Sing Your Praise to The Lord

   Amy Grant performed a song awhile back called "Sing Your Praise to The Lord".  I listened to it this morning, and thought to myself, "I need to praise Him at all times"!  Hallelujah?  Even when life is challenging and hard, I need to praise Him.  We all do.  I've seen struggles in friends' and family's lives and I struggle as well with difficult situations, but we still need to give praise where it's due, and give it to Whom it's due...Jesus.  In just a few months we will be celebrating Jesus' birth.  He was born fully human and fully God.  He knew no sin.  He grew to the age of 12 and by then was teaching in the temple.  Years would pass and by age 30 he called 12 disciples and began a ministry that would change the world.

     A few months after we celebrate His birth, we celebrate the very essence of why He was born into a world of sinners.  They questioned His ministry and Him.  They mocked Him.  They arrested Him and beat  Him.  They scourged Him and flogged Him.  Spat upon Him and they Crucified Him.  He bled and died for our sin.  God had turned His back on His only Son, so that we may have eternal life.  Then something amazing happened 3 days after His death.  He arose from the borrowed grave He was lying in!  He conquered Death and Hades!  Salvation came to us by His blood, to whoever believed!  How amazing is that?  So yes, we can sing our praise to the Lord in any given situation, because He gave His life for us!

     You may have had a loss or you may have a health or a financial issue.  Family problems or job problems arise, and you are at the end of your rope.  What do you do then?  Give Him praise and glory, just because He died in your place.  Life is hard and we cannot minimize that.  But the truth is that we can praise Him in the midst of our problems, because He gave His life that we might live.  Jesus is our only source of strength.  Jesus is our only source of joy and praise.  Sing your praise to the Lord!

Singing Praises,

Sabrina

Fearing God, Following Christ, Godly

Our character matters in all our aspects of life.  How we act in our daily lives really shows others how we truly are on the inside.  This blog is the third installment of Character.  This includes fear God, following Christ, and Godly.

7.  Fearing God: "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His Name".  Malachi 3:16.

     When we fear the Lord, it is not a fear like He will punish you or destroy you if you sin, but an awe of His own character, presence, knowledge, power, justice, mercy, grace, etc.  He is our Almighty God Who is our Provider, and Who loves us so much that He gave up His Son to save us from an eternity in hell, because of our sinful lives.  To show others that we fear God, it shows them that we put Him first, above all else.  It shows we mean business when it comes to following Him.  It shows that He is the One True God.

8.  Following Christ: "When He puts forth all His own, He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice".  John 10:4.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me".  John 10:27.

     Do you think we would be a great witness to Christ or even a Christian for that matter at all if we indeed not follow Christ?  I don't think so.  Christ knows His sheep and His sheep knows Him.  One characteristic is, that we must follow Christ in order to minister the Gospel to others.  How else are we going to do it if we don't believe ourselves?  If we know Christ and follow Him, You need to share the good news with others.  If you don't know Him, then how can you "go into the world and make disciples"?  Know Him, the go.

9.  Godly: "But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him". Psalm 4:3.

"Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment". 2 Peter 2:9.

     We are all made in the image of God, from the very beginning of time.  We are to imitate God, and in doing so, we need to be godly, set apart from the world.  We need to have the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  To be godly is a crucial characteristic to have when ministering to others.  Being unrighteous or ungodly is a detriment to Christ's cause and if the world sees that, they will not receive the good news well, and will reject God even more.

The next time, I will cover the last two characteristics in being a witness of Christ or to ministering to other the Good News of Christ.  There are many other characteristics to cover, but for now I will only cover eleven of them.

Be blessed this weekend.

Sabrina