May the Grace of God Be Strong, Perfecting our Hearts Along With our Actions

My good friend asked me a question in response to my previous post. i was obliged to answer. i tried commenting back on his blog, but it turned into this...so i just decided to make a blogpost for it.

Question:
Do you think it is possible to serve God and not worship Him? Does your heart have to be set on praising and worshiping Him to also truly serve Him?
Answer: Yes, to both. My heart does not need to be in the right place for God to be glorified; that is part of His nature, and He will forever be glorious. But as for the question of whether or not i have to be intending to worship God to worship him: yes! absolutely, 100%. If this was not the case, everything would be worship because, by grace, everything is perfected (even the darkest of sin) and turned to something that is A)beneficial to those who love God, and B) (here's the kicker) brings God to glory. The beauty of our Lord is that He has chosen to fuse a and b together so that He is glorified when we are brought to glory along with Him. He has chosen to glorify Himself by loving us, and us by loving Him. This is why we call it a romance, it is reciprocal. Not to say that our love for God could ever equal His for us, or that we could ever be as glorious as Him, or that the end purpose of anything has ever been that we should be glorified. My point is quite the opposite. None of this is necessary, God could cause us to serve Him without love or benefit to us, and He would still be worthy. But our God is gracious, our God is loving, our God has compassion on us while we are still sinners, and He chooses to make us like Himself. We are promised this in 1 John 3:2, which i have posted on before. So, is God glorified when our intention is not praise? yes. Could a selfish act, with no consideration of God be considered an act of worship? no. It is by grace that every sin is brought to perfection, but it must be brought there, it must be perfected and by this logic we recognize that it did not start at such a state. May the prayer of our hearts be that we could grow closer to the purity of a soul that longs only to please the loving and glorious maker who was gracious enough to call us while we were still lost, and to one day make us into the likeness of Himself.

for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

What a gift we have in knowing God! My God, who is holy, and just in all His actions, has chosen to make Himself known to my heart. This is gracious, this is romantic, this is the very personification of love. And yet, I choose to refuse the fullness of such a gift, to be satisfied with mere knowledge when I have the opportunity to experience intimate acquaintance. I don’t understand this. It’s as if I think that I can have either one or the other, that I could either know God, or know about God. This is so ludicrous. I know that the only true understanding I can have comes by way of the Holy Spirit’s revelation. I must submit my knowledge and opinion to Him for discernment and completion. May I seek God in a way that indicates that I believe that He is still alive.

Sometimes I read the Bible as if it is a eulogy, as if I am reading about a great historical figure who once was. God is real and he is here! I know Him!! He has revealed himself to me in ways that are altogether unnatural and unimaginable. Throughout history, people have worshipped stone images and engraving, but I worship a God who sits in His holy temple at this very moment. This is a God who has made a temple for His Spirit in my own body. He is alive and He is speaking to me right now. He is revealing Himself constantly, graciously revealing to me the secret wisdom that can only be known through acquaintance with His Spirit. I am weak, and I am unwilling, but He is so strong. He overcomes my distant and unwilling heart and turns it to praise. I have never been righteous, and I have never sought holiness, but holiness sought me and he has raised me up with Himself that I might become like Him! He has given me power that I might glorify the name which has saved me, and all this when I was satisfied in my sin. May he continue to pour out His grace. May He continue to save me from the reckless comfort that I have found in unrighteousness, that I might know Him better.