MY FRIENDS, “THEN WILL I GO UNTO THE ALTAR OF GOD, UNTO GOD MY EXCEEDING JOY”

Jan. 12, 2015

MY FRIENDS, “THEN WILL I GO UNTO THE ALTAR OF GOD, UNTO GOD MY EXCEEDING JOY”

“Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.” Psalm 43:4 (KJV) David is praising God beyond what is usual, it is a passion that comes from within, out of the ordinary, exceptional, beyond human imagination.

And my friends that is the passion we must exemplify when we glorify God with our praise and honor and look at our lives and realize with no reservation that God has brought us a mighty long way.

In addition, if we can truly say I am a child of God, then like Jeremiah, God somehow has let you know, maybe it was a still small voice or a feeling from within that only can come from the Spirit of God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;” Jer 1:5 (RSV) with that promise we can be assured that the Lord, will forever be our “refuge and fortress; in Him we can trust.

He shall deliver His faithful from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover us with His feathers, and under His wings we shall take refuge; His truth shall be our shield and buckler.

We shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand; But it shall not come near His faithful.”

And then we must ask ourselves the question why us Lord. And the words that comes from a proud Father says. Because you have made the Lord, your refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, and because of this “I will give My angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.” Ps. 91 (Paraphrased)

My friends if you believe in the promises of God like the Psalmist our passion and praises for our God must be out of the ordinary, Remember, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt. 5:45 (NKJV)

So our faith must tell us we are special our blessings goes beyond the sun and rain and no matter what, if we place all of our trust in God, if He is the foundation and center of our very existence, then we must believe “we are a chosen generation….that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called [His faithful] out of darkness into his marvellous light:” 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

And my friends, that marvellous light leads directly to God’s kingdom. We each have our own story, most of us we dare not repeat, but it is a part of our history, a part of this journey God has placed us on, it is the part that keeps reminding us that Jesus saves in spite of us.

But the awesome part of each of our stories is, God wrote the ending for us on Calvary. And if you have made it this far by faith, God now sends us into His harvest to tell the world that Jesus saves and he has prepared a place for us that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man.”

In addition, our Salvation is what drives the Passion within us to serve Christ out of the ordinary, exceptional and with exceeding joy. And then one day soon my friends, along with all of the redeemed, we can say in unison “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Is. 25:9 (KJV)

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY