, cleansing her with His own blood and purifying her with the water of the Word.

Peter says that the gentle and quiet spirit of a submissive wife will tame her husband’s unruly attitude and give him the reason to believe in Jesus.

‭1 Peter 3:1-2 NLT‬
[1] “In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over [2] by observing your pure and reverent lives.“

So, why the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit rather than outward adorning of fine clothes and expensive jewellery?

God is pleased, unbelieving husbands are won to Jesus, harmony functions in the home, and God’s pattern of unity shows the world who God is.

Now that’s a gem worth seeking!

Beauty Wins The Day

Christian Life, , ,

BEAUTY WINS THE DAY

What is beauty?

The people of the world focus on the visible beauty of shape, form and colour. Glossy magazines are full of pictures of beautiful women garbed in the latest of outrageous fashions. They spend huge amounts of money on draping and adorning their bodies with garments and makeup to enhance their visual attraction. When the body begins to show the inevitable sagging and bagging of age, they do whatever they can to reverse the process.

However, all this focus on their outward appearance and efforts to retain their youthful looks are of no account when their lives fall apart in the process. Outward beauty is too fragile and transient to sustain health and happiness. Many of them go from relationship to relationship, from husband to husband in an futile effort to find happiness, peace and contentment but beauty alone cannot hold people together.

What is true beauty?

Peter, in his first letter, gives us a glimpse into God’s definition of beauty. He is addressing wives of unbelieving husbands. What can they do to win their husbands to faith in Jesus? Some wives resort to a variety of tactics in an effort to persuade their husbands to turn to the Lord as they have done. Unfortunately, many of their tactics only succeed in antagonising, rather than winning them.

Peter says, “I know a sure-fire way to win your husbands without saying a word.”

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives (1 Pet. 3:1).

So, what is this secret weapon Peter encourages wives to use to win their husbands for the Lord?

Here comes the word again – beauty!

Is Peter saying, “Turn on the charm”? Or perhaps, “Make yourself as attractive as possible so that he will listen to you”? I don’t think so. It hasn’t worked before so why would you think it would work just because Peter said so. No, he has a far simpler way to impress your spouse so that he will listen to you.

Cultivate inner beauty!

You beauty should not come from outward adornment such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight (1 Pet. 3:3).

A gentle and quiet spirit? Did you get that? God prizes a gentle and quiet spirit – no competition for power, no selfish I-want-my-own-way attitude, no pouting and sulking when I am crossed, no manipulating with words or moods. You know what I’m talking about.

What is a gentle and quiet spirit? Psa. 18:35 throws light on the meaning of gentleness.

“Thy gentleness hath made me great” (KJV) or “You stoop down to make me great” (NIV).

The Hebrew word for “gentleness” means clemency – the disposition to show forbearance, compassion, or forgiveness in judging or punishing; leniency; mercy.  (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/clemency – retrieved April 2016.

Most Bible translators use the word “gentleness” to translate the Hebrew. I love the older NIV’s use of the words “stoop down”. They give me the picture of the God who is great, high and lifted up, stooping down to my level to lift me up. That’s just what He did when He came to earth to be one of us.

The focus on external beauty, in the end, does nothing to foster harmonious relationships. In fact, most of the time it does the opposite because it focuses on self. However, when I willingly and deliberately stoop down in my spirit to show clemency – to be compassionate, forgiving and merciful to lift another up, we are drawn to one another, not alienated by selfish attitudes.

“Gentleness” pops up as the characteristic of a child of God in more than one place in Scripture. Jesus called people to follow Him, to take His yoke and learn from Him because, as He said, “I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” Did you get that? Gentleness produces rest, not strife both inside oneself and in one’s interaction with others.

How can we, who are naturally selfish and competitive, learn to be gentle, not vying for position and always wanting to be right, but stooping down to lift another up? There is only one way.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

Gentleness is not a quality we can produce out of our old, sinful natures. It is a characteristic of the one who is led by the Holy Spirit. It is the outflow of His life, the nature of Jesus which He forms in us as we yield to Him, moment by moment.

Jesus explained to His disciples that greatness comes from serving others, not expecting to be served. The more we choose to serve instead of being served, the more gentle we will become, the Holy Spirit nurturing the very qualities in us that made Jesus great.

Do you want to be beautiful with a beauty that never fades with time? Work on your gentleness and, strangely enough, your outer beauty will reflect the inner, no matter how much time ravages your physical frame.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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