January 03, 2010

sunday thoughts... "worship me"


I believe in God and Christ and I believe in Satan.  I believe there is and always has been darkness and light, good and evil.  When I live accourding to what I know, I am happy.  When I sin and rationalize, justify and excuse myself, I am not happy.  When I listen to the sweet peaceful encouragements of the Spirit I feel energized, happy and hopeful.  Often I am prompted to change, but with that prompting comes knowledge that I am loved and that I am good.  I have also felt the dark whisperings of the advesary.  He reminds me of my weakness, my faults, my selfishness, my laziness.  He shows me all that I have not accomplished.  When I listen, I am discouraged, dark and hopeless.  Today I want to remember these differences.  I want to be able to judge the thoughts that come into my head and I want to dwell in light and truth.  I want to cast out the darkness.  I choose to worship God in my thoughts, my actions, my prayers and my choices each day. 
I was thinking today about one of my favorite stories in Moses 1...  Moses sees God and is filled with light, glory, and vision of all he can become.
Satan comes with darkness, reminding Moses of his natural weakness, and says, "Moses, son of man, worship Me."
In Matt 4:10 Satan tempted Christ with the same words, "Worship Me."
WORSHIP...
When I looked up lots of worship references in the scriptures I think that worship often refers to humble, heartfelt prayer (see Alma 33:3).  We can worship God as we come to Him seaking and let Him fill us.
But, how do we worship Satan? 
In Alma 31 of The Book of Mormon there is an interesting story about some "saints" who were worshiping in a peculiar way... They built a large tower or Rameumptum, that they stood upon and prayed a memorized prayer to God, in their prayer they said things like we're grateful that we are choosen and better than everyone else, and that they were grateful for their wisdom that they knew there was no Christ.  These people cast the poor from their synagogs and were very pious.  The prophet Alma was grieved by their wickedness, he prayed, "Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride.  Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.  Behold, O my God, their costly apparel... their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee..."  Alma continues with his humble prayer, "O Lord, wilt thou give me strength... O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions... O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success..."

I am so impressed at the contrast between the prideful rameumptom worship and the humble, pleading worship of Alma.

I have cause to stop and evaluate my own worship.  I wonder how much of my prayers are focused on worldly things.  How much of my yearning, my heart felt desire, is on selfish achievements versus humble service.  I want to worship my God more fully in humility, light and truth, in glory.  I want to be more aware of the dark, selfish thoughts that creep into my mind.  To label them as efforts of the destroyer and to cast them away.  God is light and truth.  He has a work for me to do and I am filled with hope.  I want to worship Him more fully and as I worship God I know that I will be humbly filled with His strength.  I will be able to love others more fully, to parent with his guidance and to be full of wisdom and truth.

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