Supernatural Help

Donna Braman
Let All That Has Breath Praise His Holy Name!


YOU HAVE A SUPERNATURAL HELP

Read: Ephesians 5:18, 20

Our supernatural help in worship is the Holy Spirit, that wonderful gift sent by our risen Lord to indwell us and empower us.  The Lord has not set before us the ideal of a life filled with praise and then left us alone to achieve it.  How could we, on our own reach such a high goal, with the down-pull of our old fleshly patterns of living; with the pain of our trials, large and small; with our tendency to depend on ourselves and get distracted from the Lord and do our own thing?

But we have the Holy Spirit!  Just think of what this means! He is within you as a fountain of water, springing up to fill you with fresh life - life that is eternal, life that is full. Through Him, time after time, you can know the aliveness that comes from the presence of the Lord.  Through the Spirit you can understand the Scriptures and experience the marvelous things God has freely given you in Christ.

Through Him you are linked in vital oneness with the Father and the Son, and have all you need for life and godliness.  You have all you need to inspire praise, comfort, encouragement, unspeakable joy, overflowing hope, strength in your innermost being, and power to love and serve.

SEED WORD:
You don't have to beg the Holy Spirit to fill you; He is eager to do so when we open our mouth and praise Him.  You don't have to earn His fullness, proving you are worthy of it.  You have only to let the Spirit fill you, consent to live under His grace, influence and control. That is how he performs His amazing ministries in you and inspires you to praise and worship Him.

Giving Thanks

Donna Braman

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise His Holy Name!

GIVING THANKS IN EVERY SITUATION

Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 5:18


A life of praise may appeal to you.  But what does it really involve?  You may be puzzled about what it means to praise continually and give thanks always, in every situation.  Won't this lead to denying your true feelings?  Does it mean that when you stub your toe or hit your head, your spontaneous response has to be "thank you Lord?"  Why do we have to say something we don't really feel?

The bible doesn't command manufacturing positive feelings.  Instead, it commands us to give THANKS!  It is not hypocritical to give thanks when you don't feel like it; it's obedience.

This does not mean you should deny your negative thoughts and feelings and attitudes, sweeping them under the emotional rug.  It doesn't mean you should put them in the closet again and again, so they can sneak back in and make you make unwise decisions.

King David wrote honestly about his feelings, facing them and telling them to God, and praised and gave thanks in the midst of them. David told God how troubled his heart was.  But as he did so, he honored God, speaking of him as "the living God...my God... the God of my life...my present help in trouble." His every word showed his desire to exalt and glorify God, even as he was chased by the enemy. He assured his soul that he would be delivered from his troubles. Psalm 43 is written in a similar way, "Oh God...the God of my strength, God, my exceeding joy."

SEED WORD:
Can we have joy in these times?  Absolutely!  Because in a situation that looks hopeless we have to take our eye off what we see in the natural and know that God has already gone ahead of us and made a way. Trusting in the Lord to deliver us gives us a great deal to be thankful for.  You can triumph in your tribulations when you have hope and thankfulness and that is what produces good things from God, for that kind of thankfulness and praise is God's delight.   Romans 8:22-23  and 5:2,3,11.

Worship Him

Donna Braman

Let Everything That Has Breathe Praise His Holy Name!

LET US WORSHIP HIM

Scripture:

Psalm 71

In genuine spiritual worship, we bow before the Most High God, the most merciful and reliable and winsome of all beings, and we crown Him as Lord of all that we are.  We consent to His gracious, transforming work in our lives; we agree that He can work in us so that we'll be willing and able to do His will.  In other words, we choose to let Him be God in our lives.  This is our greatest privilege, the highest thing we can do.

Worship also includes adoring God, admiring Him, appreciating Him, and letting Him know how grateful we are for His mighty works and the blessings He bestows on us.  Thus worship includes praise and thanksgiving, they overlap as we glorify and enjoy his presence in our lives.  Sometimes we do this in speaking, sometimes in singing, sometimes in silent reverence. So, the crown of worship is offering our lives to Him.

It doesn't matter whether our words are stumbling or eloquent.  God looks on the heart; He's searching for people who simply want to love and honor Him.  Hebrews 13:15 says, By him (Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

Ephesians 5:18 says, Be filled with the spirit, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SEED WORD:

These verses remind me of the words of David in Psalm 34, " I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."  I find that my worship is richer when I offer the Lord praise and thanks for three things: who He is, what He does, and what He gives.  You too can have lives filled with praise and thanksgiving.

Everything Praise Him

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE HIM

Scripture: Romans 12:1
There are many worship styles in today's church but worship means yielding to God and coming before Him with praise and thanksgiving -  yielding to God as our Lord and Master. Romans 12:1, we see where God asks us to offer Him our bodies, our lives, our entire person.  This, He says, is true worship.

