Yea, Even in This 'n This 'n That

David wrote:

I will bless The Lord at all times;
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