Fellowshipping & Praise the Lord with Doc329 (21)

Give Jesus glory, for He is the one who has made peace for us with God, who gives us His peace through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead on the third day.
Give Jesus glory, for He has sent His Spirit to call you by the Gospel, enlighten you with His gifts, sanctify and keep you in the one true faith. Give Jesus glory, for He is your hope, your peace, and your life.
God grant you His peace this day and forever more!
Amen.

The most righteous men and the most righteous causes may expect to meet with many mighty and malicious enemies.
the safest place to leave a righteous cause is with the God who is able to give judgment upon it in the right way and at the right time.
If God is our friend, it does not matter who our enemies are

When a person isn’t feeling well, he goes to a doctor and describes his symptoms.
The doctor diagnoses and treats the illness.
Many years ago some Christian people in Corinth sensed that all was not well with their personal and congregational life. They wrote to the Apostle Paul for advice. Serious errors in doctrine and practice were threatening their spiritual well-being.
Among the things that Paul wrote to them were these famous words, “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1: 23).
This was a prescription for healing. The cure rests in the cross of Christ and in His resurrection.

It is Jesus Christ and no one else who is everything to the believer. He also said, “God is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” He can cure spiritual ills and lead us down the right path.
There are a lot of ills in society today - not only false doctrine and practice, but also loose morals, materialism and sectarianism.
The cure for these ills is the power of God in Christ Jesus. Our acceptance of Christ’s triumph over sin and death is the only prescription for healing.
God has bought us with the price of His Son’s death. Our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit and our purpose is to do all to God’s glory. When we do that, we show that we recognize the sure cure.
And we thank God for that!

Heaven ~ is a place where Jesus is
If the golden streets, the crown, and the robe were all of heaven, it would not be worth the struggle; but heaven is a place where we are going to see Jesus.
Just one glimpse of his face is worth giving up everything in order that we might reach heaven and see him.

There are many we are anxious to see in heaven. Maybe you want to see your father, your mother, or that loved one who left you years ago. But, first of all you want to see Jesus, because he is the one who made heaven possible for us.

Some years ago a Pastor had in his congregation a fine young Christian man who was an usher in the church. This man was quite sick; The Pastor went to see him, the young man knew that he could not live much longer, and he and the Pastor talked about the heavenly city toward which he was going.
As the young man talked about death and heaven the tears welled up in his eyes.
The Pastor took a handkerchief from his pocket, reached over and wiped the tears from first one eye and then the other.
The young man then smiled, and looking into the preacher's face, he said," The next time my tears are wiped away, they will be wiped away by the loving hand of my heavenly Father."

My friends! Don't you want to live in the land of no tears?
Then you must make preparation for it. There is only one way of preparation, give your heart to Jesus Christ, put your life in his hands, and he will take you safely at last to the land of no tears.

God's call is not easy.
It's not supposed to be.
There are obstacles.
There will always be obstacles.
There are failures.

With people if one fails, he is out. With God if a person fails, he gets other opportunities. This is how God dealt with Jonah.
It is how He dealt with Israel.
It is how He deals with us.

This is a great testimony to the eternal security of the believer. When the vessel is unyielding, God crushes it and begins to fashion it into a useful vessel again.
That is a greater evidence of God's sovereignty than if He discarded it as hopeless. God's reason for doing this is His loyal love, compassion, and pity.

This revelation brings hope to everyone who fails. It gives hope when our good causes fall to pieces. It gives hope when God's servants fail. It also gives hope when we make a mess.
God is still on His throne (Haggai 2:4-5). No matter how you may have failed in the past God will use you if you renounce your sin, re-commit yourself to Him, and return to His Word.

God's Love has Determination
When we become Christians we do try to work up a sentimental emotional love to get along with each other. It is a matter of the will and not of the emotions. You must make up your mind that you will allow God's love to reach others through you. You don't act as if you love them, but you determine to love them as God is determined to love you.
John says, "God is love." (1 John 4:8) Christ was delivered for our sins through the determined will of God. When Christ came he was determined to love sinners.
There was never a sinner that Christ hated. His judgement against sin was always undercut with a loving call.
Publicans and sinners were drawn to him and even the lowest could weep at his feet.

