Love
and Worship
One cannot really start this discussion without
defining terms. Both true love and true worship require sacrifice. The
following are working definitions. Love is sacrificing your time, resources or
efforts for someone else’s benefit. Worship is sacrificing your time,
resources or efforts to someone (or something) who has benefited you. Sacrifice
means giving up something of value to you without ever getting it back.
It’s not truly a sacrifice if you can get it back.
The word love in our society has a variety of
meanings. In the Greek there are three different words that are translated love
into English in the Scriptures. This makes for some confusion. Agape, phileo and eros are the Greek
words. Agape is Love that is self-sacrificial in nature, wanting the best for
the beloved at the expense of the lover. Phileo is
brotherly love. That is, I will love you if you love me. It is an equation. If
one side of the equations fails then the other side will also. Of course eros is sexual in nature, as in a husband – wife
relationship, primarily for reproduction. The word love will be capitalized to
indicate agape and lower case for phileo and eros.
The word love in our society is used to describe
various male and female relationships. Often when a young boy or girl say that they love the little girl or boy down the
street they are actually attracted to the little one. There is something about
them that they like; the way they look, the way they act, or the way they walk.
It could be something that they have instead; like their bicycle, or their
clothes or their money. Something has attracted them to the little boy or girl.
This is usually lust based. The working definition of lust is useful here. Lust
is the strong desire for something or someone to satisfy one of our appetites.
It comes from the appetites controlled by the fleshly fallen nature. Our
appetites are to be fulfilled by Yeshua. He will often use people, but we do
not have to Lust for them to be fulfilled, just ask and believe. Our basic
appetites are; survival, food and drink, reproduction, sleep, and to be loved.
If the little girl or boy returns the attention then
the relationship becomes one of phileo where there is
a mutual attraction. This kind of love is brotherly in nature, the equation.
These relationships, as are most, are not balanced, one is usually more
interested than the other. Eventually one or the other will lose interest and
they will no longer love one another. If the philio
is strong enough a friendship will last.
Once the boys and girls come to adolescence the eros factor starts to dominate, that is sexual lust begins
to play the dominate role, certainly for the boys. The interest is driven by
what the object of the affection has to give, not so much what the loving
individual has to offer, although the individual will offer something to get
what the other has to give. The line is drawn by the morality of the two
individuals which primarily comes from the behavior of their parents. The
parents may say one thing but it is what they do that they actually teach. The
saying comes into play here; boys will give love to get sex and girls will give
sex to get love. Typically the boys are operating out of eros
while the girls are operating out of phileo. If a
father has not Loved (agape) his daughter then she
will be looking for love (phileo) elsewhere. If a
mother has not nurtured (agape) her son he will be looking for love (eros) elsewhere as well.
The values of the individual determine who becomes the object of affection. Often fantasy plays a major
role. Fantasy is simply extrapolating from what is seen to what is imagined,
that could be. The problem here is that what is seen is often not real either.
Everyone knows that people put their best foot forward when they are looking
for a date. They are on their best behavior. However, most live behind a facade,
because they are afraid that if they let it all hang out no one would accept
them. This fantasy/ facade love is really puppy love or infatuation. Philio is a mutual affection based on reality,
you really do like each other, because of common interests, experiences,
compatible personalities, etc.
Most everyone also has an idea of what their ideal
boy or girl friend should look and act like. Often it has very little to do
with what Yeshua values in a person, but is instead based on the persons needs
that have not been met by their parents. So the dating process is comparing
their ideal boy or girl friend based on their own needs to what is perceived
that the other person in the relationship can give to meet those needs. This is
of course not Love (agape) but a self centered phileo
or eros depending on what the needs are determined to
be.
As the relationship developments the perceptions
change, hopefully toward the truth. One cannot live a lie indefinitely.
