You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
2 Give [yahab] unto the LORD [Yahovah] the glory [kabowd] due unto
his name [shem]; worship [shachah] the LORD [Yahovah] in the
beauty [hadarah] of holiness [qodesh]. KJV-Interlinear
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to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array. NASB
Far too often, people insult God by pretending to follow him, but instead they criticize or complain or just simply go through the motions of acting holy, but never really commit themselves to anything expected of them. Talking a good talk, they may fool people, but God knows what is really inside their phony soul.
And here we are commanded not to dishonor God with empty words or actions, but to honor Him by recognizing that which is due to Him. And we do Him honor when we are obedient to His will.
But what is Gods will?
Believing in Christ, is obviously first, in order to be saved and thus become a member of His family.
Confession of ones daily sins, is a repetitive requirement in order to live in fellowship, for fellowship is the spiritual environment wherein your spiritual life functions.
Study to gain approval (maturity). Which is to say, pursue a daily study so that you can learn and understand and grow up in your spiritual life. Everyone has to grow up sooner or later, lest they remain immature and ignorant.
And, with some semblance of spiritual knowledge in you, then you might, repeat, just might be able to recognize the phenomenal splendor and honor due to Him, for not only creating an entire universe for human history to operate in, but to save your sorry rear from eternal condemnation, to give you an opportunity to grow up, to give you a destiny throughout eternity, and to fulfill your life with phenomenal meaning and purpose, lest you waste your life in useless pretense.
Worship, ‘shachah,’ means to prostrate, to bow down, to fall down, to obey. And so worship is not your posture of body, but your posture of soul. And not only that, but it means to be continually in worship mode.
You must surrender yourself to Gods mandates, and recognize that He is a lot smarter than you. Thus, when God commands you to study, to confess, to learn and grow and be productive, spiritually productive that is, then why would you ignore that advice?
If you were to place a bet on a two horse race and one of the horses is dead, why would you place a bet on the dead horse to win? And yet that is exactly what people do with their spiritual lives. They bet on bad advice and ignore the good advice. They pursue bad instruction and reject good instruction.
When you are expected to be responsible, and are held accountable for your thoughts and actions, then why would you try to get out of your responsibilities? Why would you presume that all of these requirements are meant for others and not you?
In the beauty of holiness, means what?
Holiness, ‘qodesh,’ refers to something that is set apart, a safe sanctuary, a consecrated place, a dedicated place.
And to worship in holiness means that you need to go somewhere that is safe, set apart, consecrated and dedicated to your interaction with God. Is that place a building made of wood and steel? Is that place a tent? Can you reside in a church 24/7? No.
That place exists inside of your soul. That place is attained by means of confession.
When you commit a sin, which could be a crime, or a social transgression, or a moral transgression, and a sin can also be a disobedient act against Gods truth. Also merely remaining away from your spiritual responsibilities is in effect a sin. Sins can be committed by doing things, but also by not doing things. Arrogance is a sinful device that is as simple as disregarding God and Gods expectations. Sin, in all of its forms, is the filth in your life.
Anyway, you must confess your sins on a regular basis, so that you wash away that filth and reinstate yourself into fellowship. Fellowship is that set apart place, that consecrated place, that sanctuary, wherein you have a private and personal and meaningful relationship with God.
Fellowship is the place where you establish your foundation for life.
Doctrine is the foundation, but you have to learn it.
Understanding is the structure, but you have to learn it.
Application of spiritual principles are the finish work and value, but it all has to be learned.
Wisdom is the insight you achieve by putting it all together.
And faith is the result, the epitome of spiritual maturity. It is the ultimate recognition of who and what God is, and of what infinite things that he has done for us. Especially when we can never earn or even deserve anything from God.
So, the next time you offer criticism against others, when you complain about anything, especially when you yourself do nothing, then you need to look in the mirror and see yourself for who and what you really are, and consider Gods phenomenal grace for even putting up with you.
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