Garment of Praise the Oil of Joy and Beauty for ashes

This is a special weekend for me and maybe the most important for my special relationship with God because I lost my mom this week. 

Maybe go to the bottom and start the song as you read.

Jesus however has her somewhere either eating chocolate, looking for the weeds in His Garden or watching over her family.  Friday My dad and I went to view her and I was actually astounded and how normal she looked she died in her sleep and that is just how she looked like she was sleeping it was beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time.  I was so blessed to have my Pastor with me through it. What came into my heart for this weekend is the following  HE GAVE ME....

Beauty for ashes 

The Oil of Joy for mourning

The  Garment of Praise 

for the 

Spirit of Heaviness

Isaiah 61

New Living Translation (NLT)

Good News for the Oppressed

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
    for the Lord has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
    and to proclaim that captives will be released
    and prisoners will be freed.^[a]
2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn
    that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,^[b]
    and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
³ To all who mourn in Israel,^[c]
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Even when things are sad or hard even when things seem totally out of control, Jesus is there and the Holy Spirit pours oil into my wounds.

The Garment of Praise by Michael L. Picket and friends

Weekend of Praise with Music and Instruments

Welcome to the weekend, weekend for me means work, for others rest. Whatever you do is great, for me weekends are special,  I choose to focus most of my attention toward praise thanksgiving and worshiping the Lord.  
Don't feel you have to do this on your weekend but I have found it very freeing and then focus enhancing for myself. This may be the most important thing you can learn is Praise in many different ways this week we are:

Worshiping with instruments

First you are an instrument you have hands that clap, feet can stomp, fingers can snap,your mouth can make a lot of sounds and even with out anything else can produce music and praise.


When you look up instruments in the concordance you will find that the word is used for weapons as well as musical instruments. I think this is because music, shouts, clapping and all forms of using our body as an instrument for God is one of our Most powerful weapons in warfare.  Music can soothe excite free, empower destroy restore and so much more.


That being said you can also be used by the enemy to bring destruction.

Genesis 49:6,7

“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
⁶ Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,

 I have posted in previous posts that Lucifer was the prince of the airways. So we need to carefully use the gift Jesus took back from satan for godly purposes.

Enough about the enemy but to say every time you take time to worship God with music and your instruments you really show satan and remind him he has lost the title prince of the airways. It also was one of the keys resurrected with Christ. This is perhaps the most powerful way to walk on serpents and scorpions. 

 

Okay I admit it I get a little excited 

stomping on 

serpents and scorpions.

King David really is probably the leader in the Bible of worshiping in the presence of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 13:8  read the whole passage here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles%2016&version=NKJV
      
Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.

1. 1 Chronicles 16
   

   New King James Version (NKJV)

   
   

   The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle

   16 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 

    
   

     ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.  

    So this was what David did while bringing the ark to it's final destination. He made offerings and giving is a form of worship but I will talk about that another week.

   Feasting was also a integrate part of honoring God with thanksgiving 

   ³ Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

   ⁴ And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: 
   
     ⁵ Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals;  
   
   

   

   
   ⁶ Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.
   
   

   David’s Song of Thanksgiving

   ⁷ On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:
   
   

   ⁸ Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
   Call upon His name;
   Make known His deeds among the peoples!
   ⁹ Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
   Talk of all His wondrous works!
   ¹⁰ Glory in His holy name;
   Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
   ¹¹ Seek the Lord and His strength;
   Seek His face evermore!
   ¹² Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
   His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

   After a tremendous challenge to build the Wall of Jerusalem from ruins to half the height it was Nehemiah actually appointed those that were skillful to worship God on instruments      play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

   Psalm 33:3

   The Hebrew expression translated here as "play skillfully" literally means "to do well in playing music." The verb "to be skillful" comes from the Hebrew root that means "good," and is elsewhere translated as "to do well." But when it's combined with the verb for playing instruments, the "to do well" suggests musical expertise.
    www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/play-skillfully-0#.UjPeMj-K9Go 
   
   Psalm 33:3 reminds us that we’re to use well the gifts God has given us. If we have musical talent, then we should learn to "play skillfully" for the Lord. In reality, this takes years of diligent practice. Though it might be tempting for people with lots of natural musical ability to coast on their laurels, Psalm 33 encourages them to work hard on developing their skills. Yet their commitment to excellence must not keep them from singing "with joy" (v. 3).
   

