CHAPTER 6.
LIVING FREE.
We praise G.o.d because He is worthy of our praise, but the results of our praise affect us tremendously! Now, our motives must be pure in this. We shouldn"t worship G.o.d only because it"s going to benefit us. If it never benefited us, we still should worship G.o.d because He is worthy to be praised. But I promise you, you cannot out-give G.o.d. When you begin to give glory and praise unto Him, He is going to multiply it back unto you.
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
Luke 6:38 We most often use this scripture in relation to financial giving. But if you will start blessing Him, He"s going to bless you more than you"ve ever blessed Him. His love will be so manifest in your life that you will be filled with all the fullness of G.o.d.
We Are His Temple David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, but the Lord told him not to do it himself. He said that He would let his son, Solomon, build Him a temple, which he did (1 Chr. 22:6-12). Even though David was forbidden to build the temple, he did establish a tabernacle. He brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem and ordered worship to continually take place in the tabernacle.
Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
1 Chronicles 23:5-6 David divided them into different work shifts so that praise was going up to G.o.d twenty-four hours a day. The only job for 4,000 people was to praise G.o.d. What would happen if churches today were to designate 400 people who were paid just to worship and praise the Lord? I am sure many would criticize that because we just don"t put that kind of priority on praise. Yet this is what the whole tabernacle was all about. David designated these singers to offer worship unto G.o.d, twenty-four hours a day, through musical instruments, singing, and praising.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to G.o.d continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Hebrews 13:15 As New Testament believers, we are the temple of the Lord. We have churches that we go to, but they are just places to meet. The temple of the Lord is us, and our temples should be worshiping and praising G.o.d twenty-four hours a day. A continual sacrifice means we praise Him not only when we feel like it, but just because G.o.d is good. David was constantly praising G.o.d. That"s one of the things that made him a man after G.o.d"s own heart.
He Inhabits Our Praises Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Psalm 149:3-4 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Psalm 22:3 The LORD thy G.o.d in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 G.o.d gets pleasure out of us. He inhabits our praises. These scriptures show a G.o.d who loves us, not a G.o.d who pities us or has a sense of obligation toward us. He joys over us with singing!
Many years ago, the Lord allowed my wife, Jamie, to see into the spiritual realm, and she saw angels dancing over us as we praised the Lord. At first I thought, How could this be? Who are we to think the angels of G.o.d could be dancing and rejoicing with us? Then the Lord reminded me of Zephaniah 3:17. When we begin to worship Him, it touches the heart of G.o.d, and all of heaven goes to dancing and praising G.o.d. There is rejoicing in heaven when we praise G.o.d.
Praise Takes Us Into His Presence It came even to pa.s.s, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of G.o.d.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 David had designated 4,000 people to praise G.o.d constantly, and Solomon followed that same example when he dedicated the temple. As they began to praise G.o.d, the glory of the Lord filled the house so that it literally knocked them to their faces. The power and the glory of G.o.d filled the house as they praised and worshiped Him.
G.o.d inhabits the praises of His people. A person who is not praising G.o.d is a person who is not really entering into the gates and the courts of the Lord. Now, I"m not saying that if we aren"t praising G.o.d, we aren"t born again and the power of G.o.d isn"t resident on the inside of us, but it"s never going to be manifested until we begin to glorify and praise Him. That is one of the most important things we can do.
Whoso offereth praise glorifeth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of G.o.d.
Psalm 50:23 "Ordereth [our] conversation aright" (brackets mine) means we are praising G.o.d and giving the glory due unto Him.
Praise Keeps Us Humble For G.o.d resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of G.o.d, that he may exalt you in due time.
1 Peter 5:5-6 Praising G.o.d and giving thanks unto Him makes us humble. People who are full of praise and thankfulness are constantly acknowledging that their own efforts are not what produce blessings and prosperity in their lives.
Praise reminds us who our source is. A person who is not praising G.o.d is a proud person-a person caught up in their own interests.
First Timothy 3:6 says that if we get lifted up with pride, we will fall into the condemnation of the devil. That"s the inroad Satan has into our lives.
