Blessed Are The People Who Know The Joyful Sound

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound…

 

Psalms 89:15 (NASB)  How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound (of praise)! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

Psalms 89:15 (GW) Blessed are the people who know how to praise you. They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

Psalms 89:15 (MSG) Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of God.

Psalms 89:15 (BBE) Happy are the people who have knowledge of the holy cry: the light of your face, O Lord, will be shining on their way.

Psalms 89:15 (YLT)  O the happiness of the people knowing the shout, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy face they walk habitually.

 

Good morning team,

 

Hope all is well with you and your families. This morning I want to direct your minds and thoughts to the great blessing of Praise. Praise is one of the greatest weapons in our arsenal as believers. Praise brings us into God's presence and scatters our enemies. It is in Judah (name means praise) that God is known and revealed to us (Psalm 76.1). It is in Judah that His manifested presence comes to us. It is Praise and Worship that we walk in the "light of His presence." As we praise we are living in the "light of His face." The Devil simply cannot handle praise. At every level of spiritual warfare, praise leads the way. It is the "Praisers" that go first into battle!

 

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound…

There are so many difficult times in our lives, so many enemies of our soul. But oh, the blessing of praise and worship! As the darkness closes in upon us, as uncertainties - fears within and fears without, rise up against us, attempting to steal our faith from us, peace and joy, we who know the joyful sound begin to praise our great God! On our lips of praise we lift up His holy Promises. We magnify the One who sits upon the throne. And as we praise of the God of our Salvation, our eyes move off the temporal unto the eternal. We begin to see how great our Almighty God is, who loves us and who has promised to be with us always and to deliver us from all our enemies! Our praise brings us to the place where our Savior is high and lifted up over all circumstances, problems, enemies, mysteries and confusion of heart and mind. Peace comes. Joy begins to flow. Faith gets strong! The enemy flees!

 

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound…

But there are so many who do not know the joy and power of this sound. In the midst their battles they have no recourse to an All-Powerful Helper. Dilemmas without a Deliverer!  How blessed we are to know the joyful sound early in the morning as we start off each day. How wonderful to praise God seven times a day (Psalm 119.164), lifting our voices morning, noon and night unto of our God; to lay upon our beds, giving God our silent praise! When all seems lost we but begin to praise, and the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to our rescue!

 

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound…

Oh the great blessing of praise. Our God inhabits our praise! He sits enthroned over a people who praise. Our praise brings the tangible presence of God to us. It brings angelic help from Heaven (2Chron 20:22). As the rising sun clears away the heavy morning fog, so praise frees our minds of confusion and heaviness and doubt. Praise keeps our faith airborne; it strengthens our faith, feeds our faith, encourages our faith. Praise is the voice of our faith! Abraham, the father of faith grew strong as he gave praise to God (Romans 4.21).

 

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound…

With this great sound of praise, we bind principalities and powers with fetters and chains! With the "stronghold of praise we silence the enemy and the avenger (Psalm 8:2)! Praise is our battle-cry and battleaxe! It is our war-club, by which we pummel the enemy into silence and defeat!  

"I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence." Psalms 9:2-3

 

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound of praise!

 

 

 

That's My King

RAISING YOUR EYE OF FAITH OVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE

"… Now raise your eyes and look from where you stand northward, southward, eastward and westward, for all the land you are viewing I will give you and your offspring forever." Gen 13.14

"yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God." Romans 4:20 (ASV)

Hi Everyone. Friday afternoon here in Vista, CA. Beautiful day! So thankful for everything the Lord has provided. I have been greatly encouraged over the last couple weeks meditating on the call of Abraham, the father of faith, and his amazing walk of faith. Here are a couple thoughts on Abraham and his faith.

We know that Abraham was called to follow God at the age of 75 and that he died at the age of 175. Well, doing the math, we find that Abraham walked with God, BY FAITH, for 100 years. The man who, according to Romans 4.13 received the promise to be HEIR OF THE WORLD, only ever owned one piece of property, Machpelah – a grave site where he buried Sarah and was himself buried. To me this is so amazing that a man with such a great promise of inheriting the whole world, only physically possessed a little plot of land for a family cemetery. For a century the Father of Faith walked up and down his "promise land" and never physically owed any of it; yet possessed it all by faith and by promise! That, my friend, is an example of "through faith and patience."

