What if you create an atmosphere of praise and worship? (Ft. AllWorship.com)

"But You are holy, O You who are enthroned in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered]." (Psalm 22:3; AMP) 

When you create an atmosphere of praise and worship, you are making room for God to be enthroned and saturate your life. 

In a constant atmosphere of praise and worship, you would consciously and subconsciously be attuned in your heart to give God the adoration and worship that is due and proper. God is seeking for true worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

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What Can We Offer to God?

There are a good many things we can offer to God from whom all blessings flow. Everything we possess comes from Him; the earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof.

We can offer to God our tithes, offerings, time, talent and so forth for the advancement of His kingdom. All of these would constitute part of offering our body as a living sacrifice unto Him out of love translated into willing obedience. Additionally, we can offer sacrifices which are direct and personal to God Himself.

Today, the Holy Spirit beckons me to meditate on Psalms 50:14-15 (NKJV):-

"Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble;I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

Yes, we can offer to God thanksgiving. Nobody is perfect, unless, of course, if your name is "Nobody". Let us, therefore, set a guard over our tongue and be mindful to give thanks to God habitually. 

When, where and what do we give thanks to God? 

"in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)"

Why do we give thanks to God? 

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NKJV)" "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Psalms 107:8 (NKJV)"

Just as important as thanksgiving would be the keeping of our promises to God -- rendering unto Him what is due lest we be guilty of honouring Him only with our lips.

Then, when we call upon him in the day of great distraught and He will come to our rescue. The day of trouble speaks of a particular momentous day. It could be our Waterloo where the odds are turning against us. Alternatively, it could be the day when we face our Goliath. 

When God delivers us and saves the day for us, we shall proclaim His goodness and mercies all the more!

Thus, we do well to give Him thanks (and praise), pay our vows and call upon Him. At the very least, we could offer to God the sacrifices of praise and thanks. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. Psalms 50:23 (KJV)"

To wrap up our reflection for today, the following take on Psalms 50:7-15 from The Message is as follows for your edification:-

“Are you listening, dear people? I’m getting ready to speak;

    Israel, I’m about ready to bring you to trial.

This is God, your God,

    speaking to you.

I don’t find fault with your acts of worship,

    the frequent burnt sacrifices you offer.

But why should I want your blue-ribbon bull,

    or more and more goats from your herds?

Every creature in the forest is mine,

    the wild animals on all the mountains.

I know every mountain bird by name;

    the scampering field mice are my friends.

If I get hungry, do you think I’d tell you?

    All creation and its bounty are mine.

Do you think I feast on venison?

    or drink draughts of goats’ blood?

Spread for me a banquet of praise,

    serve High God a feast of kept promises,

And call for help when you’re in trouble—

    I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me.” 

The Fruit of Our Lips

"The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45 (Amp.)

A good tree brings forth good fruit; we are what we say, to a large and evident extent. As a fig tree will only bring forth figs, the Christian has all the potential to produce fruit of righteousness stemming from his right standing with God through faith in Christ. The challenge is: How good and healthy are we as a tree which we cultivate in Christ? And, how fruitful are we?

To be a good tree, the ground of our heart (the inward man) has to be receptive to the imperishable seed of God's words. This is how Hosea 10:12 (NKJV) addresses the condition of our uncultivated heart, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you."

A fallow ground, as explained by Charles G. Finney, is "ground which has once been tilled, but which now lies waste, and needs to be broken up and mellowed, before it is it is ready to receive grain." It is up to us to soften our heart of flesh and open the valves for God's word to renew and refresh us.

Our spirit man need to arise and tune-in to what the Holy Spirit has to teach, instruct and reveal to us from the word of God -- that which our intellect cannot comprehend. Our intellect, which is insistent on getting answers to the what-how-where-who-why, will hinder us from grasping spiritual truths.

Thus, we need to humble ourselves before God and let our every thoughts be subject to the authority of God's words. As we obey God's words, eventhough we do not yet see the truth of His words being manifested fully in our current reality, we may have to tackle certain unscriptural (wicked, evil, false, misguided) thoughts which have become so ingrained in us that they form a stronghold in our mind. We need to renew our mind by the hearing of God's words so that we can be set free from this stranglehold of erroneous thinking and believing so that we can lay hold of the ideal Christian life that God has all along intended for us.

As we feed on the word of God which is like a life-giving river, we can flourish as a fruitful tree. So, we need to position ourselves to be in the word of God and let His words passed our mind and into our heart (spirit). This is the picture that we can hold up in our mind and spirit from Psalms 1:1-3 (Amp.):-

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

Jesus likens us to branches that are joined to Himself, our True Vine, from whom we draw our nutrients. When we are truly in Christ, we can ask God expectingly for our life to produce fruit. Jesus said, "If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you." John 15:7 (Amp.) 

God loves to be oversee our frutifulness. Today, I caught a glimpse of this truth from the following 2 verses while writing:-

"When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine." John 15:8 (Amp.)

"I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing." John 15:11 (Amp.)

It is thus vital for us to guard what gets into us as we sojourn on this earth and approriate God's supreme powerful rule over our life. Whether we spout poetry or talk thrash; speak life or death; bless or curse; or makes positive or negative confessions, it has a lot to do with the sources of these words that we are hanging out with.

For example, there is a whole spread of resources on the internet that are of this world fighting for our attention. But, thankfully, there is also a growing presence of God's words, too, in writings, music and video. Which would we choose?

Much like food, we don't have to choose what we know is bad for us. For the believers, our constant decisions, wise or poor, will develop into habits, shape us and, ulitmately, affect our destiny in terms of salvation and rewards.

God's desire for us is to bear fruit and one prominent aspect of this fruifulness would be in the words that come forth from our mouth. He is looking for His kind of Life-giving water from the fruit of our lips. Consider the following:-

"Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23 (Amp.)

"He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor)." John 7:38-39 (Amp.)

When we feed on God's word as we learn at His feet under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, mix His words with faith and obey them, our speech will be gracious and packed with God's authority; for out of the abundance our heart, our mouth speaks. Check these out:-

"Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you]." Colossians 4:6 (Amp.)

"Whoever speaks, [let him do it as one who utters] oracles of God; whoever renders service, [let him do it] as with the strength which God furnishes abundantly, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever (through endless ages). Amen (so be it)." 1 Peter 4:11 (Amp.)

Yes, we can minister to one another in the Body of Christ with our words. But, hey, we can also bless God with the fruit of our lips. While it is true that God is omnipresent, don't you think that there are places and persons that He rather be at and with?

Psalms 22:3 speaks of God dwelling in the praises of the descendants of Israel (Jacob), to whose faimly the Gentile believers belong by adoption in Christ Jesus, while John 14:23 speaks of God making His home with those who keep His words (obey His teaching).

What shall we say then? "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)