Cluster Devotion
By: DeWayne A. Duncan, Pastor
Liberty UMC
Liberty, Ky.

But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24, NLT)

We are all looking for something. In fact, God has designed our human spirits in such a way that the attribute of curiosity is a powerful force within us. We look out at the stars, into the depths of the oceans, and to the very core of our genome structure to try and understand the "why" and "how" of our complex existence.

We also spend a great deal of our lives looking for that "right" person with which to spend our lives, for the right neighborhood to live in, for the right job, for the right car, for the right religion, …, etc. To put it simply, we desperately look for that which will make us happy, content or whole. We look for the forest but all the trees are in the way.

The Father is looking…

One of the five purposes of the church is worship. Many books have been written, many definitions given, many ways of "doing" worship have been produced over the past two millennia. We are constantly looking for the perfect worship experience, that God-connection that will fit neatly into the inflexible sixty minute time frame given each Sunday morning. And yet, we have overlooked the most important thing about all of this-our heavenly Father is also looking. God is looking for those whom have discovered through discernment from the Holy Spirit the truth about true worship. True worship takes place when we honestly believe and accept the truth of our own terrible insufficiencies while believing and accepting the truth of the omnipotent sufficiency of Christ. True worship takes place when we allow our fallen selves to be picked up by our loving God and Savior whose hands overflow with mercy and grace. True worship takes place when God finds us willing to make the God-connection. Then and only then will we find what we have been looking for all along.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may you always find us willing and ready to worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen.

Pastor, Liberty UMC
Liberty, Kentucky