Have you ever worshipped a person? I have. Was it your favorite movie star, athlete, politician, your boss, or a person you were romantically involved with? How did worshipping a person work out for you? Did they bring you hope? If so, how, and if not why? Have you ever worshipped someone who truly gave you hope? I have, and I do. Let me share with you what I learned about how worship brings hope.
When I was younger, I used to worship athletes like Tony Oliva and Rod Carew of Allen Page and Jim Marshall. Guess what, none of them gave me what I had hoped for. Oliva and Carew never gave me a World Series win and Page and Marshall never gave me a Super Bowl victory. I guess I learned how men could not bring me true hope.
Then there was a man named Mister Larson who showed me where I could find hope. He showed me that there was someone who was not only worthy of my worship, but He was the source of true hope. The Bible talks about the worthiness of the Lamb. “‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” Revelation 5:9-10, and 12 (ESV) Yes, it is Jesus who is the Lamb who was worthy to be praised. It is Jesus who gives me hope. Revelation 5 talks about the search for someone who was worthy and there was no one found except for Jesus. Pastor Troy Dobbs gave an uplifting message on this chapter which is worth a listen.
I have found many passages in Scripture that are pure worship of God and others that point me to my need to worship God. Psalms 29:2, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array.” Psalms 99:5. “Exalt the Lord our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.” Psalms 86:9, “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name.”Luke 4:8, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” (ESV) I could go on and on but I think my point is clear, I am to worship God and so is all the earth. I am to do this because He is the only one who is worthy.
I pray you that you will join me in worshipping the only one who is worthy. When we do worship Him, His forgiveness solves our sinful problem and brings us hope in the present and the future. I would also encourage you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy in our everyday lives. Understanding how Jesus Christ grants us access to eternal life, allows us to live in hope. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ will also bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, all of our sins were satisfied and the penalty for them was paid. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can watch a book trailer about my book. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
I mentioned that I was going through a difficult time right now. If you are interested in what I am going through, you can read about it here.
