The importance of sending up praises and not just petitions.

Currently, I am working as a Student Attorney for a public defense office here in Minnesota. Yesterday, one of my clients was an older gentleman in his sixties. As his attorney my job is to make sure that I communicate his interests to the court and to try and obtain a judgment that meets/exceeds his interests or one that comes close. Of course, like with most of my clients their main interest is getting out of jail, as was his. However, the judge decided otherwise. She weighed the evidence against him, took into account his prior record, and sentenced him to jail.

As his lawyer I was upset because I could not satisfy my client’s interest. After he appeared before the judge I met him in the back holding area and he was distraught, asking if I could do anything else. Unfortunately, I could not. I kept replaying the case over and over again, trying to think of a way I could have obtained a better outcome for him. In the end, I did all that I could do, there were no other avenues to pursue. However, I kept asking myself “was this my fault”; did my client have to go to jail?

So, this morning as I was beginning my prayer and worship time, I heard a tiny voice in my heart. The voice simply said, “is it My fault; is it My fault?” The voice was so pure and gentle; I knew it was not my own conscious. I immediately knew who was behind the voice, my heavenly father. Astonishingly, I knew somehow what the question was referring to without even having to ask, “is what Your fault?”

Usually, when I am going through challenges I hear a question presented. God usually presents a question about Himself to me so that he can teach me a lesson about myself. However, this time was unusually different. The manner in which this question was presented was not in a manner that I am accustomed to. This time I felt a genuine sincerity behind the question, I felt the question was not presented for the sole purpose of just teaching me a lesson.

As all of this was taking place I felt my heart begin to be immersed in grief, so much grief that I just wanted to weep. Continuous revelations behind the question rushed into my mind. My Father was asking me is it His fault that the people of the world are in such dire straits? He began to share what was on His heart, questions of “why did I create it all”; “should I have not gone forth with My creation”; “why do people die every day without knowing My grace and mercy when they don’t have to.” He was asking “is it His fault?” He allowed me to experience and understand the grief that was in His heart at the time.

I then knew that this prayer and worship time was not going to be about me asking God to make me a better person, to bless my house financially, to give me more wisdom, to make my cat stop scratching up our carpet, etc . . . I knew during this time I was going to bless my Father with my praise; to uplift His heart; to tell Him that He is worthy and awesome; to acknowledge the goodness of His presence in the world; and to affirm that He has done enough and it is not His fault.

You see, we were made in His image; therefore He experiences some of the same emotions that we experience. Just as we need encouragement from time to time, so does He. Just as our hearts  grieve from time to time, so does His. It is our duty to understand the reciprocal nature of a true relationship with God. We often fall into the routine of always asking, asking, and asking, our Father. Rarely do we ever bless, bless, and bless, our Father. The first thing that is highlighted in the Lord’s Prayer is praise from us to Him (Matthew 6:9-13). Once we understand the power of declaring our praises to Him, we will then begin to realize that we will no longer have to ask for so much; because the blessings we seek to come down are naturally manifested through our praises we send up.

This was a powerful experience for me. God allowed me to see that even though the price has been paid and we all have access to salvation, His heart is grieving for those that do not know Him and those who die without knowing Him. His heart yearns for them. His desire is that we all be saved and come to know Him intimately. He has equipped all true believers with the tools to administer His grace to a perishing world. So, go forth and be led as Ambassadors for Christ.

Proverbs 16:24- Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Hebrews 13: 14-16-For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

 

Pastor Daryle Houston II

Kingdomvizion Christian Center

www.kingdomvizion.org

Is It Better to Be Loved or Feared?

 

As of lately I have taken a keen interest in kings and kingdoms. I guess that comes from watching to many medieval television shows.  I am intrigued with their systems of governance, the positions that various people held, and how the people viewed and responded to that system. Surprisingly, this interest of mine has helped me understand the Bible a bit more, especially when studying the Pharaohs, Kings, Queens, the Roman Empire in the days of Jesus, etc . . .

As I was studying the book of Daniel, the question came to me; “Is it better for a king to be loved or feared?”  As I began to ponder the question I began to inquire with my Heavenly Father about it. Below, is what immediately poured into my mind.

As of lately I have been hearing so many people in the Body of Christ talk about the wrath of God on a sinful world. They also speak in the manner that if someone fails to submit to God, then that person is destined to feel the punishment of God’s wrath and suffer the fate of a burning hell. Now, I personally believe that both, Heaven and Hell are real, but by no means will I ever try to share my faith with someone by saying if you don’t submit to God, then you will be condemned to hell for eternity, and then say, “God loves you” in the same sentence.

This is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Christ. This is called persuasion to obedience by through use of fear. We all know that the spirit of fear is not of God, so why would I want to scare someone into His LOVING kingdom.  The sad part about it, many use this tactic to try and draw others to God. Sadly, the ones who are persuaded begin their relationships with God on the basis of fear and not love and grace. This in-turn breeds erroneous mindsets that wrongly interpret God’s word and as a consequence it becomes a chain reaction that reaches many others. Before you know it you have the makings of a cult that persecutes the world instead of going into it and loving on the people within it, who are in need of God’s love the most. In addition, those people operate their daily lives from a position of terrifying fear towards God and not out of the position of reverential fear.

DANIEL 3:4-7

“Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, “that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzer has set up: “and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.””  

The above account regards the command of King Nebuchadnezzer. At the time he had created a golden image and forced everyone to worship it. If someone failed to submit to it, then that person was threatened with being cast into a fiery furnace. The people worshiped out of terrifying fear. We all know the story; the three Hebrew boys did not submit to the golden image and were thrown into the fire. Amongst the fire everyone saw four shadows walking in the furnace, free and unbounded. The fourth shadow was that of Jesus.

This sounds peculiarly familiar with some of the messages that have been coming out of the Body of Christ for many generations.  “If you don’t submit to God, then you will be condemned forever in the lake of fire.” Did King Nebuchadnezzer take a page out of God’s book by forcing people to serve a golden image? Certainly not!

God is not looking for a people to submit to Him out of terrifying fear or force. This is why He gave us free-will. I receive the most pleasure out of my relationship with God by knowing what He has done for me, and knowing that I serve Him because I freely choose to, not because I am forced to or because I fear going to hell.

Again, I do believe that Hell is real and that sadly, some people go there. However, I do not believe we are to go around condemning others that at the time do not share in our beliefs. Right now the world needs to experience the love of God like never before, so much condemnation is already being spewed: “you’re bad because you are a republican or democrat, you are hideous because you are gay or lesbian, you are worthless because you didn’t attend a certain school etc . . . As a member of the Body of Christ let’s not fall into this same trap. Let’s not focus on the fiery furnace, but rather turn our attention to the fourth shadow amidst the fiery furnace that delivered the three Hebrew boys from death.

There’s a time and a place for everything.  The realization of hell should be TAUGHT to people, it should not be used in a manner in which we are making first introductions about God to someone.

So, the answer to the question, I think it is better to be loved than feared. When people serve out of love they serve genuinely. When people serve out of fear they serve out of obligation and angst. The King who is loved may not be loved by all but in the end he will have a faithful following, willing to serve no matter what. The King who is feared will be obeyed by all but in the end will be resented.  

 

Pastor Daryle Houston II

Kingdom Vizion Christian Center

www.kingdomvizion.org