But how could Abraham walk so long by faith and never give up when he never physically possessed the land given to him. How did he stay encouraged and focused so long on the God's promise to him? How did Abraham keep his faith strong and not wavering? How do we keep "focused" on the promises of God for our life and ministries when crunch-time comes and every circumstance is screaming at us that the promise is gone…no way it can come to pass now? Romans 4:21 gives us one of the great secrets to Abraham's great faith. It tells us that he wavered not and staggered not at the promise of God by "looking unto the promise" God had given him. This was key to his strong faith. What Abraham looked at is what he had faith for! This is one of the most important principles of walking by faith. We must learn to walk by faith by "seeing only the promise of God" for our lives and not what we see with our five natural senses. This is so true: we will have faith in what we see, in what we are looking at. Looking only at the promise of God then is critical, is vital to strong faith. Oh that today we would "raise our eyes and look to the north, south, east and west" of our lives, and see only the great and precious promises of God.

Today is a new day. Let us raise our faith by looking at and continuing to look at only God's eternal promises that He has given to us. Let's put all our weakness and feebleness and doubts and even unbelief behind us and let's look again, really look and keep looking at the Promise! For if we don't get discouraged and cast away our confidence, in due season, at the appointed time God will come to us and fulfill all His amazing promises. Let's climb up the "Mountain of Faith and Vision" and raise our eyes of faith and look again at all God's great and precious promises for our lives! If you will do this, you will find your faith coming alive and soaring high over the fog of circumstances that is shrouding your life. You will have climbed to such an altitude of faith to see clearly the promise land God has given to you – the north, south, east and west of your life! God promises – if you can see it, is yours! So let's look again and keep looking and possess what has been promised us! Amen.

Next week I want to focus on Genesis 13:18 and how important it was to Abraham's faith to move his "tent" to Mamre and Hebron. Stay strong! Raise your eyes of faith and keep hold of your promise! God bless.

Pastor Matt.

Search Me O God and Know My Heart

Good morning Family of God. Hope all is well with you this beautiful So Cal morning. It's been a great day already for me. We had a great time of prayer with the men of The River; and then in my devotions this morning. I was so blessed by Psalm 139.23-24.

Psalms 139:23-24 (HCSB)
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.

Here David expresses his great desire for God to know his heart in all its depths. He wants God himself to search him, and search him completely; shifting every motive, every thought, till every part of his heart, with all of its deepest thoughts, is known and understood. He almost demands an investigation. This is not what most of us are asking God for – "God, come and put me on trial! Investigate everything about me. Come search and look and discover all that is in me, my innermost self, and see if there is there is anything that offends you!"

David, at this time in his walk with God, is so bold in asking God to come and shift his heart. You would have to feel pretty good about your heart to talk like this. But this very thing we need to ask God to do for us – "search us O God! Come and search and shift and reveal all that is still of Adam living in me and take away that fallen man and clothe me in Christ head to toe. Oh that we would have the grace to ask God for such an inquiry! Instead of drawing back into the shadows of fear and compromise and sin, may we come boldly into God's penetrating light. May we once and for all get rid of our "fig leaves" and dwell forever in God's penetrating and liberating light!

Be assured of this, the Holy Spirit is today, within us, searching the depths of our hearts.  Jeremiah 17.9,10 "the human (carnal or natural) heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable-who can understand it? I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart…" The Spirit of Grace and the Spirit of Truth will not leave us to ourselves. He comes faithfully to us, working in us, removing our heart of compromise and sin, putting His desires in us, taking out of us our "hearts of flesh," that is willing and able to do the will of God.  

Try me, and know my thoughts. Let us pray as David did, and be honest, for we cannot hide our sin; our salvation and blessing is in the discovery of evil, and the repentance and cutting off, by God's grace, of sin. My prayer is that each of us would desire such searching; for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered will only steal our blessings and fruitfulness. This morning come to the Throne of Grace to receive mercy for our failures and grace to help us be Christlike in the deepest parts of our life. Come, crying out "search me Father, and see if there is anything in me harmful, sinful,

 

'A true believer fears no trial. He is willing to be tried by God. He is willing to have his faith tried by others, he shuns not the touchstone. He is much in testing himself. He is willing to hear the worst as well as the best. The preaching that pleases him best which is that preaching that is most searching and convicting: Hebrews 4:12. —David Clarkson (1622-1686).

 

 

Why The Blood

Good Morning Family. Hope all is well this morning. We have such a great Savior. So very great! The River family had a wonderful time together last night as we started a new four week series on the Blood of Jesus. I have really been enjoying our “Summer Nites” Bible studies. We come together in “breaking bread, fellowship, teaching and prayer.” Last night we all shared a wonderful Italian meal together, we had a great study on “Why The Blood”, we had a time of prayer and two awesome videos – “Beautiful The Blood” by Steve Fee and “Nothing But The Blood” by Rick Pino. Just tremendous! Oh how amazing that the King of Glory rescued us from so many and powerful enemies – Satan, sin and self…all defeated by His Cross! If you would like view these videos we have links to them below.

