God Wants You Happy! Lessons from Victoria Osteen, Stargate SG1, and the Ori, etc

Amazon Prime: Stargate SG-1 Season 10 (affiliate link)

How do the Religious Community, Stargate SG1, The Ori, and Joel and Victoria Osteen all relate? To find out, keep reading...

"Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27 New American Standard Bible

* I want to be careful here to address the thoughts and ideas, and not the people involved. 

So often, when we begin to find mass disagreement (religious disagreements, political disagreements, etc), we find ourselves attacking each other, rather than discussing the ideas and concepts. Which is what has happened in the following instance. Let's examine the idea/concept/thought, not the person(s) involved.

Victoria Osteen is on people's hearts this week

Bloggers and News Media all seem have Joel and Victoria Osteen on their hearts lately. So before we get started, let us do what they are all hopefully doing too, let us pray FOR Joel and Victoria:

"Father, you are the One who has matchless Love for us, you are passionate about us, to the point that you sent your Son, Jesus, to suffer, die, go to hell, and rise again; so that we could be saved. He who knew no sin, became sin, so that we who knew no righteousness could be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Father, we only know how to love you, because you first loved us, and we thank you for wooing us as Your bride. We thank you for the life of Joel and Victoria Osteen. We ask that Your fruit in their life abound, and you continue to work in them to complete the work you started in them. So Be It!" (Prayer by Darrell Wolfe)

Religion

Hello, for those of you who don't know me, I feel compelled to introduce myself today. My name is Darrell Wolfe, and I am a Recovering Religiholic. I was raised in a #StainedGlassOrgans&Hymnals Church. Eventually I made my rounds through other styles, cultures, and backgrounds. I am very PRO Jesus, and very ANTI religion. As I look through history I define religion as:

"Religion is the by product left over after God's move, turned from movement to monument." (Tweet That!)

Religion really doesn't change at it's core, just it's make up and dress. From Pharisees to Priests to Pastors the titles change, but you can always smell the attitude. More addicted to their traditions than the truth of God.

A supposedly controversial statement:  "Jesus Wants You Happy!"

People are upset about a statement recently made by Victoria Osteen. ChristianNews.Net; tells how this YouTube Clip, shows Victoria Osteen making the following statement:

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God (I mean, that’s one way to look at it), we’re doing it for ourselves. Because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really, you’re doing it for yourself; because, that’s what makes God happy. Amen?” Victoria Osteen

So what's wrong with that statement?According to some, the problem with this statement is that it focuses on self.

Apparently: "It is wrong to worship God for your own self benefit."

So let's examine this idea.

Worship God For Myself

I cannot, will not, pretend to know what SHE meant. I wasn't there. You can only properly interpret a statement in it's context. Not just the context of that 10 minutes, but the entire service, indeed the entire life of that person and all they've taught and said until that moment. However, what I can do is tell you what I hear out of that statement, and it's counter statement. 

As soon as I heard that we should not worship God for our own self, I'm left to ask:

"Who benefits from worship if it's not me? God?" 

If I don't worship God for my benefit, then it must be God who benefits from my worship.

God needs our worship?

The very next thought reminded me of a concept born out of one of my favorite Science Fiction television series: Stargate SG1. In the last seasons of SG1, they encounter a religion enslaved to a race of energy beings called the Ori.

This excerpt from RDAnderson.Com explains:

The Ori draw their power from the worship of the humans who devote themselves to the religion of Origin. There is a real, physical transfer of energy to the Ori that occurs simply through a human being's belief in them, however, for it to have a measurable effect, it requires massive numbers of humans relinquishing their will.

That sounds an awful lot like a doctrine about demons, not the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

Does God NEED our worship?

It's fairly clear, from a reading of the whole bible, that God does not NEED anything or anyone. However, God does enjoy, and take great pleasure in, his created Mankind. Mankind, is his offspring, so to speak. He loves us as dearly loved children.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.Colossians 1:17 English Standard Version

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’" Acts 17:28 English Standard Version

"Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27 New American Standard Bible

Does God benefit from our worship?

Yes, God benefits from our worship in the same way that a person benefits when their spouse tells them how much they love and adore them. The bible tells us that He get's great pleasure when we prosper, and He throws parties for us when we come home, like the prodigal son. So yes, He get's pleasure from our pleasure.

Does Mankind benefit from our own worship of God?

Yes, ultimately God doesn't need us to worship Him.

Unlike the fictional Ori, if every human ever made never worshiped God, it wouldn't change God for a moment.

However, when a man/woman worships God it changes the man/woman. So who REALLY benefits from worshiping God? We do! And when we spend time in His presence, worshiping God, we are changed, and become more like Him.

Now, in that context, read this again:

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God (I mean, that’s one way to look at it), we’re doing it for ourselves. Because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really, you’re doing it for yourself; because, that’s what makes God happy. Amen?” Victoria Osteen

So...

God the FATHER, takes pleasure in His kids happiness? Yes.

You and I benefit from our worship of God, as we become more like him? Yes.

What's really being addressed here? It's religion. People often fall into a religious mindset in their worship of God. It's their duty, obligation, to worship God. Instead of being a powerful emotional experience, that changes the worshiper into being more like God, religion turns worship into an obligation that turns the worshiper into a self-righteous check list minded, slave of the religion. What I hear Victoria saying here, is that if you throw out all your religion, and just worship God because it changes you, and benefits you, and makes you more like Him... something paradoxical happens.

The worship starts as you needing the benefit, then as you worship Him, you become more like Him, and being like Him, you are no longer consumed with self. The very act that started as self-benefit did benefit self, and the overflow of that self-benefit is a benefit to others. Only people who are supplied can supply others, spirit, soul, body, financially, etc.

God doesn't need your worship, but you need your worship of Him, and others need your worship of Him.

Worship - For Your Benefit - The Ultimate Sacrifice


Will He also call you to sacrifice? Sure.

I OFTEN do not feel like worshiping God. It is not my flesh that wants to worship God. However, when I sacrifice that flesh and worship God anyway, I benefit, and so do other around me. The bible calls this:

A Sacrifice of Praise Heb 13:15

Paul and Silas were thrown in a prison for their life in God. But what did they do in that prison? They SANG (it's hard to sing depressed) and God busted open the doors. The religious minded person would have sat in that jail cell, and moaned about how they are "suffering for Jesus".

Paul and Silas sang, not for God's benefit, but for theirs, which turned into overflow and benefited the fellow jailed, the jailor, the jailors family, it even started a new Church in that city.

Worshiping God, for your benefit is the highest selfless act you can do.

And now I leave you with a question:

What do you think, who benefits from Worshiping God more, You or God?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

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By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

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