Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW108035A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today Family Worship. 01:14 Happy Sabbath to you. 01:15 We're so grateful 01:16 that you have joined us this evening. 01:18 It's a busy time of year, isn't it? 01:20 With the holiday of Thanksgiving 01:21 and we have Christmas coming up. 01:23 Sometimes we can get so caught up 01:24 in just the busyness of life that we can forget 01:28 to sit back and say, "Thank you." 01:30 And so today our program is on praise, 01:32 praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:34 I think this is a wonderful time of year 01:36 in the United States, 01:37 it's Thanksgiving season and here we are thankful, 01:40 we have a holiday actually for that, 01:42 we're thankful for the pilgrims 01:44 and all of the history of the United States. 01:46 But I don't think Thanksgiving is just for people 01:48 in the United States, 01:49 I think it's for around the world. 01:50 Amen. 01:52 So we're just grateful for your prayers 01:53 and financial support of the ministry of 3ABN. 01:55 So my thank you is thankful to Jesus Christ, 01:57 but thank you for your support all of the years 02:00 because 3ABN is here because of you. 02:02 What a blessing it is. Amen. 02:04 And Thanksgiving is not about a day, 02:05 or even a season, or a week, or two or three, 02:08 it's a lifestyle. 02:09 And that's all we want to talk about tonight 02:11 is the lifestyle of praise. 02:13 I know for myself, 02:14 if I choose to praise and make it a daily habit, 02:17 it gets out a lot of difficulties, 02:19 and a lot of junk, and stuff in life, 02:21 so if you're going through stuff tonight, 02:23 this program is for you 02:25 because it's talking about praise. 02:27 And we have not only you at home, 02:29 our 3ABN family, 02:30 but we have our family 02:32 around the table at this time, don't we? 02:33 We do. We have Brother Tim. 02:34 You're a great friend. 02:36 Hi, I am honored to be... 02:37 And you're a great asset to the ministry of 3ABN. 02:39 Thank you. 02:40 I love you and Jill wonderfully. 02:42 You are precious to me, 02:44 and we just have a good time working together 02:46 and living life together, 02:48 you know, here on the 3ABN compound, 02:51 we live life, we enjoy each other. 02:55 You share 02:56 from your sweet potato garden, so... 02:58 That's right. Yes, yes. 02:59 And hint. 03:00 And so... 03:02 Yeah, thank you for bringing that up 03:03 because my sweet potatoes have been curing, 03:04 you know when you dig them up, 03:06 they've got to cure a little bit. 03:07 You cured about that in Australia 03:09 that they were doing so, so we're back now. 03:10 Yes, exactly... 03:11 It takes six weeks to cure. Okay. 03:13 Yeah, so it's Thanksgiving time. 03:14 Okay. Good. 03:15 We're family, so I won't let you forget. 03:17 Thank you. 03:18 That's a blessing, thank you. 03:19 And we're family. We do. 03:21 But we appreciate you as the manager 03:23 of the 3ABN Praise Him network, 03:25 and it's exciting because it launches here 03:27 in first of the year, in a few weeks. 03:28 Oh, yeah, don't remind me. Yes, right. 03:30 So it's exciting. It is very exciting. 03:32 And so talking about our topic of praise, 03:35 praise Him. 03:36 And you mentioned this on a program some time back 03:38 that you're actually been going through the Bible 03:39 which is really cool. 03:41 Right, exactly. Tell us about that? 03:42 Going through each chapter of the Bible 03:44 starting from Genesis and finding... 03:48 In literally every verse, 03:49 something that we can praise God about, 03:52 we can praise Him for. 03:53 And, I mean, the Word is just full if we look for it. 03:57 And some sometimes it's very obvious, 03:58 sometimes we have to look and see how we can apply it 04:01 to our life and praising Him 04:03 because not every situation is good in the Bible, 04:07 it's not always maybe a praiseworthy 04:10 because it benefits us, but even the bad things, 04:13 the lessons that we can learn from other people 04:16 having gone through, 04:17 we can praise God that He gave us those examples. 04:19 So... 04:20 I like that because you think of psalms and stuff as praise. 04:22 Yes. 04:23 But you actually start in Genesis, didn't you? 04:24 You start in the Book of Genesis, and that's great. 04:26 Amen, amen. That's an exciting study. 04:28 And next on the other side of the table, 04:30 we have your counterpart, Pastor Ryan Day, 04:34 and we're just so blessed to have you 04:36 and your lovely wife, Stephanie. 04:38 I know she's not on the program here tonight, 04:40 but you both are a wonderful addition 04:43 to the 3ABN family, 04:44 and we're just delighted that you are part. 04:46 We are so happy to be a part of this incredible ministry. 04:49 And although my wife can't be here, 04:51 she wished that she could be here. 04:53 But you guys are wonderful, Danny has been wonderful, 04:55 everyone in ministry, Tim's been wonderful, 04:57 Jason's been wonderful, 04:58 it's just a wonderful place to work. 05:01 And the fact that we can sit around the table 05:03 right now 05:05 even though we're recording this 05:06 and worship God, it's just incredible. 05:09 I praise the Lord for that. 05:10 Amen. 05:12 And sitting next to you is Jason Bradley. 05:13 And, Jason, you are the general manager 05:16 of Dare to Dream Network, 05:17 and we're just so honored to have you here as well, 05:20 and we consider you as a brother in Jesus. 05:22 You know, I'm honored to be here, 05:23 and it's nice to be able to come together 05:26 and have worship together. 05:28 And I love Thanksgiving, 05:30 you know, you know, maybe because of the food and family, 05:36 maybe that has a small thing to do with it, 05:39 but, yeah the food is amazing, and God's been good to us all, 05:43 every day, all year along. 05:45 Praise the Lord. Amen. 05:47 You know, Jill and I, we appreciate, 05:48 we mentioned Tim is a great friend, 05:49 but you all are too. 05:51 That's right. 05:52 You're a great friend, 05:53 I know you're my neighbor technically 05:55 because your office is a diagonal to mine, 05:56 it's great. 05:57 So we're friends and neighbors in the Lord. 05:59 It's a blessing. 06:00 Great topic on praise, so with that we have some music 06:04 we want to do on praise, we should have a prayer 06:06 'cause we start our worship time together, 06:09 and we hope that you bow your head, 06:11 we want you to bring your Bible, pull it out, 06:14 and we'll study together this evening on praise. 06:16 Pastor Ryan, do you mind opening prayer for us, please. 06:17 Oh, absolutely. 06:19 Oh Father, we just want to say happy Sabbath 06:24 because You are the Lord of Sabbath, 06:26 and we just praise You and thank You for the rest 06:29 that You bestow upon Your people 06:30 and all the many blessings. 06:32 Lord, we are gathered here not necessarily for ourselves 06:35 but for You. 06:36 And we want to give You 06:37 the praise, the glory, the honor 06:39 that You deserve for You're worthy. 06:41 As we take the time now to study in Your Word, 06:43 and to uplift You in song, may Your Spirit be 06:46 with each and every one of us. 06:48 May You lead us and guide us in our study this evening, 06:51 and may You forever draw us closer to our Savior, 06:53 Jesus Christ. 06:54 We thank You for our listeners, 06:56 we thank You for the family that we have, 06:59 and we're very thankful. 07:01 And that's why we praise You today, 07:03 for You are worthy. 07:04 We ask these things in Jesus' holy name, amen. 07:07 Amen. 07:08 What's the song that Tim... 07:10 He's over the piano right now. 07:11 Bless the Lord, Oh, My Soul, 07:13 and connected with Here I am to Worship, 07:14 but I love it when Tim leads us in worship, 07:16 I want to encourage you to sing along with us. 07:27 Bless the Lord Oh my soul 07:32 And all that is within me 07:37 Bless His holy name 07:44 Bless the Lord Oh my soul 07:49 And all that is within me 07:54 Bless His holy name 08:01 He has done great things 08:07 He has done great things 08:13 He has done great things 08:18 Bless His holy name 08:25 Bless the Lord Oh my soul 08:30 And all that is within me 08:35 Bless His holy name 08:44 Here I am to worship 08:48 Here I am to bow down 08:51 Here I am to say that You're my God 08:57 You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy 09:04 Altogether wonderful to me 09:15 Amen. Praise the Lord. 09:17 Thank you Tim, and thank you everyone here. 09:19 And thank you at home for joining us, 09:21 we could almost hear you singing. 09:22 I just wish there was a connection 09:24 somehow that we could actually hear you. 09:26 It's neat as we go out... 09:28 And, Tim, your referenced this, thank you so much again 09:30 for leading us on powerful song on praise. 09:33 But you mentioned Australia here just briefly, 09:36 and I know that, Brother Ryan, you had a chance to go, 09:38 and Jill and I and several others. 09:40 And it's neat, as we're in the churches 09:43 to hear everyone singing together, 09:45 of course, it's in English, 09:46 but we've been in other countries 09:47 where they're singing in another language, 09:49 and I think about these praises being lifted up to God 09:52 as an incense as maybe a smoke of like an incense to Him, 09:56 and He's just gathering this in, 09:58 and what a way to go to worship God. 10:00 I just love these words in the song too, 10:03 so great topic. 10:05 Amen, I love this topic tonight, 10:06 talking about praise. 10:08 And let's turn for our opening scripture 10:10 to Psalm Chapter 103. 10:13 I love the Book of Psalms, I like... 10:15 I always say there's so many of my favorites, 10:17 one day it's John, 10:19 and the next day it's Paul's epistles, 10:20 and the day after something else, 10:22 but right now I'm really loving Psalms. 10:24 And David just runs the whole gamut of emotion, 10:27 you know, when you think about it, 10:28 one moment he's praising God and giving glory 10:31 for what God has done in his life and who God is. 10:33 And the next moment he might be depressed, 10:36 or he might be struggling with something, 10:38 or he might be dealing with some anger. 10:40 It always kind of gives me some hope, 10:42 you know, that we can be honest with God 10:44 in our own walk in our prayer time. 10:47 Just say, "Okay, God, this is where I am today." 10:50 But Psalm 103 specifically, 10:53 the entire Psalm is focused on praise and who God is. 10:58 Before we read the Psalm, 11:00 what is the difference between praise and thanksgiving? 11:03 Is there a difference between praise and thanksgiving 11:05 or do you think there are synonymous? 11:08 Any thoughts on that? It's a great question. 11:10 So what I'm going to do is pull my phone out, 11:12 look at Google. 11:13 So let see praise versus thanksgiving. 11:16 Go ahead. 11:17 While he does that, any thoughts? 11:18 Well, this is just coming 11:20 'cause you just sprung that on us really quickly. 11:21 I really did. I like it, I like it. 11:23 In my opinion, it doesn't seem like there is. 11:25 Well, I mean, I think there is some 11:27 synonymous connection with the two. 11:29 I praise God because I am thankful. 11:32 I mean, that's just the first thing 11:33 that comes to me, but yet we can, 11:34 I think, express a thanks 11:37 that almost comes across as a praise. 11:39 And so absolutely, 11:41 I think that's kind of 11:42 what's coming to my mind at the moment, 11:44 but what is Google saying, Greg? 11:46 I think it's a little bit confused here. 11:49 I always think, but I don't even know exactly, 11:51 but I always think that thanks is for things. 11:54 So thanks would be, 11:55 "I'm thankful I have a bed at night." 11:57 Or "I'm thankful for my eyesight." 11:59 Or "I'm thankful for my friends." 12:01 Things, but praise is different to me, 12:05 it's bigger, it's who God is. 12:08 So when I come to God, I give Him thanks. 12:11 Thank you for what You've done in my life, 12:12 thank You for these different things I have, 12:15 put then praises, God, You're great, God, You're good. 12:18 God, you're... 12:20 I don't know, that's in my mind, 12:21 but I don't know if that's... 12:22 Well, this actually says 12:24 we praise the Lord for who He is, 12:26 and we thank the Lord for what He's done. 12:28 Okay. So that will be okay. 12:29 Yeah, it goes along with what you're saying. 12:31 So fortunately, we get to have both, 12:34 and we don't limit ourselves to one or the other. 12:36 Praise the Lord, Tim. That's right. 12:38 So let's do both. 12:40 We've to be thankful and also praise. 12:42 Thankful that we get to praise. That's a good question. 12:43 Amen. That's right. 12:45 So we're going to look at Psalm 103, 12:47 so hopefully you're turning in your Bible to Psalm 103, 12:49 starting with verse one, we're going to kind of 12:51 clip along through some of these verses here 12:52 and see what we can glean from these great verses 12:54 that David wrote. 12:56 Amen. 12:57 Do you have your Amplified, Tim? 12:59 I do. Oh, yay! 13:00 I'll tell you what, this psalm right here, 13:02 if there were only one psalm in the whole Psalm, 13:05 I would choose this psalm just because it excites me, 13:09 and it's just... 13:11 Of course, like you said, this was when he was on a high, 13:14 and so it puts me on a high, 13:17 I mean, I could run around this table 13:19 if I weren't chained down to this chair. 13:21 And because this... 13:22 By a mic cord. 13:24 By a mic chord, right, right. 13:25 Yeah, we don't literally chain people necessarily, 13:28 but we just want to make that clear with all. 13:29 It's the mic cord that lay with the... 13:30 So let's praise the Lord that we're not. 13:32 Right, exactly right. 13:34 That's going to be violation of the penal code somewhere. 13:37 But truly, this is just a great psalm, 13:39 and so let's just start reading. 13:41 It says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, 13:44 and all that is within me, bless His holy name!" 13:46 We just sang it. 13:47 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, 13:48 and forget not all His benefits." 13:51 Now who doesn't like benefits? 13:52 We live in, unfortunately 13:54 a very entitlement driven society, 13:56 and so this ought to hit home with multitude of people. 14:01 But these benefits are so much better, 14:03 in verse 3 it says, 14:05 "Who forgives everyone of your iniquities, 14:07 who heals each one of your diseases." 14:10 In verse 4, "Who redeems your life 14:12 from the pit and corruption, who beautifies, dignifies, 14:16 and crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercy." 14:19 You know, again, 14:21 this psalm is like one of those, drop the mic. 14:24 That's the way I feel every time 14:26 when I read clear to verse 22. 14:28 David couldn't say anymore 14:30 than just bless the Lord, O my soul. 14:32 And I like that line, "O my soul," 14:35 he's talking to himself, 14:37 there's some self talk there, 14:38 you know, that psychology is big now on, 14:40 you know, pepping yourself up, 14:43 and, you know, whenever you go in for a job interview 14:46 or any kind of a tough situation, 14:48 you know, you speak to yourself in good thoughts, 14:51 you know. 14:53 Anyway, this is perfect for that. 14:55 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not all His benefits." 14:59 It's just powerful to me. 15:01 It's easy to forget His benefits, 15:02 isn't it? 15:04 And that's where we can get down 15:05 in the dumps some times so to speak, 15:07 you know, and you've heard, been around people, 15:09 and I know even myself sometimes 15:10 you can start thinking negatively. 