God tells us not to fear the ones who are a threat to you as it only brings harm (PS 37: .. more like the ones who constantly bug you, who keep accusing you of the things you haven’t done, and those people who constantly keep absorbing negativity into others about you. Those people are around, believe it or not but they are and you have no choice but to deal with them! the first things on our minds is to get mad at them. But then we miss the Big Picture!

In (Pslam37), God continually asks us to be patient & righteous in our every step, he further mentions committing our ways to Him, keep doing what is good, keep walking in the footsteps of righteousness and the Bible mentions in (Deut6:25) that a man will be called righteous only if he carefully observes and keeps all the commandments of his Lord. That law is the 10 commandments so following them, living according to them will be our righteousness. He adds to continually keep his ways, wait on him and delight in him and he will grant all the desires of our
heart (Ps37:4).

He also asks us to walk in an upright conduct as he knows their days and their inheritance will be forever (V 18). He continually mentions that he watches over us and loves justice for his saints (V 28) In a matter of time it will all be cut off, the bad weeds anything and everything surrounding you to bring you down will disappear. He always has his eyes on you and considers you for who you are, He watches your every step and watches over you, those little things that no one sees- He does and knows your heart and mind intimately.

There is always someone there to justify you. That’s when He tells us to do what we can and the rest He does. That’s the beauty of our LORD, He loves His people, His saints, His righteous, His upright and His long suffering.

COMMIT YOUR WAYS TO THE LORD, TRUST ALSO IN HIM AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS, HE SHALL BRING FORTH YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE LIGHT
AND YOUR JUSTICE AS THE NOONDAY (PSLAMS37:5)

I am Shenin Hamid, i live in the middle east, i just turned 17 and love writing for God and inspiring people through what God puts in my heart with the Gift of writing that he’s sowed in me.

Hebrews 4:14 (Amplified Version)

One very vital aspect of earthly governance is the legal system. In the legal system, the defendant (the one that is accused) needs a lawyer to plead his case before a judge. Irrespective of the defendant’s offence, the expertise of the lawyer can go a long way in determining the outcome of the case. So also, in Gods kingdom, there is a system similar to the legal system. In that system, instead of a lawyer, you have a high priest. Instead of a judge, you have God who is the judge of the universe (Isaiah 33:22). You also have the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren (Revelations 12:10). And we, the believers, are the defendants who are accused by the accuser of the brethren, the devil. So therefore, as defendants, we need a high priest instead of a lawyer.

In the Old Testament, the people of God had a high priest who usually went before God, with an offering, to intercede for the people. Before the high priest interceded for the people, he interceded for himself first. The Old Testament high priests had weaknesses and they also had sins. They were not holy or pure. And that’s why they had to intercede for themselves first so that they can be cleansed. After they have been cleansed, then they can intercede for the people. This tells you that those high priests were not perfect. They were just like the people, sharing the same nature of sin.

But in the New Testament which we live in, we have Jesus as our high priest (Hebrews 4:14). Unlike the Old Testament high priests, Jesus is holy and perfect in all ways. He is like the competent lawyer who can secure victory for you in a court case where you are actually the criminal. Unlike the Old Testament high priest who had to intercede and communicate with God from earth, Jesus, our High Priest, is seated at the right hand of God (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Hebrews 1:3). He intercedes for us from the right hand of God. Unlike the Old Testament high priests who intercede for the people, Jesus intercedes for us each and every day. The climax of the Priesthood of Jesus is the offering he presents to God when he intercedes for us. The Old Testament high priests presented the blood of a lamb, as an offering to God, when interceding for the people. But Jesus presents his own blood as an offering to God. This blood supersedes the blood of a lamb. The blood of Jesus washes away our sins (Revelation 1:5), heals us, cleanses up, breaks curses, and so on. If the blood of a lamb could deliver the Israelites from death (Exodus 12:13), how much more the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus which Jesus himself presents as an offering is the ultimate price and no other high priest can present that price for us except Jesus. That’s why he is called a great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). In the Old Testament, when a sacrifice or an offering is being presented to God, God is moved into action. Most important is the quality of that sacrifice or offering. Noah made a sacrifice to God and God made a covenant with Noah which stands till this day (Genesis 9:1-17). Sacrifices or offerings open us up to Gods favor and blessing. But as our High Priest, Jesus presents to God the most quality offering that can be ever presented; His Blood. This opens us to the blessings and favor of God.

Another peculiar thing about Jesus, as our great High Priest is that he is so merciful and gracious. Jesus was tempted in every way that man is tempted today (Hebrews 4:15). So he understands the temptations we go through every day. Whether you’ve killed, stolen, committed adultery or lied, Jesus is merciful and ready to be your high priest and plead your case before God so you can be forgiven and start a new life in Christ. If you’re still living in sin you need to accept Jesus as your Lord and savior and then he’ll become High Priest and advocate. If you’ll like to accept Jesus, please pray this prayer; “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You for saving me. Now I know I am born again!”.

