Moving from Grace to Grace via Deep Worship

Luke 7:36-50, Heb 4:16

One of the most striking things we see in Luke 7:36-50, is the boldness with which the woman came to Jesus. She was a sinner yet she came to Jesus with so much boldness as to anoint and kiss His feet, so much that the Pharisee was concerned.

Boldness is a function of consciousness (what we are conscious of determines whether we are bold or timid), and hence it is pretty obvious that this woman was not conscious of herself (her faults, sins, weaknesses, etc). She was conscious of who Christ is; she was conscious of His love; she focused on Christ rather than herself. She must have had a revelation of Christ and His love similar to the woman with the issue of blood, and the spirit of God is the one who opens up our heart to this revelation. The Spirit doesn’t stir in our hearts our weaknesses and faults, rather He opens up our hearts to fact that we are sons of God (Rom 8:16). That is He stirs in us the consciousness of the love of God for us that is so strong that He made us His sons; the love of God is shared abroad our hearts by the spirit (Rom 5:5). Boldness therefore comes from the Spirit, and the woman in Luke 7:36-50, must have had a revelation of God’s grace that pulled her to do what she did.

In Luke 7:43, we see that he that is forgiven most will love the most; Our love for God that we express, especially in the place of worship, is a function of how conscious we are of how much love God has shown to us. When the bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), it is not to make us feel guilty, it is to make us realise that it is everyone that need the mercy and grace of God; and that whatever anyone is today, is by the mercy of God. Jesus therefore was not inferring that sinners worship God the most (Luke 7:43-50); He meant that people who understand how much mercy and grace God has shown to them or is showing to them will express more appreciation to God in worship.

Our consciousness in the place of worship should not be of our weaknesses and faults, or guilt; it should be on how much love God has shown to us. In Luke 7:42-50, the woman’s consciousness of God's love was greater than her consciousness of her sins; otherwise she would have run away. When we are more conscious of ourselves than we are of the love of God, we will always run away from the presence of God. We should always be conscious of the fact that God’s love for us is greater than our condition.

Our love for God is a reflection of our understanding of His love for us; our acknowledgement of how much God has been merciful to us will break us down before God in love and in worship. We should always remember the mercies of God. He that acknowledges the mercies more will express the worship more. The greatest revelation we can ever have of God is that He is love and the amount of love we express to Him is a reflection of how much we understand His love. The reason why people worship God casually is because they think God’s love for them is casual. We cannot experience or have a revelation of God’s love and not react to it. It is the glory we behold that we express in the place of worship (John 1:14). The amount of glory we give to Him is a function of the amount of revelation of His glory we have. Real love always has an expression; impression produces expressions, and the way we take our worship is a function of our impression of God.

What the woman did in Luke 7:36-50 was not a casual thing; it was not faked. It was from within. She was responding to God’s love and mercy. She realised that God is greater than who she was or what she had. She was not ashamed to do a public display of her affection to God, and she received an unusual touch of grace. Her revelation of God's grace made her receive more grace. Many other people (even the owner of the house Jesus was in) were there and didn’t receive that touch of grace. What we get out of God's presence is a function of how much of ourselves we pour out to God when we're in His presence.

The amount of grace and the touch of God we receive in worship is a function of how deep our worship is; whether our worship is born out of revelation.

It is GRACE - HUMILITY - MORE GRACE. When we acknowledge and are conscious of god’s grace in our lives, it will humble us; and when we are humble we receive more grace.  Grace will make you humble, and when you're humble you receive more grace. We miss out on so much grace when we have surface or superficial worship of God. When we express ourselves to God in deep worship, we attract more of His grace into our lives. God wants us to be conscious of the fact that He is the God of all grace, and He wants us to express this consciousness in worship.

Ifoghale O. Efeturi,

August, 2014