December 23, 2024

Where God Camps

November 15, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

O come, Let us sing to the Lord, Let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psalms 95:1-3

This psalm calls us to make sure that our worship and praise are accompanied by hearts that are obedient to the Lord.

But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Psalm 22:3

Through praise we experience more fully God’s Presence…both within us and at work all around us.  The Scriptures tell us that God dwells in the praises of His people.  He is the Holy God that inhabits the praises of Israel.

The image painted by the psalmist in Psalm 22 is that God sits down and takes delight in the praises offered to His name. God pitches His tent wherever His name is exalted. He camps out with those who acknowledge, glorify and desire His presence.

If you are struggling with pain, sickness or loss and are desperate for a sense of God’s nearness, then start praising His holy name. Cling to God in praise of His love, His protection and His faithfulness. You need Him to set up camp amid your weakness and fear and suffering.

The simple fact of God’s Presence is this: Where God dwells, God rules. He is our authority. When we invite God to dwell in us, He reigns over our hearts. When we invite God to exert His will and presence in our business, He reigns over our business.
Praise is our foremost means of inviting God to take up His residence within us and to establish His Presence, authority and purpose in every are of our lives. As we praise our Lord, we enjoy the warmest, deepest form of fellowship with our heavenly Father. No matter what you are facing, I encourage you to praise Him now.

Praise has a strong emotional dimension. As we see in this psalm, it is not driven by emotions. Praise is driven by our will. That is why we must never say “I prefer to wait and praise God when I really feel like it.” We are to praise God for He is the great God and the great King above all gods.

* * * * *

Father, we praise You, honor You for You are a great God. You are the King of kings and the Lords of lords and there is none like You. We give You all the praise for Your unfailing love towards us and Your mercies that endure forever and Your goodness that follows us all the days of our lives. It is because of Your love that we give You thanks for the work on the Cross at Calvary. Let us choose to praise and worship You always so that You inhabit in our midst. In Jesus name we have prayed.  AMEN!

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Let Us Give Thanks

November 14, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogoCome let us sing for joy to the LORD;
Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
And extol Him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
Psalms 95:1-3

Oh, how these verses call us to worship God and to worship Him with joy!  At a time of year when one pauses to think of all the things, the people, and the blessings we are to be thankful for in our lives, there should always be a response of thankfulness in our hearts for our great God and for Who He is in our lives DAILY.  I don’t need a date on the calendar to remind me to be thankful for the Presence of God in my life!  I hope you don’t either because it simply should be an automatic response in your heart if you believe in Him.

Each day is a gift and every day is flooded with reminders of His Presence—from a sunrise and chirping birds to hugs from loved ones that He brings into our lives to truths from His Word springing forth on every page we read. Let us at least bookend our days with prayers to God in thankfulness, just as sure as the sun rises and sets. Let us hug our loved ones with great gratitude to Him for He has taught us to love unconditionally and to be thankful for every moment we have with each of them. And let us never neglect reading His Word to receive the treasures He has waiting for us each day.

On any given day, let our hearts fill with joy! For under the surface of all that we deal with, each day is an abiding joy in a wonderful and Sovereign Lord Who is majestic as the One and Only Almighty King and is also personal and loving to understand our heart cries, prayers, and daily concerns! He is the Rock of our salvation and our Strength!

As our eyes open at the beginning of a new day, let us give thanks. On a quiet, not-much-going-on day, let us give thanks. As the hectic days come along and may multiply during the holiday season, let us give thanks. As we look around at God’s beautiful, exquisite creation that so reminds us of Him each day, let us give thanks. When we, who are believers, remember that He willingly and sacrificially took away our sins at the Cross and rose again to be a living Savior and Lord, let us give thanks. When He holds us in the valleys and shares with us in the mountaintop experiences, let us give thanks. When we are reminded of how much He loves us, let us give thanks. And before we close our eyes at each day’s end, let us give thanks.

* * * * *

Dear Lord,
Let there be a song of joy in our hearts at all times. And when we open our mouths to worship You in song, let us all sing with joy and thanksgiving for You are our great God and King like no other! We love, adore, and praise You! Each day, let us come to You with thanksgiving.  In Jesus’ precious Name we pray,
Amen.

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Shout Joyfully to the Lord

November 13, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

 

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
Psalms 95:1-3

What does the word psalm mean? Growing up it may have just been another book of the Bible, and, as we got older it may have been to us something that David wrote.  But a psalm is more than the description of something—it is a powerful song of significance.  It is a tribute, a praise, a thank You.

The impact of music in our lives and in the lives of those around us is immeasurable at times; remember how it felt to have a song dedicated to you, or even a song written for you?  Remember how that song was a tangible act of love from that person?  Why would our expression of love to God be any different?

*Sing to the Lord*
*Shout joyfully to Him with psalms*
*Shout joyfully to the Rock*

For all that the Lord has done for us, even on our bad days, we need to shout our thanks to Him.  Like the harpist at my job said, “Every day is good because we were woken up, some days may be better but every day is good.”  Even on our less than better days the One Who gave us breath deserves a song of praise.

I like to embarrass my kids and sing and dance in the car.  I do this for a laugh and to connect with my children. But there are times I need to put the praise cd in and do the same for Christ.  I need to sing and shout praises of thanks up to my Heavenly Father so I can enter into His Presence.

Let’s focus on using music and praise to show our tangible expression of our love for God. Let us shout joyfully to the Lord because He is a great God!

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, You call for us to glorify You with song. We desire to sing Your praises.  Lord, help us to find that song in our hearts to praise Your name and the holy boldness to sing our thanks.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

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Joy and Thanksgiving

November 12, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.”
Psalms 95:1-3

Our Lord is great. Our Lord is King. He is King above all. God is a loving King who provides for His children based on their needs—the needs that He sees. We as humans have needs and wants and, for some, it is difficult to discern between the two. That is why we have a loving Father in Heaven to look out for us. Just as we should thank our parents here on earth for what they have given us, we should also give thanks to God for everything He has blessed us with.

The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
Psalm 126:3

We should live in joy to the Lord every day. We should thank Him for everything He has done and has given us. God is our rock and foundation for this life on earth. Without God, humans wouldn’t even exist. As it says in Genesis, humans were created in the likeness of God. One can only imagine what life would have been like if Adam and Eve had not disobeyed God. Would we get sick? Would we always be searching for what we needed? Would there be sadness? I believe not. It would have been joyous to have been in the Garden of Eden.

At this moment, many of us are gearing up for the holidays. The next one is Thanksgiving. It is the one day of the year that is for giving thanks for what you have and the blessings God has given you. However, we should stand with thanksgiving every day. We should sing with joy in our hearts for having such a loving and caring heavenly Father. During this eventful season, we need to remember God and His Son, Jesus. We should let God and Jesus into our homes, so we can be filled with joy and thanksgiving for the love that They have given us.

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, in this time of Thanksgiving, please be with us as we thank You for all we have and for the life that we have. Fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving every day. In Jesus name.  Amen.

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He is Worthy

November 11, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogoToday, my assistant director came into my room and told me, “Ahmee, I need to talk to you. You got a parent complaint today.” I replayed the last few days in my mind to see if I could figure out what I might have done wrong. When I concluded that I had done nothing wrong, I immediately got ready to defend myself.

“What was it?” I said with much contempt and a tense body. She smiled at me and laughed. “I’m just joking! You actually got a compliment!” I didn’t replay the last few days in my mind to see if I could figure out what I did right. In fact, I was ready to end the conversation and was filled with much skepticism.

Isn’t it awful how I was so very ready to defend myself against the negative, but ready to dodge the positive like a dodgeball being thrown?

I’ve always felt uncomfortable with accepting praise—and I don’t mean in a healthy way. When someone compliments me I’ve trained myself to force out an awkward “thank you,” which is much better than the talking down about myself I used to do (and sometimes still do when I forget).

O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.
Psalms 95:1-3

Our God is the Mighty God (Psalm 50:1) and it is natural that as His children we would want to praise Him (Psalm 33:1), but for me praising the Lord doesn’t come so naturally. Not because He doesn’t deserve it (1 Timothy 1:17), and definitely not because I don’t want to, but because praise is something that I am not comfortable with.

I constantly have to stop myself when I am tempted to skip over verses that mention praise, glory, or honor. God deserves these things from me and I’ve decided that instead of rushing through these verses, I will put them into action…not tomorrow or next week…but the moment I read them!

I’d love nothing more than my undivided focus to be on the Lord—praising, thanking, and honoring Him for all His awesomeness!

After all, “…the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.” I’d say that’s pretty worthy of honor, glory, and praise!

* * * * *

Lord, give me a heart that praises and thanks You constantly. Help me to replace my wandering thoughts with praise to You and instead of my complaints to give You double thanksgiving. Let me never forget Your awesomeness or Your lovingkindness or Your  mercy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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