The Benefit of Praise

Psalm 103:1-2
1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—

How many of us realize that being a Christian is not easy? Some people think when they come to Christ everything will be a breeze. Well, God blesses us when we remain faithful to Him through our storms. When we praise His name all the time even when we really are struggling to find hope. The times that the Psalms were written were not exactly happy times entirely. However David and Solomon really continued to praise God even through the storms. We see sometimes David wept and other times he lept. He was crying one second and rejoicing the next. God does love to hear the cries of our hearts. David did turn to God in his hour of trial. That is what God wants us to do. David worshiped God through it all even if he questioned God he still kept worshiping. By reading the Psalms we see this this. Our soul should be praising God no matter what. He will turn our mourning into joy, our sorrow into gladness, He will restore our strength. All these "benefits" you can read about if you just spend time in the Psalms. Being a Christian isn't always easy no but we do have the promises of God to hold onto and the blessings for persevering under trials.

James 1:12
Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Generations of Joy

Psalm 45:15-17
15 Led in with joy and gladness,
they enter the palace of the king.

16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.

17 I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

I love when our youth gets so excited for God that they "want" to be at church. When I see teenagers inviting other teenagers to youth group it makes me smile. The youth is important because they are our future. Okay ladies don't say eww or think I'm crazy but... someday you will be mothers if it is God's will for you to be. Ultimately though you have the ability to do great things. You can shine your light to the world. The world looks at you yes... the world looks at our youth and thinks why are they so messed up? Well, you ladies and yes you guys also who are going to church and bringing your friends, you are looked at as a light. A light we need in our world today. A light that is greatly lacking. This verse above says to take the "place of your fathers". So many times... we compare ourselves to our parents. We do not want to be like them. We think maybe even sometimes they are boring or don't understand us. However, God hasn't called us to be like our parents. God wants us to take the place of our parents. If we have generational curses it is up to us to break them. Time to shine the joy that past generations have been lacking. Bring your light to life. Stand up and realize that we are called to battle and it takes us young people to show God's glory and victory over the enemy.

Some of you who read this may be older but it's still not to late for you to be joyful also. God calls us to have a childlike faith. He wants to keep us ever joyful and youthful in our hearts. Also, God wants you to know that you will have a great impact on today's youth if you can shine that light inside you enough for them to realize joy doesn't fade. It's so easy through the years of hardship for our lights to fade. I'm sure a lot of you older readers have had a lot of hardships. It's time to release those to God and keep shining and moving forward.

Generations to come will still be learning to worship learning to express the joy of Christ's salvation. However if it doesn't start now it will fade. So be strong be like Jehoshaphat's army our worshipers at the front and let's win this battle! Are you ready?

1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise or think less of you because of your youth, but be an example (pattern) for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.

Be a Princess!

Psalm 45:12-14
12 The city of Tyre will come with a gift,[a]
people of wealth will seek your favor.
13 All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her—
those brought to be with her.

Have you ever played dress up? You want to be the princess you want to have your prince charming. Or you may even go kiss a frog. Perhaps you've lived so long trying to believe in fairy tales. Well today I'm teaching you that your fairy tale comes true. Jesus Christ is our prince charming. No really? seriously... He is the Prince of Peace and we are His Princess. We are the bride of Christ and He wants to clothe us in beautiful garments. He wants to put His crown of anointing upon our heads and claim us as His chosen. We are to serve Him and love, honor, and adore Him just as any real princess would. We are to allow Him to spoil us also. We should receive His favor and blessings even if we feel that we don't deserve it... because WE DO! We are to adorn ourselves as jewels as rare treasures. We are to present ourselves as pure and forgiven and clothed in beautiful clothes. Keep believing you are a princess girls because you are!

Isaiah 61:10-11
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder

Psalm 45:9-11
9 Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
11 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.

God looks at you as His beautiful creation. He created you to be His bride. He wants you to honor Him. By honoring God we become more beautiful in His eyes. We might wake up some days and feel like we have the worst hair day or our face is broken out. We do not feel beautiful. God doesn't see our outward beauty. He sees the beauty of your heart and your actions.

