Thanksgiving & Praise

Healing of The Spirit

Chris Tomlin – Forever

Phillips Craig and Dean – Let The Worshipers Arise

SING FOR JOY

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

Psalm 95:1-2

As a child I loved singing. After turning my back on God I hated singing. If my feet entered a church, my lips were silent. Upon returning to Christ, my heart began to sing for joy. A little boy, whose life was cut short, put song back into his mother’s stone-cold heart by the power of God. His name was Tabor.

You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

Psalm 89:12

Later, during the trials and tribulations of my life, I would hear the voice of the LORD saying in a soft whisper, “Give thanks to the LORD for He is good, His love endures forever.” As if to say, “Beth, thank me and praise me in the midst of your trial for I AM GOOD.”

After many years of death, destruction and loss, anointed Christian songs have ministered to me in my darkest hour. And so today, this website is bathed with those songs, which are a tribute to the healing power of Jesus Christ. Songs of praise to the One who is Worthy of all praise. They are testimonies of His goodness.

How does one go from lips of silence to singing for joy to the KING OF KINGS and the LORD of LORDS?

Only Jesus! For He IS good and His love endures forever.

O LORD, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Psalm 51:15

Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this – those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Psalm 107: 1-3

REMEMBER

Remembering is key to our healing. Healing that is ushered in from our praise and thanksgiving.

When Jesus said to remember my body and my flesh poured out for you, he meant - be thankful for this amazing sacrifice I have done for you; healing for your body and righteousness for your soul. The Eucharist means thanksgiving. When the Israelites where in the desert, Psalm chapter 78 states that they failed to remember all the wondrous miracles God had shown them and all that He had provided. They put God to the test by complaining. Like a child, if they grumble and complain, that parent will not want to pour out more blessing until gratitude has entered the heart. Remembering is like a hedge which protects our hearts from the spirit of complaining and grumbling. Remembering what God has done for us, the miracles, the provision and protection is pleasing to Him. I think it brings joy to His heart when His children remember and give thanks. Too many times, I have grumbled and complained, forgetting to remember all the goodness He has shown.

Each trial wants to steal the joy of God’s past miracles. This was evident as well with the Israelites in the desert. They would praise and thank the LORD for His miraculous deliverance, but the next lack stole their joy. Remembering His wonderful deeds in our lives, preserves and protects our joy and opens the way to our deliverance.

SACRIFICE OF THANKS BRINGS INTIMACY AND GLORY

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.

Psalm 50:23

Sacrifice in Hebrew means to draw near or obtain intimacy.

As we draw near to God with thank offerings He pours His salvation upon us. The Greek word for salvation is sozo. It means deliverance, restoration, safety, provision and healing.

This is so profound!

So our heartfelt thanksgiving creates a very close and intimate relationship with the Almighty God and ushers in His glory.

BELIEVING HIS WORD USHERS IN PRAISE

King Jehoshaphat heard his enemies were coming to attack him and then God prophesied His Word of deliverance.

At that moment he had a choice to believe God’s Word or not. And because He believed God’s Word, his army went forth in praise and thanksgiving and found their enemies annihilated.

“King Jehoshaphat, you will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you. ” Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

2 Chronicles 20:17-22

Praise and thanksgiving is the bridge to receiving. It’s an action of our belief in Jesus and His finished work and what the Word says.

We are thankful from our believing.

This is what it means to trust in God. We trust Him and His Word, because of who He is and what He said He has done for us and will do. We praise Him for it BEFORE any possession, before any evidence of healing. Faith is thanking and praising Him that we have already received what we have prayed for according to what His Word has promised and then we shall receive. He repeated this truth over and over until my own heart finally understood the meaning of faith. .

“Beth, if you really believed My Word, you would be in never-ceasing joy and uncontainable thanksgiving. Your ACTIONS reflect your belief in what I have said. That’s why giving thanks prepares the way for His salvation and deliverance.”

Pretty simple what Jesus said, “Believe that you have received and thank the Father.”

Thank and praise him for promises and what he has done for us through the cross.

Believe God’s promises, and you will be overjoyed, dancing, singing, and in a state of continual praise.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise – In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalm 56:10-11

We praise and thank you Jesus for your Word that protects, your Blood that brings righteousness, your Grace that showers favor, your Wisdom poured into our hearts, your Wounds that heal, your Holy Spirit that brings power and life, your Name that is above all names. To the One who pours goodness upon your people, you are worthy of all praise.