Praise & Worship

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:6 

When was the last time you really praised and worshipped God? In the busyness of the season may we never forget to praise and worship the LORD!

Thank you Lord, for your greatness and wonderfulness, help me to never take your word for granted. There are people right now suffering for believing in You. Help me Lord to have a heart of praise and worship each and every day.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. Psalm 41:13

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. Psalm 72:18 -19

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. Psalm 63:4 

Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. Lamentations 3:41

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Sing Praise!

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Action

1 A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.  Psalm 100 (NLT)

A Psalm of action, my part is to shout, worship, come, acknowledge, enter His gates, go into His courts, and give thanks. 

Why should I do this? The answer is in verse five. God is good, His unfailing love continues forever and His faithfulness continues to each generation. Praise God for His love and faithfulness to you (me)!!

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Praise & Thanks

And each morning and evening they stood before the LORD to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. I Chronicles 23:30 (NLT)

What better way to start and end the day but by thanking and praising God for everything.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Moments

Happy Moments,

Praise God.

And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long. Psalm 35:28

Difficult Moments,

Seek God.

Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. I Chronicles 16:11

Quiet Moments,

Worship God.

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

Painful Moments,

Trust God.

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

Every Moment,

Thank God.

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.  I Chronicles 29:13

Be thankful,
Donna

Confess, Worship, Praise

[1] Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them. [2] And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. [3] And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God. [4] Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. [5] Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:1-5

Here we have a picture of the children of Israel getting right with God. The wall is built and prepared with guards to protect the area. It is now time for the people to be “built up” in the Lord. It is time for them to draw nigh to God so He will draw nigh (get close) to them (James 4:8).

What were the steps that were taken to accomplish this task?

~ Fasted – The act of abstaining from food.

~ Stood and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.

~ Read the book of the law for ¼ of the day – earnestly striving to know what God wanted them to do

~ Confessed – asked for forgiveness

~ Worshipped God after reading the word and confessing their sin

~ Praised His glorious name

Each step taken was toward God and away from self.

Today as one speaks to a Christian most of the “buzz” words spoken are praise and worship. Not much is said in regard to repentance, confession, fasting. As with everything Christianity is not just one or two items, but a multitude of things that need to be together. One cannot truly worship and praise God without repenting (to turn away) of sin and asking God for forgiveness.

As with the Israelites of this time Christians need to be in tune with God. We need to examine ourselves and make sure our motives are right before God.

[23] Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: [24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Palm Sunday

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Matthew 21:1-11

One week, only one short week and your entire life can change. In the life of Jesus, it was not only his life that changed but the lives of the entire world. Today is the start of Passion Week or Holy week. It is the week leading up to Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

Jesus and his disciples had been walking for a long time, having left Jericho they were now coming to Jerusalem a journey of about 19 miles. Remember in Bible times there were no “superhighways” no express ways, no fast cars, or trains. They traveled on foot or rode on animals. The roads were not smooth but rough and dangerous.

As they entered the village Jesus told two of his men to go to a certain place and get a donkey with her colt. They obeyed and accomplished the job. The disciples started to prepare the animals, by putting clothes on them like a covering so Jesus would not have to sit on the bare back. By doing this they were “acknowledging him to be their king, for this was a custom observed by the people when they found that God had appointed a man to the kingdom.”-Adam Clarke

The disciples started the walk toward the city of Jerusalem. There were great numbers of people all around, some probably had followed from Jericho. The people threw branches of trees down for Jesus’ donkey to walk on. Albert Barnes says, “The palm was an emblem of “joy and victory.” It was used by the Roman soldiers, as well as the Jews, as a symbol of peace.”

As the garments and branches were thrown down the people began to praise Jesus. They didn’t just praise Jesus, but PRAISED HIM!!. They cried with loud voices, so loud that the whole city was saying, who is this?? The people were interested in what was going on. They wanted to know who was worthy to receive all this praise. All the people were more than willing to give the answer, Jesus the prophet of Nazareth.

Jesus is more than worthy to receive our praise. As you mediate on what this day represents praise Him for all He has done for you.


Psalm 150

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Praise His Name

A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100

What a great Psalm for the Thanksgiving season. This is a psalm of praise. What is praise? Take off the “p” and you are left with raise – raise the name of the Lord. When we are raising His name and focusing on Him, He is the center of all of our attention. We raise His name by talking about Him, singing to Him, glorifying Him in all we do.

Sing and make a joyful noise to Him. Noise in this verse means figuratively to split the ears (with sound), that is, shout (for alarm or joy). When I think of all the blessings that are mine I want to shout and praise His Name. Every day He gives me benefits. (Psalm 68:19) Benefits I don’t necessary deserve but because of His love He provides me with all I need and more.

Serve God with gladness. He made us to serve and worship Him. We are the sheep, as sheep we are to follow the Shepherd. Follow with a thankful and praising attitude. Follow in love knowing the Shepherd only wants to bring us to green and plentiful pastures.

Be thankful to God for ALL HE has done. He is good, I can’t even imagine where I would be if it was not for His mercy. His truth will last forever. Reading and meditating on this psalm made me want to shout and jump for joy for all He has done, past, present and future. Make Him the center of your life today.

Have a thanking day,
Donna

Conclusion of Jude

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24-25

The Lord deserves all our praise, all our love, everything. He is the only One who can keep us from falling. He is always there. He loves us with an everlasting love; we need to reciprocate that love. We need to praise Him for Who He is – The God creator of the Universe.

As I finished the book of Jude, I started to look up verses that glorify and praised God. As you walk your daily path today, take a few minutes to read the verses below. Write one verse down to carry with you as a reminder of our great and wonderful Lord.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Psalm 150:2

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Psalm 113:4

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1Timothy 1:17

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Praise Him

The word praise is mentioned 248 times in the Bible. Here are a few things to get you started on a “praising” day.

What should we praise God for:

Children
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: … Genesis 29:35

Food
But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal. Leviticus 19:24

Sight
And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. Luke 18:43

You
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14

Protection
Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. Judges 5:2

His Power
Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power. Psalm 21:13

His Loving kindness
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Psalm 63:3

His Mercy
Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 106:1

His Truth
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Psalm 138:2

His Goodness
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8

All His mighty words
And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Luke 19:37


When should we praise God:

Every morning and night
And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at even; 1Chronicles 23:30

Continually
I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

Before people
I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. Psalm 35:18

Every day
Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Psalm 145:2

How should we praise God:

With our whole being
I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. Psalm 9:1

In song
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. Psalm 28:7

Don’t be silent in your praise
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalm 30:12

With instruments
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the Psalmltery and an instrument of ten strings. Psalm 33:2

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8

Fill your hearts and mind with praise to God. Spend a few minutes just meditating on His greatness. You will be amazed at how many things you can praise God for.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Praising God

Psalm 150
1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!
Praise God in the good time.
Praise God in the bad time.
Praise God in the up time
Praise God in the down time.
No matter what is happening in your life, praise God!
He is more than worthy of our praise.
What can you praise Him for today?

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Praise God

I try to make "in everything give thanks" my motto. At times I forget, but we need to thank the Lord for everything. Today I was over joyed when one of the children from the Easter Party came to church.

This little boy didn't come with his parents, he came by himself. The Bible says in Mark 10:14 ...Jesus ...said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

I am always excited when children are hungering for the Word of God. In today's world they do not receive the Word at school and unfortunately most do not receive it at home. Whenever you have a chance reach out to a little one. Your day will be richly blessed!

Have a great day.
Donna

Praise time

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Today, we had our 2nd annual Easter Party . I’m always apprehensive because I never know who will be coming. We prayed for the Lord to send the children He wanted us to minister too. A few of the children had not been to activities in a while. They usually only attend VBS so we were pleased to see them. A good time was had by all. A great BIG THANK YOU for all who help to make the Easter Party a great success!

Have a praising day.
Donna