Praise God For No Reason

For a while I have been dwelling on this thing about praising God.

Why should I praise Him? What should I praise him for? 

For no reason or for whatever reason. He is in control of every situation "do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ." Many have felt abandonment by whomever in their lives and have experienced a bastard-ship relationship, where they are forgotten about whether intentionally or not. But I recall the promise God has made to those who are His "I will never leave you nor forsake you." All we have to do is believe Him....lol! You can't have the promises without faith. God has proclaimed that those who trust in Him and in His Son inherit a son-ship that is better than the human expectation of son-ship. 

We need to learn how to praise God for no reason. Just because he is God. 

We should praise God for his mercy and kindness but also for his justice and discipline for we are privileged to be treated and trained as a Father trains his child. And the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

We should praise him no matter the circumstance so thank him for everything and anything. 

In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.

Here is the chorus of a beautiful song written about praise:

Trees were created to grow

Wind was created to blow

April's gotta turn to May

But I was created to praise

Praising God for no reason (or for every reason) is a great lesson that I have learned lately and I hope that you would not be afraid to praise God at every moment because we were created to glorify Him.

Amen.

Strongholds and Fortresses: Is this the Military or Something?

Ch-ch BOOM! Ch-ch BOOM! That's the sound of a battle fought by the Lord.

Wednesday Night Bible Study was intense yesterday. We talked about "strongholds"--which are likened to the fortresses built by militia to protect the area within. Instead of literal strongholds we talked about spiritual ones... the kind that might be detrimental to our faith.

And then we named a few: holding grudges, lust (covetousness), pride, insecurities, not trusting...etc.

And we read in 2Corinthians10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ...

I know I'm all over the place but God has been dealing with me in Galatians3:2 where Paul sort of tells the Galatians off about them trying to justify themselves by the law. He was enthralled because they had been trying to follow the law and not believe God's hand in their salvation. Let me read it to you...

"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law?, or because you believe what you heard?"

I know that that was long-winded, but it was powerful right?

It is only God who heals these hurts and sins (strongholds) if we decide to let down our buckets for help.

Anyway later on yesterday night God led me to Psalm18:2 where David says (or sings) after being delivered from his enemies, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

So the conclusion of the this commentary is that we should confess our faults to one another or to God, then to allow God to heal these 'strongholds' or protected areas, and finally to ultimately to remember and trust God to do it because this supernatural healing cannot be done by human effort!!!

This ain't the military but it sure feels like I'm fighting a war!

God will fight for us if we trust Him.

What kind of word is Jesus?

It goes like this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Then down in verse fourteen it says..."The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the Glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

He made his dwelling with us. That's awesome. He came FULL of grace and truth. That's awesome.

Last Wednesday's Bible Study's title was The Importance of Scripture in the Life of a Believer. and the teacher asked the question: How important is it to you?

Over the year's I have recognized that when I engulf myself in reading and meditating and internalizing and DOING God's word, I am filled with encouragement and understanding and frankly speaking... His Spirit.

There is something fighting against me everytime I get home. Something that is trying to keep me from continuing to pursue God and His Word. But the funny thing is---now that I know I have an enemy..... the fight is on.

Anyway....
We flew to Romans alot that evening for some insight on how to keep the word of God at the centerpiece of our diningroom table.

In Romans 15:4....Paul said:
"For everything that was written was written for our learning, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope."

KEEP HOPE ALIVE... Jesse Jackson said. Keep it alive.

So likewise when we submit to the authority of the scripture and to what God has to say... our hope is made alive in Jesus. So then we are able to endure.

After the lesson we seem to be guided into a forum session where random questions are asked... a young man who just started following God and His Word told a story...

He said "I was talking to someone about God and they told me how confusing the Bible can get for them, and I agreed with what they said because sometimes it is confusing for me. Then aperson who didn't believe in God walked by and said 'The Bible is the biggest book of fiction I ever read.'

I didn't get a chance to speak to him about the situation because I like to give well thought out answers and class was over by then. However, when I took the time to search my heart and search the word of God I came to 1 Timothy where Paul wrote to Timothy talking about what to do with the church that he was helping.

He advised Timothy to tell the leaders there to stop teaching about 'meaningless geneologies' and othe wrong doctrine... and then he told him to teach them about "God's work---which is by FAITH."

Hello? God's work is by faith. And to get to know God, you have to first believe that He is who He is!... The Bible also says it is impossible to please God without faith....

I'm glad I chose THIS God to serve, the only God, because He is the only one that can forgive sins... 4 real...

Anyway... these are the things I learned that day.. I hope it encourages you to accept God's forgiveness through Jesus.

I'm really serious. God made a way for us to be with Him.

Okay anyway I'm rambling but Keep believing in him.. no matter what they tell you at school. God who is God can NOT fail.

Love you!