Praise Him

I was given the task to do the devotion for my music cell today and I came across this on the internet, which pretty much sums up what I wanted to talk about. I got this song in my head called, 'Everything that has breath'. It's an old song but I really like it and it fits nicely to this week's songs.

In Everything We Must Praise

November 16, 2007 — kdavid

IN EVERYTHING WE MUST PRAISE

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the LORD. ^a]">[a]
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

Praise theologically means to glorify, to say good things about someone or something but Biblically speaking it means to give honor and adoration to God.

It is a repetitive biblical concept that we should Praise the Lord at all times. You can find such examples in passages such as

Psalm 117:1

Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Praise him, all you people of the earth

And psalm 150.

The Bible gives us many examples of ways to express Praise to God, from the lifting of hands to the raising of our voices. But nowhere in scripture is there a list limiting one’s expression or style of praise to the Lord. Each of us have our own unique way of praising the Lord. Sometimes however in our natural human intellect we confuse worship with Praise. Let me explain to you the vast difference between worship and Praise. Worship is when we have that direct connection to God and everything around us suddenly disappears. It is when we have that private moment with our heavenly father. Praise on the other hand means to give honor and adoration to God to boast about God. It is our duty and our right to Praise the Lord at all times. David said in Psalms 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His Praise shall continually be in my mouth”. Those of us who are like David, who constantly sing Praises unto the Lord, realize that praising God is natural, it is innate within us. You see Praise is not a moment but it is a lifestyle and living a life of Praise leads to living a life of worship.

I have a few questions for you:

Why do we Praise? For many of us praising God was taught to us from the time we were small so the older we get it becomes second nature to us. But you see Praise starts stirring up inside of you every time you think about your testimony. I’m not talking about the thank you Jesus for waking me up this morning even though that is great and wonderful but I want to know how many of us has ever gotten to the point where we shabach’d God. You see shabach means to commend or to Praise something or someone with a loud voice. Has anyone been to a point in their lives where you thought there was no escape you thought that this was it, and then God came through for you and you felt something stirring up in your spirit to the point where it felt like you were going to burst?

That’s the Praise I am talking about. In 2 chronicles chapter 20:14-16 the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel and told king Jehoshaphat ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. The Lord assured Jehoshaphat that his army would not have to fight. The Lord God Himself said that he will deliver King Jehoshaphat and his army from the hands of his enemies. As we continue reading the passage it is said that King Jehoshaphat then bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem in worship before the Lord. After which some Levites from the kohathites and korahites stood up and praised the Lord with a very loud voice. You see sometimes even though we get a revelation from God for things that he is going to do for us, we seem to rest on His Word half way and still rely on our own strength. I strongly believe this is one of the reasons why we don’t get the blessings that the Lord has in store for us. If we are going to trust the Lord we have to do it completely. We all know the saying

“When the Praises go up the blessings will come down”.

Note the order our Praises must go up first. When the Praises go up then the blessings that the Lord have for us will come down. Now we have to be very careful, remember Praise is a lifestyle. If you plan to Praise the Lord only when you want something or when you fall on your face and as soon as God comes through for you, then you are going to go back to your regular routines. You see you need to move from using Lord to praising the Lord.

Is your Praise the same when you fall on your face? When you hit rock bottom is your Praise the same? And if it’s not the same, what is the reason for it not being the same? I firmly believe that there should be an increase in your Praise when you are down. I say this because when you understand what your Praise can do it will blow your mind. We all realize that the devil and his angels communicate through the frequency in the air and when you start praising you disrupt their communication. All this happens because Praise is your weapon.

God Bless, Kenton S. David

http://called2ministry.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/in-everything-we-must-praise-devotion-110607/

Psalm16

Last Sat, my youth invited me to speak for the afternoon. Not knowing what to preach about, I just started randomly looking at the Bible. I found out from past events, that it really works, just trusting in the Lord to see what God wants to me to say. So I eventually found Ps 16. Here it is, just a bit of a read through.

Psalm 16 (New International Version)

Psalm 16

A miktam of David. [a]

1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.

2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."

3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. [b]

4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.

5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, [c]
nor will you let your Holy One [d] see decay.

11 You have made [e] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

The Topic of the day was "TRUST"

I've split the psalm in to 3 parts/points. 1) Trust in the Lord. 2) He has the Master Plan 3) Rejoice in the Lord. I've also tried to explain each verse and how to apply it to our lives.

1) Trust in the Lord. vs 1-4

1. He protects - the main theme of the whole psalm is actually based on this verse and the rest is just the expression of it. Refuge. This is the key word. Refuge is a place where we feel safe, secure and protected. We need to know that, in times of trouble, he is the place where we take refuge, to be protected and be safe.

2. He is my all - You see, even David, a king says there no good things other than the Lord. Look around us, our own possessions, are but nothing. Because we don't actually own them, nor can we bring it back to 'home'.

3. He provides friends - (at this point I would like to point out that these are my interpretations and from what I've studied, do let me know if there is anything I need to change or add) I see this verse as God providing people/ friends for us. I've been truly blessed to have good friends all around, everywhere I go; from my home town in Keningau, to Labuan (which is where I met a lot of good people, in my college, whom I wish I could spend more time with) and in New Zealand. I know that in times of trouble, I could count on them to help me and support me.

4. Pray for others - I urge all of us, to pray for one another and to pray for the non belivers. Every night, in my prayer, I have a list of friends, who do not know the Lord and I pray for them, that one day.. one day.. they will know the Lord. Just look around, in your circle of friends, in uni, in your work place, there is bound to be someone that needs the Lord. Bless those people who are out there, going around daringly telling others of the Lord. If such courage is not within us, then, at least, pray for them and the none believers to have a soften heart.

2) He has the master plan. vs 5-8

5. He provides - each person in the world has a 'portion', big or small, depends on what is in God's plan, but it is always 'sufficient' for you to live on. The Lord even provides for the birds and the trees to live, what more us, his Children?

6. He has a set plan for us - there are two are that I can see from this verse.

One, expansion of your territory. Do pray that the Lord expand your territory and give you wisdom and strength to do what the Lord has in store for you. When I first arrived, I asked the Lord to provide me with an area which I can serve Him. He gave me the music ministry, which is where I found my talent of singing (I use to think that I don't have a good voice, until I started singing in NZ and people keep saying how good it is. Until now, I still don't fully belive that I have that nice of a voice, but I trust the Lord that He did gave me that. :-) ) Then a few months back, I prayed about expantions of my boundaries and to give me more areas to serve Him. The Lord bless me with youth work, which I'll be starting as soon as I get back to NZ.

Two, he has a set path for us. Imagine that you are in a jungle, with no map or compass. We will most likely be going around in circles. This is the same in our lives if we do not have Jesus in the throne of our life. With God directing and showing the way, we will have a path and a road in the thick of the jungle.

7. He counsels you - In times of trouble, we always try to find help, or want someone to reach out to. It is always good to know that God is just a prayer away. I spend a lot of time online and there are times when I have friends who seek my counsel either in relationship problems or other matters. I always pray a short prayer before I start doing anything. "God, help me. Use me and tell me what you want me to say to him/her, to help her and guide her. I lift this up to You Lord. Amen" This little prayer, time and time again, have help me help others. I really thank God for giving me the opportunity to help people in need.

8. He is my strength - Look, even David, who has an army behind him, still puts God before everything. By doing so, he has summoned the strength that is only given by the Lord. Strength that will cause you not to be shaken in times of trials. Spiritual attacks are getting more and more frequent these days. They can even come from friends and family that are close to us. Stand firm but lead on the Lord. When the enemy attack, love him/her.


3) Rejoice in the Lord. vs 9-11

9. Sing to the Lord - Sing on to the Lord, with all your heart and rejoice. I'm blessed by the Lord with a nice voice and musical talent which I am able to serve the Lord int he music ministry. I'm also blessed with being able to write songs of praise and worship. I urge my fellow Christians to give your full-hearted worship when singing. Read and enjoy the lyric, these words are the writer's heart felt joy and love for the Lord.

10. He will not leave you - singing and rejoicing in the Lord keeps Him in your heart. In times of trouble, he'll be there. No matter what.

11. He fills you with Joy - This joy is not the joy that we see on TV. Everyone can be happy, and have joyful moments. But the Joy that a Christian has, is a different Joy. It is God given and is more than a warm feeling. It's God love and peace upon us.


So that's generally my sharing for the youth. Don't really know if it was a bit hard or long (boring) for them. Most of them are my little age (13-15 year-olds). But I hope they understand what I was trying to tell them. I ended with a song I made a few months back. Hope they are blessed by it.


Any Comments, please do so. Need feed back to make sure I'm saying the right things and to teaching wrong things as I'll be leading the youth in New Zealand this year. Pray for me. God Bless..

Jesus Saves

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the
computer.They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all thebickering. Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a testthat will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.'

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.
They faxed.
They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments.
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets!
They wrote reports.
They created labels and cards.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports
They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off..

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!'

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work..

Satan observed this and became irate.

'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?'

God just shrugged and said,
JESUS SAVES

Forgiveness

Matthew 6:9-15
Reasons to forgive

First, forgiveness halts the cycle of blame and pain, breaking the chain of ungrace. Without it we remain bound to the people we can’t forgive, held in their vise grip.

Second, forgiveness loosens the stranglehold of guilt in the perpetrator. It allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party, even if a just punishment is still required.

And third, forgiveness creates a remarkable linkage, placing the forgiver on the same side as the party who did the wrong. We are not as different from the wrongdoer as we would like to think, for we too must ask our heavenly Father, “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12). — Philip Yancey

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2008/10/09/devotion.aspx

Reconcile with your neighbour

READ: Matthew 5:21-26

Jesus pointed out that in order to worship Him with all our heart, we first need to resolve matters with others. In Matthew 5:23-24, He said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Even in a matter so basic as our giving, the ability to truly worship God is hindered by the reality of relationships broken by our wrong actions, attitudes, and words.

So that our worship can be pleasing and acceptable to God, let us make every effort to be reconciled to one another—today. — Bill Crowder

Have you hurt a friend or brother?
Go at once and make things right;
From your heart say, “Please forgive me.”
How these words bring God delight! —D. De Haan

An offense against your neighbor is a fence between you and God.

ref: http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2008/10/08/devotion.aspx

Re-vamp of an old hymn

I was playin my guitar last Wednesday... My song book was open to my hymns page and I was just playing random stuff.. then one melody hit me... and I glance to the hymns, the hymn ' Only trust Him' pop right in front me... and I started to sing that lyric... and hit fits like a glove...!!!

Praise God for another song.... Amen...
P.s, if you are reading this and want to know how it sounds like, let me know... Cheers..

Come, every soul by sin oppressed,
 there's mercy with the Lord;
 and he will surely give you rest,
 by trusting in his Word.
Refrain:
 Only trust him, only trust him,
 only trust him now.
 He will save you, he will save you,
 he will save you now.

2. For Jesus shed his precious blood
 rich blessings to bestow;
 plunge now into the crimson flood
 that washes bright as snow.
 (Refrain)

3. Yes, Jesus is the truth the way
 that leads you into rest;
 believe in him without delay,
 and you are fully blest.
 (Refrain)

4. Come then and join this holy band,
 and on to glory go,
 to dwell in that celestial land
 where joys immortal flow.
 (Refrain)

Helping friend in hard times

I find it interesting, how God use me in many ways to help people in times of need. It's always seems like it's the 'wrong' timing or when I'm busy but somehow it always works out.

The most frustrating thing is to see your friend go through hardship and you can't do much about it. It's like God is differing the answers. It's so annoying that the friend that you are trying to help won't listen to you, or have their own mind set and won't change it for the better. The long hours and hurt that I have to go through sometimes to listen to them and to advice them(with the aid of the Holy Sprit ), but I always find joy in the end, when everything is well at the end. Like the old hymn, it is well.. it is well, with my soul....

Now I'm kinda annoyed that a person that I know needs help but I can't seem to help. There is like a barrier. I find my self getting worried that I might offend or say do something wrong. O Lord, help me.. I'm too emotionally dependent on people and the fear of losing a friend is evermore bogging me down.... But You are the Lord that hears our cries and have not given us a fearful sprit... I shall proclaim it and stand firm on your promises...