Pride can be defined many different ways. It is not only thinking we"re better than someone else; in its simplest terms, it is self-centeredness. People can have very low self-esteems, but if they are self-centered, they are in pride. They are not relying on G.o.d as their source. They are self-consumed. Praise keeps us in humility toward G.o.d. Thankful people are humble people-they acknowledge that it is not their own power that has produced blessings in their lives. Rather, it"s G.o.d who has blessed them. People who will give praise and thanks unto G.o.d are constantly remembering that G.o.d is their source.
When Moses began to bring the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he gave them these instructions right before his death: And it shall be, when the LORD thy G.o.d shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 He warned the people not to forget the Lord and to praise Him for all the good things they had. He gave explicit directions that praise was to be an integral part of them remembering their roots, remembering where they had come from.
Praise Reveals His Love That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which pa.s.seth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of G.o.d.
Ephesians 3:17-19 G.o.d desires to have intimate relationship with us. As we begin to love Him with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, we"ll see that intimate, personal relationship develop. We"ll have a revelation of just how much G.o.d loves us. The love of G.o.d will be shed abroad in our hearts. It will be poured out on us.
Many times, we"re not clear on how to have that intimate relationship. We think we have to earn it or work for it. If I do this for G.o.d or if I do that, then all of these things will happen. No, the truth is that G.o.d already loves you without you doing anything. Thank Him for that love, remembering the great things He has done for you.
When we experience the love of G.o.d, we"ll start praising Him more; as we praise Him more, we"ll experience more of the love of G.o.d. It"s a never-ending cycle.
Everything comes from love. Do you need more faith? Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith works by love. If you need more faith, then you need more love manifested-a revelation of His love. How do you get it? By praising G.o.d. As you begin to love Him, release your love toward G.o.d, and enter into this personal relationship, the love of G.o.d will abound in your life.
Praise Will Exchange Negative For Positive I"ve seen people dying in hospitals; physically, they should have recovered, but their negative emotions affected their physical bodies. We can see how our emotional and spiritual well-being can affect us in a lot of ways. We can usually identify people who are stressed by looking at their faces. It can affect their hair, their skin, and their eyes. I believe it was Mary, Queen of Scots, who had a full head of red hair, and the night before she was executed it is said that her hair turned snow white because of the worry and fear of being beheaded the next day. Our emotions can directly affect our physical bodies, and one of the ways Satan tries to devour us is with bad health.
An att.i.tude of praise and thanksgiving will stop many of Satan"s attacks against us. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." It is a front line of defense against physical problems, and I believe the same thing is true in the area of finances. A person who has a positive att.i.tude and is praising G.o.d will have creative ideas, whereas a negative person will not have creative ideas.
I have prayed for people, and G.o.d has given me a special word, a creative word, for their situations. I"ll tell them, "Here"s what you can do." But as I share it with them, they are so discouraged that they just don"t have any vision. They"re in a survival mode. They can"t think about growth or about getting out and doing something-they"re just trying to survive.
Once a person gets that kind of att.i.tude, it"s very critical because they wouldn"t receive the answer if G.o.d gave it to them. They just aren"t receptive to it. They see themselves as a certain way or in what they feel is a hopeless situation, and because of their att.i.tude, they aren"t ever going to come out of it.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 If you see yourself as poor, if you see yourself as a failure, then that"s the way you"re going to be. But praise will make you see yourself differently. Praise will stop the negative att.i.tudes that Satan loves and feeds on. It will drive Satan away, and in the absence of Satan"s depression and discouragement, creative ideas will come to you.
A lady in one of my Bible studies was praying about her financial situation, and G.o.d showed her that she already had the answer in her hand. She had been making a special kind of clay for her children to play with that was nontoxic, colorfast, pleasant smelling, and couldn"t get in the carpet and make a mess. The Lord told her to market it. In just a couple of years, her creative idea became a two-million-dollar business.
