11)
Ye
that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their
help and their shield.
12)
The
LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of
Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron
13)
.He
will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
14)
The
LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
15)
Ye are
blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.
16)
The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s:
but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17)
The
dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down in silence.
18)
But we
will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.
|
W |
e will bless the Lord," is no
doubt a strange concept for many. Our most common reaction is to look for the
Lord to bless us rather than to be concerned about blessing Him. In other
words, blessings are usually desired to be received, not given. This proves to
be particularly true when we examine what it really means to "bless"
someone.
In that "to bless" means
"to eulogize" or "to speak highly of," we see that speaking
highly is generally what we want done of us, not what we desire to do of
others. Obviously, one will neither be able to see, nor be interested in relating
the greatness of anyone (particularly God) when he is stuck on his own
"greatness." Conversely, all that is necessary for one to be able to
speak highly of the Lord is for one to remain properly focused on Him.
How do marketing and advertising
executives make money for the companies who hire them? They are expected to
promote that company's product or service. Commercials and ads are written to
entice and compel consumers to purchase the product advertised. In like manner,
we are expected to promote our product—Jesus. If we believe, that what we have
will be profitable and good for others, we need to "sell" Him. We
must be able to get the attention of others.
The Lord cannot remind us enough of
the fact that our appreciation of what we have will directly affect someone
else's hunger for it. If we understand what a stench sin leaves in the nostrils
of God and therefore how we "smelled" to God when we were in sin,
we will appreciate being freed from its bondage. It's like having slept and sweat all night long. We are offensive to whoever is around,
as well as to ourselves. Washing off the odor is a relief. Once we are saved,
we take on a completely new "odor" before God; one that pleases Him.
The process of salvation and our
recognition of just what salvation means and what it cost, is designed to make
us so grateful that we will not cease to give Him praise.
All the effort that God expends on
us is designed to have some effect. No effort that He puts into anything is to
be wasted. All things that come to us and all that we experience at God's hand
is to open our eyes to ourselves and to the Lord. We need never worry about
ourselves, except to make sure that we are learning what God would have us to
know.
Our overriding concern must be that
in every situation we need to bless the name of the Lord. This needs to
override fear, override frustration, override "depression"—and
override ourselves! The only thing that can matter to us is having God on our
side. Then, we need fear nothing and no one, and we have the added assurance
that all of our affairs are take care of.
Learning to bless the Lord—that is,
magnify Him, speak highly of Him, praise Him and love Him—will give you a new
hope, new joy—a new you!
The people of God must definitely
learn the difference between blessing and cursing the Lord. If blessing is
speaking highly of someone, then complaining must be just the opposite.
Complaining minimizes what God does. The devil, of course, loves to get us to
complain, for he realizes that the World is more interested in the negative than
the positive. Rest assured, when we complain, the World hears loud and clear.
In fact, we are louder and clearer to them when we complain than when we
praise.
You know it never hurts to practice.
If we intend to be good at anything, "practice makes perfect." We
even need to practice praising God, so that it might become "first
nature." After all, it only stands to reason that if we will automatically
praise Him when we consider Him being "good" to us, we will also be
able to praise Him in our "down times" (notice, our "down
times," not His). And guess what? Once we begin to praise Him, all of a
sudden, our "down" times become "up" times.
We never need to question the Lord's
ability to help us, no matter our situation or dilemma. Our little problem is indeed
"small" to God, who was delivering people from trouble before we ever
got into trouble.
Too many illnesses and sicknesses
are considered problems to saints also. It is now commonly accepted that we
just automatically go to doctors. Well, in case there is a question, before the
"practice" of medicine even existed, God was healing from disease.
The members and officials of most
apostolic churches are defeating themselves. There is so much said about the
Lord, His people and salvation, in general, which is negative that we have lost
many which could have been won. Now, we are faced with the task of consciously
changing this image unhappiness and dissatisfaction into the true image of God:
joy and contentment. So, how does one even start this transformation? By allowing our own minds and spirits to be transformed.
With this transformation will come the determination and ability not to enter
any place of worship with "trouble on my mind."
During a time and in an era when the devil does all he can to keep the saints
depending on "the arm of flesh," now, more than ever, we must purpose
to praise God no matter what!
The Lord wants His saints happy,
productive and confident. His sanctuary is not a place of sorrow. His place of
worship is not a place of trouble. His arms do not encircle fear. His house,
His environment, His habitat are places of praise!
May we be conscious of the fact that all those of the household of faith do not know God in the same way. Though we are largely become a weak, unproductive and sickly people, this is not the God a child of God serves. If your God cannot solve problems, then your god is not my God! If the god you serve is incapable of healing you, then your god is not my God! We are, and you should be, serving a God who never leaves us nor forsakes us.