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HIGHER PRAIZ!

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HIGHER PRAIZ 2

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Psalm 65:1-2

We have thought, “O God, on Your lovingkindness, in the midst of Your temple.According to Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad, Because of Your judgments. Psalm 48:9-11

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. Psalm 134:2

 

Being Pentecostal, born and bred, means that I am accustomed, and I might add, an extremely willing participant, to exuberant praise and worship. So can you imagine my surprise, to discover that God-Honored Adoration is not necessarily limited to loud singing, hand-clappin’, foot-stomppin, shoutin’ and dancing to drum thumping, key-board tickling, guitar pick’n tunes escalating His Glory!

WHOKNU? There is a high praise in God, where the weary souls, thirsty and hungry for an escape from the chaos and confusion of this world’s clamor, finding rest, peace, security, strength and hope, fall prostrate into HIS PRESENCE!

There’s a secret place, a Cleft hued out in The Impregnable Rock of Salvation, where mere words are no longer necessary, and sighs are welcomed, giving way to hope-filled silence, birthing unspoken-bellows of acceptable obedient prayers and God-Centered Praise and Worship!

There is an epiphany where we all must ascribe to reach in God, where we practice appreciation and respect for HIM by disciplining ourselves, focusing our minds and making a conscious decision that regardless of my circumstances, I’m going to Bless God—not just for all of His Goodness to me—BUT for WHO HE IS!

In this lofty estate, time spent waiting on The Lord is no longer full of anxious frustration, but quiet peaceful resting in child-like confident anticipation, trusting that you’re being kept safely, far from your conspirators’ reach, hidden in The Glory of His WONDEROUS PRESENCE.

As God’s Chosen, you’re surrounded by a Fortress, whose Builder and Maker is The Creator of The Universe, where we can breathe easily, waiting patiently, for as long as HE says,  fully assured that everything we will ever need and hope for comes from HIM—JESUS!

#DIDJAHEARDAT? The Holy Spirit is calling! Be still, in that ‘Peace-Filled-Knowing’ that all of your Help and Hope of Glory abides in The All-Powerful God,  EL SHADDAI…your FATHER AND your GOD!  NOW THAT’S A HIGHER PRAISE! #WOW #AWEMAAZIN, huh?

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee

STAY N IT 2 WIN IT!

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STAY IN IT 2 WIN IT!

 

SELAH Daily Devotions!

 

…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

 

Apparently, somewhere along the way, many of today’s contemporary Christians have picked up the erroneous impression, that The Road of Salvation is a meticulously manicured lawnscape—free of sticks and stones, crabgrass and weeds, lumps and humps and especially parasital insects.

Now! Given my extreme paranoia of bugs, I certainly don’t profess to be no expert in the science of horticulture, however I don’t think it would be going too far out on a limb to suggest that our neighbor’s lusciously green tarp (that we so yearn for) involved a certain moderate-to hard-working-up-sweat-hands-dirty-knee-dropping-diligence and discipline. Right?

So what makes us think that the most important road-trip we’ll ever take, our journey from Earth to Glory, would be a choreographed Boogaloo-Down-Broadway?

I can’t tell you how many times I find myself reminding myself that all of those ‘cheering witnesses’ we stagger at in Hebrews 11’s Hall of Faith, were just plain ordinary everyday folk, just like you and me, who faced the same struggles, tests and trails that we confront. Yet, because they kept their eyes focused on the prize, they overcame their life’s challenges, successfully!

While we understand, at least on some level, the reason that The Apostle Paul compares our walk with Jesus to a race, we have a tendency to think of it as a sprint, rather than a marathon! Okay, here’s how it is—it ain’t a one and done thing! The Master Husbandman, The Sovereign Creator, GOD, has allowed certain interruptions, along our way, that are strategically designed to develop and grow us up into perfect spiritual maturity.

The scriptures reveal that our forerunner, God’s Son, JESUS, learned obedience through his sufferings. (Ref. Hebrews 5:8)

Now, don’t get it twisted; this doesn’t mean that Jesus was ever disobedient to His Father, but rather, His suffering enabled him to intimately-identify with what we endure in our wilderness experiences!

Paul instructs us to study how Jesus did it and follow His lead. Begin with stripping down—laying aside anything that would slow us down—like un-repented sin, unrealized fears, unspoken doubts and worries  and concentrating on the Joy at the completion of the mission.

The mission for which HE was SENT, Salvation, Redemption and Restoration of God’s  most precious creation—us—empowered Our Lord to look past the pain and the shame of The Cross and not quit until He’d Won our Victory!

My brothers and sisters, seeing we have such A Great High Priest, who promised to be with us all the way, don’t give in to that lying Accuser, Satan.! 

Take a big whist of that ‘second wind’  (GRACE) and discipline your mind, body and spirit and keep it movin’. After all, we’re not just hurling aimlessly toward a phantom mirage; this is a sure thing we’re running after! 
God has planned a Great Celebration at the finish line for us! STAY IN IT TO WIN IT!

SELAH!

Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!

Ann Caffee