Those kind of things are just a thought away from anyone. But it"s the negativism we harbor that keeps us from receiving these words from G.o.d. Satan has blinded people to G.o.d"s answer. How do we overcome that? Praise will change it. Praise will not only change our att.i.tudes, but it will literally drive Satan and his deception away. Praise will bring the anointing of G.o.d on our lives, and 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty"-freedom. This is freedom only G.o.d can give. But He can give it only if we enter His gates with thanksgiving and come into His courts with praise.
Living free is available to us at all times and in all situations if we continually praise G.o.d. It"s just that simple! Because when we praise Him, the Holy Spirit fills our whole being, He surrounds us with G.o.d"s love and grace, and whatever troubles we have fade into the background in light of His glory. Now that"s the way I want to live!
CHAPTER 7.
EXPERIENCING ETERNAL LIFE.
The secular world has reduced people to a few numbers- a computer number, a social security number, or maybe a credit card number. We find depersonalizing on nearly every level of society. If I call my credit card company, a computer that tells me that if I want this option, push this b.u.t.ton, or for another option, push another b.u.t.ton. I can do my entire transaction without ever talking to a live person. In the name of productivity, I"ve become just another number. As a result, there"s no need for relationship. Why should I speak to a live person when a computer can do the task more efficiently? But we need relationship-that"s what people are hungry for.
The True Purpose Of Salvation For G.o.d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 Most people are so familiar with this verse that they honestly don"t know what it says. We take this verse and teach that Jesus came and died for our sins so we wouldn"t perish. Basically, that has been the message of the church. We have preached that if people don"t want to go to h.e.l.l, they need to accept Jesus as their Savior. Even though those are true statements, that"s not the message the New Testament church preached.
The Gospel means good news, or glad tidings. Now it"s true that if people don"t accept Jesus as the payment for their sins, they will go to h.e.l.l, but that"s not good news. It"s true, but it"s not good news. The good news is that even though we deserve to go to h.e.l.l, Jesus paid for our sins. Why? So we would not perish but have everlasting life. The real emphasis of John 3:16 should be that Jesus came to bring us everlasting life.
Sin was not the real purpose for Jesus coming to this earth. He did not come primarily to forgive mankind of their sins. Jesus came to bring man into eternal life. He came to bring us into relationship with G.o.d. It just so happened that sin was the obstacle, the barrier, that stood between us and G.o.d, and it had to be dealt with. Man couldn"t overcome his own sinfulness, so Jesus died for our sins. Sin was moved out of the way, so we could have an intimate relationship with G.o.d.
Eternal Life Is Now If people only get their sins forgiven and know Jesus is their Savior, but they don"t enter into intimate relationship with G.o.d, they are missing out on what eternal life is all about. Most people think eternal life is living forever, never dying. But the Bible says that everyone is going to live forever in the sense that no one ceases to exist (Matt. 25:46). We will live forever with G.o.d or forever with Satan in the lake of fire, which is called the "second death" (Rev. 20:14 and 21:8).
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of G.o.d; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of G.o.d.
1 John 5:13 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true G.o.d, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 17:3 Eternal life is not something that is going to happen when we go to heaven. Eternal life is a present-tense reality. Eternal life is knowing G.o.d. The word know is the same word that was used in Genesis 4:1 when it said that "Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain" (emphasis mine). It is a term used many times in the Old Testament to describe an intimate s.e.xual relationship. So when it says "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true G.o.d, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," it"s saying that eternal life is an intimate, personal relationship with G.o.d. That is what Jesus came to purchase. That is the whole purpose of salvation.
As I said earlier, G.o.d didn"t just pity us and make a way so we wouldn"t die and go to h.e.l.l; He loved us enough to take away the sin, so we could enter into personal relationship with Him. Christianity is based on relationship, not rules and regulations. It is not just a doctrine. Other religions of the world have a doctrine. Many of them have moral codes of conduct that are actually equal to or stricter than Christianity. But the thing they"re missing is personal relationship with G.o.d. No other religion on the face of the earth can offer that. Jesus defined eternal life as intimate relationship with G.o.d.
