In Spirit and Truth (Zero2Glory-Pt3)
Zero to Glory in 60 Seconds – Part 3
In Spirit and Truth
[toggle text="Want a soundtrack? Look Here. Click to purchase and download." initial="none"]
[ul style="12"]
[li]Light Will Shine by Hillsong United [/li]
[li]God in Heaven by Delirious [/li]
[li]Dress Us Up by John Mark McMillan [/li]
[li]My Soul Longs by Misty Edwards [/li]
[li]Draw Near by Bethel Music & Jeremy Riddle [/li]
[li]Carried to the Table by Leeland [/li]
[/ul][/toggle]
[spacer height="20"]
[paragraph][dropcap8]I[/dropcap8]find it interesting, and perhaps more than coincidental that my Bible plan just happened to land on Chapter 4 of John today, the day I had planned to write this blog. In this particular chapter, John tells us of an encounter Jesus had with a Samaritan woman. As the story goes, Jesus was on his way back to Galilee and stopped in a Samaritan village. While sitting at the well waiting for His disciples to return with food, a Samaritan woman arrived at the well to draw water. Jesus began the conversation asking her for a drink and what happened after was certainly quite an experience for this particular Samaritan woman:[/paragraph]
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me the water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband – for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming – indeed it’s here now – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming – the one who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!” John 4:9-26.
Wasn’t Jesus amazing!? He addressed her very need: not a physical need, but a spiritual need. Jesus opened up so many opportunities for this woman during this one conversation. These same opportunities are available to us, and as you may have guessed we will be looking a bit more into the opportunity to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
[pullQuote position="left"]“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)[/pullQuote]Before revealing to the woman what the Father is looking for, Jesus reminded the woman of her place and the importance of knowing the Father: “You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship…” (verse 22) It’s important that we remember our own place and Who we worship when we enter the throne room. We worship the Father, through the salvation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who has been made known to us by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-18) When we have the revelation of WHO we worship, we realize that we can only worship Him through Christ. Without the blood of Christ, we cannot stand before such a holy and righteous God. I believe that this is worshipping in TRUTH. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
But the Father is not only looking for those who will worship Him in truth, but also for those who will come before Him in spirit. Our spirit man is the part of us that is redeemed. The part of us that is eternal and ALWAYS crying out to worship and praise the Father. Many times, this is the part of us that gets buried beneath our insecurities, faults, and the simple understanding of our minds. Often times we FEEL as though we can’t “enter in” or exuberantly praise until we get “goose-bumps” in the midst of a worship service, or we get pumped up enough by the worship leader cheerleader, or the band FINALLY plays the song we’ve wanted to hear and furthermore is finally playing it the RIGHT way! Worshiping in spirit has NOTHING to do with our feelings. It has nothing to do with where we have been, or where we are going. It has everything to do with willing our flesh to die so that the spirit inside of us can rise up and do what it’s been longing to do all along. Unfortunately, it’s quite an uncomfortable experience most of the time. We have to do things like lift our hands straight up in the air, shout to the top of our lungs, twirl about like a child, or lie with our faces to the ground.
[pullQuote position="right"]“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)[/pullQuote] However, if we are brave enough to face this death of our flesh, a miraculous thing happens! That flesh, which is a veil for the glory that God has so generously placed within us, is removed and a transformation begins within us so that the glory of God may be apparent on our countenance and even more in our everyday lives. This is just what Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18: “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Some interesting tidbits about this passage:
The word “Spirit” here, in Greek pneuma, is the very same word that Jesus used in John 4. And is the Greek word that corresponds to the Hebrew ruach, which is the word used in Zechariah 4:6 “…Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.”
The Greek word used here for “glory”, doxa, also translates as praise or worship.
It is in our praise and worship, completely surrendered to the spirit within us before the Spirit of our God, that we are transformed! There is no other place that offers such an open door for the transformative hand of our Father and Creator than that of praise and worship, where we have lifted up our heart and sacrificed our flesh. This is worshiping in SPIRIT. This is stepping into our eternal destiny around the throne of God singing, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb!” (Revelation 5:8-10 & 15:3-4)
So, let us drench ourselves in the righteous blood of Christ, put to death the distraction of our flesh, ascend to Zion, enter into the glory that is the presence of the Lord, and let God miraculously transform us into all the He has made us to be!