Sunday, November 27, 2016

Location location location, or not

So for several nights I have woken up with John 4:20 in my head. I finally remembered to look it up while I was awake enough to actually read it.  As I read it and the following couple of verses it was very apparent that Jesus was making a point about worship. With Him the system of worship was about to change and change drastically. He was making a statement about worship being more about how than where. The established system of going to the temple to have a priest intervene on your behalfwas coming to an end.  The curtain that only the priests could go behind was going to get ripped open, in fact later in the new testament we are given a new position we are called "A Royal Priesthood ". Our system of church in some instances has reverted back to reliance on our relationship with God to have to go through a priest or a pastor, that was not God’s intent, never was was. He wants us to be able to come to Him directly our only Mediator being Jesus. He wants us to worship in spirit and in truth, and the location doesn't matter, your denomination doesn't matter. What matters is your passion and pursuit of a relationship with Abba, through Jesus and guided by Holy Spirit. It should become such a part of our identity that we can have open dialogue with Him no matter where we are or what we are doing.

John 4:20‭-‬24 NLT
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 in 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.”