Tag: Worship

Living Sacrifice Day 12 – Poured Out

Justin Hibbard


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Begin by reading Luke 7:36-50, John 12:1-8

I want you to imagine for a moment that you were at the party you just read about. You’re there eating, talking with some friends, and out of the corner of your eye you see a woman (someone with less than a stellar reputation) bathing Jesus with her hair. The aroma of the perfume quickly permeates the room. You detect the scent immediately. It is expensive, and she is pouring it out like water.

Now stop for just a moment. What are your initial reactions? Are you shocked? Are you horrified? I’m going to be honest with you; my first thought is “what in the world is going on? How is a Rabbi allowing this sinful woman to express herself to him like this in public?”

I think if we were all honest with ourselves, we would admit at least some level of discomfort with this story. We may be like Simon in Luke’s account and feel distaste at how this sinful woman was all over Jesus, or we may be like Judas in John’s account and feel like this act was a waste of money. Why might we feel that way?

Here’s why. Because we’re humans, and we are sinful. Have you ever seen someone express themselves dramatically in worship, and you began judging their actions? Maybe you thought, “that’s so annoying that they do that. It’s so distracting to others.” Have you ever seen someone poor give something away that you felt they couldn’t afford and thought of them unwise? This is because we’re still carnal creatures. It’s hard for us to accept another’s devotion to our same Heavenly Father if it’s not done the same way we like to do it. That’s just the way it is. Like the disciples stopping the children from coming to Jesus, we want to be God’s gatekeepers and determine what should and what shouldn’t get through. While there are indeed boundaries set for us in Scripture, we have to recognize that there’s a real temptation to deny others the opportunity to express their devotion to God. It’s no wonder why churches split over the most basic elements like music and expressions of worship. Even after 2000 years, we are still struggling with the same feelings that corrupted Simon and Judas.

The lesson for us is not merely accepting how and what others offer to the Lord, the lesson is to be the one offering to the Lord. Simon the Pharisee ignored Jesus during the entire party. Judas said his concern was for the poor, but Judas. the treasurer for Jesus’ ministry, was swindling money. They were missing the boat, and they lashed out like Cain did to Abel. Their sacrifice was fraudulent, and so they became jealous. We need not worry what others are doing if we are the ones offering to the Lord. When our eyes are focused on our Rabbi and are hands are busy anointing His feet, then we have no time to worry about how others are serving. We must be the Marys and find our place at Jesus’ feet.

The world and those with worldly minds will judge. They will stand before God’s altar and mock. They may tell you that you are doing a nice thing then talk about you behind your back. Don’t let that deter you. Stand before God and pour yourself out before Him. Listen to His voice and ask, “What is it Lord that you want of me?” and of that thing, do not hold back. He will ask you to give a hard sacrifice. It will cost you. It will hurt. But you will find yourself at the feet of Jesus, bowing before Him, cradled by His love and protection, anointing Him with the very thing He asked of you. He will affirm you, just as He affirmed Mary, and He will give you a crown that will last forever.

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Living Sacrifice Day 11 – The Costly Sacrifice

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading 2 Samuel 24:18-25.

I don’t know about you, but fasting is one of the most difficult disciplines for me. I can remember back in college when a group of my friends fasted solid food for 40 days. It was unbelievable. Some go about fasting in less dramatic ways, such as giving up meat or another particular food or fasting certain meals. So, what makes fasting so difficult? Well, it’s the idea of giving up something that we enjoy.

In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, “Therefore brothers and sisters, in light of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices.” The keyword in this verse is sacrifice. No, Paul is not telling us to kill ourselves; that’s why he emphasizes living sacrifices. But the word sacrifice gives us keen insight into what it means to live a life of worship and devotion.

In Old Testament times, God called His people to make sacrifices on various occasions. When someone came to the Temple, they either brought their animal or bought one there. The idea here is that everyone has to make their own personal sacrifice and give their own offering. Think about it like this: you wouldn’t say to yourself, “well, Joe put a couple of bucks in the offering plate today, so therefore, I don’t have to give today.” No, the sacrifice was personal, and it was every one’s responsibility to bring that gift to the Lord.

