Praise Power

The book of Exodus is the story of the deliverance of God’s chosen people, Israel. God raises up a man called Moses to go before Pharaoh and command him to release almost 3 million people. After Pharaoh forces God’s hand by rejecting Moses, Egypt is struck with ten plagues, and Pharaoh reluctantly releases the children of Israel. He then changes his mind and decides to enslave them again.
With the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh advancing behind them—God commands them to “move forward.” God then separates the Red Sea, the Children of Israel cross over on dry land, and the Egyptians drown in pursuit.

Chapter 15 begins with a “praise party”—“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him.” (Exodus 15:1-2 NIV)

Praise is a powerful weapon of our warfare. It is so important to God, that the Bible mentions it more than most other subjects—The virgin birth is mentioned twice, dancing is mentioned six times, sixty-five times the Bible commands us to shout, and sanctification is mentioned seventy-two times. But the Bible talks about singing 287 times and 332 times the Bible commands us to praise.

How quickly they went from praising to complaining...

“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea…For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter…So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" (Exodus 15:22-24 NIV)

Praise gets the attention of God. But the devil knows that if he can steal your praise, he can steal your joy. And if he steals your joy, he will strip you of your strength. Anyone can praise God “after the battle,” but God is looking for someone who will praise Him when everything is bitter in your life.

What the enemy is saying is—“I hear you singing now, but I want to see you praise God when there’s no money in the bank, when you can’t find a job and nothing seems to be working.”

What Satan realizes and what we tend to forget, is that praise and worship are two powerful weapons. We must learn to praise Him in the midst of our tears; praise Him when we feel like giving up; and praise Him when we can’t see our way out.

I dare you to open up your mouth and begin to praise Him.

Scripture Of The Day: “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him." - Exodus 15:2 (NIV)

Because Of Calvary

One Of Our Youngest Parishioners

P1110976, a photo by J. Benton Adams Photography on Flickr.

Youth Sponsored Car Wash

P1110961, a photo by J. Benton Adams Photography on Flickr.

The youth sponsored a very successful car wash, on September 8, 2012.

Those Who Believe

Pastor Martin of Holy Assembly, preached recently on being a “Believer vs. being a Disciple”, On this most special night, Jesus, The Son of God is in the Garden of Gethsemane and had been praying to His Father about what He knew was about to happen to Him. Jesus did not want to have to go through all that He was and was going to continue to endure, yet He made the choice to suffer a horrible death, so that we could live free. Someone who was a part of His life and Ministry, Judas, came to the Garden guiding an assembly of soldiers and officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. 

This group came with Judas carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing what they had come to do, steps forward and asked Who they were looking for and they tell Him. Jesus responds and says I AM HE! Then The Bible tells us that they all fell back onto the ground! Their bodies could not handle the Power of God just when Jesus spoke Who He was and is, and they ALL fell to the ground, including Judas!

Just SOME of the names of Jesus are Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), The Chief Corner Stone (Ephesians 2:20), The Savior of the world (John 4:42), Redeemer or Defender (Job 19:25), The Anointed One (Psalm 2:2), The Provider (Genesis 22:14), The Son of God (John 1:34), The Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), The Counselor, The Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-47), The Maker and Builder, The Advocate (1John 2:1), The Resurrection and The Life (John 11:25), The Nazarene, Living Water (John 4:10),The Alpha and Omega, The First and The Last, The Beginning and The End (Revelation 22:13), Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23), Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and The Lamb of God (John 1:29)!

New Hope, Judas was standing right there and heard Jesus say I AM HE and felt The Power of God go through him to the point that he fell backwards to the ground! Yet he still went on with what he wanted and what he willed to do. Judas walked with Jesus, he ate with Him and saw all the miracles and heard all the teaching of Jesus first hand. Judas was even the Accountant for The Ministry! Yet Judas missed everything because he chose to just go through the motions of following God, instead of having an intimate relationship and knowing Jesus and Who He really IS!

See, you can look like you are a follower of Jesus Christ and miss Jesus, Himself! From the outside Judas looked very devoted because he was doing work for Jesus, but inside Judas never really knew Him. So, let us learn and ask OURSELVES are we basing our relationship with God by what we DO or Who He IS? Are we following our own agenda or are we following HIM? Are we trying to conform Jesus to our ways and ways of thinking or are we conforming to Him and His Ways? Beginning today, get to know The Lord through His Word and see how wonderful He is and how many facets there are to Him. Do not just LOOK LIKE you know Him, really do! I pray you have a New Life, a deeper life, a rich life – The Life with God! Not just a life that’s routine, but an amazing journey that is daily leading you to a New Life in Christ. I pray in Jesus Name that you will encounter Him and His Power and truly WHO HE IS!

Scripture Of The Day: “Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. 5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I Am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!” - John 18:4-6 (NLT)