John 4:24
"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
This is an often quoted scripture but rarely practiced in today's organized religious services. Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well about what God desires in worshippers, and how we MUST worship Him. The words to pay attention too are 'must', and, AND, because these words are used by Jesus for a reason, He is giving believers instruction on how to worship God and what the Father is seeking.
When Jesus says we MUST worship God in spirit AND truth, is there any other way we can do it? The answer is No! We have to do it God's way, not our way, not your denominations way, or your pastor's way, or your family's way etc.....
Must means: be commanded or requested to, be urged to : ought by all means to, be required by law, custom, or moral conscience, we must obey the rules. (Merriam Webster)
So if you're thinking oh it's ok to do it this way or that way, my father does it like this, my mother does it this way, but Proverbs 16:25 tells us that "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." So we have a choice to make, do we do thing's God's way, which is the right way or do we do thing's man's way? Where our immortal souls spends eternity hangs on our decisions today!
Jesus is also telling us that we can't have the spirit without the truth, we must have both together, can a plane fly with one wing? No! You need both wings to fly an airplane or else the plane will crash! It's the same way with spirit and truth.
We also need the Holy Spirit of God to sanctify our flesh, convict us of sin when we do wrong, show us when we are being unrighteous and also convict us of coming judgement. The Spirit of God also intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be spoken, and bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
The Holy Spirit also manifests with signs and wonders, casting out evil spirit's from our bodies, which is the temple of God. The Holy Spirit gives us gift's like word's of knowledge, workings of miracles, healings, other languages, interpretations of languages, etc... 1st Corinthians 12:4-11 the body of Christ needs all these workings of the Spirit to be able to fight a spiritual battle against the forces of evil in this world. Like the word tells us our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in HIGH places! So we must have the Spirit of God operating in our lives.
Also the Spirit of God quickens our spirit so that we are able to really worship God on a spiritual level and not just an emotional one. Anyone can cry out hallelujah, while raising up their hands or jump up and down while in a service, but that doesn't mean you are worshipping God in spirit! It's much deeper! It's literally going into the throne room of God and experiencing God with your whole being, heart and mind, and becoming one with the Lord in your spirit, far more than mere emotionalism and singing your favorite Christian song.
Likewise you must have truth, otherwise you end up with people who are full of deep emotions for God but are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine! Remember it's the truth that makes you free! Without the truth of God's word you can be bound by false teachings and seducing spirits that oppress your soul and keep you from the freedom that Christ died on the cross to give us!
What is truth? God's word is truth, so if you hear anything being said that is contrary to God's word, you know you are hearing a lie, and if you are taught something that everyone believes but the word of God says something different or you see a text of scripture that contradicts a teaching, study it out for yourself and ask God to reveal His truth to you and He will! Be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true! When we know and walk in truth, we can't be deceived by the devil or false teachers!
So experience God in a new way today by worshipping Him in spirit AND truth!
In The Lord's Army,
Tyrone
