10/11/2010 - WE WILL PRAISE THE LORD FOREVER

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But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 115:18)

In the previous verse, the psalmist speaks about the fact that the dead cannot praise God. We need to understand the difference between living and dead in the spiritual world. Those who, for example, belong to any religion or church but have not been born again are dead and all the things they do to for the glory of the Father is in vain. Many of them can even compose beautiful hymns and do works that seem to be of the best quality, but they have no value.

The apostle Paul said that he could even give his body to be burned, but if he did not have love – the Lord’s love that had been revealed to him and transformed his life – he would profit nothing (I Corinthians 13:3).

It\’s sad to know that so many religious zealots, devoted to what they call God\’s work, will regret tremendously on the Great Day for one reason only: they had not gone through the new birth. This experience is a prerequisite for man to be in communion with the Almighty and have his work accepted by Him. Just read what Christ said in John 3:3-5 to understand what the Master thinks of those who are born again and those who are not.

Paul summed up what worship is by praising the Lord. Praise is something we must learn in order to do it properly. Whoever believes and practices it becomes fearless. On the other hand, those who do not understand it or those who are not in the position of being accepted by God are just wasting their time.

By the words of the psalmist, we realize how important it is to praise the Almighty now and forever. Here on earth, He who renders worship to Him obtains a far more effective answer than one who only believes in Him, because worship draws people closer to the Lord. By honoring and praising Him we learn how to stand before Him and to have a more productive fellowship, thus breaking the barriers that hinder some Christians.

Praising must be our goal now that we know its importance. Besides godliness, which is one of the many virtues of paramount importance that we must adopt and that shows our respect towards the divine issues, praising is most definitely another among these wonderful works.

We need to understand what it means to live in communion with the Heavens. Many people have received the following information: if a gathering of Christians is pervaded by emotional feelings then they will have communion with the Lord. But this is a sheer mistake! Amazingly, there are people who cause this kind of commotion in others while they are living in sin. We can only have intimacy with the Father as we hear His Word and the revelation that derives from it.

One of the great revelations that this verse gives us is that, throughout eternity, we can worship God. If here in this world it already brings us great joy, imagine doing this forever and ever!

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares