KHANDIE'S KORNER - November 18, 2002

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Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

ROSE.gif (9864 bytes)This Weeks Message- (scripture taken from King James Version)

"THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE"

“I Love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.  Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon  me: I found trouble and sorrow.  Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.  Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.   The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.  Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.  For thou has delivered my soul from Death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.  I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.  I believed, therefore I have spoken: I was greatly afflicted.  I said in my haste, All men are liars.  What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits towards me?  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.  O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.  I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving , and will call upon the name of the LORD.  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.  Praise ye the LORD.” (Psalms 116)

This is truly a most magnificent and awesome psalm of praise, worship and declaration of the Lords greatness, power, goodness and mercy written by the great psalmist as he shares with the hearer how the Lord had delivered him from the pain of sorrow and death.  He had cried out to the Lord, and nearing death offered up to the HIM the sound of praise and thanksgiving.   He called upon HIS name in his hour of need and the Lord heard and answered him. Thus, destruction did not come nigh him, for the Lord heard his prayer of supplication, his prayer of praise, his prayer of thanksgiving and loosed him from the chains of bondage and set him free.  Here we can learn a great lesson on how to deal with negative circumstances, how to combat the forces of evil.  No matter what we may face, even death, the Lord is still worthy of “The Sacrifice of Praise.”  And, He will most certainly honor and bless the lips of a TRUE worshiper.

To sacrifice means to “surrender”,  to “Give-up” , “to offer” something of value that we would rather hold on to. Our praise and worship is most valuable to the Lord, it is a sweet smelling aroma to Him.  No gift is greater than that of worship from the lips of his children.  To withhold Praise renders nothing, but it is the “letting go” that truly reaps great benefits.  There is much to be said about praise and worship as it is one of the greatest tools every believer has in blessing the Lord and defeating the enemy.  This was something the Apostle Paul and Silas knew all to well after being beaten, bound by chains and cast into prison.  Rather than murmur and complain over the circumstances, rather than weep and moan, rather than give into despair and hopeless, rather than becoming angry with God for allowing their imprisonment, they instead began to WORSHIP!  They began to offer up to the Lord, the “Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.”  Their “joyful singing unto the Lord” captured them an audience, for the other prisoners themselves began to listen with pleasure.  But, more than this, their worship reached the ears of the Father who delighted in their sacrifice of thanksgiving and delighted in their praise.   Thus he caused a great earthquake to shake the very foundation of that prison whereby every locked door was opened, and every chain which had once bound them was loosed.  Every prisoner was set free.  But, more than this, as a result of Paul and Silas’ praise and worship to the Lord, and by the Power of Almighty God, one prison Guard and his entire family was sealed that night with the gift of salvation and eternal life for they then believed on the name of the Lord Jesus, received him and were baptized.  The sacrifice of praise and worship, and the move of the Holy Spirit of God open the doors for a family who was once lost and doomed for eternal damnation, to receive eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  What an awesome gift the Lord had given when he heard their worship and their praise.  Not only were they and all prisoners set free, but souls were won and names were added that night in the Lambs book of life.

The enemy loves to silence the tongue of a worshiper.  He’ll try and convince you your situation is hopeless to bring upon despair and weariness.  He’ll tell you that God hasn’t heard your prayers, that you’ve been waiting for so long for the manifestation of his promises that  you may as well give up.  Your dreams will never be fulfilled, you are wasting your time.  For those who are sick in the body he will tell you, you’ll never be healed.   For those who are standing for their marriages, many who’ve already gone through divorce he’ll tell you to stop believing, that restoration will not take place in your marriages and families.  Many who are praying for a loved one’s salvation, he’ll say to you “give up, forget it!  Don’t waste your time!  If they were going to be saved they would have been a long time ago.  Your prayers are useless!”   For many who are single and desiring someone to wed and share their lives with, he will tell you “you’re not worthy of love, you will never be blessed with a husband or wife, God doesn’t care that you are lonely.  Look! You’ve been praying for so long and still nothing has happened.   Why don’t you just give up and accept the life of being single?”   For those who are struggling in the area of finances and are finding it difficult to make ends meet, the devil will tell you “God wants you poor, he wants you struggling, he will never bless you financially.  Struggling and suffering will keep you humble.” And for ministries, for pastors, evangelists, apostles, prophets and teachers whom God has laid a great vision upon your heart the devil will tell you “That’s not God’s vision, but yours.  He hasn’t called you to do anything.  Why are the doors remaining shut?  You are dreaming an impossible dream.  You may as well give up and go back to your old life.  You’ve believed for so long, have sacrificed much, have cried out to the Lord  and still you are no further ahead today than you were years ago when you first started.  Give up the dream, Give up the vision, it’s impossible!”  THESE ARE ALL LIES AND TRICKERY OF THE ENEMY.  His sole purpose is to cause despair and silence your voice from worshiping the Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the GREAT I AM!!!  He knows the moment you begin to open your mouth in worship, awesome and mighty things begin to happen.  You may not physically see the change as yet, but as you continue to offer him the sacrifice of praise, you will begin to see the IMPOSSIBLE manifested into POSSIBILTY! 

Beloved saints of God, it is easy to give praise and thanks to God when you have everything, when all is going well and you lack nothing.  But the true challenge is offering up that praise and worship to God when you have NOTHING!  When you cannot even see at all a way out!  When the blessing appears so far down the road it seeps into the realm of impossibility in the Natural.   If you can STILL WORSHIP THE LORD WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING, when you are still suffering, when your body is filled with pain and your heart is aching over a loved one, when your pockets are empty and the bills are mounting, when you’re lonely and desiring a companion, when you seem to be attacked on all sides, IF you can STILL WORSHIP THE LORD when all you have is your FAITH while seeing no physical evidence of change, when all you know is that HE SAID, thus HE WILL DO IT according to HIS WORD, then the sound that comes forth from your lips beloved are that of a TRUE WORSHIPER and the Lord will SURELY bless you , for THIS my dear brothers and sisters IS “THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE.”

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…….

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