Praising God

Revelation 19:4-6New King James Version (NKJV)

4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both[a] small and great!”

6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the[b] Lord God Omnipotent reigns!

Psalm 150
[ Let All Things Praise the Lord ] Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! ...

Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him

Exodus 15:11
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Praising God is what we are supposed to do! Praise Him through prayer and our lifestyle. Everything we do, think, and the like, must reflect Christ to the world. Praising God when life sucks is the hardest. But, if we put our hearts into it and make God bigger than the issue (s) before us, we are living out the example of Christ.  He was about to Die, but praised God anyway. Praise He who holds you in His hands.  Let nothing stop you from praising God.  He has a passion Texas heart the beats strongly for us!  Praise Him, let Him do his thing, and life will have new meaning. Put Him first and above all! PRAISE!

Change

John 3 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus(A) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.(B) 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,(C) we know(D) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs(E) you are doing if God were not with him.”(F)

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”(G)

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.(H) 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit.(I) 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d](J)

Born again. This ideology perplexed a scholar, Nicodemus, to the point of being speechless. As Jesus explained, it's not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual death then rebirth.  This is what water baptism symbolizes. The recipient's choice to renounce sin and death.  To be baptized by the Holy Spirit,  means that the Spirit of God can move in and work change from within.

To be changed by the Holy Spirit is constant work in progress.  It takes time, not and immediate fix.  But, to be changed in this context, means to be transformed into a new creature in Christ Jesus.  We cannot and must say we are saved from sin and keep consciously doing the same and/or different sinful things that led us astray from Jehovah in the first place. We must live within a new lifestyle.

Jesus set the example we must strive for. We may not be able to model it perfectly, but strive for it continuously. When we falter, He will be there by love, grace, and mercy,  to pick us up and walk with us along the way.  When we know something is wrong, don't do it. If you have to question it, seek YahWeh and His wisdom, knowledge, and counsel. We must seek Jesus in all we do, and be patient in waiting for His response and movement in our lives!  Embrace this change the Holy Spirit is working in you and your life. The reward is a more intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior, but also eternal life.

Hope

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

That hope is Jesus Christ! He came and gave us hope that life will be Eternal with him through Jesus Christ. Jesus is living a sinful life yet dying a sinner's death was the plan from God the entire time. We got so far away from God that we could not make up correct sacrifice to him as he requested. So, in order to justify us being with him again in heaven, he had to make the ultimate sacrifice. He sacrificed his son. Now that we have this hope let us not waste it let us not make God's efforts in vain.

Shun Evil

[ Shun Evil Counsel ] My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.

Proverbs 1:8-9 NKJV

What happened to teaching our kids to stay away from evil? What happened to teaching them how to identify evil? Has evil infiltrated our lives to the point where the line between YahWeh and the devil is blurred or nonexistent altogether? For a large portion of the world, this is sadly true.  We must lean on the Word of God to redraw this often ignored line. We have to work together to do so.  This is one of the many areas where we need to reclaim the youth of today away from the world. This will help many wayward adults as well. Not to condemn our fellow man, but to help them up and out of the worldly clay called "life". Life comes from and goes back to Jehovah. Amen

Water for the soul

[ Psalm 63 ] [ A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. ] You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1 NIV

We all experience situations where we are barren and thirst for God.  Like the Psalm says, we must earnestly seek God to have the thirst quenched. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well about the living water that would allow her soul to thirst no more. To obtain this water, we must study God's Word and pray for His wisdom and knowledge to fall upon us.

Live each moment for God

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Proverbs 27:1 NIV

Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen,(Z) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(AA) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(AB) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(AC) we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.(AD) 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4 NIV

in the song, "One day at a Time", it says: yesterday is gone, sweet Jesus. And tomorrow, it may never be mine. Please Lord for my sake, help me to take one day at a time. This is sage advice, especially in this day and age. People plan things days, weeks, and years out, with the expectancy that they should and will be here to execute said plan. This touches on the general ignorance to the frailty of life. No second, let alone day, is guaranteed to anyone! Live for and praise God in every waking moment. Love on those closest to you every chance you get, as we don't know when it will be our last affectionate moment. Amen!