2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
When I completed yesterday's message, it came to me that this would be the right time to discuss praising God. When we do this, we use a powerful weapon which causes the devil to become uncomfortable, unhappy, and less confident of his own victory over us. Our praise must be genuine, as real as God's consistent faithfulness, which is very real indeed. God needs to know that we are aware that it is He Who makes it possible for us to wage successful war against the devil and his followers.
EPH 1, which we examined in an earlier message, is an unparalleled eulogy of God. We can rest assured that the devil hates it. Look at a couple of excerpts just to see what I mean. EPH 1: 6-7, "For by the death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which He gave to us in such large measure!" EPH 1: 12-13, "Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God's glory! And you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put His stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit He had promised." Let's look at some wonderful information on praise that is a part of the "MasterLife" discipleship course that I'm taking. It's author is Pastor Avery T. Willis, a former missionary for the Baptist church in Indonesia.
Praising God is adoring Him for Who He is-His person, character, and attributes. Thanking God is expressing gratitude for what He has done. This important distinction should be taken into account when offering prayer. Pastor Avery feels that offering praise is a greater act of worship than thanking God, although both should be done. Thanksgiving is a good way to lead into praise. We should offer both thanks and praise continually. Why should we praise God? Praise is our gift or sacrifice to God. HE 13: 15, "Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess Him as Lord." 1 PET 2: 5, "Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ." God should be praised by His people. PS 22: 3, "But You are enthroned as the Holy One, the One Whom Israel praises." REV 19: 5, "Then there came from the throne the sound of a voice, saying 'Praise our God, all His servants and all people, both great and small, who have reverence for Him!" God saved us to glorify Him. IS 43: 21, "They are the people I made for Myself, and they will sing My praises." Praise is commanded. 1 CH 16: 28-29, "Praise the Lord, all people on earth, praise His glory and might. Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into His temple." Praise prepares us for what we will do in heaven. REV 5: 9-14, "They sang a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to break open its seals. For you were killed, and by your death you bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race. You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and they shall rule on earth' Again I looked, and I heard angels, thousands and millions of them! They stood around the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, and sang in a loud voice: 'The Lamb Who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise!" [See also REV 7: 9-17].
How should we praise God? We should bless, glorify, praise, and adore God in our own words. It's good to use Scriptural prayers to glorify God. The same can be said for songs, hymns, and Scriptural melodies [EPH 5: 18-19]. Using instruments is fine, and so is liturgical dance like David used in his worship [2 SAM 6: 22]. It's also good to recount God's glorious acts. We can include such exclamations as "Hallelujah!," "Hosanna!," and "Praise God," because these terms are about Who He is. Everyone should praise God everywhere and continually. Two pressing reasons for this is that God deserves nothing less than this from us, and Satan will find this hateful and defeating. I ran out of space to address myself to what Pastor Willis says about what we should say when we praise God. So, I will take that up at the beginning of my next message. It's too important to give it short shrift. Remember praise is one of many powerful weapons God gives us to use in our battle against the devil, so we don't have to fight it unprepared or unarmed. We should read over these points and remember them the next time we pray in praise of God.
PRAYER : O Lord, David's inner self, which reveals the heart of faith You gave Him, helps us to see how praise that pleases You if offered. PS 24: 7-8, "Fling open the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great King will come in. Who is this great King? He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, victorious in battle." PS 34: 8, "Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with Him." PS 36: 5-9 "Lord, Your constant love reaches the heavens; Your faithfulness extends to the skies. Your righteousness is towering like the mountains; Your justice is like the depths of the sea. Man and animals are in Your care. How precious, O God, is Your constant love! We find protection under the shadow of Your wings. We feast on the abundant food You provide; You let us drink from the river of Your goodness. You are the Source of all life, and because of Your light, we see the light." Our own words seem hardly worthy compared to these, but we honor You with them anyway. You are our Sovereign, our Supreme Lord, Who sees to our every need, has the wisdom to guide us righteously, and Who corrects and rebukes us when we need it. Your love for us is what propels Your desire to see us enjoy eternal joy and fellowship with You. Your unselfishness is a model for how we should behave, especially in sharing Your blessings with others by encouraging them to come to faith in You. It was what also motivated You to send Your Son to die on the cross for us and to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We offer You praise in humility, utmost thanks, and acknowledge our great need for Your leadership in our lives. In Christ's name, amen.
As promised above, I will begin tomorrow's message with Pastor Avery's words on what we should say when praising God. Then we will go on to some important strategic truths we need to know in fighting spiritual warfare. I am continually brought back to the recognition that no blessing or victory in spiritual warfare would be possible were it not for the profound love God has for His children. While the way to eternal life if often difficult, no way would be possible without Him. His love extended to the greatest sacrifice ever made, that of His only begotten Son on the cross. He labors continually to teach, correct, bless, encourage, train, and comfort us, never abandoning us. He shows patience, compassion, and faithfulness in keeping His promises. We are truly a blessed people. God loves you and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn