Free as the Wind to Love Each Other: True Worship

Because the Father is an invisible Spirit, we need to honor and bow down and submit ourselves to Him in a spiritual way—not a physical way. But how do we do that exactly?  “Spirit” is from the Greek word pneuma [# 4151 in Strong’s]. It means “a movement of air…of the wind…” Since God is an invisible Spirit, worship of Him must come out of a spirit nature. It takes a spirit to worship the Spirit. After all, if we have been truly “born again,” we are spirit.

“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3: 6-8). If you are born of the Spirit, then you are a spirit and not the earthly body you see in the mirror. Since we are spirits, we merely reside now in an earthen body of flesh. Christ calls those that are born of the Spirit—a spirit. This knowledge helps us worship “in spirit.”

Moreover, He likens us to an invisible wind that blows across the earth. We are free like the wind is free, for we are a spirit born out of the loins of our Father, who is the Spirit of truth. We are like the wind, free to love others, not bound by the physical restraints imposed by worldly tradition peddlers.

We are free to love with the soft breezes of compassion and mercy, free as the wind to soothe those who sweat in turmoil, who now writhe in the darkness of this cruel world’s overseer. And there is no law against this wind of love that now inhabits our frail bodies, that now is exhaled through us, His lungs and mouth.

“So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” And because each seed bears its own kind, we as new spiritual creatures in Christ have an “earnest” of His Spirit within, and He now breathes out of our mouths the word of God. That is part of true “worship.” It is submitting our bodies to be used by the Spirit of God within us to utter His words of life to others. It is allowing the Spirit to minister through us. And His word through His children’s mouth “will not return unto [Him] void, but it shall accomplish that which [He pleases]” (Isa. 55: 11).

Some are saying, Wayneman, now you have lost it. No! Al contrario. I believe that I have found it and that I am sharing it now. At our new birth, He has transformed us into spiritual entities that no longer need anything material or physical to worship our God. The Spirit that now resides in us was before buildings, before wood and metal, before the earth was ever formed. And now we as a quickening spirit are uniquely qualified to worship Him in spirit—because we are a spirit. Why do we then insist on trying to worship God in an earthly manner?

Since we are an invisible spirit in His eyes, dwelling in an earthen vessel, let us not try to worship Him with visible, tangible, physical things. Worship of the Father must be done, first, in spirit. True worship comes from believing in this invisible Hebrew God, who is a Spirit. He is not material, physical, nor temporal, but rather an Eternal Spirit. Therefore, He is not impressed with physical things that man uses to worship Him. We are part and parcel of Him. Therefore, we are not under all of man’s vain and perhaps sincere attempts to worship Him, traditions that fall like cardboard dwellings in a summer rain.

Approaching Him with any material object, idol, icon, or picture is not worshiping Him in spirit; the Spirit is beyond the realm of our five senses. Consequently, we must believe that He will not be found in temples and church houses and buildings with religious names. Nor will God be impressed with physical things used in those buildings. Why? Because they are all of the material and physical realm, and He is of the invisible, spiritual realm.

And He has translated us into His spiritual realm, calling us a spirit with the ability to give life to others. “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (I Cor. 15: 45). Christ in us is the last Adam. And we now can give life to others through His Spirit and word within–when we share.

Knowing this frees us from believing that “going to church” is necessarily the way to worship Him. For His body of true believers is the church. We are the church, the habitation of God. Our corporate bodies are the temple of God. God does not dwell in buildings made with man’s hands (Acts 7: 48-50). If we say, “I am going to church,” our words betray us, for we are saying that the building is the church. It is a pretty simple statement, but it is very revealing, for it shows that the thinking is in error. If we are serious about becoming like the apostles and prophets of old, then we must purge out the old leaven of false concepts of worship. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Simplifying Worship–Offering the “Calves of Our Lips”

How does God want us to worship Him?  The biblical answer is really very simple, but humans lean to their own understanding and make it extremely complicated.

They put worshipers in the bondage of certain conditions and offerings and meetings three times a week where you have to come to the ‘house of the Lord’ because no other place will do and money, money, money and pilgrimages and forced prayer times and hocus pocus rituals and incense and holy water and fastings and observances and physical sprinklings and beads and prayercloths and sundayschool and bar mitzvahs and idols and images that ooze and gotta-read the Bible everyday and giving our children to be brainwashed into another man made religion  and, and…

Is that what God wants us to do to worship Him?  To blindly follow what others have imagined that we should do? To throw every conceivable ritual against the wall and hope that something sticks?