David understood this, and in 2 Samuel 24, we read about God commanding David to go to Araunah’s threshing floor and build an altar. When King David asks Araunah to buy his threshing floor, Araunah offers to give the floor and other items to David for free. That sounds reasonable. After all, if the president personally came asking for a tree in your backyard, a tomato from your garden, or something that you were selling at your yard sale, you might feel a little weird about telling him to show you the money. But David insisted on paying. Why? Because he said, “I will not sacrifice something to God that costs me nothing.”

When it doesn’t cost us anything, it ceases to be a sacrifice. It must cost us something. It’s like fasting. When fasting, we give up a pleasure. It would be pointless to say, “I’m going to fast meat,” if you’re already a vegetarian. There must be something we’re giving up in order for it to be sacrifice.

Well what are we sacrificing then? It might be food. It might be money. It might be our time. But the bottom line is that it has to be us totally. Our mentality should be, “the purpose of my life is to be a sacrifice to God.” When we say it that way, there is no cost too great and no gift too small. Meditate on that thought today. Tell God to help you have the mentality that you are a sacrifice totally devoted to Him, and ask Him to show you what it is He would like you to do.

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Living Sacrifice Day 10 – The Most Precious Gift You Can Give

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading Jeremiah 18:1-12

A friend of mine who is in med school shared with me his experience of practicing surgical procedures on human cadavers. He told me how it is such a great act of love and service to donate your body to science to help med students learn and develop. However, the thought of my body laying naked in front of a handful of students makes me feel… well vulnerable. I begin wondering how they’ll treat me, how they’ll see me. Will they be grossed out? Will they poke and prod unnecessarily? Fortunately, my friend said that the instructors teach the students a sense of reverence and respect for the deceased and to treat the cadavers as a gift.

In Romans 12:1, Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. He’s not telling us to kill ourselves or merely donate our bodies after we pass away. He’s telling us to live for the Lord. So, why does he say, “offer your bodies?” Most likely it’s because it’s the most difficult, vulnerable, and complete gift we could possibly offer to the Lord.

Think about it, there’s a homeless person on the street, and out of compassion, you want to reach out and help him. What’s easier – giving a few dollars or taking the person around and getting them shelter and helping them out in a much bigger way? When I think of the latter, offering $5 is a cheap and easy alternative. Maybe it’s because helping them out will take our energy and our time.

We, in our western world, are stingy about our time in more ways than we are stingy about our money. When there’s a big enough problem, it’s easier to throw money at it and walk away. While giving financially is important, Paul is urging us to offer our bodies. This idea encompasses our time, money, and talent.

In a sense, offering our bodies is much like being a cadaver; it is offering ourselves to the Lord and saying, “do whatever you want with me.” It is dying to ourselves and laying before our Savior. That is the perfect place for a disciple of Jesus. In a sense, the Psalmist who said, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere,” is not talking about his proximity to God’s literal Temple but his surrendering to the Spirit of God.

But at the same time that we are being a cadaver before the Lord, we are anything but lifeless. We are actively responding to what He wants us to do – serving in full devotion. In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord demonstrates His authority but also His desire. He is one that creates and molds His creation. He shapes history and directs lives. He does this to some degree whether or not we are complicit with His desire. But His desire for us is that we would lay down our lives before Him and say, “Here I am – your servant. Do with me what you will.”

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.

Living Sacrifice Day 7 – The Personal Gift

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading 1 Corinthians 14:26-33.

If you were to come to my office at work, you would see a drawing hanging up on my bulletin board. It’s no Picasso, but it’s an original artwork of great worth to me. It’s the most precious picture I own because my daughter Annalía drew it. Like any artwork, the value is in who created it, and for me, it’s precious because it’s a gift from my child.

Being a worship leader, sometimes people come up to me after church and say, “Justin, worship was really great today.” I appreciate that, but at the same time, I’m not sure how to take it. “Thanks?” I say, lacking a better response. I guess what perplexes me is what do they mean when they say worship was really great? Does it mean that sometimes the worship isn’t good? Are they talking about the music? What are they talking about?

Here’s what I think. In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” One thing I think he’s urging us to do is to invest ourselves in a service of worship to God. So, when someone says to me, “worship was really good,” I think what they’re saying is effectively, “I worshiped God today, and you helped me do that. You helped me personally bring a gift to the Lord and invest myself in an expression of worship to my Heavenly Father.” It could be that they had a great experience worshiping and someone who was in the same room may not have. What makes the difference isn’t me, the music I chose, or anything else, the difference was them and their attitude. It was meaningful because they wholeheartedly invested themselves in worshiping God.

