Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200022S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Welcome to Family Worship. 01:10 My name is John Dinzey, 01:12 and it's a blessing and a privilege to be with you 01:14 during this hour where we bring in the Sabbath 01:17 in Family Worship. 01:20 I would like to introduce to you 01:21 the members of the family that are with us today. 01:24 We have JD Quinn from Pastoral Ministries. 01:26 Amen, just love. 01:28 Always love bringing the Sabbath in. 01:30 Amen. So this is special. 01:33 I'm really excited about these new guys over here. 01:36 You know our family, this is growing. 01:39 Yes. 01:40 And we would like to introduce to you 01:42 Bill Wells from ASAP Ministries. 01:44 Welcome. Thank you. 01:46 Amen. 01:47 Thank you for being with us during this hour. 01:50 And next to you is, we have... Scott Griswold. 01:53 Scott Griswold, thank you for being with us. 01:57 Good to be here. 01:59 And this is going to be a topic 02:00 that I believe is very important, 02:03 of vital importance if I may say 02:04 because it's talking about God is worthy of praise. 02:09 And before we do this, 02:12 we would like to go to the Lord in prayer, 02:14 asked for His blessing upon us 02:16 and upon you that are joining us, 02:18 wherever you may be. 02:19 We encourage you to consider that 02:22 God is there because He is the Almighty God. 02:26 And He has promised to be with us always, 02:29 even until the end of the world. 02:32 Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 02:34 Our loving Heavenly Father, 02:37 we want to pause and thank You 02:40 for Your goodness and kindness to us. 02:43 During all this week, 02:44 we have faced difficulties, trials, 02:47 and perhaps some of us may have been near death. 02:52 And yet, we have this moment to look back 02:56 and see that You have been good, 02:59 You have protected us, You have been with us, 03:01 You have supplied our needs. 03:04 Perhaps we may look and see that 03:06 not all of our problems are solved. 03:08 But we can have assurance that You have the best solution. 03:14 We ask You, Lord, to guide us, bless us and be with us, 03:18 and help those that are discouraged 03:21 and cast down to look up 03:24 and see that there is a mighty God 03:26 that cares for them. 03:28 And we pray, Heavenly Father, 03:29 for Your peace to be upon Your children, 03:32 that the peace that Jesus offered to His disciples, 03:35 they will receive and that they will hear that 03:38 Jesus is saying to them as well, "Peace, 03:42 I give to you, my peace give I unto you." 03:46 We pray, Heavenly Father, for a blessing upon all, 03:48 and we ask it in the holy 03:50 and blessed name of Jesus, amen. 03:53 Amen. Amen. 03:55 Thank you, Jesus. 03:56 Well, this is the welcoming of the Sabbath, 03:59 and for those of you that are watching on 04:01 what you would call Friday night, 04:03 perhaps this is something new to you. 04:06 And you're saying, "Why are they saying Sabbath?" 04:08 When we say Sabbath, we're talking about Saturday, 04:11 which is also referred to as Sabbath in the Bible. 04:14 And the Bible does not use the word Saturday. 04:17 But the word Sabbath 04:19 is what the name of the day was recognized. 04:22 The seventh-day of the week 04:23 was recognized as the Sabbath day. 04:26 And so we would like to share with you 04:28 some things in the Bible that help us understand that 04:31 this is the Sabbath day. 04:34 Well, we like to go to 04:35 Genesis Chapter 2 to begin with, 04:38 to consider once again 04:41 the origin of the Sabbath day for us 04:46 that live upon this earth. 04:48 In Genesis Chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, 04:53 we have the words that say, 04:56 "Thus the heavens and the earth, 04:58 and all the host of them, were finished." 05:01 And they were finished by God. 05:03 And it says, "And on the seventh day God 05:06 ended His work which He had done, 05:09 and He rested on the seventh day 05:11 from all His work which He had done." 05:15 It wasn't that He was tired and exhausted. 05:18 But it means that He stopped doing 05:21 the work of creating this world. 05:24 Then God blessed 05:26 the seventh day and sanctified it, 05:28 because in it, He rested from all His work 05:32 which God had created and made. 05:35 And this is the origin of the seventh day 05:38 for those of us on the earth. 05:40 And this is why we remember 05:43 the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 05:44 God blessed it and sanctified it. 05:47 In other words, He set it apart from the other days. 05:50 Now the other days, we can praise the Lord. 05:53 The other days, we can go to church as well. 05:56 But He not only sanctified it and blessed it, 06:00 but He also asked us to rest from our work. 06:05 And that's why we would like to read 06:09 Exodus 20:8-11, 06:14 which gives us a little more detail 06:16 about resting on the seventh day, 06:19 and things that should be done 06:22 and should not be done. 06:23 So if we have, these going to be different. 06:28 I can read verse 8, Exodus 20:8, 06:33 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 06:37 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 06:40 but the seventh day is 06:41 the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 06:44 In it you shall do no work: 06:46 you, nor your son, nor your daughter, 06:48 nor your male servant, 06:50 nor your female servant, 06:52 nor your cattle, 06:53 nor your stranger who is within your gates. 06:56 For in six days the Lord 06:58 made the heavens and the earth, 07:00 the sea, and all that is in them, 07:04 and rested the seventh day. 07:07 Therefore the Lord blessed 07:10 the Sabbath day and hallowed it." 07:13 And thank you, Jesus. 07:16 Because I think that most people today, 07:21 it's our culture to work. 07:23 It's our gift to work. Yes. 07:25 And you know, I know that 07:27 I look forward every day to be able to get up 07:29 and go and do things, 07:30 the more gray hair that you have, 07:32 the more excited you are 07:33 because there's a lot of people 07:35 that really don't have a lot to do. 07:37 So I'm just, you know, just very, very fortunate. 07:41 But I certainly do look forward to that seventh day. 07:44 Amen. 07:46 And when does that seventh day start? 07:49 They'll start sundown sunset, just as the day started. 07:55 Evening and morning, it was a day in Genesis. 07:57 And so, from evening to evening, 07:59 we celebrate the Sabbath. 08:01 Moses writes that elsewhere in the Book of Exodus as well. 08:04 Amen. Amen. 08:05 And I love how it shows here 08:07 that God has a heart not just for you and me, 08:09 but for our family, 08:11 for anybody that's working for us 08:13 and even the stranger, 08:14 the foreigner that's in our midst. 08:16 He wants everybody to have the day off 08:19 and just spend time with the Creator God. 08:21 Even animals. Yeah, even the cattle, donkeys. 08:26 That's right, even the donkeys get the rest, get break. 08:29 Praise the Lord. 08:31 So in Leviticus 23:3, 08:33 I like to share a scripture there 08:34 because it helps us also to understand 08:37 something important 08:38 that should take place on the Sabbath day. 08:40 It says there, "Six days shall work be done, 08:45 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, 08:48 a holy convocation. 08:50 You shall do no work on it, 08:52 it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." 08:54 So among the things that can be done 08:57 and should be done, 08:58 on the seventh day used to have a holy convocation. 09:01 And that's why God calls 09:02 all His children to come to worship Him, 09:06 in God's house of prayer, 09:08 the church, and worship Him 09:11 in spirit and in truth, it's a blessing. 09:14 So on the Sabbath day, I would like to say this, 09:16 I know some people may be shocked 09:17 when I say this, but this is something 09:19 that you should avoid, you know, 09:21 the Sabbath day is a day of rest. 09:24 And it says that we should do all our work 09:26 and all our stuff that would honors 09:31 during the six days 09:32 on the seventh day going shopping. 09:35 That does that does not fall under the category 09:37 because shopping, you're thinking about yourself, 09:40 you're thinking about things 09:42 that are unnecessary for you and spending money. 09:45 And so this is something 09:47 that should not be done on the Sabbath day. 09:49 And I would even go as far as to say, 09:51 if you're going to call a friend 09:52 and they're going to talk to you 09:54 about the sports of the week and things of that nature, 09:57 takes your thoughts off the solemnity, 10:02 the blessing of the Sabbath day. 10:05 It's a time that you can get to know one another. 10:08 A time to praise the Lord. 10:10 You can go out in nature 10:11 and see the marvelous things He has created, 10:13 and say what a marvelous God we have. 10:16 Look at all these beautiful things 10:17 He has created for our delight, and to praise Him. 10:20 I don't know if you want to add something to what I've said. 10:23 Yeah, I really appreciate the Sabbath 10:26 and also opportunities to serve. 10:29 To serve, to minister to others in various ways, 10:33 capacities in the community. 10:35 It's a time to think of 10:39 what God has done for other people, 10:42 you know, and to find ways how can I, 10:45 how can I bring the Sabbath blessing 10:46 to someone else in their discouragement, 10:50 maybe visitation or prayer or food. 10:54 I mean, when I was a teenager, 10:57 I'm in high school, I remember our youth group, 10:59 I would gather together our young people. 11:01 And on Sabbath afternoon, probably once or twice a month, 11:04 I encourage all of our youth, 11:06 hey, bring food, we're going to bag, 11:07 we're going to bag it all up. 11:09 And then once or twice a month, 11:10 we take out, we'd go into the community 11:12 and we deliver food to people in need in our community, 11:15 and it was just a way to get our young people. 11:17 Let's get out and do something 11:18 and make Sabbath a delight by blessing others. 11:21 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 11:22 And it's a good habit to take 11:24 and continue for the rest of their life. 11:26 I mean I think it's always, 11:28 it's always wonderful to be able to serve and to give, yes. 11:32 Well, there are many things 11:34 we could continue to say about the Sabbath day, 11:37 really we can talk probably for hours about this. 11:39 But our topic for today is, God is worthy of praise. 11:45 God is worthy of praise. 11:47 And I know that you may have 11:50 something you'd like to share 11:51 about even just the word praise. 11:54 To you, when you think of the word praise, 11:56 what kind of things come into your mind, 11:58 do you have a definition you want to share that 12:01 could help us enter into this topic 12:04 and have a good foundation 12:06 for what we're going to share? 12:10 Go ahead, Scott. You can take it all. 12:14 Yeah, it seems kind of obvious to me, 12:16 praises to give someone honor to be thankful, 12:18 to be grateful. 12:19 It's not hard to know what it is, 12:21 it's just that we're constantly forgetting to do it. 12:24 Now we can get caught up with all of our problems 12:26 that are busyness and everything else 12:27 and I just feel like, that's, 12:30 you know, I studied my Bible, I pray. 12:34 I work for God. 12:35 But this is the area that easily gets wiped out, 12:39 because it's just the way we are human nature. 12:43 Focus on our problems instead of greatness of God. 12:46 And that's too bad, that shouldn't be that way. 12:48 That's right. 12:50 It seems like whenever 12:51 I was looking at the different definitions, 12:52 it kept narrowing it down to these three words, 12:56 recognizing Jesus 13:00 because He is the only one that truly deserves it. 13:04 So it's recognition to Him. 13:06 Lord, we praise Your name, we're recognizing Your name. 13:10 All good and perfect things come from You. 13:13 Thank You, Jesus. 13:14 And because of that, then so many just kind of like, 13:18 like the funnel comes down, you know, and then, boys, 13:22 you turn that funnel upside down. 13:25 It just opens up a big door of how He blesses us 13:28 in all these different ways, because of our praise. 13:33 What do you think? Yeah, absolutely. 13:36 When I think about praise, 13:39 praise, praising God is really about His character, 13:44 who He is, what He's done. 13:46 It's about praising Him for what He's done in the past. 13:50 And we see this a lot in the Psalms. 13:52 I've got several Psalms here. 13:54 I'd love to refer to, but take Psalm 92 for example 14:00 which is a psalm to be sung on the Sabbath. 14:04 So, and it begins with just such a beautiful introduction, 14:07 it is good to give things to the Lord, 14:10 to sing praises to the Most High. 14:12 Amen. 14:14 Here on the Sabbath, it is good to give thanks 14:16 and sing praises. 14:17 And so, thanksgiving is a gratitude 14:20 for what God has done, 14:21 praising I see is about praising God 14:25 for who He is, and His acts in history. 14:27 Amen. 14:29 God is redeemed, God is renewed, 14:31 and God is just and faithful. 14:36 It goes on these... Excuse me, John. 14:37 Sure. Go ahead. 14:38 Now it goes on then to say, 14:40 to declare our loving-kindness to Him 14:44 and our faithfulness, so we start our day off, 14:47 the loving-kindness. 14:48 Thank You, Lord, for being part, 14:50 we just ask, Lord, that You will just 14:53 level that path before us that you know that, 14:57 that Your Word will be a lamp to our feet. 15:00 And then as the evening goes, 15:02 as the day goes through and everything, thank you, 15:04 Lord, for Your faithfulness. 15:06 We got through this day, 15:08 hopefully we had divine appointments. 15:10 Hopefully we did something that we were a servant, 15:12 you know, that we were able to hand out bread 15:15 to different people in different ways, 15:16 you know, so. 15:18 I have here a definition 15:20 from the 1828 Webster dictionary 15:23 that I would like to share with you. 15:25 And it's very simple and very clear. 