Worship isn’t just praise music and singing. Although I love worshipping through songs, the Lord gives us so many different circumstances where we can worship Him. Anytime we are with Jesus we can worship Him. Here’s a hint: anytime we are with Jesus = all the time! We can worship Him through prayer, acknowledgement, and thanksgiving. We can worship Him with our spare time as well. Instead of spending that extra 30 minutes on your phone, or watching TV, spend it worshipping Him!

My favorite verse is 11. I like it not only because it talks about the wise men worshipping Jesus, but also because it mentions how they worshipped Him. They didn’t care about their present appearance or how people would view them if they “had it all together”. They simply sat and worshipped him. I think we get so caught up in making ourselves look good, caring about what other people think. The truth is, we don’t have to look good to worship Him. This verse has taught me that I don’t have to have my life all together in order to bring glory to Him. Knowing that truth brings so much joy!

Today, let’s walk in the joy and freedom of having the ability to worship Him no matter our present circumstance or appearance!

Through this devotion, God has shown me how I need to be showing His love all the time. I shouldn’t change who I am around certain people. My reactions should not be hesitant. King Herod’s reaction to the birth of Jesus Christ was very hesitant. He craved power so much that he went to extreme lengths to gain power, not having to bow down to any authority. When I evaluate myself, I want people to see Jesus through me. I want people to see me craving His love just as Jesus’ disciples did.

Recently, I realized I had not been on fire for the Lord. I had to pray for the desire to be on fire for Him before I could actually take part in the action. I have been making an effort to show God’s love through my life by simply being kind to others and making the right choices. Those who are nonbelievers don’t want to be attacked with the Word. One way I take things slowly with nonbelievers is by simply being kind. I have to have a personal relationship with God before I can tell others. It would be hypocritical to be trying to show God through me but not actually have him in me. The Christmas season is here – I have challenged myself not to be wrapped up in the gifs, music and ugly sweater parties. Instead, I choose to focus on why Christmas is even here. I want to learn how to appreciate it. While reading Matthew 2:3-6, verse 3 stood out to me and really hit me like a train. It says, “when King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” The reason this hit me so hard, is because Herod was intimidated by OUR Lord. Herod was afraid of losing his throne. It showed me that yes, I love God very much…but I also need to fear him on a certain level. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Almighty God. He created everything, and any minute, it could all be gone. I do not live in fear of hell. I know that God is waiting for me and always has my back. I challenge myself to live everyday like it’s my last. I don’t mean that in a way to do crazy things. I mean it in a way to worship God through everything. After all, this is why we on are Earth.

Wow. God is so good. He cares and adores us so much, even when we mess up and sin time after time. He is worthy of our love and our lives. God is faithful to us through any and everything, and we should be the same back to him. But we all fall short of him. Luke 2:6-7 made me look at Jesus as one of us. Revelation 19:11-16 made me open my eyes and go “wow, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, the one who cares for us, did this!” You can go through your day living for yourself, doing what you think’s right or best for you, whatever makes you happy, etc. Or you can go through your day living for Jesus, who knows what’s better for us. We can be the helpless, selfish people in the world, or we can be the strong and faithful people that Jesus wants us to be.