John 4:23-24 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” Meaningful worship is one of the deepest needs of life, yet it is the weakest point in most of our worship. This is because of the lack of spiritual power, the lack of inward peace, and the failure to be genuine followers of Christ. During the second world war, Japan had a special division of pilots who flew suicide missions. They were called “kamikaze” pilots. The Allied forces considered them to be fanatic, and some even said that they were drugged. Those who were acquainted with Japanese history and customs recognised that these suicide missions were an expression of a combination of the highest patriotism and the deepest religious devotion. … Their actions illustrated the truth that intense dedication to a god (albeit a false god in their case) resulted in a special kind of people. [Adapted from T.T. Crabtree, Pastor’s Annual 2009, p.40] The Scripture text from John 4 helps us to reflect on the special kind of people God wants His worshippers to be. It helps us traceback to reflect and trace back to the inadequacy of our worship, and to examine if we have been fooling ourselves into believing we are worshipping when in reality we are not. The following explanation from my Life Application Bible on John 4:23-24 will help us: “God is spirit” means He is not a physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere and He can be worshiped anywhere, at any time. It is not where we worship that counts, but how

Matthew 7:13-14 The Narrow Gate 13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. We hear this statement all the time – “Life is about making choices.” We will be surprised at some researchers’ findings that people make dozens of decisions on a daily basis. Over the centuries, studies on decision-making contributed to a number of intellectual disciplines such as mathematics, sociology, psychology, economics, and political science. Philosophers pondered about “what our decisions say about ourselves and about our values” and neuroscientists researched to provide leaders with studies on how to become better decision-makers.[1] What does the Bible say about decision-making that leads to life? In all choice-making, there is the end result. Simple choices about food can contribute to our well-being. Harder decision makings will decide our future. The more important decision about life leads to eternal life – this is the hint that Jesus gives to us. Enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow path which leads to eternal life! The narrow gate does not look attractive and may be hard to squeeze through. The narrow path does not look comfortable to walk on and may be rough and bumpy. Nevertheless, the reward at the end of this path is one that every living person is seeking – eternal life! The narrow gate is Jesus and the narrow path is to walk with Him as His disciples. “We are free up to the point of choice, then the choice controls the chooser.”[2] God tells us there are two gates with two different paths – the chooser’s choice from this point of decision

Colossians 4:22 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. An encouragement to give time to pray (devote) with our mind and our heart – be alert and be thankful! A time of quiet prayer can be the most peaceful time one can enjoy. We normally think that God is listening to prayers from far away. Next time when we pray, know that we are inviting God into our circumstances, our fear, our pain, our hope, and our dream. When we pray, we enter a relational experience with God as we talk and listen to Him wherever we may be … anywhere in our home or in our garden, in our car or during our walk, in our happiness or sadness. Devote our mind and heart to pray, not only when we are in need (raining days) but also on every good day (sunny days). This quote reminds us, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines” (by Satchel Paige).[1] A.W. Tozer’s writing on “To be right, we must think right” will speak to us on being alert or watchful to pray. He says: “The more I think about it the madder I get” is the way the average (people) state it, and in so doing not only report accurately on (their) own mental processes but pay as well an unconscious tribute to the power of thought. Thinking stirs feeling and feeling triggers action. That is the way we are made and we may as well accept it.[2] An example from the Bible describes an angry thought and an alert mind to talk with God: Psalm 39:3-4 – The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words: “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth