Scripture for the Day
(January 28, 2021)
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 150)
By Ed Henderson, 2018
One of the things I love to do in my study time is listen to messages by some of my favorite preachers. I recently listened to some sermons by Jentezen Franklin and Christine Caine. The following are a few critical points that I picked up from these messages that could help change your life. There is a high cost for the lack of enthusiasm – I am reminded of the story in the Bible where King David was dancing with all his might before the Ark of the Covenant as they brought it into Jerusalem. His wife was really upset with him and thought he was making a fool out of himself. As a result of her lack of enthusiasm she was barren for the rest of her life. God apparently likes enthusiasm.
Our church has no lack of enthusiasm. We have singers, dancers, musicians, and flaggers. We are not ashamed to worship the Lord. My wife showed someone a video of our worship service one day and their response was, “that is so disrespectful”. Religion always kills enthusiasm. Relationship always encourages enthusiasm. We all need to be more like David!!! You and I are a God carriers – Have you ever thought about that? If you are born-again you have Jesus living on the inside of you. Do you remember Mary’s response when she learned she was pregnant with Jesus? After asking the Angel a few questions this was her response, “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38)
Do not ever let the things that God has cleansed ever become common – Do you remember the vision God showed Peter about eating what God had cleansed? And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. (Acts 10:10-16)
What I want you to see here is that you and I, as born-again believers, are not common. We are uncommon!!! A miracle has taken place in our life. We are peculiar people that are set apart for the work of the Lord. This is not some common thing. We need to be excited and enthusiastic about what we are called to do. We are God carriers and we need to act like it. God has cleansed us from all unrighteousness. He has translated us from darkness to light. We were headed to Hell and now we are on our way to Heaven. That is worth shouting about! That is worth dancing about! That is worth singing about!
