my sweet JESUS . . . . .

We had heavy showers on the 3rd of September a day I will never forget. Water had accumulated in all the areas, so yes that made it a little bit difficult to walk on certain roads.

Before that fateful day, I wondered what it would be like to have the church with just two or three people attending mass. As I entered I prayed that there would be more people coming in. Thank God, there were twelve of us, I think. I enjoyed the mass-celebration. I did!

Do you know the feeling of attending mass with kids? Maybe you do and maybe you don’t. But the feeling is awesome. Imagine Paradise. Imagine all the angels……….  We hear kids talk. But some of them can really move your heart. I loved every moment being around them.

Today, the 10th of September, I just was playing with my neighbour’s baby, and she caught on to my finger so tight with her hand. I could cry. Not out of sadness-simply out of gratitude to God. Throughout the day-that is what I felt-that is what I wished in my thoughts. God takes care of every little wish. God does.

A friend of mine has been through quiet a tough time in her life. Her daughter has been her moral support-through it all. This is what she said when speaking to me: “Every mother needs to have a daughter”-The sentence was not a planned one-it was heartfelt. I took a chair, got myself seated next to her-and looked up to her with admiration.

There is this one instance when we were kids, and we had to go on holidays. I think it was a Maundy Thursday, we attended to the mass and had to leave to the airport before the final blessing. We reached in time. The airport had some security concerns, and so the flight was delayed by 30 minutes. My mother realized that we were wrong to leave the church in a hurry without God’s blessings. Something I always remember. God is never in a hurry. My point being-don't make substitutes for God. Keep God 1st place.

Often in the struggles of life, we will get weary. But that is when we choose to walk alone.

Often we do not realize to involve God in all matters of life.

Often we give up! Often we condemn ourselves. 
Too often we do not see ourselves - the way we need to see ourselves.

By myself I can do nothing.

So whatever you are holding on to-don’t. Let go and let God take charge. With Him you will never fail.

No matter how impossible your situation looks-or no matter what people have told you-I’m telling you-'Nothing is impossible with God.'

The situation you are facing may Cry out:  IMPOSSIBLE!

But you shout out: ‘I SERVE A GOD OF IMPOSSIBLES!’

With God IMPOSSIBILITIES become REALITIES!

Remember: Come to Jesus! He is waiting with His arms wide open! Come Closer!

Here’s to LOVE!

God made us and we are His people. We celebrate God because He has given us our very own lives we experience. He has given us the gift of salvation.

God’s love is declared in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God is faithful past, present, and future!

Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 1:20, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."

We celebrate God because we know that all the promises of God have found their completion in Jesus Christ! We celebrate because of what He has done for us and this allows us, to persevere until the end. We are called to celebrate God and live a life of praise and worship!

God is calling us to a life of action—a life of love, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation, joy, and praise!

When we are confronted by the love of God, then everything changes at the deepest core level of who we are and why we do what we do. Our lives become a celebration of God’s faithfulness; His covenant-love in Jesus Christ!

 
In our everyday life we hear things like: “you aren’t good enough,” “when will you be like (----),”“you’ll never count to anything,” “you’re not worthy,” etc.

The Lord is calling you to enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise. He wants to hear the praises of His people. All the feelings of inadequacy can be left as you enter because in God’s house there is only room for praise. In God’s house, “You are enough, the only one you have to be like is Jesus, through Him you will have enough strength, BECAUSE of Him you do count, and IN Him you are worthy.

The Lord’s goodness and love is waiting for you. He wants to pour it out on you in abundance. The Bible says that God’s love and faithfulness will endure through every generation. Wow! No one can ever offer you more than God! May you celebrate the goodness, love, and faithfulness of God every day!

My topic today is taken from one of the most beloved psalms-to coincide with this being my 100th topic. 'A Psalm for giving thanks.'-PSALM 100. I would like to focus our attention on the last verse, which gives us three reasons to praise God: 
“For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations"(Psalm 100:5).

"For the Lord is good". God loved us and then He cared enough to send His Son to die for us. God is good all the time.

"and His love endures forever;". God’s mercy is not like the weather. It does not change with the seasons. And it does not depend on you or on anything you may do. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less. His mercy is so great and His love so free that it is truly infinite and everlasting.

We see God’s love and mercy most clearly at the cross. If you ever ask Jesus, ‘Do you love me?’ And then you give a look at the Cross, you will never need to ask again, I promise. There you will find grace unmeasured, mercy undeserved and an everlasting love.

“His faithfulness continues through all generations.” The final phrase speaks of God’s promise to us.

God is true in Himself. There is no deceit and no falsehood in Him. He is true in all His promises.

No changes, however great, can produce any changes in Him. All things happen  according to His divine plan. There are no mistakes with the Lord. God is continuously working behind the scenes.

Consider the final phrase: “through all generations.” Exodus 20:6 tells us that God shows His love to “a thousand generations” of those who love Him. God’s love and faithfulness go far beyond any human understanding.

Because God is faithful, we can trust Him.

If you are weary, if you are discouraged, if you need a fresh start, if you know your life is going nowhere, if you want to know God, then-

May God give you faith to believe and wings to fly to the cross. He is a wonderful Savior to those who trust in Him. Amen.

     

Do you have a thankful heart?

Motivation to be thankful

• We serve the one true and sovereign God. He loves us unconditionally and forgives our sins.
• God equips us with spiritual gifts to fulfill the specific plans He has for our lives.
• Jesus intercedes on our behalf.

We need to have a thankful heart in every area of our lives.

Impact of a thankful heart

• Godliness-because we are aware of His presence
• Look for His purpose.
• Submission to His will, even when we don’t understand
• A reminder of our dependence on Him
• Joy and contentment instead of fear and anxiety
• Focus on God in difficult times
• Transformation of our attitude toward others
• Supernatural energy 

The Power of a Thankful Heart

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."   I Thessalonians 5:16-18

We need to always give thanks, in order to see God's will accomplished in our lives.

Thanksgiving breaks the power of the enemy. When you give thanks in the midst of difficulty, you bring pleasure to God's heart. Satan is defeated when we have a thankful heart because thankfulness during difficulty is a sacrifice pleasing to God.

Thankfulness is a key to your life. It is the key that turns your situation around because it changes you, your outlook, and your attitude. There is power in a thankful heart.

Thanksgiving Brings Contentment

Thank God for all the blessings He has given you instead of dwelling on the negative. To love God is to love His will. It is to be content with His.

Jesus followed the will of His Father to the very end. He obeyed without complaint. In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul says that we should have the same attitude. Jesus made himself nothing and took on the very nature of a servant. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death. We also are to have this same attitude with a humble and thankful acceptance of God's will for our lives.

Offer God a Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving

"Give Praise." This is a lesson for all of us; if we would learn to be people of praise and thanksgiving all the days of our lives it would be a great accomplishment.

David said in Psalm 116:17, "I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord." Let each of us seek to have an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving, rising to a new level of holiness in our lives. 

What are you grateful for?

Choosing gratitude gives us the chance to recognize God’s bounteous provision in our lives.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.—James 1:17

Every good gift. Just think about that for a moment. The house you live in, the air you breath, the food that you pulled out of your refrigerator for breakfast, your spouse, these are all good and perfect gifts, given to you out of love from your Heavenly Father.

To cultivate a grateful heart:

• The habit of gratitude will transform your life. Take nothing for granted. There is reason to thank God every minute of every day, but it requires our attention and intention.

• Every blessing we experience comes to us from the hand of a personal, loving God who is arranging the events of our lives so that we might know and commune with Him. We are owed nothing, but are given everything.

• Our lives that we live-are not our own, but God's.

Thankfulness is at the heart of a worshipper. When we come to worship we can't help but thank God for who He is and what He has done.

Isn't it interesting we are willing to wait for hours, standing in line, to catch a glimpse of some celebrity - yet we think nothing of running into the presence of God? Psalm 100 shows us the pathway into God's presence.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. PSALM 100

"Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth" (PS100:1).

When we come to worship GOD - As we walk down the path to worship God, we simply cannot be quiet. We shout for joy because the Lord is among us.

"Serve the Lord with gladness" (PS100:2).

We glorify God by ascribing to him the honor and adoration due Him because He is God.

"Come before Him with joyful songs” (PS100:2).

Our shouts will turn to song. Through our singing we approach God. Music stirs the emotions and expresses our hearts. It is part of the praise that prepares the heart and sets the stage for the encounter with God.

"Acknowledge that the Lord is God" (PS100:3).

We remind ourselves as to who God is, and, at the same time, we are reminded of who we are, too. He is the Creator; we are the created. He is the shepherd; we are the sheep.

We need to acknowledge Him in worship.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise" (PS100:4).

As we enter God's presence we enter His gates with thanksgiving - here we thank God for what He has done. Once through the gates, the worshiper enters the courts with praise - here we extol God for who He is. One gets a sense of movement ever moving closer into the presence of God.

Praise is not worship. It sets the stage for worship. Praise is the way into worship, and worship is the way into an encounter with the living God.

God is everywhere (omnipresence). God's revealed presence occurs when we worship God. God has chosen to manifest Himself in the praises of his people.

"Give thanks to Him" (PS100:4).

Give thanks to God and praise Him are stated twice.

"Praise His name!" (PS100:4).

The word praise means to show honor and homage to God. True worship always involves falling at the feet of God.

Why on our knees? Because we are in the presence of the King.

What do we know about the name - the person, the nature - of God? The Psalmist reminds us that "The Lord is good"; He is gracious and kind. "His love (or mercy) is eternal" (PS100:5). The word for love means covenant love. God has bound us to Himself in a covenant that He will never revoke or abandon. "His faithfulness endures through all generations" (PS100:5). He does not change His purpose or break His word.

Worship is encountering the person of God as revealed by His name.

Worship is an audience with the King. When we come to worship we come to meet the king of the universe. And, like an earthly king, there is certain protocol that we must follow to meet Him.

CONCLUSION:Thankfulness is contagious. It creates an atmosphere that is more positive and makes you a more likable and pleasant person to be around.

So if you're feeling low, like things never seem to go your way, get up and say thank-you, search for things to be thankful for. Even when something bad happens you can find something to be grateful for, whether it is a lesson that you learned from the experience, or someone you met because of it. Learn to thank God, thank others, thank yourself...be thankful...learn to develop a thankful heart. THANK-YOU!

 

REMEMBER: In worship we acknowledge who God is and what our relationship to Him is. God is Sovereign...

"Love" is God’s covenant. Generation after generation continue to experience His faithfulness.

We belong to the Lord. He is our Creator and our Redeemer. We have known His faithfulness and love. Let’s shout out our joyful thanks to Him so that others will know Him too!

PRAYER: Abba Father, I thank you for everything. Keep me obedient and faithful. In Jesus’ name Amen.

“Come and hear, all you who fear God let me tell you what he has done for me I cried out to him with my mouth his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” Psalm 66:16-20

Promise Date: 8th September, 2012. Matthew 1:23-Emmanuael.