LIVING IN THE VIEW OF GLORY (7)

“And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth” (Revelations 14:2-3 NKJV).

The Christian life is always to be lived in view of God’s glory. Every pursuit in this present life must be with the glory of God in view. Getting one’s eyes off the glory of God heads one towards an avoidable perdition.  If you doubt this, ask Demas who loved the things of this present world more than Christ and thus forfeited the glory (2 Timothy 4:10).  Irrespective of whatever glory one gets out of this life, if the person misses out on actualising the fullness of God’s glory in eternity, the person’s loss is colossal. Central to our quest to experiencing the glory of God is worship.  Worship is an adoring relationship with God in deep appreciation of who He and for what He does. It is setting our attention on God and on heavenly realities more than on earthly ones. In worship, we celebrate and contemplate the excellencies of God. The immediate reward is a download of the peace of God that is beyond human understanding. The Prophet Isaiah said, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT).  Fixing our thoughts on God is the core component of pure worship. Whatever or whoever is primary in your thoughts is the thing or person you worship. You cannot ravish your thoughts on worldly things all week and quickly switch on the worship button on Sunday morning.  To worship God properly, He must be at the centre of our thoughts all the time. We must constantly pull our thoughts back to Him from time to time all through the day. Singing with all your might while your thought is on something else other than God is not worship.

True worship draws us close to the heart of God and positions us to commune with Him. There is hardly any other way to get quickly to the heart of God than to approach Him with pure worship.  The process of true worship would include, reflective bible reading, prayers and singing –either short choruses or hymns. The singing may be in a known language and sometimes in the Holy Spirit inspired supernatural language.  Paul declared, “...I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:14 NKJV). It is beautiful and very spiritually nourishing to sing and worship God in the spirit. Glory descends in a worship session when one receives a new song from the Lord.

A new song is not the latest song you just learnt. It does not originate from the human mind but from the Spirit of God.  Often, it is the song the Angels and heavenly beings are worshipping God with which the Holy Spirit decides to share with the worshipping believer or congregation. When you receive a new song, stay on it as long as the Holy Spirit stays on it.  The hundred and forty-four thousand saints redeemed from the twelve tribes of Israel sang such a new song to the Lord to celebrate their redemption.  “They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.”   This is a special song, which nobody else could learn except the one hundred and forty-four thousand.  Glory always comes with a coming of a new song from God. We must learn to stay long enough in worship until the glory comes. When we sense the glory has come, we must keep singing the new song until the Holy Spirit signals the satisfaction of our Father.

This quality of worship calls for creating special time for God inspite of our crowded program. God desires to bring us into special experience with His glory. Our Lord declared, “The same glory you gave me, I gave them...” (John 17:22 The Message). Worship is indispensable in every human attempt to cultivate and enjoy the glory of God –His weighty Presence in and around His Children.  May the Lord help you to press into this life-changing encounter in Jesus name.