When we worship, we are bringing that gift to God. This is part of what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 14. We are bringing a piece of ourselves. My daughter could have bought me a picture to hang in my office, but her picture is worth more to me because it’s an expression from her to me.

Take some time today to read 2 Samuel 24:18-25 and reflect on how David insisted on investing personally in his worship of God. We’ll be talking about this passage in a couple of days, but for now, ask yourself, “What does it mean to be personally invested in worship, and how can I be better at doing this?” Don’t be content with watching other people worship around you. Make worshiping God a personal experience where you are totally invested.

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Living Sacrifice Day 6 – Offering, Not an Obligation

Justin Hibbard

A friend of mine once voiced his objection to our Social Security System. “I’m more than happy to give to someone in need; I just hate that our government mandates it and takes it right out of my paycheck!” Sometimes that’s how we can feel if someone mandates even something that’s supposed to be beneficial and helpful. Think about your church for a moment. What if they began mandating offerings? How would you feel? You probably wouldn’t like that.

In Romans 12:1, Paul tells us to offer. He uses the Greek word paristēmi, which means to present or offer. The connotation is that it is a gift, rather than something you are doing out of obligation. Scripture is clear that God wants us to obey out of gratitude rather than obligation. The Law was meant to be a gift not merely a requirement. When we start seeing obedience as requirements, we start acting like children and asking, “How far can I go before being disobedient?” That’s human nature. Being in education, it never fails that when I assign a project, there’s always at least one student that asks, “what’s the least I can do to get an ‘A?’” Something about the word obligated makes us want to rebel, or at the very least, we feel threatened. Aren’t we more at ease when we hear a salesperson say, “You are under no obligation?”

The Holy Spirit is teaching us in Romans 12:1 the importance of offering ourselves. Are we required or obligated? I suppose in some sense we are. But we’re being asked to offer, to do it out of our own volition, not out of a sense of obligation. This is why Paul says, “In light of God’s mercy.” He is explaining that we ought to be so moved by what God has done for us, that we would be willing to give up anything to follow Jesus.

In Scripture, the Temple offering was distinguished between two different words – tithes and offerings. Tithes were the required 10%, but an offering was above and beyond that amount. In one sense, Paul is urging us to forget about the requirement, to pretend that there is no requirement, and instead, give everything as an offering. You may have some sort of sense of what God is asking you to do, but today I want to challenge you to not think that way. I want you to think of how you can bless the Lord with an offering – a voluntary expression of worship. How can you offer yourself to the Lord? Beginning to think of yourself as a gift you offer instead of an obligation you fulfill is an important step to becoming a living sacrifice.

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Living Sacrifice Day 5 – Joyful Worship

Justin Hibbard

One of the greatest hymns of all time is “It is Well with My Soul.” This powerful song was written by a Christian lawyer and real-estate investor from Chicago named Horatio Spafford. He and his wife experienced all sorts of horrendous trauma. First, their youngest of four, their only son, died from illness at the age of four. The Great Chicago fire destroyed everything they had, and so they planned to move to Europe. Horatio’s wife and three daughters set sail ahead of him, while he stayed back to get some things in order. However, during that Atlantic voyage, their boat collided with another and sank rapidly, killing all three of the Spaffords’ daughters. His wife, who survived, made it to Europe and sent a telegram to her husband Horatio with these infamous words – “saved alone.”

Horatio boarded a ship and headed to Europe to grieve with his wife, and as his ship crossed the area where his daughters were lost at sea, he penned these words – “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows, like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

We still sing that song in our corporate worship services today, even though it is a song born out of horrific sorrow. A misconception about what it means to worship is that we must be happy to worship. Horatio Spafford’s song was a song of lament, a song of surrender, but it was also a song of joy.

How? Happiness and joy are two very different concepts. Happiness is a temporary emotion. Joy is a quality. There are times when I’m not happy because of how I feel or the circumstances going on around me. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The command to rejoice is a call to be joyful. It is a resting in knowing whose you are, not what you’re going through. You have an eternal hold on you by a Living and Everlasting God. You can rest in His arms. Being joyful is a sign of trusting. It’s as Job said in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, still will I trust him.”

We can take a cue from David. Some of the most powerful Psalms were born out of frustration, fear, and sorrow. What makes them joyful and wonderful is that he knew who is daddy was. The fact that he brought iit up to the Lord to begin with shows his reliance and trust on His heavenly Father.

