True Woman Worship

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True Woman Worship
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I was having a discussion with someone the other day and we were talking about having intimacy with Christ. My class mate commented that I seem to have a deeper level of intimacy with God than he did and that got me to thinking…. What does it mean to “know Christ” in this intimate way, and is that something we really can possess? I believe Paul knew Christ; he just was not satisfied with the depth of his knowledge! I don’t think he was asking for special signs and wonders or for God to whisper in his ear, what he wanted to know was the power of Christ’s resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to His life before identifying with Him in His death. Too often I am presented with folks who are waiting for “THE EXPERIENCE” to overtake them, throw them to the floor in a holy fit of some kind, or to receive a special warm and fuzzy feeling from the Almighty. Ladies, none of this is emotional, it is all theological. There are no mysterious communications or secret signals that God sends to some of us. God has chosen for this period of time to communicate who He is and what He is about through His Word.
Many don’t realize that the Gnostics were waiting for these kinds of experiential things, some secret wisdom beyond Scripture, and that is heresy!
When I speak of having intimacy with Christ, there are a few things that come to mind. One is the matter of how we worship Him. Our idea of worship is rather narrow and we tend to look at it as the songs we sing on Sunday mornings. Others think of worship as burnt offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonial rituals. However, one look around the congregation while “worship” is taking place often reveals the attitude of the worshippers. Many stare off into space, or absently mouth the words while thinking of anything but worshipping the Living God. We also think of “doing my devotions” as worship. Sadly, “my devotions” have been reduced to a small book with one verse taken out of context and made to be all about me and how God can make me feel better. Or they are hurried times of speed reading that chapter in the Bible – doing my duty so I can check it off the list for the day. This is not true worship. Real worship does not consist of rote recitation of prayers, songs, or Bible verses. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
Real worship is grounded in the right knowledge about God. You must think rightly about him and the only way to do that is to know Him as He is revealed through Scripture. If you want to know God, truly know Him, you must become familiar with His Word. It is essential to having true intimacy with Him.
Julie Ganschow has been involved in biblical counseling and discipleship for more than 25 years. She is passionate about heart change for life change. Julie is a gifted counselor and teacher, has authored numerous books and materials for biblical counseling, and co-authored a biblical counseling training course. She is a featured contributor in GriefShare and a frequent retreat and conference speaker. Julie is the founder and director of Reigning Grace Counseling Center and Biblical Counseling for Women. She has been writing a daily blog about women’s counseling issues since 2008. Julie holds a doctorate in biblical counseling, in addition to an M.A. in biblical counseling and certification with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). She also serves on the Council Board for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. She makes her home in Kansas City, Missouri with her wonderful husband Larry. You can find her blog at bc4women.org and information about her ministries at rgcconline.org.
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We are not a licensed counseling agency, nor are we psychologically or medically trained therapists. We offer ‘pastoral’ counseling intended to bring life change through heart change.
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“And He must needs go through Samaria.” Most Jews would have gone out of their way to avoid Samaria, but Jesus felt compelled to go straight through the region. Why? He had an appointment to keep. Granted, no one else knew about this appointment as yet, but He knew, and that’s all that mattered.
Jesus got tired and thirsty. Can you comprehend that? He is God. He created heaven and earth. He created water. But He made Himself vulnerable and needy so that He could touch our lives, and ultimately purchase our eternal redemption.
Jesus and His entourage of disciples entered the city of Sychar in Samaria, at the place of Jacob’s Well. Being tired, Jesus sat down on the well and told the disciples to go on ahead of Him into the city to buy some food. While they were gone, a woman came to the well to draw water. It was high noon. What was she doing at the well at this hour? Why hadn’t she come that morning, when all the other women came? Had she overslept? Had she been busy with other things? Or was she avoiding something or someone?
Jesus asked her for a drink of water. The woman, surprised that He would even speak to her, replied, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask drink of me, a Samaritan—and a woman?”
The Lord was unperturbed by her response. Instead, He steered the conversation right where He wanted it to go by saying, “If you knew who was asking you for water, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water.”
