The Diary of an Agonized Lady – ART OF WORSHIP

Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance-CLNT: John 4:20-24; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

John 4:20-24

20 Our fathers worship in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship."
21 Jesus is saying to her, "Believe Me, woman, that, coming is an hour when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you be worshiping the Father.
22 You are worshiping that of which you are not aware; we are worshiping that of which we are aware, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But coming is the hour, and now is, when the true worshipers will be worshiping the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also is seeking such to be worshiping Him.
24 God is spirit, and those who are worshiping Him must be worshiping in spirit and truth."

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

16 Are you not aware that you are a temple of God and the spirit of God is making its home in you?
17 If anyone is corrupting the temple of God, God will be corrupting him, for the temple of God is holy, which you are.

 

Where to worship God

There was a short video sent to me by one of my blog readers. This short video showed a particular place in East Africa where people have to journey through hills and mountains to a place of worship. This place would be difficult to reach if people do not know how to climb mountains and get through hills and crocked paths. The sender of this video implied that some people go extra miles to serve God and it was amazing.

I watched the video a couple of times but what came into my mind was John 4:24. I believe those who go through these ordeals to a place carved inside a mountain to worship God lacks understanding of who they think they are worshipping.

This is the conversation Yeshua had with the agonized lady. Remember that she had perceived that Yeshua was a Prophet as a result of telling her things she never disclosed with him before. This lady put aside her initial mission – to draw water from the well. She was opened to listen to Yeshua with great intent.

“Our fathers worship in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship." This was the lady’s implication about art of worshipping God. Apparently, Yeshua did not mention this in this bible text. The lady must have concluded in her mind that Jerusalem is the only acceptable place to worship God of Abraham.

“Jesus is saying to her, "Believe Me, woman, that, coming is an hour when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you be worshiping the Father.”

Yeshua quickly corrected this lady on this notion. Yahweh does not care about which mountain or any place you worship him. It is true that salvation comes from Jews (which is Yeshua), worshipping Yahweh is not limited to any mountain in Jerusalem, Samaria or any place in Africa.

“You are worshiping that of which you are not aware; we are worshiping that of which we are aware, for salvation is of the Jews.”

Many people like the video sent to me are not aware of what or who they are worshipping. Yeshua mentioned that some are aware of it. You may be wondering what kind of awareness this time? First of all, in this chapter, Yeshua mentioned of the awareness of the gratuity God brought to humanity through the sacrifice he paid for the sins of the world. This time, most people are not aware of art of worshipping God.

For salvation is of the Jews?

Once again, salvation is of Jews because it is the fulfilment of the covenant Yahweh have with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. Through Abraham’s seeds, the world will be blessed. This is the gift of salvation. The awareness of gratuity of God to humanity helps you understand this truth.

What kind of awareness this time?

Yeshua knew that this agonized lady was not aware of the truth that God is not looking for humans to assemble in a particular place before they worship him. People do not have to be many as a criterion to worship him. This lady thought worshipping God in a particular place was only acceptable to God. This is what she perceived just like many of you today. Hebrews 10:25 said people should not forsake the gathering of brethren. This does not imply that you should be in a particular place to worship. The gathering Paul was talking about is when you meet with people to counsel one another, help each other and uphold each other. This is not about worshipping.

What kind of worshipping does Yahweh require?

Yeshua clarified to this lady what Yahweh demands from you and me.

“…the true worshipers will be worshiping the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also is seeking such to be worshiping Him.”

The hour has come. The truth about how to worship God has been revealed. God is a spirit. A spirit does not need a particular house to dwell. Spirit is everywhere. More importantly, the spirit of God dwells in humans. This is why those who are aware of this truth worship Yahweh in spirit (Holy Spirit) and in truth (without doubt and double mind). 

Religions have made many people believe you must be in a particular place to approach God. I termed this, religion matrices and mind control (please, check my previous blog on this issue). If Yeshua really wants a place of worship for his followers, he would have started it. Neither did his disciple build a place of worship or called it a particular name of church. Paul did not build any either. Please, do not argue that it had never come to the mind of people to do so in those days. If it was required or necessary, someone would have started it in the bible. Please, read the books of Acts chapter 2 for details in case you are in doubt. I may discuss on this in the future. 

A particular place of worship was traced to the Old Testament. After the veil of the ark of covenant was rented (Matthew 27:51), it is no longer required to worship God.

Now, you and I can come boldly to God’s throne of grace and mercy to be obtaining grace (Hebrews 4:16). This is not "one" time approach. It is every day approach.

This is the second thing this lady was not aware of. The hour has come and it is already here to worship God in truth and in spirit. You do not need a mountain, hill, or a particular place of worship. You do not need another "father"/any church leader to approach God - your heavenly Father. You do not need a multitude of people to approach your father. He is a spirit. He does not dwell in these physical places but in your heart. This is why Paul reminded people in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that you are the temple of God. God’s spirit dwell in people not in a place of worship.

Lastly, revelation 3:20 implies that the door of your heart is where he is knocking. Not the door of your physical place of worship. I was wondering why Yeshua did not disclose this truth to the Jews. Wow. I have something to say about that in future as well.

I hope you have understood the truth about the art of worship.

More to come next week by the special grace of Yahweh.

 

Grace and Peace!

References:

https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-old-testament-online

https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-new-testament-online

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