I got a letter several years ago from a woman in the Huntsville, Texas, prison who was in solitary confinement for a severe crime and not eligible for parole for twenty years. After she entered prison, she had a genuine experience with the Lord and was born again. She said she knew for sure that she was born again, and that if she was to die, she would go to heaven. That was not her problem.
She felt like her whole life had been wasted. The family that she grew up in had been totally disgraced by her conduct. She had ruined her own personal family life. She was married and had kids, but now her husband had divorced her. Her kids were without a mother because she was in the state penitentiary. She had also interfered in another family-her victim"s. Many people had been affected by her crime, and many lives ruined. This woman felt like all she had ever been was a problem to people. She didn"t have cellmates because she was in solitary confinement, so she didn"t get to meet other people and felt she couldn"t redeem her life by sharing the Gospel with others. Now, she was born again, but being in prison, she felt she was a leech on society.
This woman was so totally depressed and discouraged that she was saying, "G.o.d, take me home. I want to die. I want to go home. There"s no purpose in me living here.
All I"m doing is occupying s.p.a.ce, breathing air someone else could be using."
She felt totally useless because of the mentality that says our net worth to G.o.d is related to exactly what we can do for Him, how we can produce. But she heard me on the radio and wrote to me. She explained the past situation, and then she said, "But now I understand that G.o.d loves me not just for what I can do for Him, but G.o.d loves me. I can bless Him. I can minister back unto Him. I can make my life count. I can love G.o.d. Now I have a purpose for living. The twenty years until my parole will seem like no time now because I can minister unto G.o.d. G.o.d is blessed by my praise."
That"s what eternal life is all about. Our relationship with G.o.d has to be our foundation-the priority above anything and everything else. That woman was experiencing more salvation, more freedom, and more liberty than most Christians who have never been in jail. She was forced to put her attention on the Lord and recognize that this was all she could offer Him.
The Effectiveness Of The Early Church That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
1 John 1:3-4 The early New Testament church had personal relationship with G.o.d, which is why their message was so effective. It is a historical fact that in the thirty years after the resurrection of Jesus, the New Testament church evangelized their known world. Now that is an awesome statement! These people didn"t have the advantages of radio and television, modern media, or the means of transportation that we have. They were handicapped in nearly every technological area compared to where we are today, yet they made a greater impact on their world than we"re making on ours.
We"re dumping billions and billions of dollars into preaching the Gospel-a great effort-yet a group of unlearned, uneducated people, without our present-day advances and the ability to travel like we can, made a greater impact. I believe the difference can be boiled down to the fact that people were drawn to their message because of their personal relationship with the Father.
Look at what their message was-G.o.d loves you and created you for fellowship. They weren"t preaching h.e.l.l, d.a.m.nation, and repentance, which is the contemporary message. They were preaching that G.o.d created mankind to have relationship with Him.
The people would ask, "How can I have it?" The apostles would reply, "Repent of your sins, and receive Jesus and the forgiveness that"s already offered. It"s there for you."
Satisfying Our Spiritual Hunger The apostles brought people to relationship with G.o.d, and that"s what people are hungry for. There"s a desire, a drive, on the inside of every person for deep, intimate, personal relationship, but it"s been so perverted today. Many don"t fully recognize this drive, and they try to fulfill it in s.e.xual relationships or drug abuse or other things. When they find out that"s not where it"s at, they go into some other kind of perversion, thinking that the little zing they get out of it will satisfy that hunger, but it doesn"t. The only thing that is going to satisfy people"s hunger in their hearts is personal relationship with the Lord.
Many Christians may not get into immorality, adultery, h.o.m.os.e.xuality, or other perversions, but they do try to fill that longing on the inside with service. They become so busy and so preoccupied with doing the Lord"s work, that they numb themselves to their own hunger. That"s not what it"s all about.
What if you were stranded on a desert island and could no longer do anything for the Lord? What if all you had was just you and G.o.d-no one else to minister to and nothing else to do? How would your relationship be?
How Do We Measure Up?