In genuine worship, we bow before the Most High God, the merciful God of creation.  We crown Him as Lord of all that we are.  We consent to His gracious, transforming work in our lives; we agree that He can work in us so that we'll be willing and able to do His will.  In other words, we choose to let Him be God in our lives.  This is the highest thing we can do.

Worship also includes adoring God, admiring Him, appreciating Him, and letting Him know how grateful we are for His mighty works and the blessings He bestows on us.  Worship includes praise and thanksgiving. We thank Him for His constant acts of goodness, his gifts, his spiritual blessings and for the very breath that we wake up with every morning.  We stand in awe of His greatness and sovereignty.  We celebrate together in exulting His majesty and splendor, His limitless power, and His bountiful love, which we do not deserve.  We thank Him for the Grace He gives us daily and magnify Him.  Praise includes speaking highly of God to other people, as well as directly to Him.  We crown Him with praise from our tongues through, singing, lifting our hands to him as God Almighty.

Seed Word:  The crown of worship are the jewels of praise and thanksgiving.  Jewels that radiate the glory of God to His delight and ours.  We come before His altar to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Praise is the avenue through which blessings are received. Praise, prayer and worship is an incense to God's nostrils and heaven stands silent for thirty minutes as the angels present the bowl of voices (incense) to God before the throne in heaven. Rev. 8:3.

Looking Up

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

ON THE BOTTOM LOOKING UP

Scripture: 1 Samuel 27:1-7

Has the enemy come at you so bad lately that it has knocked the sails out of you or has left you feeling hopeless. Lets look at what happened to King David when the enemy tried to snuff his life out and destroy God's will for him.

David was tired of being chased by the enemy. For eight years Saul had relentlessly pursued him. With no indication that things would change, David began to despair about his future. God's anointed leader experienced a failure of faith. Though God had promised to prosper him, his trust faltered. He could not wait any longer.

Isn't that how we feel sometimes? We know that God has promised good things for those who wait on Him and every one of His promises is "yes" in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20), but our faith, like David's wavers. But God was teaching temperance and patience to the young future King.

Israel's future King assessed his options and chose the "best one", to form an alliance with the godless Philistines. By moving from faith to human reasoning, he stepped out of God's will. David joined with the enemies of God's people. In doing so, he compromised the very thing to which he had committed himself, being Israel's leader.

So you can see by this example giving in to the enemy and joining with them is going to make your situation worse and take longer to get back in step with God's will for us. Sometimes even (so called) Christians in the church desert us, but you know God never leaves us.

Seed Word:

Fortunately, when you hit bottom in your Christian walk as David did, there is a way back. Focusing upon the Lord can lead you out of discouragement and back into His presence. The initial step is repentance: confess your lack of faith, receive God's forgiveness, and pledge to follow only Him, and refuse to allow nay sayers to discourage you. This is why David became a man after God's own heart, for he had a repentant heart when he stepped out of God's will and he began to allow God to direct him.

Next, strengthen yourself in the Lord, seek his approval and not man's. Rest in His power and recall His faithfulness in your past, and remember His promises. That way, you can center attention upon Him instead of troubles the devil sends your way. Finally, resolve to trust God for the future, and ask His Holy Spirit for help. (Mark 9:24) Repentance, Recall, Reflection, Remembrance and Resolve. Won't you walk upon the road that leads upward to the Father today!

The Rewards of Truth

Donna Braman

Today Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

THE REWARDS OF TRUTH

Read Proverbs 2:1-9

God's principles are the truths that we build a righteous and joyful life. In developing a scriptural foundation for living, we naturally learn the Lord's ways. Getting to know Him is the greatest blessing possible, and the more we experience Him, the more we will long to be in His presence.

Building truth is like digging for gold; if we find a tiny morsel, we keep scratching around until we come upon another. We keep building those morsels, feeding ourselves God's truth until we find a chunk the size of a an apple. Now we're biting into some sound principles.

We start to get excited about our morsels of our experience with the Lord and His word, and as a result, our intimacy, hunger and thirst for the Lord grows stronger. Walking in His truth gives us confidence and the assurance that He is always guarding and guiding His children.

Another benefit of learning and applying truth is spiritual discernment. Christians with a foundation of scriptural reality have the capacity to distinguish a lie, even when it is presented as supportable fact. We can recognize the 10% of the lie that makes the 90% all a lie because it's been twisted. A wrong offer of facts that was presented in an appealing way might have fooled us before, but it now prompts a check in our spirit.

In addition, growing in discernment and wisdom equips us for greater service in God's Kingdom. The more we experience Him, the better we become at discipling other believers.

SEED WORD:

Make sure you are growing in truth from the word and not from man. The word is not for man to change but for it to change man. The more of God's truth you know the more abundant living you will experience and the more you will be able to lead others into truth. The Lord allows no righteous act to go unrewarded. When we build a scriptural foundation of truth for our lives, we receive godly wisdom and new opportunities to serve Him. How great is our reward!