15:31 It mainly says, "The expression of gratitude 15:36 for personal favors conferred, a glorifying or extolling." 15:41 And it even quotes a scripture here, it says, 15:44 "He has put a new song in my mouth, 15:46 even praise to our God." 15:48 Psalm 40:3. 15:50 And so, praise is something 15:53 that brings glory to God 15:58 for things He has done. 16:00 Expression of gratitude, you know, 16:02 it brings us into 16:06 closer relationship to God. 16:08 From the human perspective, 16:12 I don't know how you would feel, 16:15 for example, let's say, let's say you built a house, 16:20 you went out there, you worked, 16:22 you put all of the effort into it. 16:24 Nobody helped you. You did it all by yourself. 16:26 And then somebody is coming by and starts looking at it. 16:32 And, wow, what a beautiful house. 16:34 This is tremendous. 16:36 Look how nice it is, the colors 16:38 and how strong the foundation looks 16:41 and a beautiful home. 16:43 And somebody comes along and says, "I made that. 16:47 I built this house." 16:48 But you know that you're the one that did it. 16:50 How would you feel 16:52 if you hear somebody taking the credit 16:54 for something that you have done 16:56 and you have sweat and you have 16:58 put hours and hours of work into? 17:00 All my human nature is very selfish and jealous. 17:05 I think this is where we ask the question, 17:07 wait a minute, 17:08 why is God asking us to praise Him? 17:10 I mean, who of us goes around and says, 17:12 you know, tell me how good I am. 17:13 We don't like that. 17:15 But God is of entirely different caliber than us. 17:18 And He has an entirely higher love. 17:21 So when He asks us to praise Him, 17:23 He's not trying to build up His ego, 17:25 He's recognizing that the very best thing 17:28 He could do for us is to help turn our eyes off 17:30 our piddly little things that we do, 17:34 and our problems and our successes 17:36 and point them up to the God 17:37 who is the source of everything. 17:39 So out of a fullness, He is inviting us 17:42 to enjoy His fullness and His adequacy. 17:44 That's right. 17:46 You know, if I can bring a little bit of brain science 17:49 here that some research shows in the brain that 17:52 when we meditate on a God of love, 17:54 when we meditate on who God is, 17:57 His faithfulness, His mercy, His justice, His kindness is, 18:01 as you're meditating on a God of love, 18:04 parts of our brain actually begin to strengthen. 18:08 And the parts of our brain that relate to altruism, 18:12 and selflessness, grow, and develop, and strengthen. 18:16 So the more we meditate upon a God of love 18:18 and praise Him for who He is, 18:22 the more selfless our brain begins to become wired towards. 18:28 Amazing. 18:30 I saw some study recently 18:31 as well concerning the brain and, 18:34 for example, they have measured, 18:36 they have science behind the idea of you 18:39 complimenting someone and saying, you know, 18:42 this meal you prepared is delicious, 18:45 it's just has so much taste. 18:48 I really enjoyed eating this. 18:50 And this expression of gratitude 18:54 does something in the brain that is beneficial 18:57 to the person expressing 19:00 the compliment to someone as well. 19:03 So it's interesting that this idea, 19:07 this understanding that praising God 19:11 is a good thing 19:12 also has a personal benefit for us. 19:15 Not that we should do it for that reason, 19:18 it should come natural for us 19:20 as we consider how many great 19:23 and marvelous things God has done for us 19:27 and does every day. 19:29 I can say every day God does something for us. 19:33 More than one thing, of course. 19:36 You know, it reminds me, 19:37 Shelley and I were talking last night. 19:39 She just had a severe surgery back in January, 19:41 I mean, December, December the night. 19:44 And so seven months, 19:46 she's been fighting these different battles 19:47 between her back 19:48 and between a torn rotator cuff, 19:50 which she had surgery. 19:52 I know that Idalia has been 19:53 going through a serious situation, 19:55 you know, for two years now? 19:58 Almost three. Almost three years. 20:01 And Shelley was saying, 20:02 you know that what got me through 20:04 so far is having a positive attitude. 20:08 Even whenever I had all the pain, 20:10 and I didn't think I'd go any further, you know, 20:13 I would claim His promises. 20:16 And so, having those positive, 20:18 that head positive attitude 20:20 that increases our faithfulness, 20:24 and giving affirmations or whatever, 20:27 but it tells us what she loved was, 20:33 of course, was Thessalonians 5:16-17. 20:35 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 20:37 and everything give thanks, 20:39 for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 20:42 And so that is, Lord, increase my faith, 20:45 Lord, thank You that I can call upon Your name. 20:48 I know that You've been there at these times, in these times. 20:51 And so it just helps. 20:53 It helped lift her feet to take the next step, 20:57 talking about our positive attitude, 21:00 you know, and how the brain works. 21:01 Yeah. 21:03 And I think it's a really good point to make. 21:04 Because like when we think about David and this, 21:07 and many of the songs that he wrote, 21:09 he went through some very difficult times. 21:11 Where was God? 21:12 I mean, the king is chasing me, 21:15 you know, around and around the mountain, like, 21:17 where is God in all of this, 21:18 and I think we can resonate with that. 21:21 Where is God and, you know, 21:22 I've been suffering with back pain for 30 years, 21:25 or, you know, or this abuse, or trauma, 21:29 or whatever it may be, where was God in all of this? 21:32 And I think it's really, 21:33 really key to keep in mind that, 21:36 that in the midst of the pain, 21:38 the suffering, whatever it may be we be, 21:40 we're going through, 21:42 there is still a God in heaven that we can give thanks 21:44 and praises to because ultimately 21:46 His promise will be fulfilled. 21:48 We'll have a new body, a new mind, a new heart, 21:51 and we will be healed when Jesus comes again. 21:54 And that can be something that can give us that hope, 21:57 that encouragement just to keep pressing on 21:59 in the midst of the pain 22:01 and the suffering we may be experiencing. 22:02 Yes, beautiful. 22:05 You know, people listening to this, 22:08 some of them are just naturally positive people 22:10 and they're doing this 22:11 and others are listening and they're saying, 22:14 "I don't know how I get started. 22:15 I'm just hurt so bad, I can't even imagine, you know, 22:19 praising God and thanking Him." 22:21 And I just, I want to encourage anybody 22:26 who's listening to that to say, 22:28 you don't have to feel it to speak it. 22:30 And that doesn't mean that it has to be fake. 22:34 It's not like you have to fake it. 22:35 You can simply say, God said to me, rejoice always, 22:39 pray without ceasing and thank Him, 22:42 praise Him continually. 