15:11 It's interesting how you can spiral down, 15:13 but there's always something to praise the Lord for. 15:16 Yeah, forget not all his benefits. 15:19 That's right. That's great. 15:20 You know, in the Old Testament when it says, 15:22 "God forgets, " it speaks of His pardon. 15:25 So in other words, God says, I forgot that. 15:27 Meaning, those sins were thrown into the depths of the sea. 15:30 But in the Old Testament 15:32 when it speaks of man forgetting, 15:33 it's talking about ingratitude or rebellion. 15:37 And so in this case, David's saying, 15:40 "And forget not all His benefits." 15:42 In other words, don't live in ingratitude, Jill. 15:44 You know, don't live in ingratitude 15:45 for what God has done for you. 15:47 or don't live in rebellion for what He's done. 15:51 That's good. 15:52 What have you seen it, Pastor? 15:54 Anything in these verses that we've been looking 15:56 at 1 through 4? 15:58 Yeah. Absolutely. 15:59 There's a lot there, isn't there? 16:00 I mean you could probably preach a sermon off 16:02 of one of those. 16:03 He was reading from the Amplified Version. 16:04 It's a beautiful translation, I love the translation 16:07 of the New King James Version as well. 16:09 I'm going to read verses 3 to 4 there. 16:11 It says, "Who forgives all your iniquities, 16:13 who heals all your diseases." 16:15 You know, we serve a forgiving God. 16:17 And some people when they think of the Old Testament, God, 16:19 they sometimes they see the difference 16:20 between the Old Testament and the New Testament God 16:22 as if the New Testament God is more lenient, 16:25 and more loving, and kind, 16:27 but the Old Testament God is stern, 16:29 but yet David served 16:31 what we would consider the Old Testament God, 16:33 but we know it's the same wonderful God across the board, 16:36 but He forgives, He's a forgiving God, 16:39 and He is worthy to be praised, He heals all of our diseases, 16:42 God still heals diseases today. 16:44 He is still the ultimate physician 16:46 still today, and so that's, these powerful words 16:49 that David is choosing here. 16:50 In verse 4, the New King James Version says, 16:53 "Who redeems your life from destruction." 16:55 Yes. 16:56 You know, God has a plan for us, 16:58 but sometimes we don't necessarily walk 17:00 according to that plan. 17:02 But, you know, He's a redeeming God, 17:04 He's there to save us, 17:05 He's there to watch our back and to keep up with us, 17:08 to make sure that that we can be saved, 17:10 and that we're not going to fall 17:11 into that path of destruction. 17:12 It goes on to say, 17:14 "Who crowns you with loving kindness 17:16 and tender mercies." 17:19 I just praise the Lord for the Lord, 17:22 for His loving kindness and His tender mercies. 17:25 Amen. Amen. 17:26 You know, Jason, as you look at verse 3, 17:27 it says, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." 17:31 That's a powerful, 17:32 just section of that verse, isn't it? 17:34 Doesn't say some of them, it says, all of them. 17:38 That's right. All of them. 17:40 You know, when I'm reading this 17:43 like, take for example verse 1, and 2, 17:47 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, 17:49 and all that is within me, bless His holy name. 17:52 Bless the Lord, O my soul, 17:53 and forget not all His benefits." 17:56 You know, sometimes we... 17:57 God blesses us, and... 17:59 Well, He's always blessing us, but sometimes He'll bless us, 18:02 and then we have 18:03 what I like to call a case of blessing amnesia 18:06 where we have been blessed, 18:09 we have been brought through a particular circumstance, 18:12 and then we end up going on to do the same thing 18:14 that we were doing before. 18:16 And, you know, when you look at the story of the Israelites 18:19 and Moses leading them through the wilderness 18:23 and all of these things, 18:25 and you end up seeing where God delivered them 18:31 time and time again, bless them continually, 18:36 and had the most patience 18:39 that anyone could ever have, 18:42 and yet they still had a case of blessing amnesia, 18:46 where they would complain and resort back to the same way 18:49 that they were going before, you know. 18:52 And there's been cases and instances in my life, 18:55 personally, where I've had blessing amnesia. 18:59 Me too. 19:00 Absolutely. I like that. 19:02 Well, I think that's because, you know, 19:04 life brings us situations. 19:07 I mean, you know, and you're absolutely right, 19:10 but it's almost like God is testing us to see, 19:14 He's giving us another opportunity 19:16 to see how we will respond the next time 19:19 when it comes around. 19:22 I like to... 19:24 I read something that says, "Praise is not the byproduct, 19:27 but the driving force." 19:29 It's not... So it's not... 19:30 And so whenever... 19:32 And it's not the caboose, but the engine. 19:35 Praise should be our first thought 19:38 and not the reason. 19:40 But when we've gone through something, 19:42 it's not the byproduct. 19:44 So when we... 19:46 Everything that we go through, 19:48 we need to just have 19:50 an instantaneous response of praise 19:53 instead of reacting negatively or... 19:59 But that's a process of learning. 20:02 It really is. Go ahead. 20:05 I'll jump in, I'll jump in. 20:06 Absolutely. 20:08 I'm so glad that you said that because like 20:10 whenever we're going through trials 20:11 and stuff like that, 20:12 there's still a blessing at the end of the tunnel 20:14 that God is refining our character 20:16 at that very moment, and we don't know 20:17 why we're going through something, 20:19 and it's so hard to praise God during those times. 20:23 But, you know, you never know 20:25 why you're going through a particular situation. 20:28 And first, it's important to know that 20:31 it's not God that's causing the situation 20:34 that you're going through, He's allowing it to happen. 20:37 And ultimately, God has... 20:39 He sees the end from the beginning, 20:40 so He has eternal life in mind, and your salvation in mind, 20:45 and so how does this trial 20:49 relate to where you can end up. 20:52 You know, years ago, I got in trouble. 20:57 I struggled with drugs and the sale of narcotics 20:59 and things like that, 21:01 and I was struggling with these issues, 21:03 and I remember getting arrested one day. 21:06 And, you know, now looking back on it, 21:09 that was a great time for me, you know, 21:12 because that was a turning point for me, 21:13 that was my rock bottom. 21:15 And so that particular event, which was tragic in my mind, 21:20 you know, my parents didn't raise me that way, 21:23 and I was allowed to go through that. 21:27 But when I think about where I could have ended up, 21:30 I could be dead, 21:31 I could not be sitting at this table right now 21:33 with you guys 21:35 or I could be in prison for a long time, 21:38 you know, but God spared my life, 21:41 and so that that blessing 21:42 that was at the end of the tunnel 21:44 that I didn't see right then, I see now. 21:47 Amen. Praise the Lord. 21:49 Great testimony. Praise the Lord. 21:50 Yeah, you know, I just wanted to mention 21:52 just response from what Tim just said that 21:54 that praise is the driving force. 21:56 In other words, pray should automatically 21:58 precede the blessings, the gifts, 22:00 the things that God bestows upon us. 22:02 And I think that's what you had kind of started with 22:04 in the beginning, Greg. 22:05 And, you know, the idea of that, you know, 22:07 in the Book of Revelation, 22:08 it tells us that God is worthy to be worshiped 22:10 just because of who He is. 22:12 He's the creator of all things. 22:13 And I kind of just insert the concept of praise there 22:16 because He is worthy to be praised 22:19 whether we receive those benefits or not. 22:22 And we kind of see this 22:24 even in the theme of the great controversy in the Bible. 