The Gospel of Freedom

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

THE GOSPEL OF FREEDOM

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

When I start my day on Monday morning, I'm already thinking about next week's lesson. As the week progresses I listen carefully to what God speaks into my heart and what the Holy Spirit shows me. I do not wait until Sunday again to share what God has placed in my heart or speak His word to someone. You are called to do the same. You don't have to be a teacher or a minister to do what God has called all of us to do.

The passion to proclaim Jesus Christ is born from the Christian's conversion experience, but enthusiasm can fizzle unless we continue learning and growing in faith. We have no reason to speak about someone we barely know and has not manifested in our life. Our conviction of who God is strengthens the desire to share. We have the remedy for all of the world's ills; Christ and His Word. What good have we done for the Kingdom of God or for our unbelieving friends if we stay quiet about him and only want to talk about him on Sunday for two hours. That unspeakable joy and victory in our lives to overcome is what the seed of Christ produces in us and is seen by others by what we do and say.

Jesus does more than simply save people from the penalty of past transgressions; He frees men and women from sin's power every day. When Christ was on the cross, God saw each believer crucified with Him so that sin's allure was broken. That means we can say no to those things that enslave others. The Gospel message we are called to proclaim frees others and teaches victorious living.

Seed Word: Most unbelievers are trying to live smarter, find a purpose, and be happy. In the present condition of the world, many have become hopeless. Believers have the secret to that abundant life and freedom from worldly oppression because we operate and rest in the spiritual realm. When we can help lift the burden off someone by being that light of spirit and truth we can influence the lost. This is too big of secret to keep silent about. Open the word today and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal a truth you can share with someone else.

Building in Truth

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

BUILDING TRUTH INTO OUR LIFE

James 1:23-25

Building truth into our lives means that we cannot merely HEAR God's Word; we must DO what it says. James explains that a hearer is forgetful and when tough situations arise, his accumulated knowledge means nothing. But a doer is blessed. His prior experience tells him God will guide him through future valleys.

If you want to be a scriptural doer, first identify a point of need, the best place to begin building a foundation of truth is in the area you feel the most interest, pressure, or pain. For instance, if your problem is financial, start by opening the Bible and asking God to reveal the truth about money: Who owns all of it? Why does Scripture talk about tithing? Can money become our master? How can a person acquire wealth? We can use the Word of God even before we are familiar with all of it; many bibles include a concordance, which lists verses related to a variety of topics.

Second, make a personal application of the truth revealed in the Scriptures. Accept God's principle as authentic and real, and then be obedient to what He says. If we are learning about forgiveness, we forgive even though the act might be painful.

Third, observe and record what happens when you obey. People often make requests but neglect to notice or thank God when He answers. Thankfulness gives us the desire to praise and worship our Lord. Observing the Lord's provision will cement our trust and prepare us for future faith tests. Recording what He does ensures we will remember His care for years.

SEED Word: Building a foundation of truth requires a long-term commitment. The more we learn God's principles, the more fully will His Word support our life and reflect His light in us. Don't depend on man for your spiritual truth and growth, let the word come alive in you and once you have done what God commands you to do and he fills your barns and blesses you don't allow the cares of this world or carnal thinking to undo the truth the word has put in you because there are carnally minded Christians out there that will mislead you but when you've experienced God's blessings by being obedient to His word you are full of knowledge and wisdom and truly a Kingdom child that lives by the word of God. The more truth you know in the word, the more faith you have and trust in the word.

Choosing Truth

Donna Braman

Today Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Shall Rejoice In It!

CHOOSING TRUTH

Read: John 8:30-32

Society is full of vain philosophies that promise much but offer nothing. Capturing truth in a deceptive world run by Satan, the father of lies, is as unlikely as catching wind in a paper sack. The only place truth exists is in God and His inspired word. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Jesus says in John 14:6, When we become Christ's disciples, Satan's deceptive power is broken. Believers can be free from wrong thinking and evil lies.

Unfortunately, some people will never apply biblical truth to their lives. By choice, they will remain captive to the world's lies. Many believers fear changing their ways to follow God, while others refuse to seek and serve him because living a true Christian life seems too difficult. Or, rather than allowing fear and laziness to defeat them, plenty of people arrogantly prefer relying on their own abilities. We might see small success while living as we see fit, but satisfaction and joy will remain elusive. Conversely, recognizing God's truth about life situations, finances, relationships, rejection, or loss - guides us to make wise decisions that can be carried out with strength, courage, and the comfortable knowledge that the Lord is at work.

SEED WORD: We cannot begin to build a truth-based life until we accept God's way as the only way. He honors our desire to make wise and biblically sound decisions. When we commit to applying truth, God accepts responsibility for revealing His principles through the scripture so that we can live righteously and triumphantly.