I have found that when worshiping in a corporate environment (in church), there seems to be a push for those leading to complicate and over indulge in pressing toward holiness. I have witnessed the worship leader trying to preach from the stage as opposed to simply leading the worship instance and leaving the preaching and teaching to the pastor or speaker for that day or instance.

“¹Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” — Psalm 29:1-2 (ESV)

As I read and study this morning, verse 2 stands out in relation to worship. Notice the idea of worship is “in the splendor of holiness” and not to bring about holiness. I see that I am to be simple with my worship and take the time to glorify God and not look to impress others. I am to bring attention to His “glory and strength” only, not bring attention to me.

I have studied these verses before in that time I wrote in my bible, “I make God too difficult to understand. God equals, glory, love, and truth.” That is so true. Worship does not have to be a difficult and time consuming deeply thought out event. It should happen in the moment and be devoted to bringing glory to Him and not me. It should be spontaneous and from the heart and less planned and from the head. Yes, there should be some planning from the corporate sense to align with the speaker or preachers message so as to prepare the heart. But the planning is in the what and less on the how everything is supposed to play out.

I am a planner and calculated in my approach to just about everything. I have a saying, “focus on getting it right and not just getting it done.” And that is predicated on calculated, planning and preparation to accomplish things. And where one should prepare for worship, the act of worship should be unplanned and devoted only to the glorification of God and bringing attention to His “glory and strength”.

What is your approach to worship? Are you calculated and interested in getting everything just right so that those around you will be marveled at your “holiness”? What if we just planned to worship and then just let the worship simply happen to bring attention to God’s “glory and strength”?

The worship of God is not just for me. I am, of course, to be worshiping God at every turn and bringing glory to Him. And that I am pretty sure there is little to any dispute. I also have to remember that I am to make sure that everyone around me has the opportunity to worship Him as well. I am to be in the world doing His work and bring the gospel to those around me. I am to visible for others to see and be ready to lead them to God so that they will have the opportunity to find Him and accept the gift of salvation that He has for them. I am to be the conduit for them to see and want to worship God.

“²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you..” — Psalm 22:27 (ESV)

Notice who “shall worship”. It is “all the families of the nations” and “all the ends of the earth”, not just me and my immediate family. Everyone is extended the opportunity to worship God and praise Him.

The question that should be asked is, if everyone is extended the opportunity to worship God and praise Him, how are they going to hear? How is it that the invitation is extended to everyone? Well the answer is that someone has to take the invitation to them, and that someone is me. I have to take and place the invitation at their feet, delivery to their hand, drop it in their minds. It is up to me to ensure that they have received the invitation. I cannot force them to take it, but that is not my purpose. I am to ensure that they have access to it so that they are able to accept. I cannot expect that someone else will do the work, God has tasked me with the work and therefore I have to do that work, and extend the invitation.

I am only responsible for that which God places before me. I am to extend invitations where He has asked me to and focus there. Even in our church, our vision is as follows: “We want to see A gospel movement that reaches every person of the Hill Country and is carried to the ends of the earth.” and out Mission is: “To make disciples of Jesus that celebrate the gospel in worship, apply the gospel in community, and extend the gospel in mission.” Notice that neither of them start globally and work toward the near. I am to work from close to me and extend outward. In some, and frankly most, instances, my invitations will be locally and in my own community, and that is all God is asking of me. Extend worship of God to all that are in my circle and once that has been done, I am to continuing extending to all.

When you think about your outreach and worship, what are you trying to accomplish? Are you simply trying it on for yourself? What if we took the approach God set out for us and extended the invitation of worship to all we come in contact with?

I have written about intentional worship and here is a good place to expand on that into all and awe.

“²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! ²⁹Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; ³⁰tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.” — 1 Chronicles 16:28-30 (ESV)

In the above verses the instruction is to “ascribe to the LORD”.

Ascribe: to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author: to say or think that (something) is caused by, comes from, or is associated with a particular person or thing – Merriam-Webster Online

I am not of any glory or strength. That belongs to and is of God. He provides those to me when the time comes and when needed, but they are His and it is up to me to know and understand. I may have some thing, but they have been provided by God for my pleasure and when coming to Him I must bring all of that with me to demonstrate my reliance on Him for those things as I simply return them to Him in thanks for the allowances He has provided.