22:43 All these commands, God's Word itself is powerful, 22:46 it recreates, it creates what it says. 22:49 So if He commands you to do something, 22:51 He's got the power in that word to make it possible. 22:53 So you take that and you step out in faith 22:55 and you say just like the paralytic 22:57 when He said rise up and walk, 22:59 Jesus says rise up and walk, well he can't. 23:01 But he takes hold of the command 23:02 and he does it. 23:04 So in that moment, we can simply choose 23:07 and as we began to do it, it comes. 23:11 My wife has a practice 23:12 of writing down three things every day 23:15 that she's thankful for. 23:17 And she has done it consistently. 23:18 She's got bookfull, 23:20 books full of things she has put down. 23:22 Sometimes it's like, I can't think of anything. 23:25 But you know, that process of writing it down, 23:27 you begin to develop the attitude 23:30 that makes a big difference. 23:32 I think that's a very good practice. 23:34 Very good practice. Takes a lot of discipline too. 23:37 It takes discipline, yes. 23:40 This is a good practice to get you dedicate 23:43 but to write it down is even better. 23:45 So I think I would like to start that myself. 23:48 It's a good one. 23:49 You know, you may want to use your phone. 23:51 I just got an email from a friend 23:53 I happen to see on the way yesterday. 23:55 She's fighting ALS 23:56 and her speech is starting to slur 23:59 and different things and uncertain future, 24:01 family surrounded her, helping her, 24:03 but she has days when she gets discouraged 24:05 and she started to blog and share. 24:07 And she said the other day, 24:09 she went outside 24:10 and she was stepping on stickers 24:12 and getting burrs in her clothes 24:13 and she just said, yeah, 24:15 that's just the way my life is right now 24:17 and just feeling sad and crying. 24:19 And then she said, "I was starting to feel low, 24:22 low as I started walking up 24:23 for breakfast and encountered the birds. 24:25 Then somehow my mind shifted to praise 24:27 as I started praising the Lord for many random things, 24:31 little and big, family, 24:32 friends, ducks, clouds, granola, a roof. 24:35 It was as if my heart renewed a little 24:37 with each praise and each step. 24:39 It's a simple concept really, but powerful." 24:42 Amen. 24:44 And then she went on to say 24:45 how she's found different praise quotes 24:46 and put them into her phone. 24:48 So she just clicks there 24:49 and reminds herself, 24:50 this is what I have to be about. 24:52 What's her first name? Amen. 24:53 Shelley. Shelley. 24:56 Let's pray for Shelley right now. 24:57 Thank you. 24:58 Loving Father, as we come together right now, 25:00 we just lift up Shelley, dear Father. 25:02 Father, bless her little heart, 25:04 going through all this newness of life, Lord, 25:06 that she's not used to and, 25:08 Father, trying to hold her back. 25:09 But, Father, she continues to stretch out, 25:12 go into territory that she hasn't gone before. 25:15 And, Father, she's praising Your name 25:16 in spite of this enemy that's trying to hold her down. 25:19 So we're just asking, Lord, 25:21 that she will just continue to intercede in her life and, 25:24 Father, that she does not become discouraged 25:27 'cause she knows who the Creator is. 25:30 And He spoke and it was done. 25:32 So let us never forget that, 25:34 Lord, that He is there to make up that difference. 25:37 Bless our precious Shelley, 25:39 dear Father, we ask this in Your name, amen. 25:41 Amen. Amen. 25:43 Thank you so much. 25:44 You know, that's also what the Sabbath is about, 25:46 celebrating our Creator, 25:47 which means celebrate His power to sanctify 25:50 and redeem, Ezekiel 20:12, and 20, right? 25:52 Amen. 25:54 The sign of God who makes you holy. 25:56 He makes you holy through the power of His Word. 25:57 Yeah. 25:59 You know what you said Shelley is doing is something 26:03 that others can grab a hold of and do as well. 26:06 I mean, she started to praise the Lord 26:08 in the midst of her suffering 26:09 and found herself being feeling better 26:13 as she continued to find reasons 26:15 to praise the Lord. 26:17 Let's praise the Lord for that. 26:19 A good, good thing to do. 26:20 I would like to mention something 26:22 I mentioned before in at least one program, 26:25 I would say. 26:27 I remember one time I took, you know, 26:29 the different calls come in for prayer. 26:31 And this gentleman, after I said, 26:35 what you normally say when you answer the phone, 26:37 he said, "What do I have to be thankful for?" 26:41 And it caught me a little off guard as they say, 26:44 and the Lord blessed with some things to say 26:46 I started asking him some questions. 26:49 "Are you in jail right now?" 26:52 "No." 26:54 "You shall be thankful for that. 26:55 Are you in the hospital right now?" 26:58 "No." 26:59 "You should be thankful for that. 27:00 And so I say, you in a mental institution?" 27:03 "No." 27:05 "You should be thankful for that. 27:06 Did you get to eat today?" 27:08 "Yeah, I did eat today." 27:10 "You should be thankful for that." 27:11 And so, yes, there are things that 27:14 we can be thankful for if we stop and think about it, 27:17 because God has been involved in these things. 27:19 And so we mentioned a few other things. 27:21 And he said, "Well, I guess I do have some things 27:23 to thank God about." 27:24 And so, yes, we all have 27:26 something to thank the Lord about. 27:28 Well, you know, sometimes, this is kind of an old term. 27:32 I guess it's still used, I would call it being, 27:34 calling high center. 27:36 Being a farm boy, you know, 27:37 you'll go out and there's times 27:39 whenever you get the vehicle caught, 27:40 say, on a little mound or something like that, 27:44 and you got the four wheels 27:46 that are just sitting there, you're not going anywhere. 27:48 You can accelerate all that you want to, 27:51 but you're caught on high center. 27:53 And sometimes we get caught on high center. 27:56 Maybe like this guy, I don't, 27:57 I don't really realize that I have any blessings. 28:01 And so you start complaining. 28:03 But then hopefully if you got somebody with you 28:06 and get on the back of that car or that vehicle, 28:08 that ATV whenever it bounce, 28:11 and one of those wheels is going to just 28:12 catch right there 28:14 and you're going to get off high center, 28:15 and then there's going to bring the reality. 28:17 Wow, there is someone out there that's paying attention. 28:21 I thought I could be here the rest of the day, 28:23 just sitting here until I ran out of gas, 28:25 just pushing down on the accelerator. 28:28 But God takes care of His children. 