Classroom: Foundation for Praise 02-06-07
Foundation for Praise 02-06-07
Gabby (guest speaker from Lebanon Day 2 of 5)
We’re going to talk about the foundation on which we will build are praise. The place where we will build our altar of worship.
Recap: You must know God to worship Him. It’s not enough to know about Him, you must know Him.
We have to be careful about grumbling. This can lead to unbelief; and it can look different for guys and girls. Some grumble in their hearts – others with their mouths. We need to be careful about what we hear, no matter where we hear it. Protect yourself from grumbling. Keep your minds full of the word of God. If it’s not full of the word of God, something will come in its place to be in your mind. What other things is the world declaring? Sex. Drinking. What kind of message does this send? To have a nice life, to have a normal life – sex will make you happy. Drinking will get you accepted into the community. This is how you should act. And before you know it, people are starting to get sad because they’re not having sex. And I’m not even talking about non-Christians. I’m talking about Christians. I’m talking about committed people. I know many Christians who were unhappy because they were not having sex. I met people who got married to anyone because they were unsatisfied – then got divorced after some time. War is another thing. I don’t know about the West, but in the East the news is all bad. I don’t even know why the call it news, they should call it bad news. In Lebanon especially, I’ve just decided not to watch the news anymore. And you’re talking to a news addict. I could not pass a day without looking at the news. I stopped because I am asked to speak to people; to stand in front and give talks, and I was depressed.
In Iran, a statistic is that 60% of the people are atheist. In Iran. Why? Because they don’t want anything to do with God. They are unhappy, and they believe their happiness.
Matthew 6:24 – No man can serve God and money.
Happiness is not something that’s available to buy. That’s why see a sad church. A sad Christian. Be careful because when you are sucked into money you could lose your calling as Christians. What’s our calling?
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Isaiah 43:21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
When you go on the streets and declare the name of Jesus – so many people call it evangelism. I call it praise. That’s what the Bible calls it. I saw many people evangelizing in a terrible way. Who would go and just try to defend God. They would say to themselves, “how can I convince them?”
Praise is a lifestyle, it’s not a session. When we come here, it’s not like we say – “Let’s praise Him now.” – No, we’re called to praise Him every minute of the day. We’re called to be a proclaiming the goodness of the Lord every minute.
Psalm 145:2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Instead of praising, what are we doing? Grumbling. Did you spend time thanking the Lord or praising Him for what He has done? And why do we grumble? Because we don’t have a thankful heart. This is something we need to develop. We need to have a heart of thanksgiving.
Numbers 14:26
If you grumble you’re not going to have a good time! Before my DTS, my life was up-down-up-down. Then I decided to give the Lord 6 months of my life. And my relationship with Him skyrocketed. Be careful of your grumbling. Be careful of your words and thoughts. We are not called to grumble we are called to praise!
Remember Israel when God brought them from Egypt? They grumbled. They grumbled all the time and they did not enter the promised land. Grumbling was accompanied with doubt and scorn. They didn’t enter the promised land and they didn’t have rest. They died in the desert. I made a commitment not to surround myself with grumblers. I know people that grumble all the time – and they suck the joy out of everything.
The Lord is able to turn our grumbling to joy. Awake my heart!
It’s funny. I’ve forgotten what life was like without Jesus; and it might sound funny but I have to keep reminding myself. It was Hell. It was terrible. I would not want to go back there.
Revival starts on the inside. Many people are waiting for a revival, for themselves and the church – like revival is something that’s stuck in a jam. “Lord! We need revival! Bring us revival!” WAKE UP! WAKE UP, SOUL! Stop grumbling! Put your eyes on Jesus! Instead of putting your eyes on the media and other things – put your eyes on Jesus!!! You will become what you say. You will become the revivalist. You will become the soul for the lost. You will go to your family and make a difference, your church, your outreach – where ever you go, you will make a difference.
All you need is Jesus.
We are called to proclaim His praises. A sad heart is not a good example. I mean, do you want to be in a sad place? I don’t. I want to be where people are happy, and happiness only comes from the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We will be like magnets. People will be draw to you – because you are happy. Because you are praising Him. We need to ask the Lord to forgive us for grumbling.
Take 3 minutes. Write down the things you need to do to stop grumbling. I know one thing for me was to say, every morning, “You know Lord, you are good!” So I need to remind myself of the goodness of God daily.
1 Chronicles 16:4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
David appointed people just to thank the Lord! One of the Levite’s duties was just to thank the Lord day and night!
If we don’t thank the Lord, we will take it for granted. Even the air you breath is a gift from God.
We are not grateful. We don’t know how to say thankful. I remember a congregation, and the pastor said, “Hey! There are 100 people! Everybody say one thing to praise the Lord!” And then everyone was silent. Still.
Take a piece of paper and write down as many things you can think of on what you can praise the Lord for. I’m telling you, if you start thinking this way, you will need more than one piece of paper.
When you’re going through a hard time and you can’t just find God. Try this – start thanking Him. I tell you, your mood will be different. It will be like oxygen coming to you – and you will find it gets easier to praise Him. And suddenly you will find that your eyes will be opened to the spiritual things around you. And you will live victoriously; and you will have a successful life. What is the key? Thanksgiving and praise to the living God.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving. Enter His courts with praise.
(Psalm 100!)
And this is a lifestyle, you know? You need to teach yourself this daily. Teach yourself to be thankful for everything – let God teach you to be thankful for everything. We can never say thank you enough to strangers, friends, leaders, and especially to God. And as you approach life in this way – you will find that your attitude will change. You will become more positive, more gracious.
Romans 1:18-23
I always asked the Lord, “what will happen to me after I die” until He answered me: “nothing.” Life will keep on. People will be sad for a short time – they will look at your picture and remember you. They will continue eating, getting married, and being happy.
We are not the center of the universe! We are not the center of the Universe! Life will keep on.
Praise and thanksgiving:
1 Chronicles 16:8-12
Job 1:21
Psalm 18:17
Psalm 30:8-12
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 28:6
Psalm 34:2
Deut: 32:4
Isaiah 30:20-21
1 Corinthians 1:4
2 Corinthians 2:14
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Colossians 4:2
Ephesians 5:20
1 Chronicles 16:34 – Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
Luke 17:16 – 10 lepers were healed, only 1 came back to say thank you. I think the Lord put this in the Bible to show us that we don’t say thank you enough. As soon as we get this thing we’ve been praying for, we forget to go back and say thank you. We’re too busy cheering and celebrating! We don’t even say thank you.
1 Corinthians 15:57 We give thanks to the Lord for the victories we have in life.
Colossians 4:2 Thank Him for answered prayers
1 Chronicles 16:8 Thank Him because He is great
Ps 111:1-2 Thank Him so everyone else knows He’s great
Colossians 2:7 Thanksgiving keeps our mind on Christ and on others.
After salvation and my life – the best gift I ever had from God is my daughter. When I think about my daughter – I can’t understand why the Father would send His son to the cross? If it had been me, I would have sent myself. But that wouldn’t have been enough. It’s easier for me to send myself than to send my daughter. For God the Father to send His Son, that shows a bigger sacrifice. It’s never enough to say “thank you” for that.
If you want to be happy, you have to be thankful. When you are having a bad time – you THANK Jesus because you KNOW He will do something about it!
Why do we give thanks to the Lord? We remind ourselves that everything good comes from Him. He deserves the credit and glory. We acknowledge that there is no coincidence in what we pray for and the good things we receive.
Even if you work, don’t take it for granted. It is a gift from God! The people in your lives, everything – a gift from God! If you rely on a very rich person to provide for you, even they might be out of money sometime or they might befall some tragedy. Then you will be out of a job. No, my friend, rely on the Lord! And Him alone.
Three (of many) Bible references of reasons to be thankful to the Lord:
Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!"
Ps 92:1-2 It is good. It is good to thank the Lord.
Psalm 9:1
Colossians 3:15 Be thankful in ALL situations
Philippians 1:3 Always think of good thoughts. You have to be thankful all times of the day.
1 Chronicles 16:7
Ps 147:7
Colossians 3:16
Psalm 100:4
Psalm 116:17 by GIVING – money, time, gifts, effort, prayer
Colossians 4:2
Psalm 111:2
Psalm 119:7 Living in obedience to the Lord
Colossians 2:7
2 Chronicles 32:25
Why do we do 12 weeks of lectures and then 10-12 weeks of outreach? Because we don’t want you to be full of information. The key is in your actions – what you do – how you serve. We want you to apply this knowledge for the glory of God!
Right now if you had a cure for cancer, what would you do? Scream? Go door to door? Be on TV? Share it with everyone? You wouldn’t keep it in your pocket. This is what we have. We have the medicine that the world needs. People need you; they need your message. They need to hear your experiences. They need the medicine. I feel honored that the Lord chose me to carry this medicine around. I honestly feel honored. I’m honored.
The exact middle of the Bible is Psalm 118 – and it says give thanks to the Lord
Gabby (guest speaker from Lebanon Day 2 of 5)
We’re going to talk about the foundation on which we will build are praise. The place where we will build our altar of worship.
Recap: You must know God to worship Him. It’s not enough to know about Him, you must know Him.
We have to be careful about grumbling. This can lead to unbelief; and it can look different for guys and girls. Some grumble in their hearts – others with their mouths. We need to be careful about what we hear, no matter where we hear it. Protect yourself from grumbling. Keep your minds full of the word of God. If it’s not full of the word of God, something will come in its place to be in your mind. What other things is the world declaring? Sex. Drinking. What kind of message does this send? To have a nice life, to have a normal life – sex will make you happy. Drinking will get you accepted into the community. This is how you should act. And before you know it, people are starting to get sad because they’re not having sex. And I’m not even talking about non-Christians. I’m talking about Christians. I’m talking about committed people. I know many Christians who were unhappy because they were not having sex. I met people who got married to anyone because they were unsatisfied – then got divorced after some time. War is another thing. I don’t know about the West, but in the East the news is all bad. I don’t even know why the call it news, they should call it bad news. In Lebanon especially, I’ve just decided not to watch the news anymore. And you’re talking to a news addict. I could not pass a day without looking at the news. I stopped because I am asked to speak to people; to stand in front and give talks, and I was depressed.
In Iran, a statistic is that 60% of the people are atheist. In Iran. Why? Because they don’t want anything to do with God. They are unhappy, and they believe their happiness.
Matthew 6:24 – No man can serve God and money.
Happiness is not something that’s available to buy. That’s why see a sad church. A sad Christian. Be careful because when you are sucked into money you could lose your calling as Christians. What’s our calling?
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Isaiah 43:21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
When you go on the streets and declare the name of Jesus – so many people call it evangelism. I call it praise. That’s what the Bible calls it. I saw many people evangelizing in a terrible way. Who would go and just try to defend God. They would say to themselves, “how can I convince them?”
Praise is a lifestyle, it’s not a session. When we come here, it’s not like we say – “Let’s praise Him now.” – No, we’re called to praise Him every minute of the day. We’re called to be a proclaiming the goodness of the Lord every minute.
Psalm 145:2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Instead of praising, what are we doing? Grumbling. Did you spend time thanking the Lord or praising Him for what He has done? And why do we grumble? Because we don’t have a thankful heart. This is something we need to develop. We need to have a heart of thanksgiving.
Numbers 14:26
If you grumble you’re not going to have a good time! Before my DTS, my life was up-down-up-down. Then I decided to give the Lord 6 months of my life. And my relationship with Him skyrocketed. Be careful of your grumbling. Be careful of your words and thoughts. We are not called to grumble we are called to praise!
Remember Israel when God brought them from Egypt? They grumbled. They grumbled all the time and they did not enter the promised land. Grumbling was accompanied with doubt and scorn. They didn’t enter the promised land and they didn’t have rest. They died in the desert. I made a commitment not to surround myself with grumblers. I know people that grumble all the time – and they suck the joy out of everything.
The Lord is able to turn our grumbling to joy. Awake my heart!
It’s funny. I’ve forgotten what life was like without Jesus; and it might sound funny but I have to keep reminding myself. It was Hell. It was terrible. I would not want to go back there.
Revival starts on the inside. Many people are waiting for a revival, for themselves and the church – like revival is something that’s stuck in a jam. “Lord! We need revival! Bring us revival!” WAKE UP! WAKE UP, SOUL! Stop grumbling! Put your eyes on Jesus! Instead of putting your eyes on the media and other things – put your eyes on Jesus!!! You will become what you say. You will become the revivalist. You will become the soul for the lost. You will go to your family and make a difference, your church, your outreach – where ever you go, you will make a difference.
All you need is Jesus.
We are called to proclaim His praises. A sad heart is not a good example. I mean, do you want to be in a sad place? I don’t. I want to be where people are happy, and happiness only comes from the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We will be like magnets. People will be draw to you – because you are happy. Because you are praising Him. We need to ask the Lord to forgive us for grumbling.
Take 3 minutes. Write down the things you need to do to stop grumbling. I know one thing for me was to say, every morning, “You know Lord, you are good!” So I need to remind myself of the goodness of God daily.
1 Chronicles 16:4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
David appointed people just to thank the Lord! One of the Levite’s duties was just to thank the Lord day and night!
If we don’t thank the Lord, we will take it for granted. Even the air you breath is a gift from God.
We are not grateful. We don’t know how to say thankful. I remember a congregation, and the pastor said, “Hey! There are 100 people! Everybody say one thing to praise the Lord!” And then everyone was silent. Still.
Take a piece of paper and write down as many things you can think of on what you can praise the Lord for. I’m telling you, if you start thinking this way, you will need more than one piece of paper.
When you’re going through a hard time and you can’t just find God. Try this – start thanking Him. I tell you, your mood will be different. It will be like oxygen coming to you – and you will find it gets easier to praise Him. And suddenly you will find that your eyes will be opened to the spiritual things around you. And you will live victoriously; and you will have a successful life. What is the key? Thanksgiving and praise to the living God.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving. Enter His courts with praise.
(Psalm 100!)
And this is a lifestyle, you know? You need to teach yourself this daily. Teach yourself to be thankful for everything – let God teach you to be thankful for everything. We can never say thank you enough to strangers, friends, leaders, and especially to God. And as you approach life in this way – you will find that your attitude will change. You will become more positive, more gracious.
Romans 1:18-23
I always asked the Lord, “what will happen to me after I die” until He answered me: “nothing.” Life will keep on. People will be sad for a short time – they will look at your picture and remember you. They will continue eating, getting married, and being happy.
We are not the center of the universe! We are not the center of the Universe! Life will keep on.
Praise and thanksgiving:
1 Chronicles 16:8-12
Job 1:21
Psalm 18:17
Psalm 30:8-12
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 28:6
Psalm 34:2
Deut: 32:4
Isaiah 30:20-21
1 Corinthians 1:4
2 Corinthians 2:14
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Colossians 4:2
Ephesians 5:20
1 Chronicles 16:34 – Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
Luke 17:16 – 10 lepers were healed, only 1 came back to say thank you. I think the Lord put this in the Bible to show us that we don’t say thank you enough. As soon as we get this thing we’ve been praying for, we forget to go back and say thank you. We’re too busy cheering and celebrating! We don’t even say thank you.
1 Corinthians 15:57 We give thanks to the Lord for the victories we have in life.
Colossians 4:2 Thank Him for answered prayers
1 Chronicles 16:8 Thank Him because He is great
Ps 111:1-2 Thank Him so everyone else knows He’s great
Colossians 2:7 Thanksgiving keeps our mind on Christ and on others.
After salvation and my life – the best gift I ever had from God is my daughter. When I think about my daughter – I can’t understand why the Father would send His son to the cross? If it had been me, I would have sent myself. But that wouldn’t have been enough. It’s easier for me to send myself than to send my daughter. For God the Father to send His Son, that shows a bigger sacrifice. It’s never enough to say “thank you” for that.
If you want to be happy, you have to be thankful. When you are having a bad time – you THANK Jesus because you KNOW He will do something about it!
Why do we give thanks to the Lord? We remind ourselves that everything good comes from Him. He deserves the credit and glory. We acknowledge that there is no coincidence in what we pray for and the good things we receive.
Even if you work, don’t take it for granted. It is a gift from God! The people in your lives, everything – a gift from God! If you rely on a very rich person to provide for you, even they might be out of money sometime or they might befall some tragedy. Then you will be out of a job. No, my friend, rely on the Lord! And Him alone.
Three (of many) Bible references of reasons to be thankful to the Lord:
Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!"
Ps 92:1-2 It is good. It is good to thank the Lord.
Psalm 9:1
Colossians 3:15 Be thankful in ALL situations
Philippians 1:3 Always think of good thoughts. You have to be thankful all times of the day.
1 Chronicles 16:7
Ps 147:7
Colossians 3:16
Psalm 100:4
Psalm 116:17 by GIVING – money, time, gifts, effort, prayer
Colossians 4:2
Psalm 111:2
Psalm 119:7 Living in obedience to the Lord
Colossians 2:7
2 Chronicles 32:25
Why do we do 12 weeks of lectures and then 10-12 weeks of outreach? Because we don’t want you to be full of information. The key is in your actions – what you do – how you serve. We want you to apply this knowledge for the glory of God!
Right now if you had a cure for cancer, what would you do? Scream? Go door to door? Be on TV? Share it with everyone? You wouldn’t keep it in your pocket. This is what we have. We have the medicine that the world needs. People need you; they need your message. They need to hear your experiences. They need the medicine. I feel honored that the Lord chose me to carry this medicine around. I honestly feel honored. I’m honored.
The exact middle of the Bible is Psalm 118 – and it says give thanks to the Lord
posted by CarbonChris at 4:52 AM
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