Enter His Gates

Thanksgiving is not about getting ready to shop for Christmas. It is not about the turkey and the stuffing, or the green beans or the ham or any of those things, but it is about giving thanks for all the blessings the Lord has given us. Most importantly it is about thanking God for giving His only Son Jesus and Jesus giving His life for all who would accept Him into their life.

Psalm 100:4 (KJV) says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Praise

Hallelujah! Praise God in His holy house of worship, praise Him under the open skies; Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; Praise Him with castanets and dance, praise Him with banjo and flute; Praise Him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise Him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise GOD! Hallelujah! Psalm 150:1-6 (The Message)

The dictionary defines praise as the act of extolling or exaltation of a deity, ruler, or hero; worship. To extol suggests joy, excitement, adoration or glorification. The writer of this Psalm is encourages the reader to worship and praise God with their entire being.

Our spiritual journey in life presents two roads: the road to eternal life and the road to death. As we embark on our journey we encounter obstacles, troubles, joy, grief, pain, and success. If we have chosen the road to life through Jesus Christ, then we have chosen the right road. When we choose this path, and as our life comes to a close, we can truly praise the Lord through faith, knowing that our choice has given us everlasting life in that place He has prepared for us.

Let’s praise Him in the morning, in the midnight hour, when things are going well, and surely even when things are going wrong. He sees, He hears, and He knows all that we are experiencing, and He delights in our praises. Let’s just praise the Lord. His greatest joy comes when we, his creation, genuinely trust, worship, and praise Him.

Psalm 106:1 (The Message)  – “Hallelujah! Thank GOD! And why? Because He’s good, because His love lasts.”

Psalm 147:1 (The Message) – “Hallelujah! It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.”

Psalm 150:1 (King James Version)  “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

Excerpt from: ”Water for the Thirsty Soul” by B. F. Gilder (Copyright 2012)

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Praise

Psalms 150:6 – “Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”

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P ~ Pray without ceasing.

R ~ Rejoice in the Lord always.

A ~ Acknowledge that you are a sinner saved by God’s abundant grace.

I ~  Praise Him because you are created in His image.

S  ~ Salvation. Praise Him because He has given you salvation (you are saved by faith it is the gift of God)

E ~  Eternal Life – you have eternal life because God gave His Son Jesus. St. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The angels praise God all day and all night. They cry holy, holy, holy, holy.

 Psalm 34: – “I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praise.”

Dedicated To the One You Love

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Are you dedicated to the one you love? Do you give 50%, 60%, 70%, or 100% to the one you love? Do you feel lost when the one you love is not around for you to share your feelings with? Does your face light up with a huge smile when you are in the presence of the one you love?

Now ask yourself these same questions in reference to God. Are you dedicated to Him? Do you give him your all (100%) ? Do you feel lost, alone, or lonely when you can’t feel His presence? Do you light up with praise and worship for Him when you are in His presence?

What does it really mean to be dedicated to God? It means giving up whatever God requires of you. To be dedicated means not conforming your will and your desires to those evil desires of the world. Dedication is not just for one area of your life, but for every area of your life. That means your family, your home, your finances, your talents, and all that you have are to be dedicated to God.

What instructions does the bible give to help us dedicate ourselves to God?

1 Peter 1:13-14 (AMP) – 13 So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.  14 [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].

Romans  12:1-3 (AMP) – 1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.  2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].  3 For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 (AMP) – 22 Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.”

Are you dedicated to the one you love?

Keep It Moving

I like to listen to Marvin Sapp’s CD “I Win”. I am surprised I haven’t scratched the words off of the CD. It is an uplifting and encouraging, and inspirational CD. If you need a lift in your spirit get this CD and listen to it. One of the songs entitled “Keep it Movin” is one that I play over and over.  Marvin’s CD has the right title “I Win” because when you listen to these songs you can’t help but believe that you will win.

Be blessed as you listen and praise the Lord.

 

 

“I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.” Philippians 3:14 (Amplified)

Praise is a Weapon

Gospel singer Marvin Sapp sings a song on his “I Win” CD entitled “Teach My Hands to War. Marvin says praise is a weapon; it’s  the weapon that will help us win.  The saying is, when praises go up blessings come down. So let’s get our praise on and use our weapon and lift up holy hands in praise to the Lord.

 

Psalm 150:1-6 (Amplified)

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power! Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes! Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)”

30 Days Of…Day 12 – “Thoughts About Jesus”

Today on my drive home I was thinking about what to write. Once again while listening to one of my WOW Gospel CD’s a song by Smokie Norful came on. Smokie was singing about Jesus deserving all the praise and I thought about their being so many reasons why Jesus deserves the praise.

 

Here are just a few reasons why He deserves the praise. He is:

1. Righteous
2. Holy
3. Mighty
4. My Redeemer
5. My Savior
6. My Healer
7. My Friend
8. A Mother
9. A Father
10. A Brother
11. A Sister

He is so much more and does so much more and that’s why He is worthy of all the praise. He is there when I feel alone. He protects me from dangers I can not see. He puts a smile on my face when I really want to frown and He places people in my life just at the right time to make me laugh.

He really does deserve all the praise.