PRAISE

P.ower

R.everence

A.doration

I.nspiration

S.pirit

E.xaltation

God inhabits the praises of HIS people. Our praise is music to HIS ears and will cause a shift in the atmosphere while drawing us closer into the presence of GOD. There is power and liberation in your Praise. Praise is also necessary for every Christian, even when you are feeling down, disappointed, or sad.

Our praise opens the door for the Lord to meet us where we are. When we are willing to give our sacrifice of Praise, knowing that God is good and merciful even in the midst of our trials or suffering, we give Him an opportunity to minister peace and comfort to our hurting hearts. No matter what is happening in our lives, our God is worthy of Praise.

Praise is also necessary for every Christian, even when you are feeling down, disappointed or sad. Our Praise opens the door for the Lord to meet us where we are. When we are willing to give our sacrifice of Praise, knowing that God is good and merciful even in the midst of our trials or suffering, we give Him an opportunity to minister peace and comfort to our hurting hearts. No matter what is happening in our lives, our God is worthy of Praise.

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FOLLOWING….

“The Shocking Truth About Following Jesus”

At the end of Luke 9, we find a story about three men who approached Jesus, eager to follow him. In surprising fashion, though, Jesus seems to have tried to talk them out of doing so.

The first guy said, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus responded, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” In other words, Jesus told this man that he could expect homelessness on the journey ahead. Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met.

The second man told Jesus that his father had just died. The man wanted to go back, bury his father, and then follow Jesus.

Jesus replied, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” I remember distinctly when my own dad died, and I cannot imagine hearing these words from Jesus.

A third man approached Jesus and told him that he wanted to follow him, but before he did, he wanted to say good-bye to his family.

Jesus wouldn’t let him. He told the man, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Plainly put, a relationship with Jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion.

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these would-be followers of Jesus in the first century. What if I were the potential disciple being told to become homeless? What if you were the one who was supposed to let someone else bury your dad? What if we were told that we couldn’t even say good-bye to our families?

This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that supersedes our closest relationships in this world. For that’s what it means to live out the biblical gospel rather than our cultural assumptions of what it means to follow Jesus.

Let us determine not to spend our lives on anything but radical abandonment to our Savior.

What should you cut out of your life, starting today, if Jesus is your overriding priority? 

Ask – Seek – Knock

The Reason We Ask, Seek, and Knock

God answers prayer, but asking prayer is not primarily about answers. Asking prayer, like all other forms of prayer, is about relationship. If you make asking prayer about answers, you’re moving into dangerous territory.

When prayer is primarily about answers, our relationship with God becomes results focused. When God says no or works outside of our time schedule, we desperately question why and are tempted to feel inadequate or unloved by God. Be assured that as you grow in the area of asking prayer, the Devil will seek to shift the focus of your prayers from relationship to results.

Christ was well aware of the relational purpose of asking prayer. In the seventh chapter of Matthew when Jesus dared His followers to ask for things – big things – like “elephants” in prayers. He immediately transferred the focus from the asking to the fatherly or paternal relationship that surrounds each request we make.

Jesus was saying that whenever you ask in prayer you open up the familial lines of communication and put yourself in a position to experience relationship with a loving and compassionate Father.

When God answers your prayers in dramatic fashion, you will grow in the knowledge of His power and care for you. When God works on His schedule instead of yours, you will come to know more about His sustaining power. And when God says no and your dreams die or perhaps you lose someone close to you, you will come to know the God of all comfort who weeps with you. If you want to know God as Father, begin to assault the throne of heaven in asking prayer.

“Praise The Lord”

“Praise The Lord”

Praise the Lord! Within those three words is the powerful beginning and foundation of a blessed life. It starts with knowing who God is and praising Him.

Praise is always a starting point.  It means thankfulness — that is why we give thanks before  a meal and start church with songs of praise.  Jesus began to thank God before Lazarus was raised from the dead, and Moses praised God before He parted the Red Sea. Human nature likes to wait until after an answer is received, but blessing begins with praise.

The Word of God tells us to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4). Yet praising the Lord is not limited to singing a few songs once a week in a church service. Worship is a lifestyle that embraces the entire spectrum of life.

You can praise God at any hour of the day, seven days a week — in the car, the shower or the middle of night. It isn’t about singing a particular hymn or reciting a prayer — it’s about a relationship with your Heavenly Father who loves and cares for you.

People have different ideas of what God is like, and they communicate with Him according to their perception. Those who think He is rigid and austere keep their distance. Others, who see Him as formal and stiff, usually approach Him in the same way. Yet those who know Him as Father and Friend enjoy the blessing of a close, intimate relationship with Him — where you can call on Him anytime. No matter what situation you may be in, you are never alone.

Circumstances can begin to turn around when you start praising God. Not only does praise put Him in focus, but it also causes you to see things from a whole new perspective.

Praising God is more than a ritual or one-time event. It’s a lifestyle of worship — it enables you to place your focus on God, and it changes your perspective of the circumstances around you. So go forth today in your God-given calling with this declaration as your foundation:

“Praise the Lord!”

Psalms 112:1  Praise the Lord!Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,who greatly delights in his commandments!

Psalms 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,and his courts with praise!Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Deliver Me From Evil

Webster defines deliver as “to set free or liberate; to release or save.” Thus, “deliver us from evil” means we are asking to be freed or saved from evil.

Evil is anything that tempts us to do something which is against God’s will. It is anything that would sadden or displease God if we were to follow our own desires instead of His will. Some translations say, “deliver me from temptation to do evil” or “deliver us from the evil one.”

Pushing for my purpose…I will be delivered from my fears; Not by my might but by God’s. My past experiences shows/tells me I can/will be delivered from my fears; God has done it before, He will do it again!  The very nature of God is to see, hear and know me; it is all in HIS time not mine – if the winds & the sea obey…my fears must obey as well, right?

My God is bigger, stronger, higher and more powerful that ANYTHING!!

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,‘ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Delivered from evil…OnPurpose!!

A thank you prayer to the LORD

Lord I come before You, desiring to provide thanks.

Father, I have so much to be thankful for, things unseen and seen, that You have done in my life.

Lord, mostly I am thankful for the relationship that I have with You.

Lord, You initiated this relationship, by what Your Son endeavored to accomplish, paying the price for my sin, redeeming and reconciling me.

Dear Heavenly Father, You know the times I have been ungrateful, held ill thoughts toward You and my fellow humans.

You know the times I complain and grumble about life and its circumstances, about suffering, going through what seem endless trials and tribulations.

Even yielding my members to unholy deeds.

Yet God You are and always will be there with me, even when it seems like I am forever in the wilderness, running further and further from You, You, my God are there guiding me back to Your loving arms.

I am thankful Lord for everything that You allow to cross my path.

Thankful for the decisions that You allow me to make and the lessons that come from these decisions.

I’m thankful, Lord, that I do not have to live under condemnation anymore, that You have truly set me free, that I am a new creation that I need not live under the law anymore.

Thankful Lord that You have given me joy unspeakable.

Thankful Lord that You are long suffering, allowing me to mature in You!

Lord, words do not express my thankfulness.

For Your mighty power is at work in me, transforming me, renewing my mind.

To You Lord belong thanks eternal.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

First written 6/17/10 – Michelle

Re-posted 6/17/16 – The Butterfly

#Transformation