Yesterday we defined worship as giving worth to God, or in other words, acknowledging he is at the center of our lives, or we want him there if he isn’t.

Worship is about practicing God’s Presence.  We can forget God is there in our busy lives, and something tangible can help.  A friend of mine mentioned Elf on the Shelf on Facebook.  Elf on the Shelf is a small elf doll that parents are supposed to hide somewhere in the house every night, claiming he is a “scout elf” who reports back to Santa.  The elf becomes a visible symbol for small children who might forget that Santa is watching.

Worship is meant to be a visible symbol for those of us who might forget God is watching.

In the busyness of our everyday lives, we cannot always remember that God is with us.  In spite of our best intentions we may find ourselves living and acting without regard to the fact that God is present in every aspect of our lives.

Sometimes we think something in our lives is coincidence, but God is actually doing something incredible.  Sometimes we will find resources are suddenly supplied that we needed, and will think it was luck or our skills, when it was in fact God’s provision.

We want to develop an increasing sensitivity to God’s presence with us. We know that we develop skills and get better at things by practicing: an old saying reminds us practice makes perfect.  It would be more truthful to say that practice reinforces, but in this case reinforcement is good enough. We need a way to reinforce our awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Question: When have you seen God working in the last week?  What seeming coincidences were there?

Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - June 26, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Influences

Sermon on the Mount

We're looking at identifying good or bad spiritual influences in our lives. We looked at two tests or "fruit" yesterday, today we see two more. They are Short-Lived 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus is saying that false teaching is like a tree with bad fruit…it’s best use is as firewood… It has no lasting value…no help for the future. Just a little warm glow while it lasts, then it’s gone forever. This is why we so often go from false teaching to teaching…so many spiritual books at the bookstore - they never truly satisfy, or last. We are sometimes tempted to say…it’s okay. I know it’s not true, but it’s fun, or it makes me feel good and inspired to read it. But they are not harmless. This is like saying you’ll keep a dead tree standing, just in case you need it for firewood some day. False teachings are dangerous, because they get inside our heads and hearts. They can suck up our time, energy, devotion, everything. They can consume us. Better to cut the tree down and have a big bonfire today. Motives This is the difference between a wolf and a lost sheep who’s wandered away…Jesus points us to the inner motivation, as he did over and over again in the Sermon on the Mount. He says a wolf is ravenous…so hungry, he/she will do anything to get their desire, whether they are hungry for control, power, money, fame, etc. Wolves exist, since the first church was established, there have been those who’ve sought personal gain from Jesus & church, and they still exist today… But if you are truly seeking to follow Jesus, you can probably identify some times you’ve strayed towards a false prophet too. We’ve all been there. I know I’ve read, and really liked, things in the past. But later, as I grew as a follower of Jesus, realized they were not helpful at all. Wish someone had told me: you deserve better….the real thing earlier. It's good to recognize you’re not always right, gone astray, and decided to pursue the truth. You should be much more concerned if you were completely certain of your own righteousness and thought you had nothing to learn. Question: Who has been a negative spiritual influence in your life? Did they seem more like a sinister wolf, or a misguided, lost sheep?

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