WEBVTT 00:04.340 --> 00:09.523 [SPEAKER_00]: This week in 1st 15, we're going to look at what it means to seek God. 00:10.423 --> 00:16.927 [SPEAKER_00]: Relationships are always a two-way street, and this is just as true in our relationship with God. 00:17.828 --> 00:22.590 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're looking for a closer relationship with God, then this week is for you. 00:23.311 --> 00:29.714 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's learn to seek God together as we start our first day exploring what it means to worship. 00:30.535 --> 00:32.596 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the 1st 15 podcast. 01:02.329 --> 01:11.911 [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from Psalm 132 verse 7, Scripture says, Let us go to His dwelling place. 01:12.751 --> 01:15.032 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us worship at His footstool. 01:17.780 --> 01:27.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Worship through song is one of the most powerful ways to connect directly to the love, compassion, power and grace of God. 01:29.096 --> 01:37.759 [SPEAKER_00]: In worship, walls we've placed between God and us get torn down, just as God tore the veil at the death of Christ. 01:38.920 --> 01:47.043 [SPEAKER_00]: In worship, our hearts become soft, aware, and open to the glorious majesties of God's nearness. 01:48.204 --> 01:56.187 [SPEAKER_00]: In worship, God makes His nearness known to us and fills us a new with the power of His manifest 01:58.647 --> 02:02.073 [SPEAKER_00]: The Psalms are filled with exhortations to worship. 02:03.227 --> 02:09.353 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 95 versus one through three says, O come, let us sing to the Lord. 02:10.173 --> 02:14.337 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 02:15.358 --> 02:18.601 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving. 02:19.782 --> 02:24.146 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise. 02:24.726 --> 02:29.891 [SPEAKER_00]: For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. 02:31.977 --> 02:35.439 [SPEAKER_00]: We are created to worship our Creator. 02:36.760 --> 02:50.087 [SPEAKER_00]: When we give glory to God, we place Him on the throne of our hearts and posture ourselves in the only position in which we will find peace, one of submission and humility. 02:51.665 --> 03:03.472 [SPEAKER_00]: In the acts of worship, we lay down everything we've allowed to matter more than God's perfect will for us, and receive the grace to love Him above all else. 03:03.492 --> 03:11.016 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 132-7 says, Let us go to His dwelling place. 03:11.777 --> 03:14.038 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us worship at His footstool. 03:15.760 --> 03:25.769 [SPEAKER_00]: When we worship, we enter into direct contact with our all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing, Heavenly Father. 03:27.551 --> 03:39.642 [SPEAKER_00]: God's desire in worship is to draw us near to Himself, fill us to overflow with His love, and wait patiently for us to love Him in return. 03:41.508 --> 03:49.214 [SPEAKER_00]: The more often we receive His love through worship, the more consistently we will love and honor Him in all we do. 03:50.995 --> 03:58.720 [SPEAKER_00]: I fear that many Christians engage in worship because they feel they should, or are a lot of a time and church to do so. 03:59.601 --> 04:03.564 [SPEAKER_00]: But all the while never really desire to worship God. 04:05.211 --> 04:10.100 [SPEAKER_00]: God is not a prideful king who demands inauthentic praise from His people. 04:10.962 --> 04:13.447 [SPEAKER_00]: He is in no way insecure or needy. 04:14.414 --> 04:20.837 [SPEAKER_00]: He is simply after true communion with you, where he loves you and you love him in return. 04:21.878 --> 04:37.685 [SPEAKER_00]: And he will keep loving you, speaking to you, and reminding you of his desire for you, until you open your heart, and realize that loving him is the most satisfying, fulfilling, and purposeful way to live. 04:39.723 --> 04:53.030 [SPEAKER_00]: my favorite way to engage in worship, either in my personal devotional time or in a corporate gathering, is to begin by opening my heart and asking the Holy Spirit to help me receive God's affection for me. 04:53.050 --> 05:01.075 [SPEAKER_00]: 1 John 4 verse 19 says, We love because He first loved us. 05:02.596 --> 05:06.078 [SPEAKER_00]: I forget too easily how deeply God loves me. 05:07.354 --> 05:16.503 [SPEAKER_00]: As I go throughout my week, the cares of the world seem to creep in and rob me of a full understanding of the depths of God's love. 05:17.964 --> 05:28.054 [SPEAKER_00]: So I continually need reminders of his love that I may live my life in response to him rather than singing just because I should. 