22:26 For instance, in the story of Job, 22:28 there's kind of an implied accusation 22:29 against the character of God 22:31 right there as the devil shows up 22:32 to this heavenly, you know, meeting 22:36 and he basically just throws it right in God's face. 22:38 You know what? 22:39 You in and of yourself are not worthy to be worship 22:41 because, well, you give Job good things, 22:43 and that's why he worships you, that's why he praises you. 22:47 You just shower him with all those good things. 22:48 If you just take all those benefits away, 22:50 all of those gifts that he, you know, 22:53 he's going to curse You to Your face. 22:54 In other words there's an implied accusation that God, 22:57 You in and of Yourself are not worthy to be praised. 23:00 You don't deserve the praise. You don't deserve the worship. 23:02 But yet the truth is we know the devil, he's a liar. 23:06 Jesus says, he's a liar, he's the father of liars. 23:08 And so I love what you just said 23:09 because that is true 23:11 whether I receive the benefit or I don't, 23:13 whether I receive the gifts or I don't, 23:17 God is worthy to be praised, 23:18 and I love this psalm for that, absolutely. 23:20 Amen. 23:21 And you think in Job's life, 23:23 I mean he did have a lot of material blessings, 23:25 which you could have said were coming from God. 23:27 But what I like about this psalm 23:29 is these aren't material blessings, 23:30 these are blessings that all of us can claim. 23:34 You know, you think about forget not all of His benefits, 23:36 and what are those benefits? 23:37 He forgives all our iniquities, 23:38 that forgiveness is extended to everyone. 23:41 And, you know, that forgiveness is not just for certain people, 23:43 it's extended to all. 23:45 It says, "Who heals all your diseases." 23:47 Now if you do a word study, 23:49 that's talking about not just physical, 23:53 but spiritual healing, and emotional healing. 23:58 So when we read this we think, "Okay, I'm going to be 24:01 automatically physically healed," 24:02 but God's also saying, 24:04 "I want to heal you spiritually, 24:05 you know, I want to heal you emotionally." 24:09 And, of course, physically, 24:10 and He will heal us all whether it's now 24:12 or not till the second coming, but, you know, He does heal. 24:16 One more who redeems your life from destruction. 24:18 The word "redeems" means to buy back. 24:21 And God wants to do that for all of us. 24:22 You know, He wants to buy us back 24:25 from the land of the enemy. 24:26 And every time I read that word, I just think, 24:30 you know, if I had made something, 24:33 you know, and you loved it with all your heart, 24:35 and then it turned away, and it spat in your face, 24:38 and just turned against you and said, 24:42 "I don't care about you," and yet He says, 24:44 "I want to buy that person back," 24:47 you know, I mean how incredible. 24:48 So everything in this psalm, 24:51 who crowns you with loving kindness 24:52 and tender mercies. 24:54 Tender mercies in Hebrew means compassion. 24:56 So God's compassion is extended to everybody. 25:00 So this is for all of us. 25:02 And the crowneth part in Hebrew 25:04 also means to surround. 25:05 Yeah. So that's really neat too... 25:06 When you think of crown, 25:08 you think of putting on somebody's head, 25:09 but it's actually, 25:11 "He surrounds you with loving kindness." 25:12 So He's encircling you. 25:14 So if you feel alone or out there all by yourself 25:16 and nobody loves me, 25:18 and you're surrounded by God's love. 25:19 So it goes back to He's worthy to be praised. 25:21 He is worthy. Absolutely. Absolutely. 25:23 You know, and it's sad 25:24 because I think about just simple things 25:25 we talked about, again, I'm going back to Australia, 25:27 but, you know, the time, 25:29 the jet lag stuff is just pretty incredible, 25:31 time difference is incredible. 25:32 So when I wake up in the morning 25:34 and forced myself to get up at 5 am, 25:36 do you know I complain a little bit, "I am so tired." 25:39 I should have been, "Praise the Lord, 25:41 I woke up, I'm alive." 25:43 You know, so it's just interesting 25:44 how some of these things 25:45 you can get into a little bit of like, 25:47 "Oh, I'm so tired and man, that life is tough." 25:49 But it should be like, "Praise the Lord, I'm alive. 25:51 Someone else didn't wake up." 25:53 It's truly is a habit. 25:55 There you go. 25:57 And just as much as being negative is a bad habit, 26:01 praising is a good habit, and it's a choice, it begun as, 26:05 all habits mostly are, but we're choosing... 26:09 And I have friends that will tell me, you know, 26:12 even I have non-Christian friends 26:15 who will say of all the times I go to church during the week. 26:20 One guy told me, "You need to relax." 26:23 And I said, "Well, you know, it's just... 26:25 First of all, going to church is in my blood." 26:29 It's just been what we've done 26:31 when I started when I was a kid, 26:33 and we went to church, 26:34 and it never was a pressure to me 26:36 because it was where my friends were, 26:38 and I got to learn about Christ, 26:40 and, you know, it was just good time. 26:43 So, but truly, praising is a choice. 26:48 So, you know, it doesn't always necessarily mean 26:52 that we feel like it, but it is, 26:54 it's just something we... 26:56 Again, it's your first thought instead of the afterthought, 26:59 so... 27:00 And it should be. What is it like our driving? 27:02 Driving force. 27:03 Driving force instead of the byproduct. 27:04 That's something, but, yeah. 27:06 Sort of make a habit then, 27:07 I'm just going to divert a little bit, 27:09 how do we make that a habit? 27:10 I mean what would be something I guess just do it over... 27:12 It's a choice. 27:14 So it comes to like in the morning 27:15 when I feel really tired say, "Yes, Lord, I feel tired, 27:17 but praise the Lord, I'm awake." 27:20 Well, I think, you know, scripture comes to my mind, 27:22 and I can't specifically remember, you guys might know, 27:24 Paul writes in the Book of 1 Corinthians, 27:27 maybe 2 Corinthians, but he writes in the book, 27:29 you know, he talks about how that when temptation comes, 27:33 God provides the Holy Spirit there as a way of escape. 27:37 In other words, we won't be... 27:38 He says that we will not be tempted past what we can bear. 27:41 So I would say that a bad habit, 27:43 as it has become a habit, as he said, it is a choice, 27:46 we have to, in those moments, make the choice to say, 27:49 "Lord, I need to be rescued 27:51 from making the choice of this bad habit. 27:53 Lord, help me every moment to make the better choice, 27:58 to create a better habit." 27:59 I guess in those moments, as it is a choice, 28:01 we need to pray for the right choice, 28:03 the strength to make the right choice. 28:04 That's good. Amen. 28:06 I think they say that it takes like 21 days 28:07 to form a habit or change it or something like that. 28:11 So you need to be consistent... 28:15 And it's 21 days. 28:16 I've heard about how you lay out your clothes 28:19 before you go to bed, you know, 28:20 what you're going to wear or have some kind of a plan 28:22 of what you're going to be doing the next morning. 28:24 I think it's... 28:26 Praise is premeditated in my mind as well 28:29 that I'm determined. 28:31 In the morning when I rise, 28:33 I'm going to wake up praising the Lord. 28:35 And don't be surprised if there's every opportunity 28:39 not to, you know, like you stub your toe 28:41 on the end of the bed or toast is burnt or... 28:44 You missed your alarm. You missed your alarm, yeah. 28:47 But, you know, 28:48 even in the light of those things. 28:50 Good night, those are passing. 