I believe that the vast majority of Christians are consumed with asking G.o.d for things, not ministering unto G.o.d. If we were to break Christians into two groups, carnal and spiritual, carnal Christians spend the majority of their prayer time asking G.o.d specifically for things. It may be for physical needs, financial needs, or emotional needs, but it"s things. Spiritual Christians who spend most of their prayer time interceding for others to have things, emotional, physical, or financial, are still asking G.o.d for things.
But if you were stranded on a desert island and all of your asking for things for yourself or for others was taken away, what would your personal relationship with the Lord be like? What if you didn"t have to practice spiritual warfare and the only ones present were you and G.o.d? Would you know G.o.d? What if it was you in the Garden of Eden communing with G.o.d all day? How would you measure up?
If we took away all the time we spent asking for things or interceding for others and boiled it down to how much time we spend ministering unto G.o.d and loving Him, many Christians would come up short. However, that should be the bulk of our prayer.
But seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33 If we would put the Lord first, love Him, and minister unto Him, we wouldn"t have to spend so much time asking for things-they would be added unto us.
Eternal life is relationship-close, intimate, personal relationship with G.o.d. We need to make that the focal point of our lives. I can say from my own personal life that it"s something I constantly have to deal with. I don"t ever just make a decision in this area and never again have trouble with it. Constantly, I have to war against the things of this world that come in, want to occupy my time, and keep me from a personal relationship with G.o.d.
It may be even more difficult for ministers; it"s so easy to justify not spending much personal time with the Lord, because what we"re doing is so important. But when we recognize that our ministry unto the Lord has such great eternal value, it elevates our relationship with the Father to such a high priority that we can nearly justify letting everything else go.
Our relationship with the Lord keeps everything in its proper order-spiritually and naturally. One pastor was telling me that it had been four or five years since he and his family had taken any time off. They needed to get away from the ministry and spend time with the Lord and with each other. So they planned their vacation, and on the day they were supposed to leave, someone in their church died. Because he was the pastor, they felt they had an obligation to stay and minister to the family. So they did. They canceled their vacation. It"s easy to get busy and that involved in the ministry, but we have to realize G.o.d is a priority.
The Lord spoke to me that if I ever get to where I am more concerned about ministering to people than I am about ministering to Him, I"m actually going to decrease the length of my ministry. I"ll become ineffective. The very thing that has caused G.o.d to anoint me and use me to be a blessing to other people is dependent upon my personal relationship with Him. If I get so busy ministering to other people that I have no time for G.o.d, I"ll shorten this ministry and actually reach fewer people. Even the Lord Himself would separate with His disciples and escape the mult.i.tude because they needed rest.
To keep things in perspective, sometimes we have to turn down opportunities to minister to people. We can"t put off our personal time with the Lord. That develops and strengthens our relationship with Him-that is where we experience eternal life.
CHAPTER 8.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS.
We established in chapter one that praise is strength.
Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 to the Pharisees as He entered Jerusalem and said "perfected praise" in place of "ordained strength." This strength stops the enemy; it stills the avenger. One of the greatest benefits of praise is that it is such a powerful weapon against the devil.
There is a tremendous amount of teaching on spiritual warfare, and I believe that there"s a lot of truth out there. In my estimation, though, there has been a lot of abuse too. I have seen many people get into what they are calling spiritual warfare, when actually it"s rather depressing. They are fighting with the devil and spending more time with the devil than they are with G.o.d. That"s not right.
Please don"t misunderstand. There is a place for fighting against the devil and resisting him, but I am saying that praise is one of the most powerful weapons we have. It literally makes Satan flee in terror when we begin to praise G.o.d.
Walking In Knowledge To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 5:5 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 In 1 Corinthians, Paul instructed the Corinthian church how to discipline a man who had been with his father"s wife. He told them that they were to turn him over to Satan. In 2 Corinthians, he told the people that the man"s punishment was enough-he had repented, and they should receive him back.
Un-forgiveness is one inroad that Satan has into our lives. Paul is saying that if we are ignorant of Satan"s devices, he has an opportunity to come against us. Even though these scriptures are talking about unforgiveness, the principle is that if we"re ignorant of how Satan operates, it can give the enemy an opportunity against us.