Oluwaseun Okikiola

http://gospelcentre.wordpress.com/

Christ’s beauty is shared with all those who have union with him. Washed in his blood, robed with his righteousness, and adorned with his graces. Every believer is made beautiful through His beauty.

Reader, has Christ’s beauty caught your eye, penetrated your soul and transformed your life? His beauty can remove the ugliness and stains of sin. While we were yet sinners, He set His heart upon us, choose us, died for us, and called us. Open your heart, ask Jesus to come in and plunge into this fathomless, boundless ocean of love and beauty ! It will cover all your sins, it will efface all your guilt; it will flood over all your unworthiness.

Now people will see the beauty of Christ in you.

Scriptures
Psa 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

Patrica Bankhead

We praise God because he is worthy of all praise. He is the maker of Heaven and earth and the entire universe. He has given us life and through his son has saved us from eternal damnation. He loves us completely despite of our short comings and sinful nature.

Probably the best examples of how to worship the Lord can be seen in the life and Psalms of King David.

God described David as “a man after his own heart”. David loved God and God loved David. David had a wonderful musical talent and regularly came before the Lord in songs of love and thanksgiving. He danced and played music to praise God. In (2 Sam 6:14-15) it says

“And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet”. (KJV)

David wrote beautiful words to express his deep devotion and love for God. David actively pursued God, and desired to have a close personal relationship with him. This is demonstrated in (Psa 57:7 –10) where he writes “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds”. (KJV)

When we praise God we are allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us directly to our Father in Heaven. The Holy Spirit’s presence can be felt right inside of us and surrounding us as we speak to the Father through him. I have heard many times of healings taking place when people have been worshiping God, and I believe this is because the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them and ministers to their needs while they are praising God.

There are several different Hebrew words used in the Bible to denote praise and worship. These can be translated into the following English meanings.

Worship – To fall down prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God), to bow down, crouch, fall down flat, humbly beseech, make or do obeisance, do reverence or to stoop.

Praise – Literally to use (that is, hold out) the hand; to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively to bemoan (by wringing the hands): give thanks, rejoice; a celebration of thanksgiving for harvest, to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration) or congratulate.

The main difference between worship and praise is that we worship God for who he is, and praise him for what he has done.

You will see that many of these translations display the theme of humility – of coming before God in subservience and in reverence of his awesome power. We are not praising him as we would a child who has done well, from the viewpoint of someone who is older and wiser – we are to praise him out of our total unworthiness to even be in his presence. In humility we need to grasp the magnitude of his awesome power, love and grace and praise him for them. We need to praise him for loving us despite of how unworthy we are of his love. We need to lift his name on high, not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

visit http://www.the-ten-commandments.org

Debra Lohrere

Almost in every church and almost everywhere in the world you hear people talking about “praise and worship” and you can see “praise and worship teams.” Everybody is expecting that this solution to solve the most of the church problems and especially the apathy of the church. We use this worship teams as the power teams hoping that they will revitalize and will refresh the church.

There is some truth in this assumption, but also there are a multitudes of factors that are influencing our spiritual life and worship. Thinking about this and meditating I’ve realized that according to God’s word, the life of the Spirit can’t co-exist with the life of the flesh and when we talk about praise and worship we can’t separate the worship from the worshipper.

It’s not my intention to write a book about this, but it is obvious in the Scriptures that God is more interested in the worshipper than in his gift. My intention is to find the answer to this question: What is the genuine praise and how can we profess it on regular bases?

First, the genuine praise is a result of a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is a big difference between singing about God and praising God. Many unchristian artists are singing a lot of beautiful Christmas songs, but they don’t believe in God and in His Son Jesus Christ.

To know for sure that you praise God you have to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This relationship has to be genuine and has to be expressed in the way you live your life. A genuine Christian is not the one that says it, but the one that lives it!!!

Second, the genuine praise is a result of a genuine faith. No human being would have been able to do what Paul and Silas done in this circumstance without having a genuine and living faith. Faith means more than accepting a set of rules and doctrines, faith means to TRUST in Jesus Christ and His Word. It was not the first time for the apostles to be persecuted and for sure it was not the last time, and they were acting like they ever acted in these kind of situations: they were joyful and they were praising Jesus for the privilege to suffer with Him and for His Name. So, for Paul and Silas the persecution and suffering were a reason to thank God and praise God, and not a reason to complain before God and to fill lawsuits against the people that were treating them cruel and unfair.

Third, the genuine praise goes together with the genuine prayer. There is nothing more powerful than a group of 2 or 3 Christians gathered in and for Jesus’ Name. Jesus himself told us about the power of prayer.

Today we have the tendency to pray less and less home and less and less in the church, but if we want to experience God’s power we MUST pray. The real thing about prayer is the fact that is drawing us closer to God and is helping us to see the things through God’s perspective. A genuine prayer can’t be realized without experiencing the same purpose and the same love for God and for the people as Paul and Silas had.

Do you want your life and church to be shaken by God’s power ? Then be a GENUINE CHRISTIAN and make praise a genuine part of your life.

John Urs