Today, I want you to give it to God. Whatever you’re dealing with, let your Heavenly Father know. Talk to Him about it. Are you frustrated about something at work, something at home, is a relationship worrying you, or do you have great happiness? Share it with the Lord. Talk to Him about it. Rest in the joy of your Everlasting God.

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.

Living Sacrifice Day 4 – Fake It Until You Feel It

Justin Hibbard

I had a wonderful choir teacher in high school who is well-known and has a reputation for excellence. Part of that comes from the high demands she puts on her choirs. I can remember times in high school where we had three or four concerts in a given week (especially around Christmas time), and on top of that was homework and the emotional baggage that comes with being a teenager. Our director always wanted high energy in our concerts and wanted us to engage with the audience. But so often we were drained and exhausted, and that song that was once inspiring had lost its luster after the 100th time of singing it. Our director wasn’t interested in excuses or settling; she told us, “Fake it until you feel it!”

It seems like a funny expression, but clinical psychologists and behavioral counselors will tell you that it’s a phrase that is often employed. They know that our feelings can often have a negative effect on our behavior and we have to combat those emotions. A friend of mine who struggles with depression was told to discern his feelings. Sometimes they come from God, sometimes they come from the devil, sometimes they come from you. In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis suggests that the devil plays on our emotions and feelings for his advantage.

Those who go into the military start off with boot camp, which includes hell week. The military has figured out that the first step to creating a disciplined soldier is not teaching him or her how to use a gun. It’s breaking down the way they’ve done things for the last 18+ years and teaching them how to do it differently. Of course it’s hell! Who wants to get up at 5 AM when they’re used to waking up at 7 AM? Who wants to run and march ten miles when they usually don’t walk one mile in a given day? What’s the military’s response? Do it anyway.

So, fake it until you feel it. I’m not suggesting “faking” worship. But what I am saying is this. Sometimes in my own life I don’t feel like praying or worshiping, but those are the moments I know I need to the most because my heart is far away from the Lord’s. If I were to just give up and say, “I don’t feel like it today,” and I used that excuse every time I didn’t feel like it, can you imagine the spiritual mess I would be?

Sometimes we worship because our feelings motivate us. We are overcome by the goodness of God, and we are inclined to worship. Sometimes, we have to worship in spite of our feelings. If you’re interested in being a living sacrifice, you have to learn to worship at all times. We are told to love the Lord our God. If we express that love only when things are good, then we are bound to have a very distorted view of God and remain childish in our faith.

Sometimes I find that when I don’t feel like worshiping, something as simple as lifting my hand can be a step of faith. I often find that my heart will tend to follow. Take that step today. Worship God in spite of your emotions, meditate on the mercy of God, and let your actions dictate your feelings – not the other way around.

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.

Living Sacrifice Day 3 – Motivated by Mercy

Justin Hibbard

When you are in a corporate worship service, what motivates you to worship? Is it the music, the lighting ambiance, the people you are with, or your feelings? Let’s be honest, sometimes those things impact our worship, and sometimes we don’t feel like worshiping at all. Sometimes we want to stand there with our hands in our pockets and say, “I’m so tired” or “I can’t wait to take that Sunday nap” or “I can’t wait for the football game.” Our emotions can lead us down some dismal roads.

That’s why worship shouldn’t be motivated by how we feel. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t use our emotions in worship. I’m saying that our emotions shouldn’t dictate when we worship. We shouldn’t wait until we’re in the right environment or have the perfect music to worship. We might be waiting our whole lives.

Paul says in Romans 12:1, “in light of God’s mercy.” In other words, the motivating factor in worship should be God’s goodness. Why? Because it never changes. If our worship depends on our emotions, well, who knows what we might feel like. If it depends on someone’s music, then the music is bound to stop or they might play the wrong note. But God’s mercy, we’re told in Lamentations 3:22-23 “never fail. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.”

We began our 40 day challenge with focusing on who God is and our place in His Kingdom. That’s the important first step. Now, we are beginning to look at how we should act in our Father’s world.

Today, even right now, whether you feel like it or not, close your eyes and tell God how thankful you are for what He’s done for you. Be motivated to do this just by the very fact of what God has done for you. Tell Him how good He is. Let that be the beginning of your worship today.

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.