God is Worthy!

And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

Several of the posts I have added to this blog so far, have focused on the HOLINESS of GOD as I believe that is one of HIS key attributes. 
intro:https://lightshininginadarkplace.blogspot.com/2015/08/god-is-holy.html
part 1: https://lightshininginadarkplace.blogspot.com/2015/08/worship-lord-in-beauty-of-holy-ness.html
part 2.1: https://lightshininginadarkplace.blogspot.com/2015/09/worship-lord-in-beauty-of-holiness-part.html
part 2.2: https://lightshininginadarkplace.blogspot.com/2020/04/worship-lord-in-beauty-of-holiness-part.html

But I want to spend a little time now on another aspect of WHO GOD IS! 

IS HE WORTHY? HE IS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIahc83Kvp4

One of my personal struggles from the reformed tradition that I have lamented over the years as a result of my deconstruction/reconstruction journey is that it seems we reformed have hyper focused on what God has done for us. Of course, it is very biblical to be thankful in all things, and especially for our salvation by the grace of God. But it seems from my experience, it has been an almost exclusive focus on worshipping Him out of gratitude as a response for His gift of salvation to us (like 90+% of our focus, but I will acknowledge there does seem to have been a small shift over the last decade) without a similar emphasis on worshipping God for WHO HE IS!

HE IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP AND OUR OBEDIENCE BECAUSE HE IS GOD!
https://www.shepherdpress.com/worship-god-for-who-he-is/
http://www.secureandstrong.com/2013/04/why-god-is-worthy-of-worship.html

WHO GOD IS, SEEKING HIS FACE

SUMMARY: Our response of worship and service to God is primarily because God is Holy, He is worthy of our obedience- hopefully this will become our primary reason to do our best to please Him, He deserves it, this is His due (Jeremiah 10:6-7). It is for His glory. The Heidelberg catechism (HC) emphasizes an obedient response out of thankfulness/gratitude for salvation through Jesus Christ, which is a great reason but can cause an unbiblical distortion if it is continues to be the primary reason.

DECONSTRUCTION:The Heidelberg Catechism and the reformed tradition seem to have significantly missed an emphasis on a very important reason that is just as important as gratitude, if not actually more so, for our “service” to God: because of WHO HE IS! This has resulted in an emphasis of seeking His Hand, what He does for us, more than seeking His face, knowing Him for Who He is. Not necessarily saying we have over emphasized a response out of thanksgiving, but saying in comparison, we have significantly under emphasized a response for WHO HE IS. My concern is that when the primary emphasis is gratitude for what He has done at the expense of WHO HE IS, is that we can view God primarily as a "sugar daddy” for what He can do for us and give us. This view of God can result in humanism, using God as a means to an end for human happiness. We end up mostly seeking His hand for what He can do for us and give us, instead of also seeking His face for intimate spiritual relationship with Him. 

RECONSTRUCTION: It's not wrong to seek His hand, and scripture blesses that, but we miss a richness and depth of relationship with Him and possibly stay spiritually immature if we do not intentionally seek His face as well (meditate on WHO HE IS as God/our Heavenly Father, His character, His Presence, etc) as scripture tells us to seek Him multiple times.

When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Ps 27:8 NKJV
https://www.gotquestions.org/seek-Gods-face.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmry3BVjERU (30 seconds)
https://dailyverses.net/seeking

There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You... Jeremiah 10:6-7

"I am the LORD, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:18, 22 + 33 more
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/No-Other-Is-God

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11

and... 

I understand that the Holy Spirit compels us to seek Him, so it is a bit of a symbiotic relationship, but Scripture does emphasize a responsibility for us to seek God's face, not just His hand primarily. Let's be intentional and abide in Him!

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell (abide) in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.  Ps 27:4 NIV

HEART OF THE MATTER (30 minutes): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65_dxM2Ylt8

PRAYER to Seek God’s Face

2 Chron. 7:14 https://biblehub.com/2_chronicles/7-14.htm;

Psalm 139:23-24; https://biblehub.com/psalms/139-23.htm

Joel 2:12-13; https://biblehub.com/joel/2-12.htm

Matthew 6:33, https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-33.htm

Matthew 22:37-39; https://biblehub.com/matthew/22-37.htm

John 15:4-5; https://biblehub.com/john/15-4.htm

2 Cor. 7:1; https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/7-1.htm

1 Peter 4:17: https://biblehub.com/1_peter/4-17.htm

Holy God, we humbly acknowledge our desperate need to return to You in full repentance and first-love passion. Please forgive us for rushed, shallow prayer times, spiritual apathy and compromise with the world. Forgive us for emphasizing programs, strategies and earthly blessings over fervent prayer, deep repentance and Great Commission passion. We understand that judgment ‘begins at the house of God’ and that we are primarily responsible for the nation’s/world's spiritual condition.

Lord, we further understand that our prayers and repentance must become deep and lasting, not brief and general. No longer will we merely ‘say’ we repent. We know we must do more than give lip service to holiness, prayer, evangelism and missions. By Your grace, we ask that you help us embrace a life-style of loving obedience to You. Humble us through honest repentance, intententionally examining our life for what is not in alignment with Your principles, turning from any wicked ways. Stir up a deep desire to pursue personal prayer times as we mature in our faith, that are spiritually intimate with You and Kingdom-focused. Inspire us to consistently pray for the salvation and spiritual awakening of the lost and a growing commitment of Your children to faithfully follow You, walking in the path of obedience and good works You have planned for us. (Eph 2:10)

Dear Savior, by Your grace and Spirit we commit to pray and obey Your heart desires. Whether our nation sees revival or judgment, we commit to seek Your face. Revive the Church O Lord. Send sweeping global harvest and glorify Your holy name. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly! (Rev. 22:20)

prayer adapted from: https://www.baptistmessenger.com/powerful-prayer-the-covenant-to-seek-gods-face/