28:30 Thank you, Jesus. Amen. 28:32 He does. Amen. Amen. 28:33 You know, it's interesting that we sometimes forget that 28:38 the devil is busy trying to take our eyes off the Lord. 28:44 And yes, we may have, 28:47 you may be walking down the street 28:49 and stumble over something, hurt your toe. 28:52 And all of a sudden, 28:54 the devil says, "Boy, you're doing, 28:55 you're having a bad day. 28:56 Look at what happened to you, 28:58 you just stubbed your toe and this other thing 29:00 happened to you and this other thing," 29:01 and you start thinking, 29:02 your mind continues to go 29:05 from here to thinking of other things 29:08 that may have happened to you and your mindset is thrown off. 29:12 And we forget that the devil can put thoughts in your mind, 29:15 the devil can put thoughts in your mind, 29:16 what you do with those thoughts 29:18 is completely up to you. 29:20 So you can choose to think about 29:23 those negative things that may have happened to you 29:25 or you can concentrate on the good things. 29:28 You know, I remember reading, 29:30 I think it's the book Steps to Christ. 29:32 I don't remember which book and it's like two people 29:37 were going through a garden 29:38 and one of them is thinking, 29:41 "Look at all these beautiful flowers 29:43 and these roses and, 29:45 oh, they smell so good and etc." 29:47 And the other person says, "Yeah, it's too bad, 29:49 they're covered with thorns." 29:51 So you can have this type of focus. 29:55 So look at all those thorns and those flowers. 29:57 So you can say, look at all those flowers 29:59 that are surrounded, you know how, 30:03 look at how those thorns are surrounded by flowers. 30:06 And your perspective can be different. 30:08 And you enter into praising God. 30:11 Unfortunately, sin has entered into this world. 30:14 That's why we have thorns, and I have good news for you, 30:17 those thorns will be gone once the world is over. 30:22 You can grab flowers without the fear of thorns. 30:25 And so praise the Lord for that. 30:27 There are things that are here, 30:28 experiences that we will go through 30:30 because sin exists and God is going to do away 30:33 with all these things. 30:35 And so, rejoice in the Lord always. 30:38 Amen. Amen. Amen. 30:40 Yes, there's another trick my wife has taught me. 30:43 She's been through 30:45 a lot of struggles at her mission years 30:46 and faced a lot of challenges 30:48 and has really helped me to learn. 30:50 And that is, it's a joke in our family 30:52 when we hear her singing, 30:54 we don't know if she's happy or depressed, 30:57 downhearted or, you know, 30:58 excited because she makes that choice to seeing 31:02 even when she's struggling and that lifts her up. 31:06 There's a quote in an old magazine Review 31:08 and Herald, August 5, 1900 that says, 31:11 "Begin to educate your tongues to praise. 31:14 Praise Him and train your hearts 31:16 to make melody to God, and when the evil one 31:19 begins to settle his gloom about you, 31:21 sing praise to God, when things go crossways 31:23 at your homes 31:25 and they can sure go crossways in any home, 31:27 strike up a song about the matchless charms 31:29 of the Son of God. 31:31 And I tell you, when you touch the strain, 31:32 Satan will leave you." 31:34 Praise the Lord. Marvelous. 31:35 Where's that again? 31:37 That's in the Review and Herald, August 5, 1900. 31:40 That's beautiful. That reminds me here in Psalms. 31:43 Boy, there's a million psalms. That's right. 31:46 I mean, it's just a... 31:47 Book of praise. You bet. 31:49 Psalm 64:10, "The righteous will rejoice," 31:53 I'm thinking of your wife. 31:55 "The righteous will rejoice in the Lord 31:58 and take refuge in Him, 31:59 all the upright in the heart with glory in Him." 32:05 In other words, 32:06 God is there to assist us in our time. 32:09 You know, we may not realize 32:11 how good a day it's going to be yet. 32:13 And we just say something 32:15 just right just to start that path just perfectly so. 32:19 Yeah. I was blessed by my wife. 32:23 I mean, it literally brought a tear to my eye. 32:27 This is when we were in both in the hospital. 32:31 I mean, she was in the hospital, 32:33 I was accompanying her. 32:35 We had our accident and she had 10 broken ribs. 32:39 And it was difficult to breathe, 32:42 difficult to talk. 32:44 And this was one time when I went to do something 32:48 and I'm coming back and I normally don't do this, 32:52 but I'm walking towards the room in the hospital, 32:56 you know, coming through the basement 32:58 and all this and I open the phone. 33:02 And I hardly ever go to Facebook. 33:04 But I decided to go to Facebook 33:05 to see if what people were saying about, 33:08 you know, she had posted some things. 33:11 And I opened and I saw a video she was actually doing a live, 33:17 Facebook Live at the moment I am walking towards the room. 33:21 And she was singing, 33:25 'Thank you, Lord, in the midst of her pain, 33:28 Thank You, Lord, for giving me life. 33:30 Thank you, Lord, for bringing me joy. 33:33 And she could, you could tell that 33:34 she could hardly sing. 33:36 And I had to pause and say, Thank You, Lord, 33:39 that You have given my wife 33:41 this gratitude for knowing that You have helped us 33:44 and it's a blessing to realize that, 33:48 yes, we may be facing some difficult thing. 33:52 But in reality, 33:54 it could even be worse than it is. 33:56 It hadn't. 33:58 Let me say it this way. 33:59 If it was not for God restraining the devil, 34:04 imagine how horrible, 34:07 how much more horrible the things 34:09 that you have gone through could have been? 34:12 Because the devil would like to do you more harm, 34:15 more suffering than you have gone through. 34:17 But God says no, no, no, no, 34:19 you can't do that, can't do that. 34:23 And so God puts restraint upon this devil 34:26 that wants to do us harm 34:27 because he's out to kill, to destroy, to harass, 34:32 and God says, "No, you can't do that." 34:35 And I praise the Lord for that. 34:36 So praise the Lord for that. He's worthy of praise. 34:39 That's a good word 34:40 that people need to hear right there, 34:42 you know, know that our God 34:45 is out there restraining so much, you know, 34:48 just everything could be a lot worse than it is. 34:50 Yeah. 34:51 You know, about five years ago, 34:53 my wife nearly died in an accident. 34:55 It's a Friday evening. 34:56 She had her young people, the youth group of the church. 34:59 They're all out at the park, 35:00 enjoying some time fellowshipping together 35:03 to open the Sabbath and just, 35:05 so they're having some fun playing tag. 35:07 And before they started a Bible study 35:09 to get some exercise and fresh air, 35:11 just enjoying a beautiful park 35:14 there in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 35:15 And so, as she's running 35:17 and just about to touch one of the kids, 35:18 her foot catches underneath the board, 35:20 she falls on her face, 35:22 her knee snaps backward, she almost died 35:24 because it punctured her femoral artery. 35:28 And it's, and in that journey, you know, 35:32 the five years of seeing her recover from that journey, 35:36 and seeing you know, 35:37 from place where she almost died 35:39 to now she's alive. 35:40 And while none of us wants to ever go through 35:45 a difficult situation, 35:46 the reality is that 35:47 when we go through those hardships, 35:50 we have, we can have a deeper ability 35:55 to praise God for who He is 35:57 and His faithfulness 35:59 and His acts in our lives 36:00 and His interventions in our lives 36:02 in ways that, you know, 36:04 for others who have not been through that, 36:06 they can't really, they don't know the depth 36:08 of what that prays to God is all about, 36:10 that praise God for Your glory 36:12 and Your healing and Your renewing in my life. 36:16 And so, it's so important 36:19 that we keep that in mind as we praise God. 36:23 Amen. Amen. 36:25 I would like to read this to you 36:27 because, you know, I don't like to share bad news, 36:30 but this is bad news that we need to hear. 36:33 And it's from a book 36:34 called Christ Object Lessons, page 302. 36:38 And it says the following words, 36:40 "The sin of the world today is the sin that 36:45 brought destruction upon Israel, 36:47 ingratitude to God, the neglect of opportunities and blessings, 36:53 the selfish appropriation of God's gifts. 36:56 These were comprised in the sin that brought wrath upon Israel. 37:01 They are bringing ruin upon the world today. 37:05 So notice, in gratitude, 37:09 neglect of opportunities and blessing, 37:13 and the selfish appropriation of God's gifts, 37:15 these are things 37:17 that are detrimental, they do you harm. 37:21 So be thankful. 37:23 Be thankful, express gratitude to God 37:26 because apparently, 37:28 it is a sin not to express gratitude to God. 37:31 And I encourage you to consider 37:35 what wonderful things God has done for you. 37:38 It's like we fall into one ditch to the other. 37:40 We're either boasting about the things 37:43 we've done and feeling great about ourselves 37:45 because of all we've done, forgetting every good thing 37:48 comes from God. 37:49 Or we're on the other side feeling depressed 37:51 because nothing good ever happened in my life 37:52 and I haven't accomplished anything 37:54 after all these years. 37:55 And both of those are sin. 37:57 Both of those are not acknowledging 37:59 God's goodness in all of the situation. 38:02 He needs to give us a new heart. 38:05 Amen. Go ahead, Bill. 38:08 Well, you know, it's, again, 38:12 coming back to the Psalms. 38:15 I just love, I just love how David 38:18 and many other authors of the Psalms write it. 38:21 And you know, when we think about 38:24 the two ditches and the importance 38:26 of praising God and keeping our focus central 38:29 and fully on God. 38:31 Psalm 147 is a great psalm 38:35 that has this beautiful connection here. 38:37 So in Psalm 147, we see how the psalmist is writing. 38:42 And I'll just read a couple examples here. 38:46 "The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem, 38:47 bringing exiles back to Israel." 38:49 Psalm 147:2, "He heals the brokenhearted 38:52 and bandages their wounds. 38:54 He counts the stars and call them by name." 38:57 And so here, verse 3 and 4 39:00 is just one example that God is close. 39:04 I'm healing your wounds and your broken heart. 39:07 Excellent. 39:08 And then you have God faraway, far out and in His Majesty, 39:12 He counts the stars, and His all glories. 39:16 And so Psalm 147 goes back and forth, God is close. 39:20 God is majestic and faraway over, 39:23 Lord of all of the universe. 39:25 God is close, God is majesty back and forth, 39:28 the psalmist compares, like, this is the God 39:32 that we have and we can praise Him 39:33 because He's close, and He's really broad 39:36 and He's over all things. 39:38 Beautiful, beautiful. 39:40 But I found interesting and talking about Psalms 39:42 and how important praise 39:44 is or Psalms 146, 147, 148, 49, 50. 39:50 Okay, all five starts with praise the Lord. 39:55 And the last verse in this chapter 39:57 is praise the Lord. 39:59 Uh, interesting. 40:00 Yeah, so it's just, this is a model for us. 40:05 Praise the Lord for whatever reason. 40:08 Remember He is worthy 40:10 and there's a specialness whenever you praise Lord 40:14 because He hears you. 40:16 And I don't know how that all works, 40:19 but I know that He is there, either praising, 40:22 they're praising, this assisting this, 40:24 this assisting this and, boy, 40:28 things happen that you may never think would happen, 40:32 because you know you are praising the Lord. 40:35 And we've all asked Lord that, 40:37 that since He has a plan for our life, you know, 40:40 just to help us be all that we can be in His name. 40:44 And praise the Lord. 40:45 Praise the Lord. 40:46 He heals the brokenhearted, 40:48 binds up their wounds, counting over the stars, 40:50 calls them by name. 40:52 That's the God that we serve. 40:53 Yeah. Amen. 40:54 Amen. 40:56 Were told in Testimonies volume 5, page 317. 40:59 "If the loving kindness of God 41:01 called forth more thanksgiving and praise, 41:03 we would have far more power in prayer." 41:07 So I love it when I hear, 41:09 I just heard a group in Thailand, 41:12 primarily Filipinos that are working, 41:14 they're teaching on a united prayer 41:16 call this last weekend. 41:17 And they went on for like 45 minutes 41:20 united prayer 41:21 and that fourfold way of breaking things down, 41:24 begins with praise and ends 41:26 with thanksgiving and confession 41:28 and requests in the middle. 41:29 But they went on just praising God, 41:32 you could just feel the power of those prayers. 41:35 Amen. Amen. 41:36 I'm going to read from Psalms 103. 41:40 I will begin in verse 1. 41:45 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, 41:49 bless His holy name! 41:51 Bless the Lord, O my soul, 41:53 and forget not all His benefits: 41:56 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, 41:58 who healeth all thy diseases, 42:01 who redeemeth thy life from destruction, 42:04 who crowneth thee with loving-kindness 42:07 and tender mercies, 42:09 who satisfies thy mouth with good things, 42:13 So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." 42:16 And it continues, saying many wonderful things, 42:20 including this one. 42:22 Try to put this in your mind and think about it. 42:24 "As far as the east is from the west, 42:27 so far has He removed our transgressions from us." 42:32 I say, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 42:35 Exactly right. 42:37 For we all need to hear that. 42:38 And I love verse 13. 42:40 The next one, "After the Lord is like a father 42:42 to his children tender and compassionate 42:45 to those who fear Him." 42:46 And that is, this has been, 42:48 I'm glad you referenced Psalm 103 42:50 'cause this has been an anchor chapter 42:52 for me for years. 42:54 Because in very difficult moments of my life, 42:57 my parents divorced in trying to live on my own 43:03 and navigate life as a young adult 43:06 and this chapter was so important to me 43:10 as it just reminded me, God is my father, 43:13 He's removed my sins 43:14 as far as east from the west like, 43:17 I love just verse 8. 43:18 You know, the Lord is compassionate and merciful, 43:20 slow to angry, slow to get angry 43:22 and filled with unfailing love, 43:24 and it's just so beautiful like, 43:25 that this picture gave me strength and courage 43:29 through my young adult years, 43:32 in so many ways just to remind me, 43:34 God is here with me, I don't need to be afraid. 43:37 Amen. Amen. 43:39 Well, I can praise the Lord for, 43:42 maybe that's what we should think of something 43:44 you praise the Lord for. 43:46 I would like to praise the Lord 43:47 because I can think of several times in my life 43:51 where I was near death, close to either some accident 43:56 or something along the way. 43:58 That I'm alive to say, 44:02 "The Lord brought me through those things." 44:06 I would like to praise the Lord for something. 44:09 Now God's always on time. 44:11 I remember I was a young man, 44:14 maybe 22-23, something like that, 44:16 maybe even younger. 44:18 And I went to a lake party. 44:20 And a lot of people were there 44:23 and had skiing and inner tubing 44:28 and everything like that. 44:30 And the objective was to go sunk on 44:34 one of these boat rides here. 44:36 And their objective was to throw you off, 44:39 and your objective was to hold on. 44:42 It was the... 44:45 Bless their hearts. Yeah, bless their hearts. 44:48 And I really didn't care for water in the first place. 44:51 You know, Texans, especially Central Texas, 44:53 there's not a lot of water, so we drank ours. 45:00 So, but anyway, I went to this party 45:02 and it came my time. 45:03 And so anyway, we're sitting here 45:05 and going around, 45:06 I chose an inner tube because I thought 45:08 I could hold on to it better than stay up on skis. 45:10 And as they came in, it was after lunch 45:12 and it changed the lengths of the rope behind the boat. 45:15 And I came into, as they brought me in, 45:18 I was much more, I was closer to the slip. 45:22 And I came in and I hit a boat dock, 45:24 just about like this at 45 miles an hour. 45:27 Oh, no. 45:28 And just like this and it hit me right here. 45:33 And, boy, I mean, went down, 45:38 went down in the water. 45:40 And it's kind of like, 45:42 I just kicked for everything that I could and I got back up. 45:47 I'll thank you, Jesus. 45:48 Thank you, Jesus. And I went back down again. 45:51 But so I'm kicking I'm thinking, 45:53 oh, boy, my life is 45:54 flashed in front of me right then. 45:55 I thought, oh, my goodness, you know, help me Jesus. 45:58 And then I came back up the third time, 46:01 and there was a loose line, electric line up there. 46:05 And I just thought, boy, 46:07 if I could just get up that high 46:08 and grab that line up there, I'll be safe. 46:12 I set my thinking, you know, and fighting all this, 46:15 your life flashing and everything. 46:17 And I grabbed that line up there. 46:20 Oh, thank you. 46:21 And it was just, it was so old 46:23 that it just crushed in my hand and I went back down. 46:27 And I just thought, boy, I mean, I was very discouraged. 46:31 And we were talking about just instantaneous. 46:33 Just very discouraged 46:35 there for a second and praise the Lord. 46:39 There were so many people around that probably 46:41 about 10 guys jumped in at that particular time 46:44 and pulled me out, you know, 46:47 or it might have had a different end, 46:50 you know, but that was a time that 46:52 I've always praised the Lord. 46:53 You know, He was on time. 46:55 I learned a valuable lesson. 46:58 Number one, don't get to inner tubes. 47:02 But more important, you know is, 47:03 is make good decisions. 47:06 Yes. 47:08 I mean, it's just comes down to that just, you know, think, 47:10 try to think things that 47:11 don't get caught up in peer pressure doing things 47:14 that you shouldn't and etc, etc. 47:16 But I just thank you Jesus 47:18 for being there on time saved my life and... 47:22 How about you, Bill? 47:24 You know, there's so many things 47:26 and I praise God that 47:29 He brought my wife into my life 47:30 and that's been one of the most 47:33 rewarding experiences 47:36 that I've had is getting married 47:38 and we're three years celebrating marriage 47:41 and I'm just, I just praise God for that and, 47:45 but as I think about that, 47:47 you know as I've reflected on my life 47:49 and my life journey, struggling with addictions and, 47:53 you know, broken home and just all the pain 47:57 that really comes with that. 47:59 I look back and I can say, 48:01 I praise God that 48:03 He's been my Father all the way through. 48:05 And I really sensed that when I was 16, 48:08 I committed my life to Jesus really for the first time. 48:13 I'm baptized at 12, 48:14 but committed my life, you know, 48:16 intellectually to Jesus at 16 with my heart, 48:19 and I just really sense that, 48:21 that time Psalm 27:10, became fulfilled in my life. 48:25 And I'll read this, 48:26 because it is such a powerful text, 48:28 Psalm 27:10, "Even if my father 48:32 and mother abandoned me, the Lord will hold me close." 48:35 And so I praise God that He has been my father. 48:38 He's held me close 48:40 in the midst of the ups and downs 48:42 of life's journey, 48:44 battling addiction, battling brokenness, you know, 48:47 addressing the baggage that I've carried, 48:53 but He's been a faithful father to me. 48:55 He's been a faithful parent to me, 48:57 and I praise God for that. 48:58 Amen. Amen. 48:59 That's beautiful. Wow. 49:02 Yes, like in 10 seconds or less, right? 49:05 Although many things you have. 49:06 Although many things to praise God for His mercy. 49:08 You have a few minutes. 49:10 No, there is so much and so much I'm thankful. 49:15 But I think everyday life 49:19 is so challenging in our complex world, 49:23 where we have decisions to be making 49:25 that seem like life altering, 49:28 either for ourselves or for our children, 49:30 or for somebody we're trying to help. 49:32 And so, even though 49:33 it may seem like a mundane thing 49:35 compared to these amazing stories 49:37 that you've just shared, the reality that God says, 49:41 ask of Me and I will give you wisdom. 49:44 James 1:5, He's just so clear, ask. 49:46 And by the way, 49:48 don't you be doubting, not even a little bit. 49:51 Just know it. This is true. 49:52 I'm going to do this for you. 49:54 God has helped me so much 49:55 and just trying to make decisions 49:57 and you can go for weeks without coming through 50:00 and you're like, "Okay, where's the answer," 50:03 but it's on its way, God is working with us. 50:05 He is, He's not just interested in giving us a quick answer 50:08 and we go off on our own. 50:09 He wants to walk with us. 50:11 He wants us to be in His presence. 