> Living Letter

02/18/2014 - THE PRAISE THAT GOD ACCEPTS

“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:10)

OUR CONCEPT OF PRAISE NEEDS TO CHANGE

For lacking understanding of what it means to praise God and because of the pagan heritage that is still embedded in most people’s minds and turns worship into a means through which to placate and manipulate a deity, God’s worship has been taught as a way of obtaining blessings or of accepting with resignation what we erroneously call “God’s will for our lives”. They want to turn God’s worship into what it is not. The means through which one receives any blessing is faith, and God’s will for our lives is what is written in His Word.

PEOPLE ARE TAUGHT TO PRAISE WHEN THEY SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO ORDAIN. Observing the way the Lord Jesus blessed people, we notice that He never hinted that they had to praise God in order to receive blessings. He just “demanded” their praise after having blessed them, which was the case when only one of ten lepers returned to give thanks to God.

THE REASON FOR FAILURES

The Lord Jesus taught that the reason people fail in their attempt to receive blessings is the lack of knowledge: Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). Therefore, those who are not aware of their rights in Christ and do not know how to use the power that our Father gives us end up failing.

THE SECRET OF SUCCESS IN SPIRITUAL LIFE

The secret to receiving any blessing from God is to ordain – to ask in the Name of Jesus – that through the Word of our God whatever is rightfully ours is given to us: And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13). The Greek verb also means “to ask for”, “to demand”, “to determine”. When God reveals that a certain blessing is ours He is, in other words, delivering it to us. Therefore, all we have to do is to ordain it, believing, and then we will have the materialization of that blessing.

MEN WILL PRAISE GOD

Even people who do not participate in the work of God may have their praises approved and received by the Lord if they see us taking our stand in the spiritual world, doing the works for which He has commissioned us: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). We must make our light shine, that is, we must use the skills that are revealed to us. Besides doing a tremendous good to us, the blessings we receive from the Lord will pave the way for many people to come to God, acknowledging Him as Father. To preach the Word by showing

the abundant life that Jesus came to bring us is far better than acting as a blabbermouth, saying things we know nothing about or telling religious tales.

DOING THE WORK OF GOD IS FEELING FULL AFTER HAVING EATEN

Doing God’s work does not mean having a sad countenance and disfigured face, while praying and fasting, thinking that we are doing what most pleases Him. Actually the opposite is true! He wants you to enjoy all that He has for His children. Using biblical language: He wants you to eat – to enjoy all the blessings that you desire or need. And that’s not all: He wants you to be full. For example: a person has a heavy, painful, paralyzed arm. Then he or she learns to take possession of the blessing, prays, ordains and is healed from pain and from the weight he or she felt in the arm, but it remains paralyzed. That individual, however, is satisfied because the pain and the heavy sensation disappeared. That person doesn’t mind the paralyzed arm because he or she does not even feel it. Is that right? Of course not! He, our wonderful Father, wants us to eat until we are full. He wants us to receive complete healing. That individual should not be satisfied until all evil is driven away from his/her arm. This was part of the inheritance of the children of Abraham who were entering the land of the promise. This is also part of our heritage: that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14).

HE KNOWS HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO HIS CHILDREN

I do not know where some people have learned that the Father wants us, His children, to live with difficulties, after all the Word Itself: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:11). Has He lost, by any chance, the ability to give good things to His children , or have we lost our senses , by letting go of the benefits He has given us in the full salvation wrought by our blessed Savior ? Clearly the second option is the right one.

HE LOADS US WITH BLESSINGS

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! (Psalm 68:19). Were these words spoken by some irresponsible person or have they come from our Father’s heart, being handed down to us by the wondrous Holy Spirit? Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:20-21). If the Spirit of our God leads us to believe that we can live in this world free of suffering from any embarrassment, overcoming every trial, then we had better take our stand in Christ once and for all, for we shall be held accountable for our actions after we receive such wonderful revelations: But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48)

RESULT We hardly see anyone praising God for the full salvation He has given us. What we do see are fanatics who are constantly giving praise and halleluiahs while leading a life full of sufferings and sins. Is it what our Father desires for His children? Of course not! He says in His Word that if we want to, we shall eat the good of the land: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). And then after we have eaten and had enough, we will praise Him. This is the praise the Lord wants and accepts.

> Today´s Message

Update Profile

> Agenda

No events scheduled.