The Rewards of Praising God

The Bible tells that the Lord inhibits the praises of His people. He becomes overjoyed when we lift our praises to Him. But there is a two-fold reward for us also. The Bible declares that the joy of the Lord is OUR strength. When the Lord is overjoyed by our praises, His joy becomes our strength. When we sing and praise God with our voice, the Holy Spirit begins His work within us.

There is a beautiful passage in Ephesians 5:14-19. In essence it tells us to "awake from sleeping and Christ will give you light. See that you do not walk as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

It is a two-way street. You giving thanks and praises to the Lord. The Lord being overjoyed with your praises, at the same time is filling you with His Spirit and the joy of the Lord becomes your strength. I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord inhibits the praises of His people. If you need joy -- you must sing for it, if you want joy -- just shout for it -- with praises unto our Lord. Give it a try -- you will be glad you did. He loves you.

How to be Sure of Heaven

Can we really be sure we are going to go to heaven?

Without a doubt, we can be absolutely sure.

• The trouble most of us have is attempting to get there the wrong way. One of the most common ways is through a religion. The truth is, you can belong to every religion in the world and still miss out going to heaven.
• Another way that many believe will get them to heaven is by doing all kinds things that look like holy works. This also will not get you to your objective (heaven). Works only come into play after salvation.
• One more common belief is we can get to heaven if we keep the ten commandment. Well, even if we keep them all (which no one can), will not get you to heaven.
• That's a pretty heavy concentration of seemingly goodly righteous things. Well, what if I did all these things together over the rest of my life -- would that possibly get me into heaven? Again, the answer is NO! So? What will get me there?

 There is only One Way. First off, we are all sinners as Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And guess what? Sin cannot enter into heaven. However, when we look at Romans 6:23, it says, "The wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." So how do we go about getting this gift of eternal life from God that is available through Jesus Christ?

First, we must remember the main reason Jesus came to this earth was for the redemption of sin. Since sin cannot enter into heaven, it has to be paid for at some time, in some place, by somebody. Jesus paid the price for every sin ever committed by mankind. Yet, it is not automatic. We have a free-will to accept what Jesus did for us or reject it. If we choose to reject God's free Gift of eternal life -- the wages of sin is still death. We can choose to use the death that Jesus paid for our sin, or we can pay for our sins our self. In case we choose to pay for them ourselves, we get all the benefits that come with it such as eternal death, hell and the grave, and Satan as our master for all the eternal death.

Now let's look at the alternative -- accepting the free-gift from Jesus Christ. Here is how the Bible tells us to go about it. Looking at Romans again, this time from chapter 10:9&10, which tells us, "If you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." These two things will get you to heaven -- confessing Jesus as your Lord, and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead (His death, burial, and resurrection.)

So how do I know for sure if I was sincere when I do these two things? For one -- the not so good things you used to do before, you will despise. Another -- you will be able to understand the Bible when you read it, because the Holy Spirit is living within you and only He can interpret the Word of God. Also, sin will be utterly discussing to you from now on.

What to do next after your New Birth? Confess Jesus as Lord to others and be not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation. Find a good church home that is preaching and teaching the Bible message without compromise.

For those who take these steps, may God bless you in the coming days, study the Word and be strong in the faith. We would love to hear from you if you will and leave a comment. God loves you.

Yes, We Can Prove There Is A God.

You have probably encountered someone who states that "there is no God," or "If there is a God then prove it." What they fail to understand is that there are several things about God concerning the way He has chosen to prove Himself to us. If God could not be proved then chances are many who have made Jesus their Lord also would no longer believe.

The atheist and non-believer CANNOT prove or disprove God by stating "God is not real," or "I shall never believe the lie that God exists." You might want to look at my earlier blog about "An interview with Satan" to find out where that kind of thinking originates. So, exactly how does God prove Himself to us?

Most individuals understand that God is by faith; however, we must also realize that we have a free-will to choose anything in life. Faith and free-will are primary considerations in proving God. Both faith and free-will go hand-in-hand. Nevertheless, either one is worthless unless acted upon. Before Jesus paid the price for our sins, there was only one choice (Satan). Today we have another choice (Jesus). Jesus was the beginning (Founder) of what is known as the Church (Christianity). We all remain under bondage to Satan and sin until we choose Jesus who will set us free from bondage by making Him Lord.

 

God will not infringe upon your free-will. If you want to prove that God is real, it is not hard to do. However, you must take the first step. If God took the first step, He would infringe upon your free-will. However, when you exercise your free-will by taking the first step to ask God to make Himself real to you, this is where and how faith becomes involved. Without a desire to know if God is real, you will never find out. If you keep refusing to take the first step, you will stay at square one. But, by acting in faith, God will prove Himself to anyone who is truly sincere with a yearning heart to prove God for themselves. Try it for yourself and see.