Praise the Lord

I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: And thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: And thy glory above all the earth; That thy beloved may be delivered: Save with thy right hand, and answer me. Psalm 108:3‭-‬6 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.108.3-6.KJV

I was watching a sermon recently and the pastor was speaking of how we go to games or races and we shout and scream for our team to win and if they do we scream even more. Then, when we come to God’s house on Sunday, we sit there as if we are dead and can’t seem to get excited enough to light a match. What is wrong with this? The thing that is wrong is that we don’t want to praise the Lord so enthusiastically that we draw attention to ourselves. We view worship as a somber and quiet affair when all of Heaven shouts for joy when just one person comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

If you can’t endure an hour of praise for the grace and mercy that God has given you on Sunday how are you going to live in Heaven for eternity? I realize that most of us were raised in churches that don’t get excited about salvation or about God even but He gets excited about your salvation so why can’t you get excited about Him? The One that you worship and depend on every day, or at least you should, is the Creator of everything that you see and feel every day!

God loves each one of us but it is our sins that place a barrier between us and Him. All that we need to do is repent of those sins and turn to Him for our salvation by believing that He died for us and paid the price for our sins. Don’t turn away from Him when you feel His call in your heart. No one is guaranteed tomorrow so make sure of your salvation today.

The Truth

Return to the Lord

Criticism in the church

This is something that the church has had in it from the beginning. Regardless of the people or the denomination, when there’s a revival or a movement of God’s Spirit happening there’s going to be pushback from those who are very rigid in their faith.

There have been low periods in our country and around the world where it has seemed that God has not been present but when He shows up, things begin to change. There’s a reawakening in the church and the community, and sometimes it spills over into the area around the church. God is good at bringing a revival but we need to be seeking it as well. It won’t come if we are trying to keep Him in the “box” we’ve made for Him.

The movement of God’s Spirit that is happening now couldn’t be seen a couple of years ago but it’s here. Pray for those whose lives are being changed. Maybe your life will be drawn closer to Him as well.

Restore my joy

The world hates us…

I can…

My soul thirsts for You

Pain and…

I left the end of the title open because it needs to be. All of us go through life with pain at some point. Arthritis, achy joints because of age or other problems, or plain, worn-out joints, so just getting up from a chair or bed is sometimes painful. Whether this causes us “suffering” is an individual thing. The pain can be sharp or intense sometimes but most days it doesn’t last for long. On other days the pain is a constant ache and it seems to become less achy as the day goes on but it never really goes away. What is my point in beginning my writing today in such a manner?

The point is that each of us has to deal with pain at some point in our lives. Sometimes it is because of age or disease. Sometimes it is because of the loss of a family member or a close friend. In either instance, the loss is felt deeply and it may take a long time for us to learn how to handle it. Emotional pain is the kind that never goes away. We need to seek God’s strength to help us through it every day.

Our world and the problems that we have to live with each day are caused by the sin that Adam brought into the world. We can’t fix them on our own and we can’t fix the problems brought on by the sins against God in the garden. Our sins cause the problems that we have in our world today. We can’t blame the problems that we have today on our parents or grandparents. Our world and its tribulations were brought on because of our sinful ways today, not because of someone else’s actions that were done years ago.

Jesus said that we would have trials in this world but He also said that we should have faith in Him because He overcame the world. Have faith in Him for your salvation and your provision for today and tomorrow and for your eternity that is to come. He is the only way to gain access to Heaven. It is our faith and belief in Jesus that brings us salvation and nothing else.