50:13 And so that's, that's just beautiful thing 50:16 that I really appreciate about God. 50:18 He is faithful to His Word. 50:20 He is faithful to answer our questions 50:22 and our struggles, 50:24 all those beautiful things, saving our lives, 50:26 just so much He brings us joy. 50:29 And I think the last thing 50:30 that I just tie to with that is, 50:33 again, for those who are listening, 50:35 and they're saying, you know, 50:37 I'm almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, 50:40 but I think it might be a train, you know. 50:43 It can hit you. Yeah. 50:45 I just, I can't get past what I'm going through. 50:48 I'm hurting the most, I don't know that 50:50 I can even get those words out to start singing a song 50:52 or praising or maybe I could write in a journal. 50:55 But the promise, the promise of righteousness 50:58 by faith through Jesus Christ fits this exactly. 51:02 What is He giving us 51:04 when He gives us Christ, our righteousness? 51:05 He's giving us Jesus 51:07 who is full of praise and full of glory to God. 51:10 But in Hebrews 13:15, 51:12 it talks again about this sacrifice of praise. 51:16 And it is a sacrifice. 51:17 We're sacrificing complaints and gloominess. 51:21 We gotten so used to them, they're like friends, 51:23 and we feel like we're giving them up 51:24 when we start to praise. 51:25 But listen how he says. 51:27 He says, "Therefore," this is Hebrews 13:15, 51:29 "Therefore by Him, let us continually 51:33 offer the sacrifice of praise to God, 51:35 the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." 51:38 Even this is only possible by the miracle of Christ 51:42 in our hearts that enables us to have 51:45 love, joy, peace, long suffering, etc. 51:49 So I am especially thankful 51:51 that it's not in our own strength. 51:53 It's Christ, our righteousness in our life. 51:56 Amen. 51:57 And I'll read here in Psalm, we talked about Psalms 27, 52:00 where there's so many nuggets in Psalms 27:14, 52:04 wait on the Lord. 52:06 So those that are kind of, you know, 52:09 maybe running a fast pace 52:10 and their whole life just runs fast. 52:13 Maybe, wait, wait on the Lord, be of good courage. 52:17 Be strong, stand tall, 52:19 and He shall strengthen your heart. 52:22 Now there's where because all of a sudden 52:24 you know this, 52:26 something besides you is rising up, 52:29 you know, and this, maybe I can do this. 52:33 Oh, Lord, I want to hear you. 52:36 And He says, just wait, and it goes up, 52:38 he makes us absolute. 52:40 Wait I say, wait on the Lord, wait I say on the Lord. 52:46 Lord give me patience, give me understanding, 52:50 you know, worthy is the name of Jesus 52:54 to be prayed. 52:58 Amen. Amen. 53:00 Now I was reading this right quick 53:01 here in John and then you can. 53:04 I was playing the other day. 53:06 This is my Lego set right here. 53:09 The Christian's life should be 53:10 one of faith, of victory and joy in Christ, joy in God. 53:16 And He gave me four scriptures to tie in here 53:18 and we're talking about waiting patience, worthiness. 53:22 Nehemiah 8:10, 53:24 "The joy of the Lord is your strength." 53:27 Thus praise the Lord. 53:29 Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always 53:33 I say it again rejoice." 53:35 Praise Him. 53:37 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and 18, 53:40 "Rejoice always, pray continually, 53:42 give thanks in all circumstances, 53:44 for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 53:47 Thus praise Him. 53:49 Ephesians 3:19, 53:51 "That you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 53:55 Thus praise Him. 53:58 So it comes down to thus praising Him 54:01 that opens up all these doors that allows us to go through. 54:06 Sometimes you got to skinny up a little bit 54:08 maybe to get through that little crack, 54:10 but you'll get through it, you know, praise Him. 54:13 I was just reflecting 54:14 on this praise and righteousness. 54:17 And when we think of the Psalms, 54:19 a lot of this, many of the Psalms 54:21 reflect about praise and what event 54:25 do they almost always refer to? 54:27 The Exodus. 54:29 They refer to the Exodus, deliverance at the Red Sea. 54:33 They're pointing back, look how God saved us. 54:38 We can praise Him for what He's done. 54:41 Look at how God has delivered us 54:43 from the enemies and we can rejoice Him 54:46 at all times and rejoice in the Lord. 54:49 Look at how God 54:50 has brought justice to our enemies, 54:52 our persecutors, our oppressors, 54:55 redeemed us and ransomed us. 54:56 And so, this praise 54:59 and righteousness by faith come hand in hand 55:01 as we look back through the story of the people of God. 55:05 Faith is praise. 55:07 And we haven't even mentioned 2 Chronicles 20, 55:09 incredible story of victory 55:12 where it becomes because they went out praising 55:15 and singing. 55:17 We as a family have made a book called an Ebenezer book 55:21 where we, even when the kids were little, 55:23 they would draw pictures of stories 55:25 where God did something for them 55:26 and we put that in. 55:27 And that is, that is a book we go back to 55:30 and we read and we see what He has done. 55:32 And that returns that joy 55:35 to see where God has led in the past. 55:37 Amen. Amen. 55:38 I'm reading to you from Christ Object Lessons 55:41 beginning in page 299. 55:44 It says, "To praise God in fullness 55:47 and sincerity of heart 55:49 is as much a duty as this prayer. 55:52 We are to show to the world 55:54 and to all the heavenly intelligences 55:57 that we appreciate the wonderful love of God 56:00 for fallen humanity, 56:02 and that we are expecting larger 56:04 and yet larger blessings from His infinite fullness 56:08 far more than we do. 56:11 We need to speak of the precious chapters 56:13 in our experience. 56:15 After a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 56:17 our joy in the Lord and our efficiency 56:20 in His service will be greatly increased by 56:23 recounting His goodness and His wonderful works 56:26 in behalf of His children." 56:29 What happens when you do this? 56:31 "These exercises drive back the power of Satan, 56:34 they expel the spirit of murmuring 56:38 and complaint and the tempter loses ground. 56:41 They cultivate those attributes of character 56:43 which will fit the dwellers on earth 56:45 for the heavenly mansions. 56:47 Such a testimony will have an influence upon others. 56:51 No more effective means 56:52 can be employed for winning souls to Christ". 56:55 Amen. 56:57 Christ Object Lessons starting on page 299. 57:00 Well, our time is over. 57:04 I know we have more to share, 57:05 but our time is over for this program. 57:08 I want to thank JD Quinn for being with us. 57:10 Amen. Thank you. 57:12 Thank you for being with us. 57:14 Bill, we want to thank you for being with us as well. 57:17 And, of course, Scott, 57:19 thank you for being with us also during this time. 57:22 And we want to thank you 57:23 for being with us during this hour. 57:26 We hope you have been blessed 57:27 and we hope you continue to pray for 3ABN 57:29 and continue to praise the Lord 57:32 because it is good and He's waiting. |
Revised 2020-09-04