   Nehemiah 12:27 New King James Version (NKJV)

   
   

   Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

   ²⁷ Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. 
   David said to praise with different instruments. And really do we think we have the ability to create an instrument that originally wasn't in the mind of God.  Instruments are great, what they are used for is up to us. 
   
   

   

   Psalm 150:4
   

   Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

   King Solomon also used instruments

    Ecclesiastes 2:8

   I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.

    In the New Testament it talk about using ourselves as instruments for the use of God and not unrighteousness.

    Romans 6:13
   

   And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

   
   
    So this weekend I will use my hands my feet my fingers will hit the ivories Might even pull out a few other instruments and have some fun. Might even try playing the saw.....hum I don't have a saw how about my sword??
   Just kidding...
   
   

   Have a

    

     this weekend

   
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

The House of the Lord

Psalm 122:1

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

 

Let Us Go into the House of the Lord 

by Robert Radmilli & Enko

*•♪♫Go ahead listen while you read if you can♪♫•*

 Why do we go to Church? Do we have to go to Church or can I just have church alone at home? Can it be just me and Jesus?

The answer is you could but it would not be pleasing God nor would it be good for you and others, unless for some reason isn't possible for you to attend, then the church needs to come to you.

The thing about the church is it is a body.

And while you might want go out without your Knee (and trust me there are days I wish I could) it would not be a good or the best thing for you.Actually separation from my knee would be permanent. It is the same in the body of Christ. The thought " I don't have to go to church" is an extremely selfish even arrogant thought and we should stop the thought before it goes anywhere. If you make the choice once to stay away it will become easier and easier to stay away.

Jesus died for you and unless we have a place to bring people to hear the Word of God to lead them to salvation they will remain lost. People in the Body Of Christ need prayer, they need someone to listen to them and some people in church want to listen to, pray for enjoy your company.

Church is only Great if you Bring the Holy Spirit and Jesus with you.

If you believe the Bible you believe that Jesus the Christ was crucified, died conquered death and the grave and rose again so that we could be saved and have eternal life.  If we don't accept Jesus then we have eternity in the great abyss separated forever from God, maybe even Hell.  Why would anyone that believed that not want to be part of what His death did for us to lead others encourage others to bless others and to help others stay strong. 

 The Church is called the storehouse because it is the place where the gifts and ministries of the body are to use for you and for others.

 So if you're the hand 

how can the body raise it if it's still in bed?

If you have stopped going or have never started going to church start.  Find a church that is moving forward with God.  Forget finding one you are comfortable in because we need a little discomfort to help us change. We need a little friction to polish us into diamonds.  Instead find on who's messages you have to listen carefully to because they are from God and you need to change.

 You are a diamond in the rough

Don't go to Church because the pastor is such an amazing speaker or because you are comfortable with his messages but rather because his sermons are from God and like a double edged sword that cuts deep to weed out bad seeds in you and gives room for the Good seeds to grow. 

When you go to Church grab those by the byway the highway the low road or just next door and bring others.  Be a working part of the body!

So pray for the Church and pray before Church and get ready for what God has for you today.

AND BE SURE TO BRING TOGETHER ALL THE BODY PARTS

The Weekend Way -- MEDITATING ON GOD'S WORD CAN CHANGE YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR PROSPERITY

I have told you that I do prayer on the weekends different that doesn't mean that my way is the best way, just my way, I can tell you that weekends do often make life changing times in my life.


