David wrote:
I will bless The Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth
His praise shall continually be in my mouth
(Psalm 34:1)
Satan's game
from the beginning of man's time on earth has been, and remains, to choke-off any
praise to God, and leave us praising our selves and each other as our 'God-replacements'. So in response to this Scripture, I imagine
in every practicing Christian's life, the overarching test from God, and trial
of satan (two sides of the same coin), their challenging questions may well be:
"Really?? How about in this? And what
about in that?!"
As satan seeks
to choke-off our praises and blessings to God, The Lord's objective, through
us, is to ensure such continuous praise and blessing. He well knows these are the most powerful
and assured source of His supply of overcoming power, resource provision, joy
and strength we need to succeed in life. Moreover, through the varied
circumstances of life on earth, He is busy purifying for Himself a unique race and creed, a special people who,
in response to tests and trials, will unequivocally and continually answer
resoundingly:
Yea, even in
this, ‘n that, too,
will I praise and bless The Lord!
As noted in
many other posts, many of these special people, whom God iteratively calls
'priests and kings’ (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6 and 5:10), will serve at His
pleasure for 1,000 years as im-mortals in His diplomatic corps around
the post-tribulation world. We will be overseeing
and directing the affairs of mortal humans who will have either survived the
Great Tribulation, or will be born after it is over. We will also be exercising authority over/judging
holy angels at some point.* Some of us will also serve as priests and
administrators around the world, and in the headquarters of His Kingdom -- The
New Jerusalem.
wOw! Just imagine
the full rank of priestly, diplomatic, and administrative positions indicated
in such a worldwide administration. We
will likely have them all during the thousand-year reign of Jesus on
planet earth! Get this: there
will be no congresses or parliaments to vote or delay votes on God’s diplomatic
and administrative appointees.
No diplomatic,
priestly or administrative position is all peaches
and cream. Ours won't be either,
especially because, though ‘Heaven will literally
be on earth’, and the earth will be ‘filled
with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea’ (Isaiah 11:9 and
Habakkuk 2:14), there will still be the opportunity of mortals to sin, and we
immortals will have delegated authority to respond and enforce righteousness...through
it all, thick and thin.
So here's the
question to ponder: If you were in charge of developing,
testing and screening people for a broad strata of positions in this new
worldwide administration, what criteria would you use? Yours or mine would look significantly
different from the ones God is apparently using. In sum, His criteria seem to be:
·
The 9 varieties of The Fruit of His Spirit (do
you know what they are? Galatians 5:22-23)
·
Pleasing God in living by faith
·
An immutable commitment to the practice of
praising and blessing The Lord at all times, in and through all circumstances,
no matter what!
So go ahead,
allow Him to grow His fruit in you; aggressively live by faith, faithfully; and
when you find yourself in a stew of questionable or challenging circumstances,
in your mind and spirit, look up, Bless and Praise God,
knowing full well that you and His Grace work inside you are being tested for
your pivotal position in the age to come!
Also know well, these tests will only become a trial (the other side of
the test coin) if you succumb to the temptation 'to not pass the test.'
The best way I
am learning to ensure passing the test and avoiding the temptation is to have
my ready answer to trying circumstances that knock and kick on life's front and
back doors, demanding,
"Really?? Bless and praise The Lord, eh?
What about in this? And in that?"
If we 'end-tend' to be qualified for
whatever role(s) are prepared for you and me, not requiring any remedial course
work or training when we come into the fullness of God's Kingdom!", our
answer must be a resounding,
"Yea, ramp it up!
Even in this,
even in that, even in this 'n this 'n that!
Then get busy. Your praises and blessings will get you:
1. Around the
temptation
2. Through the
tests
3. Out of the
circumstances
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*See: http://www.gotquestions.org/judge-angels.html
