Sermon on 29 September 2019 by Reverend Dr Samuel
Psalms 103:1 - “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
One of the groups of people that are joyous are Christians. In the presence of Lord, we must be joyful. There must be reverence to have the presence of the Lord but there also must be joy in the house of the Lord. Joy is contagious and can be seen. The particular Psalm that you sang just now was very appropriate. I want to speak to you not as a teacher. That spoke to my heart and I have a lot of things to say to you from my heart. Bless the Lord at all times. Most of the time, we think that David led a smooth life. However, David was fighting for his life. David changed his behaviour to escape the life and death situation. That was the time he sang the song ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth’. He sang that while fighting for his life.
Psalms 34:1 - “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
There was a man who complained to the Lord about his shoes. He didn’t like the brand of the shoes even though he was gifted it. The Lord said that he should be grateful as he had shoes. He looked around and found a man without feet. We complain too much until we don’t know how much we are blessed by the Lord. Some people aren’t willing to raise their hands to praise the Lord but there is a woman without 2 hands to praise the Lord. We have every reason to praise the Lord as He has redeemed us. He has delivered us, lifted us up, eternally saved us and we have every right to praise the Lord. This must be a lifestyle. No matter in what situation, we must always want to praise the Lord. Most of the time, we need to remind ourselves to praise the Lord as we tend to forget His benefits.
Psalms 103:2 - “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:”
God expects us to have a thankful heart, not just thinking that the Lord has done it all. We need to express ourselves and be so mindful and express it with a loud voice. Gratitude, praise and worship are a team. A heart of gratitude is an attitude that determines an altitude. In every breath, we should say thank you Lord. It should be from our hearts. Are we thankful to the Lord? No matter what is your situation or what you go through in life, have a sense of gratitude towards the Lord. Complaining and murmuring is devastating. The moment you complain or talk about negative things, you are getting into the devils territory. If you have a heart of gratitude, which will lead to praise and worship, you will be in God’s presence. God can locate a person with a heart full of gratitude. Every time we talk about praise, we talk about worship and gratitude. When we talk of praise and worship, we land on David because he is a man of gratitude. God’s eyes located David and He says he’s a man of gratitude. God eyes must see each one of us in the heart of gratitude. As long as we have a breath on earth, we have every reason to praise the Lord. Your body is just a suit that you wear. You are a spirit. Your body is weak. The life that you are living is for eternity. The life you live on earth will only be for 70-80 years. I am not a body. Think about what is happening to you in your life. You are born again to live for eternity. In heaven, gratitude is a language. We have every reason to give glory to the Lord. The presence of God in a person’s life makes all the difference. How do we enter God’s presence?
Psalms 100:4 - “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”
Thanksgiving is a form of gratitude which will lead to praise and keep you in His courts. You enter in gratitude. In gratitude, you enter into His presence. Praise will keep you in His courts. You enter His presence by thanksgiving into the gates. For you to remain, you keep praising.
Genesis 39:5 - “So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.”
The word of God said the Lord was with Joseph. Prosperity and God’s presence are linked. God’s presence is linked with praise and gratitude. In fact, gratitude is the gate. Complaining and murmuring closes the door. A thankful and praising heart means that you are in the courts. God’s presence brought a slave to a Son and a King. We are a slave to sin. God healed us, God saved us, God restored us and died for our behalf. How can we just be quiet for all that He have done? Gratitude is very important. Gratitude is like an access key to God’s presence. Gratitude is like a heavenly password for His presence. No matter what situation you are in, gratitude can unlock that situation. Jesus fed the multitudes and at one time, He fed 5000 men, with only 5 loaves and 2 fishes. On another occasion, he fed 4000 men with 7 loaves and fish. Jesus said to the disciples to feed the people. Jesus knew what He was going to do yet He asked the disciples to feed them. If they were going to buy food, it would cost them a lot of money. Jesus lifted the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and gave thanks for having the food. We have every reason to be grateful for the Lord. When He gave thanks, then He gave out the food and fed thousands. Gratitude is the access. No matter what circumstances you go through, you should have a heart of gratitude all the time. We remain in His courts by continually praising. If you want to be used by God and have presence of God in your life, we need to have an attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful to the Lord, the love will spread horizontally. Always be thankful in the presence of God.
Psalms 92:1-3 - “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your loving kindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound.”
Praise Him morning, noon and evening.
Psalms 119:164 (AMP) - “Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous ordinances.”
You should always have a heart of gratitude towards the Lord. No matter what situation you are in, you change the circumstance through praise and gratitude. Through gratitude, you can resurrect any death in your life.
Psalms 92:10 - “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.”
When you have praise in your heart and a heart of gratitude, it will bring supernatural strength to you. Divine strength comes when you are a person of gratitude. A person of gratitude will have strength increased divinely.
Psalms 84:2-7 - “My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.”
When you are in the presence of His courts, you will be strengthened from strength to strength. Everyone of us has a valley of Baca in our lives. It is a valley of tears or disappointment. However, you are only passing through the valley, not staying there.
Psalms 23:4 - “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
God gives you divine strength because He expects you to maintain yourself in hearts of praise. What are you constantly speaking?
I was about to go for a mission trip when my passport and money went missing in church the day before. I didn’t want to thank God and was crying. I thought I was helping to bring people to God but He had to do this. However, I started singing songs. My passport couldn’t the found but we found out that the flight would be delayed due to an engine failure. We would be given free food too on the flight. My passport could be prepared on time and I flew off. I could have been complaining and murmuring but I didn’t.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
In everything is a very important phrase. In every situation, it is our choice to give thanks to the Lord.
Psalms 92:10 - “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.”
A person with heart of gratitude will have fresh anointing.
Psalms 89:20 - “I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him,”
A man with a heart of gratitude will be located by God. We should not have a murmuring or complaining heart. God is looking for a heart of gratitude. God specifically comes and anoint you with fresh anointing. That can only happen for a man with gratitude. Something about this person always has a heart full of gratitude. Heart of gratitude brings you divine strength and divine anointing. He anoints my head with fresh oil and my cup runs over.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 - “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
No matter what, I will always be grateful to the Lord as He has saved me. That will be my heartbeat to give glory to the Lord. People in Israel are always murmuring and complain. God has already gave His best for us and there is nothing to complain about. We can always look back and see His goodness.
Psalms 92:12 - “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
A man that is full of gratitude will have divine flourishing. In whatever he does, he flourishes. Always give glory to God.
Psalms 92:14 - “They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,”
A man will prosper in every season of their life. Their leaves won’t wither and they will bring fruit in old age.
Matthew Henry, a Bible commentator was robbed one day. He wrote in his journey that day, titled ‘Let Me Be Thankful’ and the first line was ‘I’m thankful as I was never robbed before. I’m thankful that he took my wallet instead of my life. I’m thankful that I was the one being robbed and not the one robbing people.’
A person with heart full of gratitude will have God’s eyes on them. God will anoint you with holy oil and fresh oil. He will make a difference so people can locate you.
Pastor Justin’s summary:
We are a church of thanksgiving and as individual praising God, not only in our physical body and doing it church through the pastor. We praise and thank Him unreservedly. It is a divine access and power. When you praise, there is evidence of our faith. We need to praise and give thanks and it is God’s will for us.
Amen.
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