The greatest thing about Christ's love was the way it touched the lives of his enemies. Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
However Jesus laid down his life for his enemies.
Of course, he was his enemy's best friend, but his enemies didn't realize it until it was too late.

Love determines the quality of Christian fellowship.
1 John 2:9-11
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
(NIV)
Christian fellowship is absolutely essential. Christian fellowship is where we initially experience the love of Christ. It is where love is applied to relationships for the purpose of seeking to live right.
Today we live in a hateful dark world and it is blinding us to the possibilities of love. Paul describes his world and ours in the following verses.
Romans 1:28-32
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

There are so many living in Christian ranks that think they are spiritual giants. They think they have great understanding, while they are babes with very little spiritual perception.
They live in hatred as they despise those who have less knowledge. It is amazing how this kind of perceived spiritual perception is tearing the church apart today.

John admonishes us to remain faithful to what we received from Christ. The only true way to maintain our confidence before God is to retain the love of Christ in our hearts. The only way to retain the love of Christ is through loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 John 2:24-29
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us-- even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-- just as it has taught you, remain in him. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. (NIV)

Ephesians. 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven
and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen

Be Strong And Look Up
There was a man who walked this earth,and was a leader that many looked up to. His message, definitely was not mainstream, but He kept on standing up and sharing His message
When people rejected Him, He loved them. When people spat on him, He cared for them. When people hated Him, He died for them!

This man is my Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't walk this earth anymore, but what He bled and died for does.
For everyone out there that has accepted Jesus as their Savior I have a special message for you!
And for those wondering about Jesus, it's not too late.
When Jesus walked this land, He began something very special. He began sharing the message of hope, of love, and of salvation.

When He left to return home to His Father, He left you and I a special and a most wonderful task.
All He asked of us was to share the love of Christ to everyone, and to continue on,
continue on, and continue on, until that day when we too will be called to heaven.

Don't look for your guidance down here on this earth, but look up, look up, and I say again look up!
Stand up! Stand strong in your faith and convictions. Don't let the "mainstream way of life" sway your ideals or your way of thinking and most importantly don't let anything water-down your faith in Jesus Christ!
I will say it again, "Be strong, be bold, and LOOK UP!

What does it mean to bless God?
Psalms 103:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

When we bless someone:
We praise them
We exalt them or lift them up
We honor them and may even be in awe of them
When we bless someone we make them the focus of our attention
The Psalmist chose to bless the Lord or praise the Lord by remembering and recounting the things God does for him and for us.

Perhaps this is the time to ask what it is that we say of a person who forgets good things that are done for him what are you if you forget to remember what someone has done for you? I think we would think of that person as an ungrateful¡¨ person. The Psalmist is blessing God by remembering to remember to be grateful to God for all the good things God has done.
Some would say that a lack of gratitude is a sign of the times. Paul wrote in II Timothy 3:2, ¡n the last days there will be difficult times. People will love only themselves and money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.

The failure to remember to remember and be grateful for good is an indication of the degeneration of human civility and cultural decline. Our text today calls us from our forgetfulness and reminds us to remember the goodness of God.

Praise the Lord, I tell myself; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me.

Psalm 103:1-2
The first benefit for which we may express gratitude to God is the benefit of forgiveness.
Forgiveness for our sins
He forgives all my sins¨ Psalm 103:3a
Sins or iniquities are just errors in judgment or mistakes. They are thoughts, words and deeds that are contrary to the will of God. They reflect a deliberateness on our part, to act out in ways that are contrary to the ways God would have us think, speak and act.

I like the response of the little boy when asked by his Sunday school teacher, What do you have to do if you want God to forgive you for your sins?
The little boy answered,
Well, first I have to sin.

The praise of the Lord Jesus will be the eternal song of all the inhabitants of heaven. They will say with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever." (Rev. v. 12, 13.)