Here are lyrics to Beautiful the Blood:

I never knew death could be so sweet
I never knew surrender could feel so free
I never seen such meekness in majesty
That the blood of Jesus was bled for me

And now I sing freedom for all my days
It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised
The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow
How merciful the love show
The King of glory poured out
Victorious are we now

Never knew through these nails would love unfold
And never knew these wounds would heal my soul
I've never seen such beauty and sorrow meet
The blood of Jesus was bled for me

And now I sing freedom for all my days
It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised
The King of Glory rescued me
[Repeat Chorus]

Now I'll sing freedom for all my days
It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised
The King of Glory rescued me
[Repeat Chorus]

How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior

How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior

Have a great, great day!

Pastor Matt

“For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

At The King’s Table

As I enter my 38th year of following our Lord Jesus, I can honestly say that I am more in awe of the grace of God today than ever before. How can we ever begin to comprehend the depths of His great love for us. God’s favor given to a world of sinners will never fully be grasped. I truly stand amazed at the overwhelming fullness of this grace that has taken us out of the Kingdom of Darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love! His amazing grace has taken horribly lost sinners and by the New Birth made them saints of the Most High! Sinners lost and headed for hell are now sons of God, destined for Heaven!

The story of Mephbosheth in 2 Samuel 9 portrays one of the greatest examples of God’s incredible grace to lost mankind. In this story David is seeking to fulfill covenant obligations that he had made with Jonathon many years earlier. They had promised each other to always show “haced” - steadfast, loyal and covenant love to each other’s families. Jonathon, along with Saul, David’s arch-enemy have been killed in battle. David is now king over all of Israel and remembers his covenant promise to provide “haced” to his friend Jonathon’s family. He makes a diligent search for any survivors of Saul’s family (done for Jonathon’s sake) and finds one - Mephbosheth, who as a child, suffered a horrible fall that left him crippled in both feet. David finds Mephbosheth in the house of Makir in the region of Lo-Debar. In Hebrew the word Makir means “to sell as if into slavery.” It can be said that the house of Makir symbolically is like a house of bondage. Lo-Debar means “dry and barren” or “pasture-less.” What an overwhelming clear picture of what it really is to be a sinner. Every one of us were completely crippled through the fall of our fore-father Adam. Not only are we spiritually crippled, but are also separated from God’s presence, where we battle deprivation and death on a daily basis.

But oh, the amazing grace of God! Even as David found Mephbosheth and invited him to come and eat continually at “the King’s Table, as one of the King’s sons,” so God, for Christ’s sake, has found a world of full of sinners and brought “many from the east and from the west to sit down” at the Table of the King to feast on the banquet table of “so great a salvation!” As a christian we have certain wonderful rights and blessings that now belong to us; the key being will we continue to abide always at “the Kings Table.”

This so beautifully illustrates God the Father’s great desire to show mercy to fallen man (Mephbosheth) God the Son’s covenant they cut together through the Blood of our Savior.

“Great grace upon you all…” Acts 4:33

This Jesus God Did Raise From The Dead

“And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” The angel said “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” Matt 28:2-7

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Pet 1:3 “God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.” Psalm 47:5

Oh, how wonderful this first Easter morning message by the angel of God, heralding for the first time the greatest Good News of all time and eternity - “He is not here; for He is risen from the dead, and you will see Him. Let us never even begin to imagine what this world would be like without Easter Morn! Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, what hope would we have? What joy and assurance could we possibly have? Or what savior from our sins? From where would come our victory over our archenemy Satan, or freedom from the awful woes of this fallen world? Without Easter morning, how could any man ever become righteous again, and obtain access into God's presence? Death would forever reign supreme, and all mankind would for eternity upon eternity remain chained to the prison house of the grave.

But thanks be to God! There was Easter morning! Jesus rose on the third day with the keys of death and hell in His hands. How boldly then does the angel invite these faithful women, who had come to the tomb to minister to the dead body of their Master, to come and see the place where the Lord lay – where death had held captive for three days the Christ. But now the only remains in Death’s cold cell are the empty grave clothes of the risen Son of God, for it was not possible for death to hold the Prince of Life. It was not possible for death to keep in chains He Who is Himself the Resurrection and the Life! Christ is risen from the dead, and only an empty tomb remains.

What does this mean for us today? What can we learn from Christ's grave robbed of its prisoner? What facts of are inescapably clear for all God's children? What is the testimony of Christ's empty tomb? Let's take a look at five facts produced by the resurrection of Jesus and, consequently, His empty tomb.