It took a while for the woman to realize that Jesus was not talking about the water that was in the well, but about satisfying the spiritual thirst inside her soul.
“Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” —John 4:13-14
She was interested in what Jesus had to offer. The woman asked Jesus to give her the water of which He spoke, to which He replied, “Go get your husband.”
“You have well said, for you have had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now is not your husband.”
Wow! This man seemed to know all about her, and she had never met Him before. In fact, He had only recently arrived, and had stopped short of going into the city. How could He know about her love life?—if you could call it that.
“Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”
The Samaritans were half-breed Jews and despised by the general Jewish population, but there is more to it than their heritage. Other Gentiles had been accepted into the tribe, and their children were not despised as half-breeds. Most notably I recall Rahab from Jericho, Ruth from Moab, and Tamar from Canaan. Not only were these women accepted into Jewish society, but their children are in the line of Christ. So what’s the difference? The difference is that these women accepted Jehovah as their God. When these other Jews intermarried with Gentiles later on, their wives did not forsake their idols to serve the true and living God, but instead brought their idol worship with them and mixed it with worship of the true God. That is exactly what God had warned would happen if they married the women of the land.
The woman at the well addressed this issue by saying, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; [Gerizim] and You Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Her implied question was, “Who’s right?” As they continued to talk, Jesus explained four important truths to this woman.
There are many different religions in the world. Some people say, “We all serve the same God, just in different ways, and under different names.” But what about the people who serve multiple gods? How can they all be right?
Even among evangelicals there is wide array of forms of religion. Why else do you think there are so many churches? If they are different—and they are—which one is right?
Jesus told this woman that her religion was wrong, but pretty soon even that of the Jews would come to an end, for it was about to be fulfilled in the very Man who was speaking to her.
Do not base your religion on tradition alone. It’s not about what pleases you, but about what pleases God.
In the Old Testament economy, only one place was acceptable for worship—the temple in Jerusalem. The people journeyed there to present their sacrifice to the priest to seek pardon for their sins. Old Testament worship worked from the outside in. Jesus introduced a new form of worship, one that works from the inside out. He said,
“The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” —John 4:23-24
Consider the difference (or should I say comparison) between Old Testament worship and New Testament worship, as taught by the apostle Peter:
1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
We don’t go to the temple anymore—we are the temple.
We don’t answer to the priest anymore—we are priests.
We don’t bring sacrifices anymore—we are the sacrifice.
Worship is not something you do; worship is an attitude of the heart. Do we still meet with the assembly of believers for edification and fellowship? Absolutely! But true worship does not take place in the building, it takes place in the heart.
I love my husband, and I sometimes give him gifts. But the gift is not my love, it is merely a token of my love. I also give him hugs and kisses, but the hugs and kisses are not my love. They are merely outward expressions of my love. I use the hugs, kisses, and gifts (among other things) as tools to show my husband that I love him. Conversely, although unlikely, I can also give a gift, or even a hug or kiss, to someone I hate. How? Because these things are only tools, not love.
It is possible to go to church, sing, put some money in the offering plate, and listen to a sermon without worshiping God. These outward things that we do are not worship, they are merely expressions of our worship, or tools that we use in our worship. Without worship, your service in and for the church is nothing more than a vain performance.
Worship is “worth”-ship. It is giving praise to God because He is worthy.
I call your attention once again to John 4:23-24, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The word seek in this passage can mean “to inquire after” or “to require.” According to men who know a lot more Greek than I do, here it means both. The Father requires true worship, and He is looking for those who will worship Him in that way. This implies that true worshipers are in the minority. Just look at what Jesus said as recorded in Matthew’s gospel:
Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says unto Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in Your name have cast out demons? and in Your name done many wonderful works?” And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity.”