Different circumstances bring about different responses for the two that are
dating. If either of the two deviate very far from their
ideal then the relationship ends, usually not amiably. The ideal is
seldom met especially if there is enough time spent to find out what is behind
each others facade. Someone has to compromise their ideal for the relationship
to continue. Usually what happens is the one with the unrealized ideal will
begin a campaign to change the other one. This can come in the form of demands
with rewards withheld or given, or more subtly by giving rewards for the
desired behavior when it occurs. Often, however, the desired behavior is not
met and arguments arise. Occasionally punishments will also be used. All the
while behind the facade the individuals want to be loved and accepted and are
afraid that they will lose their boy of girl friend if they do not conform to
their wishes. So the relationship is fear based.
So what we have here is a form of behavior
modification. This is doomed to failure at some point in time, often some years
after marriage. You see people behave according to what is in their heart, not
what is in their head. They can change their mind on what is acceptable
behavior but unless there is a change of heart the old behavior is always
lurking nearby. Only Yeshua can change a man’s heart, and only by
repentance, forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit. Self cannot improve
self. Self must surrender.
The Law of Moses, at the surface, was based on what a
man DOES not what he is. This is what got the Pharisees in trouble with Yeshua.
They were experts at behavior modification. They went to great lengths to DO
the right thing but for all of the wrong reasons. Righteousness was not in
their hearts, only in their heads. They did not have a relationship with
Yahweh, just with the Scriptures, which they studied diligently thinking that
in them was salvation (John
Yahweh judges man’s hearts not just his deeds.
This is how Yeshua fulfilled the Law by demonstrating, from the heart, true
Righteousness. What was missing in the Law of Moses is that the heart has to be
right as well as the deeds. THIS IS HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE. Thus no man can fulfill
the LAW on his own because of his hearts condition, since the heart of man is sinful,
and thus evil. If a man believes that he has fulfilled the Law, he becomes
self-righteous and judgmental, a god unto himself. He is prideful of heart
(sinful) and judges and belittles others to make himself
appear more righteous. This is why we are not to judge. One, because we are
unable to righteously judge anyone including ourselves and secondly because it
is the Law in us that demands judgment. We are commanded not to live by the Law
but by the Spirit. Those who have received the Grace of God but go back to the
Law of Moses to attempt to please Yahweh have fallen captive to witchcraft (Gal
3:1). It is a religious spirit that leads a believer to operate under the Law
instead of IN HIS LOVE. If we are IN HIS LOVE we are dead to the Law (Rom 7:4, Gal
The Love of God does not judge but covers a multitude
of sin. If our relationship with Father is right then underneath it all is
Love. It is the Love of God in us that results in our desire to be righteous
and causes us to not just DO righteous deeds but in fact to BE righteousness;
we are the righteousness of God in Yeshua the Messiah (II Cor.
5:21). The Pharisees did not KNOW Yahweh, that is why
they did not recognize Yeshua, His Son. KNOWLEDGE only comes from relationship.
This word Knowledge as written about in the Scriptures is the same word that
was used to describe Adam Knowing Eve and baring Able. It is not intellectual
in nature based in Fear but intimate based in Love.
We, as humans, were born to be Loved.
Every human child is born with a question in it’s
heart. Christians call the question the God question. Yahweh is the answer to
the question but the question actually is: do you Love me more than yourself?
The answer to this question will lead us to Yahweh, because Yahweh IS Love.
This question is the compass that leads every human all through their life on
earth. We are all on a search to be Loved and to Love.
Human children are born without the ability to
survive without at least one parent. Two parents are required to give the child
everything that Yahweh intended. A child’s first opportunity to answer
the question is with their mother. The answer is ultimately no. Most humans
will fail to answer the question correctly, since we have ALL sinned and come
short of the Glory of God. Of course there are those who will Love their child
more than others, but at some point, for some reason every parent will chose to
love themselves before their child. It could be that 3:00 am cry when
we’ve had a long day or that I’ve got to have some alone time, that
tips the balance and lets the child know that we still have some self left. The
degree that self has been crucified in us is the degree that His Love can flow
through us. Love and Self are in opposition, in fact they are at war.
Father has created parents to demonstrate His Love to
their children in preparation for the children receiving Father’s Love
directly from Him. Father has an appointed time period for each child to grow
through (be Loved) the various stages to maturity. One child will need to
breast feed longer than another. If mom decides not to breast feed her child
because of inconvenience, then the child does receive the Love that Father
intended for to child to receive. The child knows in its heart the answer to
the question and will look elsewhere for the answer. This may not happen until
later in life but it will happen. If the child is a boy I believe the lack of
adequate nurturing through breast feeding opens the door for lust for breasts
at the heart level. There is an attraction that goes beyond reproduction. It
goes back to the wrong answer to the question. This can lead the boy to the
pornography industry. If the child is a girl, it can lead her to feminism and
lesbianism. Both boys and girls are looking for the completion of
mother’s Love. The same applies to fathers. The child approaches their
father with the same question at heart. The father Loves
his children by primary being their provider and protector. If the father does
not selflessly provide and protect the child then the answer to the question is
no. The child will look for a surrogate father if the selfishness level was
high enough. If the child is a boy then he will look to another man, perhaps a
grandfather or uncle. If no adult males are available then he will look to
older male siblings or boys. All of them will at some point
will disappoint him and the search continues. This opens the door for
pedophilia, homosexuality, gangs, etc. If the child is a girl then she will
look to older brothers, uncles or older boys. This opens the door for statutory
rape, stalking, exhibitionism, immorality, etc. It is this unfulfilled need
that result in the saying that boys will give love to get sex and girls will
give sex to get love.
The only source of Love (agape) on this earth is
Yeshua. Until we have experienced His Love for us we have no concept of real
Love, just the lets make a deal, self centered, love (philio,
or eros). Once we have come into relationship with
Yeshua through the born again experience we begin to experience His Love. This
Love will lead us to sacrifice our self centeredness to benefit others (Love)
and to sacrifice our self to benefit Yeshua (Worship). Perfect Love casts out
all fear. Experiencing Yeshua’s Love for us will break the fear in our
hearts and free us so that we can sacrifice our self centeredness for the sake
of others. Our relationships move from fear based to Love based. That is we
believe that Yeshua Loves us and that we can then Love
others in the same fashion (we Love because He first Loved us). We have
experienced Yeshua’s forgiveness and we in turn can forgive others
(forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us).
Relationships built on forgiveness and Love (agape) are not dependent upon what
the other partner does, but upon our relationship with our Creator. If we are
staying in His Love then we are Loving our partner. If
we are separated from His Love for us then we are unable to Love our partner.
Our relationship with our spouse is only as strong as our relationship with our
Creator, since the Love we have for our spouse can only come from our Creator.
The same applies to our children. Love (agape) flows from Father to Son, from
Son to father, from father to wife (and mother), and from mother to child. Love
and worship is meant to flow back up the line to Father. Experiencing
Father’s Love (agape) results in Worship of the Father.
We also use the term love to describe our feelings
toward things or activities, such as food, cars, houses, gardens, flowers,
racing, sports, work, preaching, singing, attending church, fishing, hunting,
shopping or various events. This kind of love is obviously not eros, or philio since another person is not directly involved. This
love looks like agape in that it is giving up of ones time, efforts and
resources for the object loved, but the object being loved is not benefiting
since it is inanimate, it is either a thing or an activity. So it is not agape
since self is not being sacrificed but is being satisfied. There is no
relationship, or at best a one sided relationship. This is really self
indulgence. We are spending our time, efforts and resources upon something that
makes us feel good, or strokes our ego. Yahweh defines an idol in the
Scriptures as something made by men, a graven image. Since the object of this
kind of love cannot benefit from our sacrifice, the word worship would apply
better than love. We are actually engaging in a form of worship, the worship of
an idol, an activity or a person. The worship if an activity is the origin of
the rat race. We must keep busy with activities.