05:29.805 --> 05:35.369 [SPEAKER_00]: Before you engage in worship, take a minute or two to reflect on God's love. 05:36.630 --> 05:42.033 [SPEAKER_00]: Read a song or a part of the gospel that will remind you of how much God loves you. 05:43.114 --> 05:46.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Ask God to speak to you and pour his love out on you. 05:48.298 --> 05:50.979 [SPEAKER_00]: It isn't selfish to ask God to love you. 05:52.056 --> 06:01.841 [SPEAKER_00]: He knows that we are in desperate need of his love, and he fully understands that we cannot love him without receiving his love first. 06:03.422 --> 06:07.584 [SPEAKER_00]: Richard J. Foster says it this way in his book's celebration of discipline. 06:08.665 --> 06:13.828 [SPEAKER_00]: Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. 06:15.029 --> 06:19.472 [SPEAKER_00]: Its central reality is found in spirit and in truth. 06:20.593 --> 06:26.518 [SPEAKER_00]: It is kindled within us only when the spirit of God touches our human spirit. 06:27.872 --> 06:35.056 [SPEAKER_00]: forms and rituals do not produce worship nor does the formal disuse of forms and rituals. 06:35.836 --> 06:39.098 [SPEAKER_00]: We can use all the right techniques and methods. 06:39.838 --> 06:48.183 [SPEAKER_00]: We can have the best possible liturgy, but we have not worshiped the Lord until Spirit touches Spirit. 06:49.523 --> 06:57.566 [SPEAKER_00]: singing, praying, praising, all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them. 06:58.327 --> 07:02.649 [SPEAKER_00]: Our spirit must be ignited by divine fire. 07:06.390 --> 07:18.555 [SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not you have encountered the miracle of God's presence in worship up to this day, God wants to draw you into a fresh and needed experience of His nearness right now. 07:20.053 --> 07:24.995 [SPEAKER_00]: He wants to pour out his love on every dry and weary place of your heart. 07:26.856 --> 07:37.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Take time and prayer to receive his love, allow his spirit to touch your spirit and respond to him with the adoration. 08:03.218 --> 08:08.302 [SPEAKER_00]: as we begin meditate on the depth of God's love for you. 08:10.144 --> 08:20.833 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 36 verse 5 says, your steadfast love allure extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 09:01.967 --> 09:02.447 [SPEAKER_00]: and next. 09:03.788 --> 09:08.671 [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into a direct encounter with God. 09:10.092 --> 09:17.095 [SPEAKER_00]: Open your heart to the Holy Spirit, and allow him to fill you with the knowledge of God's love and nearness. 09:18.656 --> 09:21.698 [SPEAKER_00]: Wait on him, and allow him to touch your heart. 10:05.645 --> 10:09.947 [SPEAKER_00]: And last, respond to God's love with your own. 10:11.468 --> 10:13.269 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank Him for what He's done for you. 10:14.690 --> 10:18.892 [SPEAKER_00]: Go through all the good things in your life and give Him adoration for them. 10:20.553 --> 10:22.354 [SPEAKER_00]: Love Him in whatever way you desire. 10:23.375 --> 10:29.638 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're unsure of what to do, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with a specific way to love God. 11:12.708 --> 11:16.710 [SPEAKER_00]: Before we go, I want to share another quote from Richard Foster. 11:17.431 --> 11:25.155 [SPEAKER_00]: He writes, as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience. 11:26.536 --> 11:34.180 [SPEAKER_00]: Holy obedience saves worship from being an opiate and escape from the pressing needs of modern life. 11:36.921 --> 11:41.364 [SPEAKER_00]: Live today, following the guidance of God's spirit and his word. 11:42.617 --> 11:46.082 [SPEAKER_00]: respond to his love with your own loving obedience. 11:47.264 --> 11:57.698 [SPEAKER_00]: May you discover the wealth of abundant life available to you through receiving God's love and loving Him in return to the gift of worship. 12:16.412 --> 12:19.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. 12:19.673 --> 12:21.053 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh with First15. 12:21.894 --> 12:32.637 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're looking to engage in worship in a deeper way today, you can find some original worship from First15 by searching for First15 worship wherever you listen to music. 12:33.417 --> 12:42.460 [SPEAKER_00]: Not only do we have full worship songs specifically written for your devotional time, but you can also find the instrumental music included in this podcast. 12:43.547 --> 12:47.960 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks so much for being here today, and may God bless you as you see Kim.