This happened last weekend it was amazing I played the song that I posted on Saturday's post rejoice, Israel and the New Breed "Rejoice" over and over and it literally started a work in my heart that will change my life forever.  I didn't expect it to happen but when we are obedient to do what God calls us to do even a day at the beach can be life changing. I had a very busy week but the song "Rejoice" just kept going and going in my heart.

This weekend I am going to focus a bit on Worship but mostly on meditation on God's work.

 Word of God Speak by Mercy Me

In our brains there is a gland called the pineal Gland some people call it the third eye or the spiritual eye of the body. 

The Pineal gland is called that because it is shaped like a Pine cone. Like the Pine cone related to Fibonacci sequence.

The pineal gland releases a hormone called Melatonin.  Melatonin effects sleep your mood, healing and even effect things like PMS and {Postpartum depression (although it is not the chief cause)} it can slow down the the symptoms of aging.It can help rid yourself of migraines, and low melatonin can cause a sluggish thyroid.
Now there is synthetic melatonin  that you can purchase over the counter for sleep and doctors will prescribe it at times as an anti-depressant however as this melatonin is effective it can cause long term consequences and as it can take years to get out of your system I don't personally like the thought of anyone being on it. I am not a doctor though so can't give you advice on it.  However there is a way to balance your melatonin without medication and that is Meditation, Reading and studying the Word of God and praise and worship will all help to regulate this gland to work well. Many religions will tell you when you meditate empty your mind and does all these relaxation tapes to help you do that, that however; this is not what God says. When you empty your mind it opens it up to spirit guides, demons.
Matthew 12:

⁴³ But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any.

⁴⁴ Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated.

⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation.

Hit the read more but below

A WEEKEND OF REJOICING

             REJOICE IN THE LORD           

Rejoicing is not a feeling it’s an action and it is a command we are to rejoice and rejoice again.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord Always and again I say Rejoice

Rejoicing is what you do at a hockey game when your team scores a goal. It what people do when they win the lottery, it’s what parents do when they have a baby, it’s what they do when their child survives a dangerous even deadly crisis. It’s what the father did when the prodigal son returned. Rejoicing is what children do on their birthday and Christmas.

The most important thing we can rejoice in is the Blood of Christ our salvation and we are to do it always.

God says that rejoicing is so important that we should have a 7 day feast for it.

Leviticus 23

40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

7th day 7th month

The number 7 in the Bible is the number of Completion

So this feast of rejoicing starts in the 1^st day (the beginning) until completion on the 7 day.  It is about creation about God’s completion and rest

It often talks about rejoicing and the beginning and the completion of challenges in the Bible

Numbers 10: 10

10 Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month to rejoice over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind the LORD your God of his covenant with you. I am the LORD your God."

In the following verses we see that rejoicing in the Lord is what we need to do after taken over the territories that we win from the enemy.

Deuteronomy 12:7 (NLT)

"These are the laws and regulations you must obey as long as you live in the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 "When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods -- high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Erase the names of their gods from those places! 4 "Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. 5 Rather, you must seek the LORD your God at the place he himself will choose from among all the tribes for his name to be honored. 6 There you will bring to the LORD your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your special gifts, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your freewill offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your flocks and herds.

7 There you and your families will feast in the presence of the LORD your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the LORD your God has blessed you.

After having sinned and repented we need to rejoice again.

The story of David and Bathsheba is a great example King David didn’t go to war when he should have he committed adultery with the wife of one of the soldiers out to war. He then had her husband killed because He found out she was pregnant. But here was his cry out to God.

Psalm 51

1 For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my shameful deeds -- they haunt me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner -- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. 7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me -- now let me rejoice. 9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Psalm 68

3 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy. 4 Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD -- rejoice in his presence!

God wants us to rejoice

Psalms 98 

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
² The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
⁵ Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

What’s more is He wants us to rejoice as a service to the Lord

Psalm 2:11

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

He is a parent and when His children are grumpy, complaining like our children do, He wants them to stop and rejoice. So this weekend my goal is to Rejoice in the Lord and find all the things I have to rejoice in no matter what.

The weekend way of Thanksgiving

 I THINK ANOTHER WEEK
 OF THANKSGIVING 
IS DUE.

Just in case you wondered if I live what I teach, I think God will be sure to keep me on track.  This week was a challenge because I had so many things to do and my eyes and head were causing me problems I could barely read and although I could still type without seeing it's hard to put this blog together. Yet today when I started giving thanks rather then grumbling inwardly, things changed.
For all of those that have been passing this blog on thank you and to those just new welcome I see that I have some people joining me from new countries France and Germany welcome. 
Please email me @ krekedal@gmail.com
  I would love to hear from you, where you are from what God is doing and even if you don't agree with me or especially if you need prayer.  Just be kind in telling me what you want to say.  By the way no matter who you are the Principles of God will work for you even if you don't believe but SALVATION ROCKS DON'T MISS OUT

So prayer and chatting with God has been at a high, and the talk to the hand was a big one today but when I did just that everything broke, I am feeling better and so now on to my plans for Saturday.  During my weekends  I spend the day worshiping and praising and thinking about just Who God is rejoicing and giving thanks.  This week I am going to see just how many things that seem awful, gross, frustrating,annoying etc. I can be thankful for and I will give God thanks anyways.
The Bible is full of thanksgiving check out the following link for lots of Scripture on thanks 
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=thanks&version1=NKJV&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no&resultspp=500&displayas=long&sort=bookorder

1 Chronicles 16:8

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

 

Thanks --Hillsong

Nehemiah 12:

Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

1.  I will spend time thanking Him with my piano

²⁷ Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. 
 

3.  I will spend time thanking Him with my voice Jesus you may have to help with that

²⁸ And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹ from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem.  

4.  I will spend time thanking Him with repentance and purifying myself

³⁰ Then the priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

5.  I will spend time thanking Him with my support of my leaders and my prayer partners

³¹ So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right hand on the wall toward the Refuse Gate.

6.  I will spend time thanking Him for my garbage by thinking how much of the stuff in my house I can use to bless others

 

7.  I will spend time thanking Him with my remembrance of others and giving Him thanks for all the people in my life

 

  ³² After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, ³³ and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵ and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets—Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶ and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. Ezra the scribe went before them.  

8.  I will spend time thanking Him beside the waters (maybe in a hot bath) ok you get the point

³⁷ By the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up the stairs of the City of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as the Water Gate eastward.
³⁸ The other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the Tower of the Ovens as far as the Broad Wall, ³⁹ and above the Gate of Ephraim, above the Old Gate, above the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped by the Gate of the Prison.
⁴⁰ So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; ⁴¹ and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Minjamin,^[j] Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; ⁴² also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. 

The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.

⁴³ Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.

I find this chapter in Nehemiah beyond normal comprehension.  After He had been ridiculed and heckled and when they had to put weapons in one hand and a tools in the other that Nehemiah and his men didn't grumble and complain instead they took great strides to give thanks!

I find myself everyday with tools in one hand and weapons in the other and so do you.  We are building the Kingdom of God. 

Do you need some victory in your life?

1 Corinthians 15:57

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Something to do always not just on Saturday but I like to take at least one day a month and make this my goal. 

Corrie Ten Boom and Betsy Ten Boom were in Ravensbrook concentration camp in Germany in WW2 it was completely full of fleas and Betsey was reminding Corrie of this scripture they had read that morning the one below, Corrie answered There is no way God can make me thankful for fleas and then after she sighed and gave thanks for fleas.  It was a while later when they were talking about how the guards didn't come in their barracks the nurse assistant told them it was because of the fleas. Leaving them wide open to share the word of God to pray with people and to find a place of safety.

Ephesians 5:19-21

¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God.

So for those of you were reading 2 weeks ago try to continue to increase your lists of thanks, find new ways to give thanks.  Meditate on the Word of God about Thanks and see how it all goes again.