God Deserves Our Worship

Psalm 100:4-5 "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."

Words cannot explain enough why we should be thankful to God. Neither can we adequately offer praise that is due Him. So what we can do is thank Him and bless His name.

A few things to be thankful for:
Christ - the One whom God sent to die for us.
The Holy Spirit - from whom we are given the Bible, God's word.
Church - the only organization given the directives for doing God's work on earth today.
Salvation- While we should be serving God because He is God, we can be thankful that He blesses us with the hope of salvation, and knowing that if we are faithful, we will spend eternity with Him in heaven.
The Saints - Yes, there are times we would like to wring their necks, but if you happen to be associated with godly people who keep the spiritual things in the proper perspective, you are most certainly blessed.
Our families - When all follow the precepts of the home as God would have it, it is a splended relationship.
The time here on earth - we must keep busy while here for rest is to be after our life is over. And remember that time flies when you are having fun.

For everyone one of these things, we are to be thankful, but at the same time we are to give God praise and glory for what He has done for us, and simply for who God is. He is the LORD God Almighty, and is worthy of our praise.

Hebrews 13:15 "Through Him (Jesus) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name."

Why Did God Punish Israel?

There are many reasons, but I think God's own words given to the prophet Isaiah should suffice. Isaiah 1:2-9 "Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against me. An Ox knows its owner, and a donkey its masters mangerm, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand. Alas sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it. Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil. Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your fields--strangers are devouring them in your presence; it is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts had left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah." These people turned their backs on God, and did not see fit to acknowledge Him as God. We have to be careful to not do the same things that they did. God has offered us the greatest of blessings, just like He offered great blessings to Israel. It kinda boggles the mind to see how people could just walk away from the blessings that were promised, but they did. Our world is not any different today. While God offers the home in heaven as a reward for the faithful, many are turning their back on God. These people were guilty of sin. They were corrupt. They even despised the LORD. They were suffering the punishment God promised. Yet they would not return to God. Their cities were desolate, and the Assyrians were coming in and taking whatever they wanted, and the people did nothing except watch them steal from them. If we do not want to be rejected by God, we just need to do the opposite of what they did. We must acknowledge God, and worship Him. We must be obedient to His will. We must serve Him with our whole being, heart, mind, and soul. And then be faithful until death, so that we might receive the reward. By Carey Scott

Pray For Our Nation

For too long, the people of this nation have digressed away from it's core principles. Most people will hold up the right to worship at the church of your choice, but few actually exercise that right for themselves. There is a movement in our land that would seek to stop that right. I am sure many of you are depressed about the condition of our land and our society. The media has all but declared a war on Christianity. The TV shows are shoving all sorts of sin in our face, and many in that industry do so with malicious intent towards those who claim to follow Jesus. Even advertisers are forcing us to accept "alterate lifestyles" as not just one way, but really the only way as far as they are concerned. There are very few shows in which at least one or more regulars are living the "gay" lifestyle. The internet is another place that produces problems. For now, people can view whatever they want in the privacy of their own home. For many, they did not go see "adult films" for fear of being seen entering or exiting the venue where it took place. Now they can watch such filth with nobody being the wiser (except God still sees them). There are web sites that promote extra-marital affairs, and promise to keep them secret. While the internet has proved useful in some things, there are many areas in which it would have been better had it not been invented. Yet there is hope. Elijah had considered that all was lost and that he was alone in service to God, but God told him that there were seven thousand that still served Him (1 Kings 19:18). While that may sound impressive, consider that there were millions living in the land. But let us try to save our land by changing it one soul at a time. We are not going to get the entertainment media to change, because all their filth produces billions at the box office, thus giving them profits. The sex trade will not go away. The drug war is a fallacy. With drugs pumping billions into the economy, people are not going to take a chance to ruin an already broken system. Oh, there are many things we could get on a soap box and talk and rant and rave about. But know that there are thousands who have not bowed down to the idols of this world. There are many true Christians out there. We just need to seek them and find a away to show them our support. Pray for our nation, and its inhabitants.