Folks, these are not the ungodly, the heathen, the down-and-outers. These are the religious people. These are the ones who are the most active, the most fervent in the church. They have probably grown up in church. They have certainly done a lot of good works in the name of Christ. But if they did not worship God in spirit and in truth, then their good works serve only to pave their way to hell. I don’t say that. God says that. There is only one way to heaven, and that is through repentance by faith in the shed blood of Christ. No amount of good works will make up for an unrepentant heart. You cannot come to God on your own terms; you have to come His way, or not at all.
Many in today’s society have come to believe that religion must be marketed in order to reach the masses. They will even go out into the communities with surveys, asking folks, “What do you want in a church?” They think that if they give the world the kind of music they want, and the kind of worship they want, then they will come. And when they come, then they can be reached with the gospel. The trouble is, if we use their own devices to attract them, then how can we convince them that we have something different, something better? Yes, you can draw a crowd this way, but you cannot change lives. There is something to be said for balance. Keep current with the times without blurring the line between sacred and secular. Be different. Be distinct.
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
This method will not draw a crowd, but it will attract the true seekers. In fact, you won’t be able to keep them away.
Psalm 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
What does it mean to worship God in spirit? Are we talking about the kind of spirit the cheerleaders help to incite at a school pep rally? Not exactly. While it is true that dead churches do not glorify God, we are not talking about an emotional frenzy. Rather, we are talking about being led by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. Worship is not about you, and it’s not about me; it’s about God. And who better knows what pleases God than the Spirit of God?
What about truth? Can we pick and choose the truths to which we hold? Again, no. There are churches that are right about a good many things, but they have a few serious hangups with certain doctrines in the Bible. Rather than correct their stand on those doctrines, they choose to ignore them. This is wrong.
You need both spirit and truth to please God in your worship.
Paul expressed concern for his fellow Jews because they had spirit without truth.
Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
The Lord Jesus, through a vision given to John, rebuked the church in Laodicea for their lack of fervency.
Revelation 3:15-16 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would that you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.
Cold water is refreshing, especially to someone who is thirsty. Hot water is great for a cup of tea or coffee. But no one wants to drink lukewarm water. I’ve heard that historically there was more significance still, but I don’t remember the particulars.
—————————————-
This article has been a bit longer than usual, and also I know that it may be deemed a bit controversial. It is not my intention to start an argument or throw stones at anyone. This is why I spoke in general terms throughout. I had already planned to write about the woman at the well, and for the past two weeks the assistant pastor of my church preached on this very passage. So I delayed posting this article for one week until I could hear both of his messages. The main points in my outline above are from his messages. I asked the Holy Spirit if He wanted me to share them, and I am convinced the answer is yes. Perhaps someone in my audience is having doubts about the church you are attending. Perhaps you are seeking the truth and in need of answers. Perhaps this is for you, to nudge you to look further, to not settle for mediocrity, to not settle for a church that is lacking in the truth, the Spirit, or both. There is no one church that is right to the exclusion of all others. There is no one denomination that is right to the exclusion of all others. If you know the Lord as your Savior, then you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. He will guide you into all truth. He will show you where you ought to be and what it looks like to worship God in spirit and in truth. May God bless you.
To read the entire account of Jesus’ interview with the woman at the well, I invite you to read John 4:4-42 . Did Jesus ever get that drink of water? I don’t know. But the woman went home forever changed by the living water. It flowed out of her, and she brought others to Jesus so that they too could be changed. Religion can’t do that for you, but Jesus can.
Save There are so many different forms of worship. Which one is right? Jesus gave us the answer when He spoke to the woman at the well. Published by Encore Enterprises
Photo courtesy of estall of Pixabay
Diana ~ A Dry Fountain April 24, 2018 In "Bible Study"
Well, controversial or not… I loved it, Angela! So much wisdom in your post and I had not seen a lot of this in this beautiful account of Jesus’ meeting of the woman at the well. Thank you! I so appreciate your insight and wisdom!
You are such a great encouragement to me, Lynn! God bless you!
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Hello. I am a joyful wife and mother of three, just turned loose the last of my little chicks, and getting ready to spread my own writing wings. Twenty-six years ago I earned a B.A. in English bec
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