 This Weeks Message- (scripture taken from King James
Version)
"ENTER
IN WITH PRAISE"
“The LORD
reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be
moved. The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for
it is HOLY. The king’s strength also
loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in
Jacob. Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship
at his footstool; for he is holy. Moses and
Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon
the LORD, and he answered them. He spake unto
them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a
God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy
hill; for the LORD our God is Holy.” (Ps 99) “Make
a JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD, all ye lands. SERVE
the LORD with GLADNESS: come
before his presence with singing. Know ye
that the LORD he is GOD: it is he that hat made us, and not we ourselves; we are HIS
people, and the sheep of HIS pasture. ENTER
INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING and INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE: BE
THANKFUL UNTO HIM, AND BLESS HIS NAME. For
the LORD is Good; His mercy is everlasting; and his TRUTH ENDURETH to all
generations” (Ps 100)
The Lord delights in our praise and
worship. He longs to hear the sound of
worship pouring forth from the heart, THROUGH the mouths of His children. As much as we long for Him and desire Him, He
longs for us and desires our praise! Through praise we pour out our love, our gratitude,
our adoration for Him. We praise Him
simply for who HE IS, for His greatness, power and majesty.
We praise Him because though we are undeserving of His blessings, His
Goodness, His Mercy and Grace, He still freely gives it, and while we were yet STILL
sinners, Christ died for us that we may have LIFE. We
praise Him for His UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
when what we truly deserved was his wrath. We
praise Him because He is the GREAT, I AM. Nothing is to difficult for Him, there is NONE
before him, and there shall be NONE after for HE is the ALPHA and OMEGA, He is the BEGINNING and THE END TO ALL THINGS! There is NOTHING made that He didn’t
make. He is the KING OF THE UNIVERSE and ALL THINGS are under His feet. With a WORD he commanded the heavens and earth and
ALL that is within into existence and IT WAS SO! With
His breath, he breathed into the nostrils of dead flesh and it became LIFE! He is the GREATEST surgeon there is for with His
hand he opened up the side of Adam, and from it He withdrew a rib. He then created a woman, and miraculously closed
the opening in Adam’s side leaving not an inch of a scar. GREAT and MARVELOUS are His works! There is NONE like Him! He is SO WORTHY of our praise, He is SO WORTHY of
the honor, He is SO WORTHY of our worship! Thus,
when we come before the Lord, when we come in the presence of His Glory, Let us “ENTER IN WITH PRAISE!”
Within the Body of Christ, there are noted three
types of “worshipers”. The first
are the ones that play “follow the leader”, where they cautiously look around to
see what everyone else is doing. If the
majority raise their hands, he/she would then raise their hands. If the Majority are praising with a loud voice,
then he/she would began speaking out a few words of praise: “Hallelujah”,
“Amen”, “Praise the Lord”, etc. etc.
The trouble with this is such a one is not genuinely lifting the Lord up in praise
from the heart. They may be able to fool the
people around them by “blending in”, but the Lord knows the heart. Don’t you think it hurts him tremendously
that you would open your mouth to praise, but don’t feel the praise in your heart,
and it’s not coming from your spirit but your flesh!
It must break His heart that a person would utter the words but not really
mean it. It’s like telling someone
“I LOVE YOU”, but not really meaning the words spoken as it did not come from
the heart. The Lord is NOT moved by
“false” praise, it only hurts him to hear words spoken that are not truly meant.
But, here’s the one I believe hurts the Lord even more. It is the one who says in his heart, “I
don’t need to raise my hands, or lift my voice.
I’ll just worship Him in my mind, he knows I love Him. All that crying out and weeping is too
extreme.” Such a person sits or stands
with his arms locked across his chest, or motionless by his side and stares aimlessly
ahead while others around are giving God Glory and Praise.
Here’s the trouble with this behavior. It
plays right into the hands of the enemy! He
simply loves it when you keep your mouth shut and refuse to utter even a single word of
praise to the Lord. Why? Because he HATES the
sound of PRAISE and WORSHIP, as He was created for such, and wanting to be
“equal” to God, He desired to be praised! He
cannot stand hearing the Lord’s name lifted up in adoration. Therefore, those who keep silent, are pleasing in
the eyes of the enemy! And, for those who
believe that crying out, weeping, and shouting words of praise before the Lord is
“too extreme”, what about your
shouting out victoriously at a sports event. You
think it nothing to stand on your feet and cheer the athlete on, and shout triumphantly
when one “scores”. You shout to the
top of your lungs and yet, isn’t this rather extreme?
I mean after all, did anyone on that field hang upon a cross at Calvary, was beaten
beyond recognition, mocked, ridiculed, and died a very painful death for YOUR sins? Did anyone there offer you the gift of
“Eternal Life?” There is nothing
wrong with enjoying a game of sports, however I should think that if you’re able to
shout then, surely you should be able to shout PRAISES before the Lord! For He has given us something NO ONE else can give
us, salvation and eternal life. THAT IS WORTH SHOUTING AND PRAISING GOD FOR!
The third and
final worshiper, is the “TRUE WORSHIPER”, for such a one worships the Lord God
in spirit and in truth! This worshiper the
Lord DELIGHTS in! He is unconcerned about
others around him, as his focus is on the Lord and pouring out his love in the form of
worship to Him. It doesn’t matter if he
is the ONLY one standing in praise, or lying prostrate before the Lord for he’s not
trying to be “seen by men”, but His desire is that of intimacy and fellowship
with the Lord. His heart is consumed with
gratitude, with Love for Jesus that he could hardly contain himself. A true worshiper says: “Lord I give you praise for the very air I
breathe, for there are some who are unable to breathe on their own.” A true worshiper says: “Lord
I give you praise that although I may not sit down to a huge meal tonight, you’ve
provided me with bread for there are many who have not even a morsel of bread to
eat.” A true worshiper says: “Lord, I give you praise that although my
cloths are ragged and my shoes are worn, they keep me warm, as there are many who’ve
nothing to wear on the body nor feet.” A
true worshiper says: “Lord, I give you praise that although I may
feel lonely at times, I AM NEVER ALONE, for there are MANY who are truly alone as
they’ve yet to receive YOU!” And a true worshiper says: “LORD I THANK YOU NOT FOR WHAT YOU CAN GIVE, BUT FOR WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY GIVEN!“
RATHER THAN RECEIVE A PENALTY FOR MY SINS, I INSTEAD RECEIVED FORGIVENESS, THROUGH FAITH AND REPENTANCE, AND THE GIFT OF ETERNAL
LIFE! A true worshiper doesn’t
need to seek for a reason to worship and praise the Lord, he simply worships HIM because
of WHO HE IS!
Remember
dear saints of God, ALL the Lord has brought you through.
The many times you thought you just couldn’t face another day, and in
his mercy he gave you strength to carry on. Remember
the many times he’s provided for you, and the times you’ve felt alone He’s
ALWAYS been there. When your family and
friends forsook you, HE WAS THERE and did not abandon you.
Remember the price HE paid that we may be reconciled to the Father and have
Eternal Life with Him. Remember His GREAT,
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE even when you spoke unkindly about Him, was angry towards Him, He STILL
LOVED YOU with an EVERLASTING LOVE! “ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING and
INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE: BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM, AND BLESS HIS NAME! MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE
IS GOOD; AND HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING!……….HE IS WORTHY!!
I love you all so very much. Have a
blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of
GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!
May the peace of the Lord be with
you today and always…….
Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
of the Lord God
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