We are HIS

Psalms 100:1-2 ESV

 

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

    Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!”

 

When this says to make a joyful noise to the Lord it means “to the Lord.” It doesn’t mean that we say it is to the Lord, but it actually is. For, the song of praise and worship to the Lord is not just lip service. It isn’t just going through the motions of worship and religious service.

 

“To the Lord” means it meets with God’s approval. It is what he would want from us. It would be in line with his holiness and righteousness. And it would be honest and from sincere hearts, which are hearts which are surrendered to him to live godly and holy lives for his praise and for his glory.

 

Many times in the Scriptures God’s people made sacrifices to the Lord but he was not pleased with their sacrifices. Why? Because they were sinning against him. They were adulterous and idolatrous and they were liars and thieves, etc., who were refusing to obey him and were sinning in secret.

 

And serving the Lord is the same thing. We can’t just do what we want to do when we want to do it the way we want to do it and call it serving God. If we are his servants, then he is our Master, and so we are obeying him, and we are serving him in the way that he asks to be served.

 

And coming into his presence is not a trifle thing. Under the Old Covenant only the high priest could enter into God’s presence because it was such a holy thing and God was so pure and holy. Now days God is often referred to in such a casual way that there is not that fear of God that should be there.

 

So, when we come into the presence of God, we are to come with humble hearts, and willing spirits to do his will. Our ears should be attentive to whatever he wants to say to us, and we should be ready and available to do whatever he asks of us. We should never take this lightly.

 

Psalms 100:3 ESV

 

“Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

 

Yes! Know that the Lord, he is God! Amen! We should never lower God to human level. We should never see God as our servant, our genie in the sky there to grant our every request. We should never see God as there just to do for us and that we don’t have to do anything for him.

 

We are to walk in the fear of the Lord. We are to honor God with our bodies. We are to walk with him in holiness, in submission to him as Lord, in surrender of our lives to him, in walks of obedient faith. We are to revere him and respect him and take him and his word seriously.

 

Yes! We should see Jesus as the one who made us and that we belong to him and that he is our Owner-master. Our faith in Jesus and our salvation from sin isn’t all about what Jesus did for us but it is about us now serving him with our lives. We are his possession. He owns us.

 

Therefore, we should be on call 24/7 with the Lord. We should be attentive to his voice, we should listen to what he says, and then we should obey it. And he doesn’t speak just through his written word. He speaks through his Spirit and he gives us personalized instructions just for us.

 

The Spirit may prompt us to call someone on the phone or to pray for someone or to send someone an encouraging word or a Scripture verse. The Spirit gifts us with spiritual gifts and he leads us in how to use them and when, and he puts his words in our mouths.

 

And we are to follow him in obedience wherever he leads us and to do what he has called us to do. For he has assigned us each a part in his body, so we need to find out what that part is he has for us so that we can do it in his power and strength and under his guidance and direction.

 

Psalms 100:4 ESV

 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!”

 

We who believe in Jesus Christ, in truth, are now the temple of God. We are his church, his body. God does not dwell in buildings built by human hands. When we enter a physical building called “church” we are not entering the “house of God,” for we are his house. He dwells in us. We are his church.

 

So, for us to enter his gates and his courts with praise this has nothing to do with entering a physical building called “church.” And it has nothing to do with singing a bunch of praise and worship songs, just as a matter of habit or tradition. We enter his gates when we believe in him to be Lord and Savior of our lives. Now he lives within us. Now we are his temple.

 

And we enter his courts through daily communion with him, talking with him, listening to what he has to say to us, studying the Scriptures, in context, and via sharing the Scriptures and Scriptural lessons and teachings with our fellow Christians for their encouragement and edification.

 

And we remain in his courts when we remain in him and in his word. And remain doesn’t mean we just sit there and read the Bible all day. It means we apply what we have been taught to our daily lives. It means we are in continuous fellowship with our Lord, doing what he says to do.

 

Psalms 100:5 ESV

 

“For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.”

 

Amen! He is!! All the time! Even his discipline towards us is good because it teaches us to rely on him and not on ourselves, and it is so we can share in his holiness and bear the fruit of righteousness. It is to teach us perseverance, and steadfastness of Spirit, and courage, too.

 

Yes! Our Lord is faithful in all that he does and his love never fails. Human love will fail us, especially if it is not really love but something else. People will disappoint us. They will sin against us. They will hurt us. They will promise one thing but do the opposite. But God’s love never fails.

 

But his love is not based on emotion. He loves because he is love. God is love. He loved us while we were yet sinners, and he (Jesus) died for us on that cross. But his love doesn’t placate sin. It forgives sin provided we are repentant. But his love says, “Go and sin no more.”

 

God’s love sent Jesus Christ, God the Son, to die on a cross for our sins so that we would die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. His love delivered us from our bondage to sin and it empowers us to live godly and holy lives for the glory of God.

 

So, his love will also confront us when we sin and call us to repent and to obey, and his love will chastise us if we are wandering off. And his love requires repentance and obedience because they are for our good, for they are what we were designed to do in Christ Jesus.

 

For, we aren’t supposed to live like we did before we met Jesus, but we are to put away our sins from us and walk in obedience to our Lord. For we were created in Christ Jesus to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And we were created for good works which God planned in advance that we should walk in them.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians