PRAISE HIM!

PRAISE HIM! - Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com There are many great hymns that inspire, encourage, and praise our Lord. One of the most prolific hymn-writers was a lady named Fanny Crosby. She loved the Lord, and in spiteof the fact that she was blind she wrote songs that honored God and help us to see Him better. One of my favorites is Praise Him! Praise Him! I find myself singing it quite often. Sometimes when I’m having a bad day, or lots of stress, I sing this song, becauseit’s not enough to praise Him only when things are going to my liking. PRAISE HIM! PRAISE HIM! Words by Fanny Crosby Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Sing, O earth His wonderful love proclaim! Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory; Strength and honor give to His holy Name! Like a Shepherd, Jesus will guard His children, In His arms He carries them all day long. Songs of praise to the Lord are not new. The Book of Psalms were songs written by men who faced great challenges, especially King David, but in their troubles, they alwaysfound reason to praise God. The psalmists wrote many psalms of pure praise of the Lord. “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.” Psalm 146:1-2. This psalmgoes on in praise of the Lord. We need more of that in these worrisome days in which we live. God is still worthy of our praise. All of the heavenly host praise God. The Prophet Isaiah was shown a vision of God on His throne. “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings with twain he coveredhis face, and with twain, he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:2-3. The Apostle John was also shown the Throne Room of God.He described four beasts around the throne “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is and is to come.” Revelation4:8. I get chills when I think of how beautiful that praise will be when I hear it for myself. The Rapture is on the near horizon, so it won’t be much longer until we are in His presence and hear the heavenly host praising the Lord God Almighty. Will you bethere? You will if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus is our Shepherd; His rod and His staff lead, protect, and comfort all who turn to Him. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John10:11. Jesus did give His life on the cross. He laid His life down willingly because He loves all who follow Him. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died. He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation, Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the crucified. Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows, Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong. Jesus is our Redeemer. He has redeemed us from the wages of sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans6:23. A wage is something you work for, but a gift is something someone else paid for. Jesus paid an enormous price in order to make the only way for us to live eternally with Him in Heaven. He left His glory in Heaven and entered His creation. He was mocked,beaten, and crucified to bring salvation to sinful man. Christ was fully God, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and fully human, because his mother Mary was simply a human woman. He would not qualify as our Kinsman Redeemer if Mary had been anythingother than human. Jesus took our sin upon Himself and paid our price with His blood. He was crucified, and dead, and buried, but He conquered death when He was resurrected on the third day. If you haven’t thought long and hard about what Jesus did for you,then you should do some Scripture study. When you realize that Jesus took the wages of your sin upon Himself in order to save you from spending eternity in the lake of fire that never stops burning, you will feel deep gratitude in your soul, and turn fromthe sin in your life. Your desire should be to live your life to honor Him. Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the crucified! “ I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make know thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thyfaithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.” Psalm 89:1. Sing His praises with your mouth and in your heart always. His love knows no boundaries and has no end. If you’ve rejected His free gift, you still have time to accept His free gift of salvation.You never know when you will die nor do you know when the Rapture will occur. Give your life to Him before either of those events take place. One or the other will happen to all of us. Don’t delay, either could happen at any minute. Accept Him and praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring! Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever; Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet and Priest, and King! Christ is coming! Over the world victorious, Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong. There is no salvation without Jesus. The only way to live eternally with Him in Heaven is to accept His sacrifice. Repent of your sin and give your life to Him. Repent meansto change your mind. Sin is acceptable to the world which is ruled by Satan, but not acceptable to God. When you come to a saving faith in Christ, things that once seemed so much fun and not at all evil, will become disgusting to you. Change your mind boutclutching at worldly sin and desires that bring no satisfaction. Find true peace and contentment in the things of God. When you accept Christ for salvation, you will be sealed with the Holy Spirit and your life should begin to bear fruit. “But the fruit ofthe Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk inthe Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25. Walk with Him and talk with Him and praise His holy Name. Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King for ever and ever. The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom when He died and there was no more need for the separation betweenGod and humans who have accept Christ for salvation. “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Mark 15:38. Instead of human men who hear your confession, and give you a punishment to do in order to work for your salvation,we have Jesus, our eternal High Priest, who put His own blood on the altar in Heaven. Jesus fulfilled all things and He is our only Prophet and Priest and King, for ever and ever amen. Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song! If you’ve come to a saving faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, then you need to tell your friends and family. Witness to the people around you at work.Witness to your family. You don’t necessarily need to use words, but let them all see how Christ has changed your life; let them see the joy of your hope and salvation as you praise Him in joyful song! God bless you all, Nathele Graham twotug@embarqmail.com ron@straitandnarrowministry.com Recommended prophecy sites: www.raptureready.com www.prophecyupdate.com www.raptureforums.com All original scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed.