Serve The Lord With Gladness

 

Psalm 100:2
Serve The LORD with gladness, come before His presence with singing.

1 Thessalonians 5:16
Rejoice evermore.
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in The Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

    We serve The Lord with gladness of heart, because we know where we've been and we know where we're going. So we can tolerate any rough patches we come across in life.
    Whether these rough patches happen to us by the people in our lives, or whether we inadvertently place ourselves there. Deaths, divorce, broken promises, estranged family members: these are rough patches. Having suffered through all of these, know that I am not minimizing the trauma when I say that the pain they inflicted were all temporary.
    They are trials and tribulations put upon us by others. It is our job as Christians, if we want to truly be Christ-followers, to forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive each and every one. We have been forgiven much: surely we can forgive much. We have Christ living in, changing us from unforgiving people into a people who forgive everything that the ones being forgiven may turn to Christ, also.
    Matthew 6:14,15
14. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.
    Mark 11:25
"And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
    Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
    Forgiveness is not weakness. Mercy is not weakness. Compassion is not weakness. Forgiveness, Mercy, and Compassion are all signs of the strength of Christ Jesus within us.
    So, we rejoice. We serve our Lord and Savior with gladness, and only then can we come before His presence with singing, only then can we "enter His courts with praise."

AGAIN I SAY REJOICE - Israel Houghton

Psalm 116:5 Gracious Is The Lord and Righteous - Channun Yhvh Tsaddiqh

 

CHANNUN YHVH TSADDIQH

(pronounced khan-noon' yeh-ho-vaw' tsad-deek')

GRACIOUS IS THE LORD AND RIGHTEOUS

Psalm 116:5

The LORD is Gracious and Righteous; our God is full of compassion.

Exodus 34:6

Then The LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: "The LORD, The LORD God, is Compassionate and Gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,"

Romans 2:4

Or do you disregard (despise, think little of) the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness (the goodness of God) leads you to repentance?

God's Kindness

Ephesians 2:4-7

4. But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy,

5. made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

6. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

7. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Titus 3:4, 5

4. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

5. He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

God's kindness to us is salvation through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, Whose blood which was shed on the cross washes away our sins forever. He has no remembrance of them. How many people can you number who have a memory like an elephant and keep reminding you of your sins? of who you used to be? before you came to Jesus and accepted Him as your personal Lord and Savior? I don't have enough fingers to do that.

But God does not remember the sins we have repented of and been forgiven for. God knows who belongs to Him and who does not. Do you belong to Jesus?

NOW I BELONG TO JESUS - George Beverly Shea

A Crucified Life - - Is Accountable to Christ

 

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 5319

Appear: to make visible, make clear

From the Greek word 'phaneroó' (pronounced fan-er-o'-o): make known, make manifest, to become apparent.

    Everything we say and do has consequences. Whether we receive the results of our actions and words in this life or the next, we are accountable to Christ for our testimony and our witness. 

Job 34:11 

For according to a man's deeds He repays him; according to a man's ways He brings consequences.

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of Man will come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

Matthew 25:32

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

    A crucified life lets go of the offense and embraces forgiveness. As Christ was dying on the cross, He still retained mercy and compassion, saying, "“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” - Luke 23:34. 

    Are we this forgiving? this merciful? this compassionate? He asked His Father to forgive them, to not hold this thing they had done to the Father's Son against them. 

    May our hearts be as full of love for those who sin against us, that our words towards them are words of love, mercy, forgiveness. That our actions towards they who desire to see us fail be actions of love. 

    May that which held Christ on the cross also hold us. It wasn't the nails; it was the Love of God for you and I.

LET IT BE JESUS  A Christy Nockels Album

    

Thanks Be To God - - For His Mercies

 

Lamentations 3:22

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2617

Mercies: kindness, lovingkindness, pity, compassion

From the Hebrew word 'checed' (pronounced kheh'-sed). 

Though the word 'checed' is used over 200 times in the Old Testament, not all of these refer to the goodness of God extended to all people everywhere. It just depends on context where it is used. 

Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1656

Mercy: covenant-loyalty, covenant-love; pity, compassion

From the Greek word 'éleos' (pronounced el'-eh-os). Used 27 times in the New Testament.

Psalm 78:38

And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

Psalm 103:10

He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.

Nehemiah 9:31

Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.

THE LORD'S MERCIES:

New Every Morning

Lamentations 3:23

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

Never Fail

Psalm 100:5

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Extends To All Generations 

Luke 1:50

His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

Lead To Eternal Life

Jude 1:21

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Cause Us To Be Born Again 

1 Peter 1:3-5

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One according to His great mercy having begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ out from the dead,

4. and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

5. who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Dear God,

Thank You for extending Your tender mercies to us. We are forever grateful for Your lovingkindness which You have shown us through the death and resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ. 

We praise You and adore You for who You are: a loving, generous God whose love draws us from the pits of death into His warm embrace. 

Be our God forever and ever. 

In Jesus' Precious Name, I pray,

Amen.