God does not need us to give Him or His “ministry” money; He owns the whole earth and everything in it.  The only thing that He does not have is our grateful heart.  And that is all He wants.  He wants us to just sincerely thank Him and praise Him for all that He has done for us.

Why do we not thank Him?  It is because we do not believe that He has delivered us and saved us from a disastrous and futile existence.  He has already done this; all we must do is believe it.  He has delivered us from sin and from sinning.  All we need do is walk in His grace and mercy.  Those who do this will thank Him, for they know what a deep pit they have been lifted out of.  And they are thankful to Him for His love to them.

And so they continue to call upon Him in “the day of trouble,” and He delivers them, and they thank Him, and in so doing, together they create a circle of glorification of God.  God is glorified through us thanking Him (Psalm 50: 15).

We are admonished to “offer unto God thanksgiving” (v. 14) and to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually..the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13: 15).

The thanksgiving and praise we give to God are the sacrifices we give to Him now in this present age.  Our offerings should not be money but thanks and praise.  We now should offer “the calves of our lips” instead of the animal sacrifices under the old testament (Hosea 14: 2).

We simply thank Him now, sincerely from a “broken and contrite heart.”  And He hears us and has compassion on us and is near to us.  This is worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

“Seek First the Kingdom of God,” the Government of the Invisible Spirit

The phrase “kingdom of God” has been used so much by so many people from so many different religious backgrounds that its real meaning may have been lost.  Heretofore, most  have understood the phrase to mean “God’s kingdom,” or the kingdom that belongs to Him.  And this is true, it does belong to Him and His children.  However, there is another way to look at that phrase, and that is “the kingdom of the Spirit.”

It says in John 4 that “God is Spirit.”  Therefore, “kingdom of God” can be construed as “kingdom of Spirit.”  Or, in other words, it means a form of order and government headed by a Sovereign entity that is comprised of Spirit.  The Master did say that “the flesh profits nothing; it is the spirit that makes alive.”  “All is vanity,” in other words, except the invisible spiritual things.

We are admonished that we should seek first this invisible spirit kingdom.  Also, the only true worship of the Father is in spirit and in truth.  It is not any old spirit worship, but it must be spiritual and truthful. It won’t be anything remotely having to do with earthly natural things.

True worship is an invisible connection between our spirit in the human heart and the Eternal Creator Spirit.  It is the connection you cannot see.  You cannot legislate it, tax it, build fine buildings in order to coax true worship into your midst.  It is an invisible agreement between the Creator and His special spiritual creation, Adam.  “The true worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  They must find out the truth about His invisible Spirit reign within, for “the kingdom of God (Spirit) is within you.”

It is a realm of the heart, an inner sanctum full of true thoughts about the true nature of things.  “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”  You can’t see it with your fleshly eyes.  It is not of this earth.  Consequently, when we look out over this earth, anything we see, be it ever so religious, cannot be or have anything to do with the kingdom of Spirit (God).

“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.”  The kingdom of God is a dimension and realm that our five senses don’t pick up on.  It is not of this earth.  It must first be believed on, and then it will begin to manifest itself to the understanding of our hearts.  We will never see it first with our earthly eyes and then believe.  Faith must be exercised—believing having not yet seen with the fleshly eyes.  The kingdom of God is a government of God, who is Spirit, and who rules in our hearts by His very essence, which is spirit.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock        {For more on this topic see this earlier article  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/not-of-this-earth/ and the one dated 3/17/08 }

 

“God Is a Spirit”–Chapter 13 of YAH IS SAVIOR: The Father is Spirit Dwelling in Human Form (the Son)

Chapter 13 The Father Is Spirit Dwelling in Human Form (the Son)

Step Three that we are taking is obtaining the knowledge of what the essence of the Godhead truly is. We absolutely must know in a fuller way just who the true Supreme being is. We may think that we already know who He is, yet Paul says that godliness is a great mystery. If “few there be that find this way of truth,” then where does that leave the countless hundreds of millions of professing Christians who can’t agree on anything? Which “few” amongst the hundreds of millions are right? 

We can sit tight thinking we have a pat hand when it comes to the knowledge of who He is, or we can remain open to further revelation. The former is truly dangerous, for if we think we have arrived and have not, and seek no further, we just may come up short. If we remain open, however, then even if we have all knowledge of Him, we cannot be hurt. 

The Savior Yahshua said in John 7:37: “He that believes upon Me, as the scripture has said (the way that the written word really portrays the Savior), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” The next verse states that He was talking about the Spirit that believers would receive after He was glorified. The Spirit just doesn’t come and manifest Himself if we have not believed on Yahshua the way the scripture has said that He really is. Then the Spirit will make Himself known, flowing and gushing out from within our innermost being like a mighty river. But we must know Him as He is truly portrayed in the scriptures. Those of us who do not come to the full truth of what He is like, who He is, and how He operates, will not have the privilege of the Spirit streaming out of our mouths, pouring out salvation unto this troubled world. We must seek to find out who He really is.

 We look to Yahshua to tell us truthfully about the Father, for grace and truth came by Him. He shared some major truth about the true nature and worship of the Father in John 4 to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He asked her for a drink. When she hesitated because He was not from those parts, He said that if you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would have been asking Him for the rivers of living water, the Spirit. You would have asked…v. 10. He thought that she should have known that one needs to ask, and it shall be given. He modeled that behavior of “asking” by requesting a drink of her. He was thinking that if she really knew God, how He operates, then she would have asked of Him, and she would have received the Spirit, the living water. And once having drunk of the Spirit, it would have grown into “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (v. 14). It would have eventually led to immortality.

 She then gives fleshly, conventional, non-spiritual wisdom as to the way man worships God. She says that her family has always been _________________ (you fill in the denomination, religion, organization, or affiliation). And we’ve always worshipped this way. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain. V. 20. “Mountain” denotes a physical location, place, or situation. You say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Again, we see a division into two camps, two traditions, two physical locations, two dogmas. Both are utterly devoid of spiritual truth; both are looking on the temporary fleshly things of man’s concept of worshipping and not His true way of worshipping Him.

 The Savior then straightens her out and tells her that the Father is not worshipped in either geographical location. In fact, “you worship what you do not know,” but we know what we worship, for the truth was delivered to Jacob/Israel (v. 21-22; Psm. 149:19). “True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him (23).” The Father, we now find out, is the one to worship (“We know what we worship…true worshippers shall worship the Father…”). The Father is seeking and searching for someone to worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is aching for someone to cut through all the garbage of false concepts and truly know who He is.

 God is Spirit

In His very next breath Yahshua lets us know more fully who the Father is. God (Elohim) is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. 4:24, NEB. Wait a minute. In verse 23 it is the Father who is worthy of worship and is seeking true spiritual worshippers. Now in this verse Yahshua tells us that God is Spirit and we need to worship this Spirit in a true spiritual manner. Therefore, the One who we should worship is the Father, who is God the Supreme Being, who is Spirit. THE FATHER=GOD=SPIRIT.

Now we have established that the Father is God and that He is Spirit. Yahshua the Messiah is the image, the likeness of the invisible Spirit/God, who is the Father. And all fullness and all completeness of the Spirit (God) dwelt bodily in Yahshua. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Col. 1:19. Fullness and completeness is all there is. Therefore, all of the Godhead resided in the Messiah. All the fullness of Deity was there inside of him. God (the Spirit), who is the Father, dwelt bodily in Yahshua. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Col. 2:9.

“Fullness” is defined as the state of being complete or full. The fullness of a gallon of milk is exactly 128 ounces. If the fullness of that gallon is poured into another container, then all of that gallon is in the other container. There is not any more anywhere else. All of the Godhead was in the Messiah. Yahweh, the Spirit/God of the Hebrews was in the Messiah. That is what made Yahshua the Messiah—all the Godhead/Spirit/Father—dwelling bodily within.

 

“For there is one God,” who is invisible, who is our Savior, and one mediator between this invisible Spirit-Father-God and men: Yahshua the Messiah. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen…For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour…For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Yahshua Messiah. I Tim. 1:17; 2:3, 5.