First, Christ's empty tomb proves that Death have been eternally defeated. Romans 6:9-10 says "knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God." As Jesus rose from the dead, He had in His hand the keys of death and hell, forever setting redeemed man free from the power of death! With Easter morning came the greatest day in the history of the world - the day Death died! No longer does death have the final word; God does! And that Word is Jesus the Resurrection and the Life! Therefore, we should never have sorrow as others who have no hope. Now with the rising SON of Easter, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! Death is defeated! “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:55,57)

Secondly, through he resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power of sin has been broken. 1Corinthians 15:17 says “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” Oh the joy of forgiveness! To know that we are no longer dead in trespasses and sins, and that the power of sin is broken over our lives, should fill our hearts with great peace and joy. Our faith isn't futile or vain. Jesus, as our High Priest, has carried His holy Blood to the Father, and sprinkle It upon the Heavenly Mercy Seat. The Blood of Christ speaks this Easter Morning Debt paid in full! It is finished! Forgiven!

Thirdly, the empty tomb proves that the Prince of Death is defeated! When Jesus rose from the dead, Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus through death, defeated him who had the power of death. Satan must have thought he had delivered the final and decisive blow in this age-long battle between the Son of God and Himself. By murdering Jesus, he had ruined God's plan for redemption! But what looked like the greatest defeat, was Heaven's and our greatest victory! The Cross was God's mysterious and miraculous plan for redeeming man from Satan's power. The Cross was, in reality, the execution of Satan himself! Just as Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too have been delivered from the kingdom of Darkness and translated into the kingdom of Jesus Christ! The Prince of Darkness is has been vanquished! Jesus has spoiled principalities and powers and made an open spectacle of them. (Colossians 2:14-15).

Fourthly, we have been born again into a living hope by the resurrection of Christ Jesus. A living hope is a hope that I possess now, day by day. No matter how dark the skies, no matter how seemingly certain the power of death, we have the hope of Christ's resurrecting power changing whatever is death doomed in my life, into something glorious and incorruptible! Christ will see to it that all my mortality will put on immortality; and all my corruption will put on incorruption, and then will be brought to pass in my life, and not just in the Bible, the saying, Death is swallowed up in victory! Oh, dear Saints of God, let us forever rejoice for the great things God has done! Let us, like Jesus did on Easter morning, go up with a shout, with an emotional shriek of joy and victory, and the sound of the trumpet, proclaiming with joy inexpressible it is finished Jubilee is here! "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." Rev 1:18

Fifthly, Christ's resurrection proves He is God's Son. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Sixthly, Jubilee is now possible.

Let us quickly run, as Peter and John did, to Christ's tomb, and examine for ourselves the blessed reality that Jesus is not there! He is risen from the dead.

Awake To The Glory - Shaking Off Spiritual Sleep!

‘But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. (5) For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (6) So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. (8)But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” 1Th 5:4-8

If there were ever a time for Christ’s Body to come forth out of sleep and lethargy and the shadows compromise it is now! The world, with its multitudes in the valley of decision, waiting for the verdict of their doom, are in such need of a Savior. And what an awesome Savior the world has; but the Savior, if He is to really save this world, needs of a Body to save through! Christ must have a Body if He is to save!

But so many in Church are asleep to the greatest hour in human history! They are not apprehending the hour in which they live! They can not see clearly, like those who struggle to see through a thick fog! These vision-clouded saints are tempted to say that their life really doesn’t matter, either in the Church or without in the world. They could not be further from the truth. What each Christian does with their life matters greatly, for God has given to each believer both the authority and power to change eternity!

So here we are in the most important time in human history many in the Church are spiritual asleep! They are heavy with sleep, like Peter, James and John on the mountain with Jesus. It was their destiny to see the transformation of Christ and the glory of God manifesting so powerfully in and through Christ! But Luke 9:29 tells us that they were heavy with sleep. Jesus’s three closest disciples were sleeping through their destiny to see the manifestation of the glory of God in and through Jesus.

Can you believe Peter, James and John were sleeping through their destiny! It was their destiny to see the glory of God; and even more, to also be transformed by that same glory! But they were heavy with sleep! This is where so many in the Church are today heavy with sleep! Encumbered and entangled with the world to where they are weighed down with sleep and the burdens of life! But this does not have to be our lifetime experience! If we will cry out to Jesus Christ to awake us, then the Holy Spirit will flood our being with His life and light! Luke 9:32 goes on to say “but when they became fully awake they saw his glory!” How awesome it is to see God’s glory! But we, like Peter, James and John must be FULLY AWAKE! Not a little awake, not a little in love with the King, not a little committed to the church! But fully wake! We are not as those who sleep in the night, but we are of the day! We are the Awake Ones, the Sober Ones; we are the Ones Fully Dressed In Christ’s Armor!

Today, let us procrastinate no longer, but arise from our spiritual slumber and sluggishness of faith and any tiredness of mind and body and let us press on to know the Lord in His glory and power and might! Like Paul shake off the bite of the viper and you will suffer no harm! Awake to Righteousness, to purpose and destiny! Awake with passion for your King! Awake unto the power of the Holy Ghost and the glory of God that raised Christ from the dead! Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. (2) Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Isa 52:1-2