28:52 And so, you know, the toe will heal, 28:54 the bread just scrape up that little char 28:57 might be good on toast, you never know. 28:59 And alarm, you may have dreamed a better dream than, you know, 29:02 since you slept through the alarm. 29:04 Just praise the Lord, why not? Amen. 29:06 And don't you think you can ask God, 29:08 you know, because I mean, 29:10 I know, I've done that, saying, "Okay, God, 29:11 remind me when I need to praise You more, 29:14 or remind me when I'm in the middle of a fog, 29:17 or a situation 29:18 where I should be praising it this time, you know." 29:20 And God can tap us on the shoulder. 29:22 Remember, you're supposed to be, 29:23 you know, praising that way or something. 29:25 And if he doesn't, 29:26 maybe a spouse or a friend will. 29:28 'Cause nobody likes to be around somebody grumpy. 29:31 Yeah, that's true. To not praise. 29:34 You know, I think like stress, right? 29:38 If you're stressing about everything, you know, 29:40 it's a good time to just praise the Lord 29:41 because stress can kill you, but praise can't kill you. 29:45 You're not going to die from praise. 29:47 You're not going to die from praise. 29:48 I like the way to go. 29:50 But stress, stress can take you out. 29:52 Yeah, it's true. That's a good point. 29:54 Let's look at Hebrews 13. 29:55 Amen. All right. 29:57 Hebrews 13:15, it talks about sacrifice of praise. 29:58 Keep your thumb, finger in Psalm 103. 30:04 Hebrews 13:15, 30:08 someone have that, want to read? 30:09 Yes. 30:11 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer 30:14 the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, 30:18 giving thanks to His name." 30:20 So what do you think it means the sacrifice of praise? 30:23 Does that mean that praise is a sacrifice for God 30:26 as in a sweet smelling savor as Greg talked about before, 30:30 or does that mean praise is a sacrifice on my part 30:33 in order to offer, or does it mean something else entirely? 30:38 Any thoughts? 30:39 You are asking some deep questions. 30:41 I believe it is a sacrifice to God, 30:44 it's not a sacrifice, 30:45 it's no sacrifice for us to do it, 30:48 I mean, if we look at it, right? 30:49 But certainly, I think it is a... 30:51 I see it as something God expects. 30:53 But go ahead. 30:54 I think the explanation's right there in the verse. 30:56 I mean it says, "Therefore let's go forward..." 30:59 Excuse me, verse 15, 31:00 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer 31:03 the sacrifice of praise to God," 31:04 and then it says, "that is, the fruit of our lips, 31:07 giving thanks to His name." 31:10 In other words, you know, 31:11 God wants us to constantly be in a perpetual state of... 31:15 Go back to perpetual means almost habitual, 31:18 a continual praise, you know, 31:21 constant state of praise, praising Him in other words. 31:23 I love the beginning, notice the beginning though. 31:25 The beginning of that verse in verse 15. 31:27 This is the part that I just usually would read right over, 31:30 but notice what it says, "Therefore by Him..." 31:33 Oh. That's good. 31:34 That's a good catch. That is a good catch. 31:35 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer our lips." 31:39 What does that mean? 31:40 He's the one who does it. 31:42 Yeah. Yeah. 31:43 I mean, do we really have it within us, 31:45 in and within ourselves to change ourselves 31:48 to create those habits. 31:50 And so, no, we don't, I mean, 31:51 so I have to completely depend upon Him 31:55 to help me praise Him. 31:57 That's powerful. 31:58 That is, actually, that's a good catch there, 31:59 yeah, by Him. 32:01 Yeah, absolutely. That's just... 32:02 It's incredible. 32:03 I like Romans 12:1 says, 32:06 "I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God, 32:07 that you present your bodies," what does it say? 32:09 "A living sacrifice." 32:11 So what is that? 32:12 That is an offering to God, 32:14 and so I always tie those two in for some reason. 32:16 So the living sacrifice, 32:18 we're to present ourselves before God 32:20 as a living sacrifice, and in addition, 32:22 we present the sacrifice of praise, 32:24 and we bring that before Him. 32:26 Absolutely. Absolutely. 32:28 Amen. 32:29 Well, a lot of stuff. Isn't the Bible fun? 32:31 It is. 32:32 You just open your Bible 32:33 and there are so many treasures. 32:35 Yeah, you're highlighting away. 32:36 That's good that you're highlighting. 32:37 So this is Bible study. That's right. 32:39 When we get to these verses, you start reading something, 32:41 I'm like, "I've heard that before but I need to highlight. 32:44 And that's highlighted in my Bible. 32:47 But the Bible's exciting too, 32:48 because just like Ryan pointed out, 32:52 you know, you pay attention to every word, 32:55 you know, one word can make the world of difference 32:58 in a passage and you learn something new. 33:02 It doesn't matter how many times 33:04 you've read through the Bible, 33:05 God will always reveal something to you 33:08 if you ask Him, 33:09 and if you ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 33:11 Absolutely. 33:12 You know, and I praise God for the word, 33:17 you know, what is that the psalmist, 33:18 we're speaking about the psalmist here, 33:20 which I'm sure we're going to read a lot of text 33:22 with the remaining time we have from the Book of Psalms. 33:23 But, you know, I think 33:25 it was the Psalmist David that wrote, you know, 33:28 "Let me hide Your word within me that I may not sin." 33:33 I praise God for the Word, 33:35 and, you know, just like you mentioned, 33:37 sometimes we may read a passage 33:39 and we may think that we have it memorized, 33:42 or we get the concept I don't need to read that again 33:44 but there's passages I've read over and over and over and over 33:46 and I go back and I'll read that verse again 33:48 thinking that I already really knew it 33:50 when really there was something there that, 33:52 you know, my human eyes just overlook. 33:55 And I praise God for the Word because 33:58 the Word draws me closer to Him. 34:00 The Word helps me to see my need to praise Him 34:03 because He is worthy. 34:05 Amen. Absolutely. 34:06 And the Word is Jesus, in the beginning was the Word, 34:07 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 34:09 So I mean, we hear the Word of God, 34:12 and this is the Word of God, but it's also Jesus. 34:14 I don't even begin to know how that works 34:17 but the words of Him and His character is inherent. 34:21 Not him literally, I don't mean that. 34:22 But His character inherent, I mean what a powerful thing. 34:27 The Word of God is life changing. 34:28 Yes, it is. Yeah. 34:30 You know, I've heard people say that the Bible B-I-B-L-E 34:34 basic instructions before leaving early. 34:36 Like why wouldn't I want to read the Bible, 34:39 when it's been inspired... 34:40 It's the Word of God. 34:42 He knows the end from the beginning, 34:43 why wouldn't I want to. 34:45 That's like when you were in school, 34:47 and I don't recommend this. 34:50 Feel like when you're in the school... 34:51 A little disclaimer right there. 34:52 Yeah, disclaimer, and they had CliffsNotes. 34:55 All right. And you can get to the... 34:57 You can get to the point with a book. 35:00 I can avoid so many pitfalls if I just follow 35:03 what the Word of God say, I'd recommend, 35:07 but I don't recommend, you know, the CliffsNotes part. 35:09 Okay. Absolutely. 35:11 You know, it's hard. 35:14 It's not always easy to praise God. 35:16 That's right. 35:17 For instance, what about the people who are suffering, 35:20 the people who are dealing with trials. 35:23 Over the years in ministry, 35:25 I've had opportunity to talk with people, 35:26 and visitation, and counseling. 35:28 And, you know, you want to encourage people. 35:30 You know, give God the praise. 