And this God, the Spirit-Father, “was in Messiah, reconciling the world unto Himself.” II Cor. 5:19. Yahshua is the mediator [#3316, mesites, a go between, a mediator = one who stands between two sides, who is the medium for conciliation between the two]. The two here are Spirit and man. That is why God (Elohim), who is the Father and Spirit, poured Himself fully into a human vessel, and that Lamb “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” and thus cleansed our consciences so that we could serve and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Simplifying the Worship of God–Offering the “Calves of Our Lips”

How does God want us to worship Him?  The biblical answer is really very simple, but humans lean to their own understanding and make it extremely complicated. 

They put worshippers in the bondage of certain conditions and offerings and meetings three times a week where you have to come to the ‘house of the Lord’ because no other place will do and money, money, money and pilgrimages and forced prayer times and hocus pocus rituals and incense and holy water and fastings and observances and physical sprinklings and beads and prayercloths and sundayschool and bar mitzvahs and idols and images that ooze and gotta-read the Bible everyday and giving our children to be brainwashed into another manmade religion  and, and…

Is that what God wants us to do to worship Him?  To blindly follow what others have imagined that we should do?

God does not need us to give Him or His “ministry” money; He owns the whole earth and everything in it.  The only thing that He does not have is our grateful heart.  And that is all He wants.  He wants us to just sincerely thank Him and praise Him for all that He has done for us.

Why do we not thank Him?  It is because we do not believe that He has delivered us and saved us from a disastrous and futile existence.  He has already done this; all we must do is believe it.  He has delivered us from sin and from sinning.  All we need do is walk in His grace and mercy.  Those who do this will thank Him, for they know what a deep pit they have been lifted out of.  And they are thankful to Him for His love to them.

And so they continue to call upon Him in “the day of trouble,” and He delivers them, and they thank Him, and in so doing, together they create a circle of glorification of God.  God is glorified through us thanking Him (Psalm 50: 15).

We are admonished to “offer unto God thanksgiving” (v. 14) and to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually..the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13: 15).

The thanksgiving and praise we give to God are the sacrifices we give to Him now in this present age.  Our offerings should not be money but thanks and praise.  We now should offer “the calves of our lips” instead of the animal sacrifices under the old testament (Hosea 14: 2).

We simply thank Him now, sincerely from a broken and contrite heart.”  And He hears us and has compassion on us and is near to us.  This is worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth.  KWH

The Kingdom of God–Not a Worn Out Phrase

    The phrase “kingdom of God” has been used so much by so many people from so many different religious backgrounds that its real meaning may have been lost.  Heretofore, most  have understood the phrase to mean “God’s kingdom,” or the kingdom that belongs to Him.  And this is true, it does belong to Him and His children.  However, there is another way to look at that phrase, and that is “the kingdom of the Spirit.”

    It says in John 4 that “God is Spirit.”  Therefore, “kingdom of God” can be construed as “kingdom of Spirit.”  Or, in other words, it means a form of order and government headed by a Sovereign entity that is comprised of Spirit.  The Master did say that “the flesh profits nothing; it is the spirit that makes alive.”  “All is vanity,” in other words, except the invisible spiritual things.

     We are admonished that we should seek first this invisible spirit kingdom.  Also, the only true worship of the Father is in spirit and in truth.  It is not any old spirit worship, but it must be spiritual and truthful. It won’t be anything remotely having to do with earthly natural things.

     True worship is an invisible connection between our spirit in the human heart and the Eternal Creator Spirit.  It is the connection you cannot see.  You cannot legislate it, tax it, build fine buildings in order to coax true worship into your midst.  It is an invisible agreement between the Creator and His special spiritual creation, Adam.  “The true worshippers must worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  They must find out the truth about His invisible Spirit reign within, for “the kingdom of God (Spirit) is within you.”

      It is a realm of the heart, an inner sanctum full of true thoughts about the true nature of things.  “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”  You can’t see it with your fleshly eyes.  It is not of this earth.  Consequently, when we look out over this earth, anything we see, be it ever so religious, cannot be or have anything to do with the kingdom of Spirit (God).

      “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.”  The kingdom of God is a dimension and realm that our five senses don’t pick up on.  It is not of this earth.  It must first be believed on, and then it will begin to manifest itself to the understanding of our hearts.  We will never see it first with our earthly eyes and then believe.  Faith must be exercised—believing having not yet seen with the fleshly eyes.  The kingdom of God is a government of God, who is Spirit, and who rules in our hearts by His very essence, which is spirit.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock        {For more on this topic see this earlier article  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/not-of-this-earth/ and the one dated 3/17/08 }