Methods of Praise

(Psalms 9:1) - "I will praise Thee, O Lord with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works."

 

At the heart of every believer's relationship with God is the privilege and responsibility to praise the Lord.

 

There are many kinds of methods of praising the Lord, and they are all biblical methods, even though some people may have difficulty or feel uncomfortable using some of the methods.

 

Before we begin to list the different methods of praising God, let's look at the meaning of the word "praise". Praise means to "bless God', to "worship", to "applaud", to "celebrate".

 

We fulfill the definitions of praise when we come together corporately to worship Him in our churches.  We praise Him with our singing to Him, not only corporately but also in our own private worship.  We can praise the Lord by also sharing with others the wonderful things that God has done in our own lives.  Our testimony to His goodness and faithfulness brings praise to Him.

 

There is another way that we can praise Him that we often do not consider as praise, but to God there is nothing that blesses Him more than when you and I live lives of spiritual integrity.  Our Godly living brings a daily praise to God.  Jesus reminds us that if we let our light shine, people will see our good works and give glory and praise to God (Matthew 5:16). 

 

The reasons that we have to praise God are so numerous that it's almost impossible to list them all, but when we begin to count our blessings, there will come out of our being a responce of praise.  God deserves our wholehearted praise.  Take a moment and praise Him.

Passing Your Test

(Job 23:10) - "But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

 

Job felt confident that God still cared about His life and that He knew no adversity that would turn Job from His faithfulness to him.  Job was determined to pass any test that God would give to him that would test Job's faithfulness to God.

 

There is a vast difference between "being tempted" and "being tested".  There is also a difference between the "tempter" and the "tester".  God is the tester, not the tempter.  James stated in (James 1:13) - "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be temped with evil, neither tempteth he any man".

 

Job had confidence that God knew the outcome of his testing.  The purpose of God testing Job was for the same reason that God, from time-to-time, will test us: to reveal whether or not we have developed in our walk with Him.

 

God may test us in order to strengthen our faith, but never with the intent of leading us to sin.

 

I believe that we all have to admit that there are times when you and I fail the test.  There's encouragement in knowing that even when we fail the test we will not experience rejection from God.  If and when we fail the test God will allow circumstances into our lives whereby we can ready ourselves for the next test because there will be the next test.

 

Job stated that when God tries him, he will come forth as gold.  It is the process of the testing that refines our spiritual purity.  The more we are tested the better we become.  What is a blessing to know is that God has patience to take us through His process of our growing.

The Joy of the Lord

(Nehemiah 8:10) - "Then he said unto them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

 

There is a tremendous difference between being joyful and being happy.  When a person is happy they are expressing an emotion based upon outward circumstances. When a person is joyful they are expressing an emotion based on what their heart knows is true, in spite of what their circumstances try to dictate to them.

 

It is the joy of the Lord that takes us through and gets us through our troubled times.  The joy that God gives to us gives us a strength that is greater and bigger than our problems.

 

As God's child, our problems and trials of life can and does affect our happiness.  But they cannot depleat our joy in God.  Not one time in scripture does God promise us a life with no difficulties, but He does promise us that in the midst of our difficulties His joy would take us through.

 

You may be experiencing difficult times even as you read these words.  My encourage-ment to you is to keep your eyes on the Lord, stand upon the promises of His Word, and by doing so, you'll experience the joy of the Lord as you stand upon the promises of His Word, and apply them to your life.

 

If for some reason your joy has been lost through sin or some other means, you have the promise that when you get in God's presence your joy will be restored.  Psalms 16:11 states that "In Thy presence is fullness of joy."

Ministering Angels

(II Kings 6:16) - "And he answered, fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."

An unseen spiritual realm does exists, consisting of a host of ministering angels who are active in the lives of God's people.  It's a comfort to know that we have a host of angels ready to intervene on our behalf according to God's bidding.

God's ministering angels are not far off, but are very close watching our activities and are on constant guard for our well-being.

We know that the Word of God is plain concerning the spiritual warfare that every Christian is fighting.  The comforting part of that fact is that God has provided us with all that we need to not only fight the battle, but to win the battle.

Paul stated in Ephesians 6:11-12: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

In the midst of our battles we have the assurance that all of heaven is in support of our victory.  All of Heaven also includes God's ministering angels who are watching over us and doing what they do as God directs them.  We may not be able to see them, but there is an army of Heaven in support of you and I.  So just as the above verse states, we do not need to fear, for there is a whole lot more for us than what is against us!  DO NOT FEAR - Heaven is on our side!