35:32 And it's like, well, it's hard, you know, 35:33 hurt people to tell me, you know, 35:35 it's hard for me to praise God when I'm suffering 35:37 and that is truly a dilemma, but, you know, 35:40 I want to share some scripture here 35:41 because this a scripture that often we kind of overlook 35:43 at times or what we know of it, 35:45 but it's not really read that much. 35:47 But I love... 35:48 This is found in the Book of James. 35:49 If you have your Bibles, turn in James Chapter 1, 35:52 and then we're going to read a text from James Chapter 5. 35:55 There's an entire sermon, 35:56 there's an entire study that could be done 35:58 just on this one point. 36:00 But still kind of connected to giving God praise 36:02 in moments where you may not even think 36:05 that you can praise God, but God says you can. 36:07 Notice, James 1:2-4. 36:11 It says, "My brethren, count it all joy 36:14 when you fall into various trials, 36:17 knowing that the testing of your faith 36:19 produces patience. 36:22 But let patience have its perfect work, 36:24 that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." 36:28 It's like, "Lord, I want to praise You, 36:29 but it's hard for me to praise You 36:31 through this trial I'm going through." 36:33 And James writes, you know what? 36:34 "That trial... 36:36 You should kind of enjoy that the trial's there. 36:37 We should be praising God that 36:39 that trial was sending you away, 36:40 because in some way, form or fashion, 36:41 God has sent that trial or allowed that trial 36:44 to happen to build character, to draw you closer to Him. 36:47 Sometimes it's through the trials 36:49 or having to walk through the flood 36:51 or endure the fire 36:53 that we sense our need of Him, 36:55 we sense our need to give Him praise, you know. 36:59 And I love James. 37:01 Try to tie to this James 5:13. It's a question. 37:04 "Is anyone among you suffering? 37:07 Let him pray. 37:09 Is anyone cheerful? 37:11 Let him sing psalms." 37:13 So, you know, if we're walking through those trials, 37:16 we still have something to praise Him for, 37:17 but, you know, God says, "Pray to Me. 37:19 you know, talk to Me, I want to hear you." 37:21 But if you're cheerful, sing me a praise for Him. 37:25 And so that's just... It's powerful. 37:27 And I appreciate the Word for that. 37:28 Amen. 37:29 This is interesting too, 37:31 backing up just a little bit in James 5, 37:33 there's a quite a bit said here. 37:34 We can just start with verse 10, 37:36 James 5:10 says, 37:37 "Take my brother in the prophets, 37:39 who have spoken in the name of the Lord 37:40 for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. 37:44 Behold we count them happy which endure, 37:47 you have heard of the patience of Job 37:49 and have seen the end of the Lord 37:50 that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." 37:53 I don't know, Tim, 37:54 how does it state in the Amplified 37:56 that I haven't looked it up. 37:57 Yeah, the verse 10 says, "As an example of suffering 37:59 and ill treatment together with patience, 38:01 brethren, take the prophets 38:02 who spoke in the name of the Lord 38:04 as His messengers. 38:05 Eleven, you know how we call those blessed happy, 38:08 who are steadfast, who endured, 38:10 you have heard of the endurance of Job, 38:12 you've seen the Lord's purpose, 38:14 and how He richly blessed him in the end 38:15 and as much as the Lord is full of pity, 38:18 and compassion, and tenderness, and mercy." 38:20 We have the advantage of... 38:23 As we read the Bible, knowing how the story end. 38:26 But for those 38:27 who were going through the situation at the time, 38:31 as people are today going through situations, 38:34 they don't see the end. 38:36 And you, know, we can't. 38:37 We can't, in fact, back in Psalm 103 that says, 38:42 "Who forgives all our diseases." 38:44 That's one with that, when you mentioned, 38:47 the study of that word, 38:48 how it doesn't necessarily mean physical diseases 38:51 because as I have read that, I've thought, 38:53 you know, I don't know that I would want to read that 38:55 to a friend who is in a disease, 38:57 who has a certain disease, 38:58 who is going through an ailment right now 38:59 that it seems like this is never going to end 39:02 because, "Well, where's my benefit 39:05 for healing of that disease?" 39:07 But when we know that God has... 39:11 Well, I mean, it's a point under man wants to die. 39:14 So everyone goes through something 39:17 that will eventually lead them to death. 39:19 But the bottom line is I think it goes back to that 39:23 just drawing close to God 39:26 and knowing that He loves us so much. 39:27 And as we praise Him, 39:29 our eyes get off of our circumstance, 39:33 and they get on to who He is strictly again 39:36 because He is worthy of praise. 39:37 And I don't think people, the unbeliever has no way 39:42 of really understanding that until you truly... 39:45 And I tell you this is the bottom line for me 39:48 with anything that I ever encounter. 39:51 If you fall in love with Jesus so much, 39:55 all, everything else falls away, 39:57 and truly it just becomes about loving Him 40:01 because He is so precious. 40:03 And that's what praise is about. 40:04 Yeah, it's a beautiful thing, and it's... 40:08 I just want to make that my life. 40:09 And I don't. 40:11 And this is not as negative, 40:12 but it simplifies it, doesn't it? 40:13 It really does. 40:15 I mean that's just totally... 40:16 Yeah, love Jesus, it's a relationship we build 40:18 with Jesus Christ. 40:19 And in the complexity sometimes of the life, and the trials, 40:22 and all the stuff, they just melt away. 40:25 Good, Tim. No, you go ahead, Jill. 40:26 No, you go ahead, Jay. 40:28 Then you might, you know, people might think, 40:29 "Well, how do I build a relationship with Christ?" 40:31 You know, how do I build... 40:33 Well, how do you build a relationship with anybody? 40:35 You have to spend time, you have to spend that quality 40:38 one-on-one time, you know, 40:39 the Bible says somewhere in Psalms, 40:41 I forgot where. 40:42 "O taste and see that the Lord is good." 40:44 Psalm 34. There we go. 40:47 And I mean, just like if I have an apple 40:50 and I take a bite into this juicy, 40:54 crisp apple, right? 40:56 Tim at the other end of the table 40:58 he's not going to be able to taste 41:00 how good that apple is. 41:02 What's he going to have to do? 41:03 He's going to have to grab an apple for himself, 41:05 not my apple, but he's going to grab an apple. 41:08 You know because that's just Jay. 41:12 But then he's got to grab that apple, 41:15 he's got to take a bite out of that apple himself 41:18 to taste and see that it's good. 41:19 And that's what the Lord calls us to do 41:21 is to open His Word for ourselves, 41:23 and to find out that He's good 41:25 because character is not transferable. 41:27 And just because my mom or my great grandma 41:30 or whoever has a relationship with Christ 41:34 that relationship doesn't transfer to me. 41:37 They can't save me, only God can. 41:40 And so to build that relationship, 41:43 you have to spend time with God. 41:46 And how awesome is that the creator of the universe 41:50 wants to spend time with us. 41:52 Who are we? 41:54 Who are we? Amen. 41:55 Praise the Lord for that. 41:58 And all comments. Praise. 42:00 It's the truth. Right. 42:02 I just wanted to go back to suffering, 42:03 you talked about that, Tim, for just a moment, you know, 42:06 we say do Christians suffer? 42:07 Yes, they do. Absolutely. 42:10 Do non-Christian suffer? Yes. 42:12 Absolutely, so this world is full of tribulation 42:16 just because of the nature of sin 42:17 because of the nature of the world that we live in, 42:20 but I would much rather experience it with Jesus. 42:23 You know, to be able to learn to praise in the midst of that 42:28 because what you said, Tim, is so true. 42:30 Those who don't walk with Jesus, 42:32 those who don't know Him don't experience that peace, 42:36 don't experience that strength. 42:39 And praise actually brings strength, you know, 42:42 I know I have experience in my own life 42:44 when I didn't feel like it 42:46 and I made a mental choice to praise. 42:50 God changed my emotions, God changed my heart. 42:55 Do you think in praise you need to sing? 42:59 How much is music... 43:02 We got musical people here. 43:04 How much is music associated with praise? 43:06 Oh, man, story of my life, 43:11 every single day, 43:13 if there's not any other way 43:14 that that I can praise the Lord, 43:17 it's for sure through song, not just because, 43:21 you know, God has blessed me with a gift of singing 43:23 but, you know, 43:28 music is a language. 43:30 And through music, 43:32 and through powerful lyrics of songs, 43:34 and hymns, and worship songs, you know, 43:36 you can express your thanks, and your praise, 43:39 your gratitude to the Lord. 43:40 And there's not a day of my life, 43:42 and this isn't boasting, 43:43 this is just simply, if it is boasting, 43:45 it's boasting in the Lord as Paul would say, 43:48 "I lift up my singing voice every single day for Him." 43:54 And I think that that's vitally important for us to do. 43:57 You don't have to be a Pavarotti, 43:59 or you don't have to be a Tim Parton 44:01 to be able to lift up your gifts, your voice, 44:05 your instrument of praise for the Lord. 44:08 You should do it as we've already established 44:11 because He is worthy. 44:12 Amen. 44:13 And, you know, I've heard people that I would say, 44:17 "Ah, you know, that person can't sing, 44:19 they should never sing." 44:20 Is that so? 44:21 You know, you see it in your human nature, 44:23 you hear, sometimes hear that, 44:24 "Oh, please, hope that person never sings again." 44:26 That's the hobo thing to think of, 44:28 that's hobo thing to say. 44:29 You know, but truthfully you know, 44:31 what is God hearing from that voice? 44:34 We may hear this horrible wretched sound 44:36 of someone hitting wrong notes on an instrument or singing, 44:40 but, you know, what is God hearing? 44:41 We don't know that. 44:43 God, and heaven's probably rejoicing 44:45 because that person is uplifting their voice 44:47 in praise to God. 44:49 And I praise God for music. 44:52 I don't know where I would be without music, 44:54 I think Tim could attest to this 44:55 probably even more than myself. 44:57 You wouldn't be here. 44:58 I wouldn't be here, that's right. 45:03 That's the truth. 45:04 But I know that throughout the Bible 45:06 there are several examples of where praise was a song, 45:09 you know, Miriam, 45:10 as soon as they cross the Red Sea, 45:12 she grabbed her tambourine 45:14 and started dancing and singing, 45:16 and the song is written in scripture. 45:19 Paul and Silas in the New Testament, 45:21 at the midnight and in jail they were singing praise, 45:24 and it unlocked the door. 45:25 So praise is... 45:27 It can be a song. 45:29 There are some wonderful worship songs 45:32 that our scripture put to song. 45:35 And so the praise of that of singing those verses 45:40 and scripture verses back to God, 45:43 it doesn't matter about... 45:46 Style in my opinion or quality, 45:49 if you are singing to God, 45:51 praising God from your heart, let it rip tear the chip. 45:55 So that's what I say. 45:58 You know, I think also about David and Saul. 46:01 Remember he was there to quiet his spirit. 46:03 So music there again tells you the power of music 46:06 as he was there playing the music there 46:08 in his throne room. 46:10 Psalm 104:33. 46:12 Let's read it. Right. 46:13 Beautiful, take us to a couple of psalms here. 46:17 Psalm 104:33 which says, 46:19 "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live," 46:24 that's awesome, "I will sing praise to my God 46:27 while I have my being." 46:29 You know, as long as we draw the breath of life, 46:31 we can always sing praises to God. 46:34 Another passage that comes to my mind, kind of, you know, 46:37 on that same, you know, praise and worship theme. 46:40 I love Psalm 95:1-7, it says, 46:43 "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!" 46:47 It says, "Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 46:52 Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 46:56 For the Lord is the great God, 46:58 and the great king above all gods. 47:00 In His hand are the deep places of the earth, 47:03 the heights of the hills are His also." 47:05 But I like how this starts with, you know, 47:07 "Let us sing to the Lord." 47:08 Someone is there singing these words, 47:10 I can imagine David singing these words. 47:12 It goes on to say, 47:13 "The heights of the hills are His also, 47:15 the sea is His, for He made it," 47:17 which is going through, and he just... 47:19 I could just imagine him singing 47:21 these words to the Lord, 47:22 and I love the last verse, you know, verse 7, 47:24 I just want to highlight this one. 47:25 It says, "For He is our God." 47:28 You know, he could have stopped it right there, just end, 47:30 you know, drop the mic as Tim would say, 47:32 just be right there. 47:33 He's worthy, He is our God. 47:35 It says, "And we are the people of His pasture, 47:38 and the sheep of His hand today if you will hear His voice." 47:42 I love that. It's powerful. 47:44 We got to read the next verse. 47:45 "Today, if you will hear His voice, 47:47 'Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, 47:50 as in the day of trial in the wilderness.'" 47:51 So, you know, that call is to make a choice for Jesus. 47:56 You know, we just... 47:58 I never want to take and pass an opportunity 48:01 to extend a call to you at home to make a choice, 48:04 to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. 48:06 He made you, He redeemed you, 48:08 and He wants you to be His child. 48:11 So just today, say, "Lord Jesus, 48:13 I know I've messed up, 48:15 and I know I've done a lot of things wrong, 48:17 will You forgive me? 48:18 Will You accept me right now?" 48:21 And you know what? He will do that. 48:23 His word is faithful and true. 48:25 And He stands back of all His promises 48:28 that He has made. 48:30 You know, haven't had time to actually research this 48:31 or maybe you'll help me on this, 48:33 but you mentioned sheep for the shepherd. 48:36 Don't shepherds, didn't they sing to the sheep, 48:39 have you ever heard that? 48:40 I may have just concocted that in my head right now, 48:43 but it seems as though 48:44 when we would travel to the holy land, 48:45 they actually mentioned about the actual shepherd 48:48 singing to his sheep. 48:50 And so it's just interesting as I was just thinking about 48:52 us singing to Him. 48:53 I think about Jesus actually, 48:54 can you imagine us being His sheep, 48:56 and Him singing to us 'cause I remember... 48:58 Because I remember, the Bible does say that. 49:00 It does say that. Yeah. 49:01 I remember my dad, who is, 49:03 he's not like a real strong musician, 49:05 but I tell you, when I was sick, 49:06 he would sing to me at night, you know, that's common. 49:10 So I think if our great shepherd, 49:11 you know, just singing to us, 49:12 "It's all right, child, you're good, 49:14 you're good, you're okay." 49:15 And I think also at this time 49:17 your tour holidays can be tough, right? 49:18 You know, people have lost loved ones, 49:20 they are going through terrible times. 49:21 And unfortunately, holidays can be really happy, 49:23 Thanksgiving, Christmas, 49:24 but then else we're really down. 49:26 So we want to encourage you to find something to praise 49:29 the Lord Jesus Christ for what you have. 49:32 I like what Ryan's brought up several times. 49:34 We praise the Lord for who He is. 49:35 So that's something, write that on your list. 49:37 If that's all you've got, that's a powerful one to have. 49:39 We praise Jesus for who He is. 49:41 It's been a great study. Amen. 49:42 By no hurry, any other points before we go to prayer? 49:44 Well, I think that it's important 49:46 also in the church today, 49:48 there are a lot of debate over style. 49:52 I've just mentioned styles of music, 49:55 and just styles of how we worship, 49:57 and praising God. 50:00 And I think that we get lost in all of that, 50:02 and that's just in my opinion the devil 50:05 or us allowing distractions, you know, 50:08 when we need to keep our eye on the prize, 50:11 keep our eye on the fact that, you know, God is worthy, 50:14 and that praise is something that becomes all of us. 50:17 It look so much better than 50:19 non praising or whatever. 50:23 It's... Complaining. 50:25 Yeah, complaining, yeah, right. 50:26 So praise, no matter the style, and just apply the Word of God, 50:31 or memorize these psalms and sing them in your own way, 50:35 sing them in your heart. 50:36 Yeah, you can't go wrong. Thank you very much. 50:38 I want praise to be automatic response. 50:41 My dad in West Virginia would teach me, 50:42 "Son, this is how you get out of a skid. 50:44 In case your car on a snowy road goes into a skid, 50:46 you want to steer into the skid, 50:48 and all this kind of good stuff." 50:49 So we would practice in parking lots 50:51 that were snow and ice covered. 50:52 "All right, son," he say, "get it." 50:53 And then he say, you know, 50:55 "we crank it, and, how, you know, 50:56 try to help me get out of the skid." 50:57 He said the reason we're doing this stuff is 50:59 because you want it to be an automatic response. 51:00 You don't want to be in a skid some day, like, 51:01 "I see, is it this way? No, this way, oh, that..." 51:04 Well, that time is too late. 51:06 So I think we're talking about here is 51:07 we're trying to make this habit, so it's automatic. 51:09 Wake up or stub our toe, wake up in the morning, 51:11 miss our alarm, whatever it is, it's automatic. 51:14 I praise You, Lord. That's sweet. 51:15 Amen. Let's go to prayer. 51:17 Smart. Absolutely. 51:18 Okay, well, then Jason, you want to start, 51:20 we'll just go around the circle. 51:22 Sure. 51:23 Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You so much 51:26 that we even have the opportunity to praise You. 51:30 We thank You for the love that You have bestowed upon us, 51:34 the blessings that You bestowed upon us. 51:36 And every day You're performing a new miracles, 51:39 Lord, every day that we have air in our lungs, 51:43 we are able to walk or even watch a broadcast, 51:48 Father, that's a blessing in and of itself. 51:51 And so we thank You and we ask that You would strengthen us, 51:54 help us to make our praise just an automatic response 51:59 as Brother Greg had said. 52:01 Help that to be the go to and not negativity. 52:04 We thank You for all that You've done for us. 52:06 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 52:08 Amen. 52:10 Father in heaven, praise You, Lord. 52:15 We cannot say that enough as we have established here 52:20 over and over more than once, You are worthy. 52:23 And there's not a single person on this planet 52:25 that can deny that. 52:27 Lord, You've been so good to Your people. 52:28 And as we read today, You are the redeemer. 52:33 And You forgive Your children of their iniquities. 52:37 Lord, I just pray for Your people, 52:38 I pray for myself, 52:40 and I ask forgiveness of any sins that I might have. 52:43 And I praise You in return not because 52:46 but just simply because of who You are, 52:50 not because You just forgive 52:52 or that You give us good things or all the many benefits, 52:55 but, Lord, You're so good to Your people, 52:57 and we praise You and thank You continuously. 53:00 We ask a blessing upon Your people, 53:03 we ask a blessing upon this particular program 53:05 and speak to someone. 53:07 Thank You, God. And draw them closer to Jesus. 53:11 Draw Your people together, Lord. 53:13 Heal our wounds, heal our... 53:16 Heal us and separate us from our sins. 53:19 And may we one day enter the kingdom to be with You, 53:22 and praise You, and thank You, 53:23 and ask this in Jesus' holy name, amen. 53:25 Amen. 53:28 Father, God, we just thank You because You are good. 53:31 We thank You because You are gracious, 53:34 You are loving, and compassionate, 53:36 forgiving, and You are sovereign, 53:38 You are on the throne. 53:41 Thank You because You called us as Your children. 53:45 And we just call You, "Abba" right now. 53:49 Thank You, God that You are always good 53:53 no matter what we do. 53:55 You are good in the good times and You're good in the bad. 53:59 And you are always consistent, and always love. 54:05 And oh, Father, I know that 54:08 I have not always reacted that way. 54:11 And so I ask for Your forgiveness. 54:14 And I pray Lord Jesus 54:16 that You are creating me a new heart. 54:20 Renew in me a right spirit. 54:23 We pray for our brothers and sisters at home, 54:26 our brothers and sisters here at 3ABN 54:28 that we would walk in unity with You. 54:33 And we would sense Your Spirit 54:36 and Your presence that we would long more 54:39 for more of You. 54:41 That we would spend time in Your Word 54:44 and that You would change us. 54:46 God, transform us into the image of Jesus. 54:53 Thank you. 54:56 Father, God, from the beginning of time, 54:58 You have proven Yourself by Your actions, 55:04 by Your creation, 55:05 by the way You have moved in history, 55:10 and You have moved throughout Your Word, 55:13 You have shown Your worth, You've shown Your value, 55:18 You've shown Your design for man, 55:20 You've shown yourself God, 55:25 and I, 55:27 in my short 48 years 55:32 can't imagine the things 55:34 anything being more worthy 55:38 than spending my life, giving You praise and worship 55:43 for all You've done in the past. 55:45 But, God, the future, I can't imagine all the things 55:49 that I'm going to be able to praise 55:50 and worship You for in the future. 55:52 So I'm just thanking You 55:54 that You have given me a future, 55:56 and that You have given our viewers a future, 55:58 and that as Your children, 56:01 we are going to be able to spend 56:05 the eternity around the throne, worshipping You, 56:07 and praising You just because You gave us breath and life. 56:13 And, Lord, I would just encourage 56:16 those who don't feel like they have a reason to praise 56:18 because of situations they are going through. 56:20 Oh, God, just encourage them, lift them, 56:24 may they just choose right now to praise You, 56:29 and to just surrender their situation to You, 56:34 and knowing that it's amazing what praising can do. 56:38 So we give You glory, 56:40 we thank You for being so wonderful. 56:42 It's truly, it's more than just words, 56:44 we are truly grateful in Jesus' name. 56:47 Amen. 56:48 Father in heaven, what a blessing it is, 56:49 we thank You for who You are. 56:51 We thank You for Jesus and the great gift that we have 56:55 in His dying on the cross, 56:57 and the gift of salvation we'll have. 56:59 We praise You for who You are as God and Creator. 57:02 Thank You for sustaining us, 57:04 and giving us so many wonderful blessings. 57:06 We thank You for the Sabbath. 57:08 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. 57:12 Hard to believe our time is almost all gone. 57:14 Thank you, Tim, thank you, Jason and Ryan. 57:18 Thank you at home for joining us 57:20 for family worship. 57:21 We just want to encourage you at home, spend time this week, 57:25 make a decision to praise, 57:27 make a decision to choose Jesus and His way. 57:31 Know that we love you, and we pray for you. 57:33 Happy Sabbath. 57:35 Bye- bye. |
Revised 2018-12-17