If there is a living creature involved then we risk
making that creature a god, other that the Lord God, Yahweh. This applies if
there is only a one sided relationship, such as a tele-evangelist,
a rock star, a president, or an actor. Thus we are worshiping and/or serving
other gods. We are commanded to Love the Lord our God with all of our heart
(spirit), all of our soul (will, mind and feelings) and all of our strength (body)
and our neighbor as our self. Thou shalt not have another gods before Yahweh. (Ex 34:14) We shall not worship
any other gods except Yahweh.
Worship was often done with the bowing down of the
head or bowing down to the ground. Worship did not mean sacrifice but often
sacrifice accompanied worship as did service. There are only three times
singing or music are mentioned along with worship,
even though worship is mentioned 194 times. In each case they were to worship
when they heard the music and singing. Bowing down and worshipping was
mentioned 17 times.
The scriptures say that true worshipers must worship
in spirit and truth. Obviously singing songs is not worship. However, bowing
down or falling face down can be a part of worship, an indication of humility.
So how does one worship in spirit and in truth? At the
surface Truth would pertain to the one true God, Yeshua. Worshipping in spirit
implies that the Spirit leads us in worship, and empowers us to worship, and
dare I say the Holy Spirit opens the door to worship. So true
worship involves humbling ourselves, being lead and empowered to pour our Love
out unto Yeshua, the Truth. It is not the offering of sacrifices that
are worship but the sacrificing of our self in humility to express our Love to
Him that is. I personally have experienced very powerful worship. It is
something that I was granted, but could not come into on my own,
it was lead by the spirit by His grace.
The first time this happened I was at a meeting where
a well known prophet was to speak. The group had a few musicians who had
started a song. I turned my attention to Yeshua, to praise Him. Immediately I
found myself surrounded by a circle fire, the Spirit of the Lord. A prophetic
type friend was seated to my left. I had sat down and put my head on the back
of the chair ahead of me because the Spirit of the Lord of so strong I could do
nothing else. I was weeping, drooling and shaking all at the same time. The young man that was with me thought that I was getting sick.
He placed his hand on my shoulder to pray for me and the fire ran up his arm
and scared him. He quickly removed his hand. I was not aware that he had
touched me. (I heard about this later) Yeshua (the Truth) appeared and we stood
before the veil to the Holy of Holies, which He parted to reveal the Arc of the
Covenant. When He did this what little composure I had left melted away. My
wife, to my right just ignored me and kept on singing, she was somewhat used to
me weeping when I was in worship. The next thing that happened was that He said
that my desire had been granted and offered me a seat on the Mercy Seat.
Instantly I found myself seated between the cherubim’s, completely
overwhelmed. The whole room was full of fire coming down from above me. I heard
Father speak from above saying something about His love for me and to come up.
I looked up and saw His face made out of fire. I did not really have much time
to analyze Him and the verse about seeing His face. The next thing I knew He
swallowed me and I found myself surrounded by fire lying beside His heart
inside of His chest. His heart was softly thumping as I lay there and I was
bathing in His Loving kindness. I was gone. I do not know how long I was gone
but when I came back the singing was just finishing. I understand that they
sang several songs. I had made quite a mess on the floor. I was really weak, I used my handkerchief to clean up my mess. The
prophet got up to speak and said that he had had a message for the day but the
Lord had changed it at the last minute to, our God is a consuming Fire.
I’m afraid that I did not listen much to what he had to say I was still
surrounded by the fire and the Spirit and was thinking about what had just
happened. When the service was over I needed help to get to the motel room that
we were staying in. I could not walk by myself. The entire night I saw
lightning flashing all around me whether or not I was asleep.
I have had similar experiences since but none like
the first time.
The Lord is seeking true worshipers, who will worship
the Father in Spirit and Truth. This is the challenge before us. This is our
ultimate statement to our Savior and Creator, to really and truly worship Him.