When I realized how God saw me as beautiful He opened my heart to love myself more. The more I saw myself the way God did... forgiven, cleansed, purified, beautiful. The more others saw me as beautiful as well. It's really something when my heart reflects the beauty of my Creator.

The next time you compare yourself to worldly beauty remember... the bible says not to compare ourselves. It also says don't conform ourselves to patterns of the world... instead be transformed through the renewing of your mind.

One of my favorite symbols of beauty is a butterfly. When I think of my walk with God I started off low to the ground (the world) like a caterpillar. I was not very beautiful but the more I munched on the word of God the more I grew. Until I meditated on it I formed a chrysalis in God's presence. While I rested in the presence of God I transformed into something beautiful. Until He was ready for me to burst out and show the wonderful gifts He gave me. However, even as butterflies in the wild... my wings were not strong immediately. I had to rest in the protection of God in order to grow more until I was strong enough to soar. Now I am soaring for Him... for His glory. I am beautiful, I am transformed, I left my old self in that chrysalis and I am now soaring to see what God has planned for my future.

Keep your inner beauty girls.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Get God to Smile :)

Psalm 45:8
8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.

Yes I dance around the kitchen floor sometimes in my socks and pajamas singing praise and worship music. Sure someday I would love to dance before God and praise Him every day. Wouldn't it be great if we could constantly be in His presence and praise Him? It's actually not as bad as you think. Really, whenever I get the opportunity I burst out into praise. Even in the gloomiest of days when nothing seems to be shimmering and everything is dull I can't help but praise God. You know why? It's beyond the earth it gets me to picture myself by His throne in His presence where the air is sweet and fragrant and the palace is beautiful. Yes I will praise Him like David. David praised with a harp and singing but we have been gifted with many ways to praise God. Some of us may not be able to carry a tune but we praise God in our everyday life by helping others and being a living testimony.

Whatever your praise language is God is smiling at it! God rejoices when we praise Him.

In your gloom of your room or in the joy of your kitchen offer up your praise to Him today!

Psalm 150:6

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

Give Me Oil in My Lamp

Psalm 45:7
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.

Today I will be talking about oil and what the oil represents. However, first because it is Saturday you all know that we have our women of the week. This week's women can be found in Matthew 25, the ten virgins. We represent the bride and the Holy Spirit represents the oil. Of course the bridegroom is Jesus Christ.

Matthew 25
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

So what does this scripture tell us? Unless we have the oil inside and unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will not be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven when Christ returns. We need to keep ourselves prepared and filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit. We need to burn for Him constantly. So keep filling yourselves with that oil. The oil in Psalm 45 that brings joy.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

What's in Your Heart?

A throne or an arrow?


Psalm 45:5-6
5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet.
6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

So often we hear about the full armor of God but we forget how significantly important it is. God just doesn't want us to stand protected He wants us to fight. Fight for justice and honor. Fight for the real truth that the world often forgets. It is important for us to stand firm and tell the truth. The truth is our biggest weapon against the prince of lies Satan himself. It rescues the prisoners and sets them free it unshackles them from the things Satan has convinced them to believe. We are not fighting against people we are fighting against Satan. We don't want to lose people we want to capture their hearts for Christ and hold them safely and retrain them to become faithful to the King of kings.

God wants us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That is the just thing to do. If God is truly on the throne of our hearts that is what we will learn to do. However, that doesn't mean that we keep our enemies in darkness. That doesn't me we don't walk and talk in truth with them. Even people who are not believers of Christ need to hear the truth of God's word.

Today I was talking on the phone with a girl who my brother was ministering to. She was explaining how she's been in abusive relationship after abusive relationship and is tired of the jerks. She said and the sad part was the nice guys like the bad girls. I told her to keep holding onto the promises of God... but I told her... without mentioning God at first. I said realize who you are and realize you deserve the best. We need to realize who we are in Christ (we are a new creation purified through His blood) we need to realize we never have to settler (I shall not want). Everyone of us needs to realize God's plans for us are for our best (Jeremiah 29:11). We need to stay in the truth in all times!


Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.