NOTE: Happy New Year to my wonderful readers! If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to prayerfully choose a “Word for the Year.” I’ve done this exercise since 1998, and it’s been an enjoyable, enlightening, and sometimes eye-opening experience. Concentrating on just one word of phrase for a whole year helps you dive below the surface and really grasp more of God wants to get you to see about that area. Some of my words have been “stand,” “others,” “glory,” and “favor.” The 2014 “Heart for the Word” devotions will focus on my word for 2014: worship. May we grow together. Don’t miss a day!

One does not have to be a member of the praise team, the choir director, or a church musician to worship God. The command (yes, I said command) to woship God goes out to us all. The Bible tells us to worship God and then tells us how. For example, two of the ways in which we are supposed to worship God are “in the beauty of holiness” (see I Chronicles 6:29) and “in spirit and in truth” (see John 4:24). As we go through the year, we’ll expand on our understanding of these and other direct dictates about how to worship God.

Worship and praise are different, yet closely related. They are two sides of the same coin. When dealing with one, the other is connected. Worship relates to being; praise relates to action. We worship God for who He is; we praise God for what He does. The origin of the word “worship” comes from the Old English “worthscipe” or “worth-ship.” Our worship is our response to God’s existence; it’s how we hype His worth. Praise, on the other side of the coin, goes out as a reaction to what God has done. It’s our reflection upon His mighty acts.

Like with the two sides of a coin, these two things about God cannot be separated from each other. His being cannot be extracted from his actions. He “does” according to who He “is,” and who He “is” dictates what He “does.” This is why we can know God by observing His handiwork. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NIV).

So look around. What are you seeing that God created? Sunshine, snow, trees, pets, children, friends: find something and worship God for being the Creator.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

 at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)