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Leeds Praise Festival is hosted by Living Hope Church the last weekend of October every year. It is an annual gathering of various Church groups at Living Hope Church in celebration of God's faithfulness and loving kindness through Jesus Christ. The Worship Team of Living Hope Church leads in many new songs, either specifically written or learnt for the occasion. Various expressions of worship and praise, ranging from theatre to dance and sign language are used to glorify God.
The overwhelming environment is one of sheer delight in the presence of God. The Bible teaches us that God occupies the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3 - But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.)
In other Psalms, it is clear that God has ordained us to worship Him and celebrate His love in order to silence the enemy. We were created unto His praise, redeemed unto His glory and set apart through the anointing of God's Holy Spirit for one purpose only: that we may be vessels of honour and praise unto Him.
Praising God in worship has many benefits, including the release of joy, freedom from pain and sorrow, health in our bones and fibre, wealth in our homes as the Lord grants His grace to overtake our labour. All round, when you choose to praise God, especially, in public worship, you are letting go of every weight and hindrance, and positioning yourself for a remarkable appointment with your Creator and Saviour. Praise is God's strength flowing into the situation of His people!
- Moni Ilori, Worship Team Leader
THE POWER OF PRAISE
It is difficult to draw a boundary between praise and prayer, and between praise and worship. The truth is anyone that is in Christ Jesus automatically relates to God in the three dimensions in a very fluid way: you move in the three realms similar to the way a brilliant author moves in what is known as "the stream of consciousness".
Anyone that is in Christ Jesus automatically relates to God in the dimensions of praise, prayer and worship in a very fluid way. We are talking of the Christian who has a dynamic, ongoing and fruit-bearing relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are talking of Holy-Ghost-filled Christians, we are talking of born again believers whose lives radiate the joy of salvation and the power of the risen Christ! Such Christians are totally familiar with the power of praise!
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Praise is a matter of choice.
Some people think that praising God only happens when God has answered their prayer, or something good has happened to them. On the contrary, praise does not depend on how you feel or what is happening in your life. God deserves to be praised because of who He is: we are created for His good pleasure; we are meant to worship and adore Him. But God will not force us to praise Him. He has not created robots. He has created us with freewill so that we can choose to accept Him as our Creator and Saviour, our Redeemer and Provider. Whether it rains or shines, whether we are going through good times or bad times, no matter what may be happening in our life, God deserves to be praised for His mercies endure forever, His goodness is from everlasting to everlasting!
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Praise is a matter of knowledge.
God says categorically that those who want to be proud of their relationship with Him are those who know Him intimately. Those who know Him intimately will be proud of Him, they will speak of His eminent attributes, the Excellency of His nature. You cannot praise the God that you do not know. If you do so your praise will be faulty and false. But you cannot truly know God, if you do not know Jesus Christ. Your claim that you know God will be distinctly imperfect, if you do not know Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died on the cross for your sin!
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Praise is a matter of experience.
People go to college to learn various things. Their learning is of limited profit until it has some practical use. If you do not have a close relationship with God, if you do not experience the awesomeness of His love and goodness, if you have not enjoyed special favours from God, how can your praise rise above your roof?
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Praise is a matter of gratitude.
There are many instances in your life, I am sure, when you feel robbed because your kindness is treated with contempt. Only a grateful person can rise up in the morning and praise God for seeing the dawn. Only a grateful person will go to bed at dusk and thank God for the day. As you know very well, many people treat God with contempt and are very beggarly when it comes to giving thanks to God: they just don't remember Him!
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Praise is a matter of generosity!
When you begin to shower epithets on God, when you run out of words just to remember His mercies, when you feel that language is inadequate to convey your gratitude, you can begin to measure the generosity of your soul towards your Maker! Praise is not only lavish song for God, praise includes lavish support for the work of God in terms of your time and finances.
Come on, don't be beggarly in your gratitude to God, count your blessings, name them one by one; it will surprise you what God has done for you! Go on, praise the Lord! The Bible teaches that God has ordained praise in order to silence our enemy. There is power in your praise.
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A HEAVY LOAD?
Certainly, the load that we each carry can sometimes be truly burdensome! There are occasions when you feel that the weight of the whole world is upon your shoulders. When you don’t feel financially secure, when your health fails, when your marriage is not working, when your close relations are up in arms against you, when things are just not going right for you… These are a few examples of the burdens that can take hold of you, reduce you to tears, weaken your faith, and make you feel that life is entirely pointless or completely unfair! Sometimes you blame yourself, if you are the type of person who is aware that 99% of life’s troubles are self-made. Sometimes, you blame other people, if you are the type of person that is aware that 99% of life’s troubles can be resolved through the help and advantage that you get from other people. Sometimes, you blame God, if you are among the 99% of people who are far away from God and know next-to-nothing about His faithfulness.
Sometimes, just sometimes, you are among that 1% of people on the face of the earth who believes in the unfailing mercies of God, and that God is not to blame for the evils of life and the disappointments that they have! Just knowing this and acting on it is the difference between life and death, between courage and cowardice, between giving up and going on…
There are three things that God wants to remind you about today:
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Life may present you with a series of problems, but walking with God will always present you with a series of solutions. The Bible is full of people who have incredible loads to bear, however, their obedience and trust in God changed their circumstances. Open your heart to the word of God in obedience, don’t manufacture more problems for yourself. Listen to God and obey His voice. He will dig you out of the pit, and He will do it just on time!
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You are not destined to lead a life of hardship and trials. You can change your circumstances, if you allow God to rule your life. Why don’t you try the obvious? God is your Creator and Saviour. Certainly, if your life is broken, the One who created it can mend it. Will you allow Him?
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You don’t need to be the prisoner of your past choices. Maybe, you are facing the consequences of your past actions, you don’t have to do yourself down with guilt and hopelessness. You don’t have to spoil your today and your future with a repeated pattern of silly and naughty choices. You can break free! How? Admit your wrongs to God, ask Him to forgive you, ask for a new heart that is genuinely thirsty for His will. |
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
Psalm 8:1-2
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Psalm 27:6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Jesus says: "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)
May the LORD God Almighty grant you amazing rest from your heavy loads. Amen.
HEAVY LOAD?
Cast your care upon the Lord, He truly cares for you!
If you wish to know more about the amazing possibilities contained in unhindered praise, get in touch today. We really can help!
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