4 You can pass through his open gates with the password of praise. Come right into his presence with thanksgiving. Come bring your thank offering to him and affectionately bless his beautiful name! – Psalm 100:4
What more can be said about giving thanks to God than has already been written in the Bible and expounded upon by thousands? It is time to stop discussing and talking about it and just do it! Let us lift up our voices and hands and praise the Lord. Every prayer should include praise and thanksgiving. This combination is the key that unlocks the doors of heaven and blessings stream out.”Come right into His Presence with thanksgiving”. Amen
”The Gospel has come to you because it is on its way to someone else”
God inhabits the praises of His people, so we should enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and enter His courts with praise. After we have praised Him, He also instructs us to ask and keep on asking. He is longing to bless us when we are obedient to Him. And never forget to be grateful for what He has done, is doing and will continue to do for you. Worry will not accomplish anything useful, so just rest in the arms of Jesus and enjoy the “now”. He gives us a peace that passes all understanding, even in the worst of times. Remember the times He has brought you through and be encouraged. When we walk through the valley of tears, He is still God and He is still holding our hand
14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.— 1 Thess 5:14, 15 NIV
We pray and ask God to bless the work of our hands, but if we aren’t doing anything with our hands, there is nothing for God to bless. If we are doing the works of our Father, then He certainly will bless the works of our hands. We do need to be full time Christians, but that doesn’t mean we have to be employed by the church or a mission organization, God needs workers in the workplace. Our vocation and how we support our families is important to God. He has placed us in secular organizations to spread His Word there. Jesus was a friend to sinners and we can use that example in our workplaces. We can build bridges by encouraging the disheartened and helping those that are weak. Each of us have areas in our lives that are weak and need developing. We need to look for those weak areas in those around us. Not so that we can criticize the other person, but so that we will be able to encourage them and build them up. When we find them, we need to pray for them and marinate those weak areas in prayer. We need to pray for discernment for ourselves, so that we can be specific in our prayers for others. Then with love, patience and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we can help them develop their weak areas.
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. — Eph. 4:32 NIV
As the old adage goes, “No one cares what you know, until they know that you care”. Our lifestyles will let them know whether or not we really care . So, above all, we must live our lives so that they see Jesus in us everyday.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.– Psalm 90:17 NIV
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”—Gen. 32:24-26 NIV
There are people who pray and then there are people who really, really pray. Which one of these are we? God is concerned about the biggest and the least little problem or issue that bothers us. He stands ready to send in a thousand angels to protect us, if that is necessary. But He wants us to ask and keep on asking until the answer comes. We may not get the answer we want, but He will always answer us. Jesus is our example and He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane until He sweat great drops of blood. Jacob refused to turn loose until He got His blessing. The woman with the issue of blood pressed through a crowd of people just to be able to touch His garment. We, too, can really get serious about prayer when lives are at stake. What would happen if we just asked God every moment to take care of the little things? At His Mother’s request, Jesus turned the water into wine. Couldn’t we all use that kind of miracle in our daily lives?
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.—Romans 12:14 NIV
Praying for and blessing those who persecute us is hard. The flesh wants to scream, strike back and get revenge. Paul tells us this is a constant battle and we know from our own experiences that that is true. Why? Because the flesh wants what it wants and it doesn’t give up easily.
18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.–Romans 7:18-19 NIV
We were born in sin into a sinful world. We are constantly tempted by the things we see, hear and read. That old father of liars, satan, knows where the chinks in our armor are and he pokes at us through those holes continuously. We are taught the “it’s all about me” philosophy on a daily basis. “You’re okay, I’m okay” is a lie from the pits of hell. No one is okay without Jesus and no one can do Godly things without the leadership of the Holy Spirit. As long as we live in this old decaying tent of flesh, we will be tempted and we will have to fight a daily battle against those temptations. But, God has not left us alone to do this, He has made provisions for us. There is always a way out.
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.–1 Cor. 10:12-13 NIV
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands.When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. –1 Cor. 4:11-13 NIV
Paul expands on the difference in attitude and lifestyle that he, Apollo, and Peter have as compared to the Christians in Corinth. They have given up all their earthly possessions and now they do not have an extra set of clothes nor a home of their own here on earth. They work hard physically so that they will not be a financial burden on the new converts. They respond to cursing, persecution and slandering with blessings, kindness and patient endurance. They are willing to be treated as the lowest form of life here on earth so that God might be glorified. Is it necessary for all of us to go through this kind of treatment? No, but we must have the attitude and the willingness to do it, if that is what Jesus calls us to do.
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.—Romans 5:3-5 NIV
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.—Romans 8:18 NIV
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
As we read in the books of the Old Testament, we find that the children of Israel were inconsistent in their faithfulness to God. There would be times when they would worship Him faithfully and God would bless them abundantly. In those times, they were blessed with peace and comfort. Then they would become prideful and forget that it was God who gave them victory over their enemies and fed them abundantly. Then God would send plagues and enemies to defeat them. Then there would be times of lack and constant troubles in their land. Eventually they would turn back to God and he would bless them again. Our nation is repeating history in doing the same things. God cannot and will not bless us until we turn back to Him. As long as we are stubborn and rebellious as a nation, we can expect our problems to increase until we humble ourselves and return to Him. Let us continue in prayer that we will do that today. Then and only then will we receive the comfort that comes from honoring God and lifting up the Name of Jesus.
4 You can pass through his open gates with the password of praise. Come right into his presence with thanksgiving. Come bring your thank offering to him and affectionately bless his beautiful name! – Psalm 100:4
What more can be said about giving thanks to God than has already been written in the Bible and expounded upon by thousands? It is time to stop discussing and talking about it and just do it! Let us lift up our voices and hands and praise the Lord. Every prayer should include praise and thanksgiving. This combination is the key that unlocks the doors of heaven and blessings stream out.”Come right into His Presence with thanksgiving”. Amen
”The Gospel has come to you because it is on its way to someone else” – Anonymous
Even when we sin, God still loves us. He wants to bless us all the time. But He can’t bless us if we do not confess our sins. When our relationship with God is broken because of sins that we have not confessed, His heart is broken. He leaves the 99 sheep to bring back the 1 lost sheep when we confess. We are never alone, He hears our prayers and knows our situation, but He is limited in what He can do for us because of our sins. God is always faithful to forgive us when we confess and then our relationship with Him is restored and there is joy in heaven. What amazing grace and love that God would love sinners enough to die for us!
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
God wants to bless us all the time. He gave us His Son, so why would He withhold any good thing from us? For this to happen, we must stay “prayed up”, instantly repenting for any sin that we do, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. When God’s Spirit brings conviction, we must agree with God that we have committed a sin and ask His forgiveness. He is always faithful to forgive us. Then we must thank Him and praise Him for that forgiveness. God inhabits the praises of His people. He is within us, with us, surrounding us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. His mercies are new every morning. Let your first words every morning be praise and thanksgiving. Your attitude will be sweeter and your day will go more smoothly.
Morning Meds (Take 1 each Morning with all the Prayer You Need) 