Not only am I to “ascribe to the LORD” but I am also supposed to come to Him in awe.

Awe: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime – Merriam-Webster Online

I see in the second part of verse 29 and into verse 30 above that awe in my approach to God. I am to “tremble before him”. As an example of what and how this should look like, I am reminded of the pictures and videos of (bear with me) the girls that would have full body shakes and/or faint at the site of or when they got close to or touched Elvis Presley. It was not that they were “afraid” for their lives, it was that they were fully immersed in what they felt as the greatness of the man. Why are we not coming to God in the same manner and shaking and/or fainting as we get close to Him?

I am reminded this morning that I have to intentional in my worship and in doing so I have to bring all to Him and my worship should be as I am in awe of Him. I know that it may not be “socially acceptable” in the world to do so, but I have to remember that I am here to worship and bring glory to God and make sure that His glory is brought to the people. I cannot worry with what the world ascribes to, only that I “ascribe to the LORD”.

When worshiping the LORD, are you ascribing to Him? Are you bringing all that He has given to you and laying back at His feet in thanks? What if we were to do so and then get the full body shakes as we worship in awe of God?

When you worship, are you doing so intentionally or just in the moment? I know that one of our tasks is to worship God at all times and to bring glory to Him, but what about the intentional pursuit of our worship?

“⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’” — Genesis 22:5 (ESV)

I know, this verse is not really directed at the idea of worship and more around the act of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. I see it a bit differently this morning as I study the word “worship”. I see the intent of Abraham to worship God. Even in the circumstances that are here in this passage, Abraham is still headed to the mountain with all that is needed to worship. He brings everything with him, wood, fire, knife, and even Isaac to serve as the offering. He travels for 3 days to get to the mountain and then treks out to build an altar and worship.

I look at my intentional worship and have to think how it compares to that of Abraham, and I must say, there is little comparison other than I go away from my home on Sunday mornings. I leave the house and travel by car about 5 miles to the church, where I attend the service and worship God for the hour or so and then travel the 5 miles back home. The travel time takes about 15 minutes and the worship about 60 minutes for a total of about 1.25 hours on Sunday mornings. And then I step it up a couple of other times in the year on Easter Sunday and Christmas to get in a couple more intentional worships. But where is the sacrifice? Where is the investment in God? Where is the devotion to Him?

I have to be better at my intentional worship. I have to take more time to devote to God in bringing glory to Him. And maybe, just maybe I do worship more than just intentionally, only I am not recognizing it nor taking the opportunity to perform more of it from an intentional perspective. I am tasked with bringing glory to God, I should be more active and proactive with my worship and glorification. I have to be more willing and deliberate with my intentional worship.

When you worship, are you doing so intentionally? Are you bringing glory to God on purpose actively and proactively? What if you were to intentionally worship God daily as opposed to spontaneously?

As I read this morning and work through the final passage identified in my concordance on the word “worthy” I am reminded that only one is worthy and that is Christ.

I believe I have mentioned in my writings before that we are Marvel fans. I am taken to the character of Thor and his worthiness to wield Mjölnir the hammer. According to the movies, Mjölnir was only able to held and wielded by one that was worthy and even Thor himself was not immediately worthy based on his godly status. He had to prove his worthiness and once he did, he was able to wield the hammer Mjölnir. Later we find that Captain America was worthy and now in the newest Thor film, even Jane, the previous girlfriend of Thor is found to be worthy. Where this is a great story of the virtuous worthiness that can be found in others, it is not the depiction I am looking at here nor with all that is Christ.

“³And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’” — Revelation 5:3-5 (ESV)

Here we find that there is one that is worthy and that one is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” or Jesus. He alone is the one that was slain for our sins and gave himself for the whole of us that we may not suffer defeat at the hands of the evil one. He is the one and only recognized savior and as such has the strength and worthiness to accomplish the task that no other can.

“¹¹Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹²saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” — Revelation 5:11-12 (ESV)

As I look out into this world I have to remember that Christ is the only one worthy. Only in the movies and the secular world are others considered worthy of great things. I know that I am human and a sinner and will never meet the standard of Christ. I have to continue working at it and give the appearance of being worthy at each turn, knowing that it is only an appearance and that truly there is only one, Jesus, who is worthy.

When you are in the world, what is your view of yourself or others as pertains to worthiness? Are you of the opinion that anyone can reach that pinnacle as we see in the movies? What if you approached worthiness, knowing that you will never reach it, although you will continue to work for it, and that Jesus is the only one who is worthy?

Do we ever reach a place or status where we no longer worship God? This morning as I read in Revelation, I am reminded that the answer to that question is an emphatic, NO!

“⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

‘¹¹Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.’”

– Revelation 4:9-11 (ESV)

Notice in the above verses that the elders seated around the Lord were in a constant state of worship of our worthy Lord and Savior. There was not a sense of entitlement or looking down on others, there was only a desire to bring glory to God in all things. Here you have the highest of the high and they were still devoted fully to the glory of God only.

I have to say that as a Christian, have I the same approach? Am I bringing glory to God always as opposed to thinking about myself? I certainly hope so. I can only do what I believe it is that God would have me do and in that I will certainly bring glory to Him. I do have to remember that in my station in life, it is up to me to simply do God’s will and bring glory to Him and know that He is worthy and only He is worthy and I serve at His gracious allowance. He is worthy and I am here to worship Him.

In this world, we are all in the same position as children of God. We are here to do the work of God and bring glory to He who is worthy. Even in heaven, there is no position that falls outside of that task, even those that sit around God. We are all to bring glory to He who is worthy, Christ our King.

When you reach a higher station in life are you expecting that things will be different for you? Are you expecting that somehow the work and responsibility of worship are taken away? What if you took the approach that regardless of where you are in life, you are to still worship the one who is worthy, Christ our King?

When others come to your home or are in need, what is the approach you take? I know that Out home is open to all comers and when they do come, they are treated as though they have always been here. As an example, the friends of our youngest son have been welcomed with open arms. They have been given the green light to enter without knocking and help themselves to snacks and drinks that we have available. And where they were resistant at first, they have embraced the idea and although they are still extremely respectful and announce themselves to everyone when they do come, they have relaxed and accepted the hospitality we have offered.

“⁵Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, ⁶who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.” – 3 John 1:5-6 (ESV)

John, writing to Gaius, is sure to praise him for the hospitality he shows to all comers. Those that had been traveling he opened his home to them even at the rebuke of a church leader who was more interested in himself than doing the work of God. Notice in the above verses that Gaius demonstrated the example of Christ and took the strangers in and then when they were set to leave, he was encourage to continue that example in sending them out. I can just see Gaius loading them up with provisions for their travels like food and drink and any spare blankets or the like.

I was reminded of Matthew 5:40, “⁴⁰And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (ESV) Now I know that the context is completely wrong as Jesus is referring to those that are doing wrong against us, but does it not truly demonstrate the hospitality and love of God that should be in all of us. There is no reason to fight back as relates to monetary things as God will provide our needs. The same holds true when demonstrating hospitality to others, we should be sure that they are comfortable and have what they need as God will do the same back to us.

My worthy hospitality needs to be on display at every turn. It is my duty to be the example of Christ in all that I do so as to bring glory to Him and comfort to others that they have the opportunity to grow closer to God and experience the glory and blessings He has for them and the rest of His children.

When you are out there in the world, what is your approach to others that come into your world? Are you interested in bringing attention to yourself at the expense of providing for others? What if we demonstrated hospitality worthy of Christ and gave full provision to others as an example of Christ and His provision for us?

As a Christian, I am no different than others that are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I receive the same salvation and love and care and protection from God as all of my brothers and sisters.

“¹⁷Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” – 1 Timothy 5:17 (ESV)

There are brothers and sisters in Christ that are worthy of more. I think of the pastors of the church and the work that they do, not only for Christ, but also for the church and all of the congregation. By worldly business standards they are are the CEO of the church. And, somehow they are not compensated as such. Most pastors I know live very conservatively with a less than robust salary and yet they are content and find themselves doing quite well.

Even in the commentary of my ESV Bible, it states, “Paul does not actually require that pastors be paid a double amount, but Paul clearly indicates that pastors should receive generous remuneration.” I take this to mean that it may not be in salary that pastors are granted double, it could be in a host of other ways that they are compensated. Gifts, time, covering of obligations (paying bills), and other ways of providing for them are absolutely warranted and in line with the role they fill and all that they take on in the name of Christ and in service of Him and the church.

I want to be clear in saying that elders/pastors are greater than I am in the eyes of God, it is only that the role they have in this world is one of greater visibility and that should be taken into account as we think about worthiness. So my title, “There are Those Who are Worthy of More” is not wrong. It is important to understand the meaning and reason for the more they are worthy of and just what it is they would be receiving and why. No one is greater in the eyes of God. There are those that have a greater visible responsibility, and that must be considered in this world.

What is the worthiness of all in your life as relates to your spirituality? Are you even cognizant of those that have the impact in the greatest number? What if we looked at others and their role in this world and counted them worthy based on that worldly role, yet knowing that they are no greater than the rest of us in the kingdom of God?

I have mentioned in my writing and study that I will never be worthy, but I will continue to strive for it and pray that others will as well. But why is the question.

“¹¹To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, ¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (ESV)

I see here in Paul’s 2^nd letter to the church in Thessalonica that it is for the glory of God in you and in Him. I am seeking the glory of God, not that He would remove all affliction, but that I would somehow be able to achieve glory in Him and that He would be glorified by me. I have the duty to seek our the glory of God for me and for those around me. Whether achieved is up to God and us. Our job is to lift Him up and He will provide and grant what is in His will for our lives.

“⁵This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels” – 2 Thessalonians 1:5-7 (ESV)

There is also the words above from Paul indicating that we seek worthy for relief. As I mentioned above, I will not seek to remove affliction, but that I could achieve glory. Where God will allow for my affliction, He does not forget about me and the work that I have or will do in His name. And as such, He will relieve my afflictions at the appointed time that they are to be relieved for the work done in His name.

Now I know the reasons for my work to be viewed as worthy. I am not, of course, but the work I do for God, I do in the quest for glory and relief. He will provide that which is in His plan for me. And that goes for others as well. I pray not for others to be worthy, but for them to demonstrate worthiness with the idea that they are seeking glory and relief themselves. And when we seek to glorify God, we will be glorified and as Paul writes, will be granted relief.

What actions are you taking to bring glory to God? Are you seeking your own worthiness or that of others? What if you simply sought to bring glory to God so that He would be glorified in you and may provide relief?

I have to remember that I am here to serve others and to be sure that I am spreading the gospel. I have to not think of myself and spend the bulk of my time thinking of others. In action of thinking of others, I have to remember to pray for them and especially to pray for their worthiness.

“⁹And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” – Colossians 1:9-10 (ESV)

Paul delivered thanksgiving and prayer for the people of Colossae. Here he is addressing their worthiness and as noted in verse 9, was not ceasing to pray for them and that worthiness. He outlines just what his prayers are for and not that he is simply praying for them.

In my work for the Lord and His glory, I must be praying for those around me. And, in my prayer, I have to be very specific in that I am praying for their worthiness in the Lord. I have to advise them of the prayer and exactly what I am praying for to let them know just what the Lord will have in store for them as He answers my prayer. Will His answer be exact, in our sense, no. God does answer prayers and when we are praying fervently for others and not our personal gain, God will indeed answer.

I am concerned for my own worthiness, and I should be. But, I also have to know that I have a life in Christ and when living out my life in Christ, I will be demonstrating the traits of worthiness for all to see. Where I will be doing the most good for God is in working to be sure that all I come in contact with are given the opportunity to know God and work to demonstrate worthiness themselves. I will therefore be praying for the worthiness of those around me and letting them know of my prayers for them.

What are you working for in your life? Are you only thinking of the worthiness of yourself? What if you were to pray for the worthiness of others to be sure they have the same opportunity you have in Christ?