“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man (woman) remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

“We have a bush that looks like it is dying. The top of the bush is brown, the needles are falling off and it is leaning over. It is one of a pair of bushes that flanks the sidewalk leading up to the front door. We purchased twin bushes at the same time, from the same garden center. They have received exactly the same amount of sun, rain, wind, air, and yes, even hail one night. They are about three years old and very established plants, but one started having a few brown needles at the top, then little-by-little it began to turn brown farther and farther down until it reached the middle of the bush. Yikes, I don’t have twin bushes anymore! What could be wrong with it? I began to nurse it with fertilizer and extra water, but nothing helped.

One day I got mad and decided to just rip it out of the pot and throw it away, it was taking too much of my time and energy. When I dumped the pot over and the dirt fell off of the roots, I noticed some funny looking bugs on one section of the roots chomping away. The largest root had been chewed in half! No wonder the top had turned brown. The root that carried “life” to the top of the bush was no longer connected. The top of the bush was not receiving sustenance of any kind. If that happened to any living thing, it would die.”

This time of year comes with fun, stress, fear, and struggles. You may look forward to it and/or you may already be stressed about it. Even though people say, “Jesus is the reason for the season”, from my observation point, a great number of faithful Christians neglect the person behind the “reason” this time of year, is that you? If your shopping doesn’t get done, if your decorations are not perfect, if you don’t attend every function that calls your name, make sure the “root” doesn’t get chomped in two. Talking about Jesus doesn’t keep the root attached… talking to Him does. Your relationship with Him is the most important thing this season. If you “remain”, you will “produce” Christmas fruit! Yum!

Love is the greatest gift we can give to each other. Let’s shower the world with it for the last few days of this year. If we do that… the world will be a better place next year, agree?

My prayer for you is that you will repair all roots that have been severed in your life, and that you will decide to live a life filled with the awe and wonder of Christ everyday. I pray health and wealth, prosperity and abundance for you and your household. But most of all, I pray for LOTS of Christmas fruit… YUMMY! It is very healthy and lives on and on…

Blessings, love and prayers for you…
Kathy

The excerpt above ” ” is taken from the study, “To Water or Not to Water… the Roots”. Watch for the series… available soon!

This is the final lesson in this series and most likely the most familiar to you. From the inception of Praise Him! I knew about this facet of praise and most, if not all, people do, but the capacity in which they know it is another matter. This is the week we celebrate our Lord. We see celebration in church services, conferences, football stadiums, and some of us probably do some form of it in our homes on a regular basis for many occasions. So, maybe, you understand celebration, but what about celebrating God and what He has done and is doing for you?

This is a very exciting form of praise and even though it is familiar maybe you are still reserved about it. Have you ever cast off your entire reserved-ness and celebrated the Lord? My comparison is to a sports event. Have you ever thrown caution to the wind and celebrated the Lord the way fans celebrate at sporting events? Why or why not?

How do you celebrate the Lord? Be specific in your answer. When do you celebrate the Lord? Are there specific times when you should celebrate the Lord? Yes and no, yes, because the word of God says there are specific times to celebrate, and no, because if you are a child of the King of Kings, every moment of everyday is a reason to celebrate!

Let’s take a look at the Greek and Hebrew words that mean celebrate.
The Hebrew words: Hilluwl (hil-lool’) means, “rejoicing and praise” (Leviticus 19:24); Zamar means, “to sing praise, to make music, to play an instrument” (Psalm 7:17); Tahillah means, “to praise, to sing a hymn of praise, public rejoicing” (Deuteronomy 10:21, Isaiah 42:10); and finally Towdah means, “praise, thanksgiving, worship” (Jeremiah 33:11). The Israelites knew how to celebrate the Lord. They were not reserved or cared what anyone thought. Their Jehovah was the most important one, how about you? The Greek word Humneo (hoom-neh’-o) means, “to sing the praise of” (Matthew 26:30, Acts 16:25).

When I first began to realize that there was more to praise than what I had seen or heard was the day I heard a song called, “Ain’t Gonna Let no Rock” by Alvin Slaughter.

This is the chorus:
“Ain’t gonna let no rock out praise me,
Ain’t gonna let it sing in my place.
I will make a joyful noise,
I will sing a joyful song,
That is pleasing to the ear of the Lord.”
That song comes from Luke 19:40.

This brings me to the hardest question that I have had to ask during this series, “Are you letting the rocks cry out in your place?” How many days or weeks go by that you don’t celebrate your love and gratefulness to the Lord? I suggest that you get a pan and a spoon if you don’t have any other instrument and “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” today. I am sorry that this world has conditioned us into believing that praise has to be perfect and fitting the rules laid down. Praise is a sweet aroma to the Lord in “any” fashion!

I suggest that you put on some music, take off your shoes and socks (because you are on Holy ground) and belt it out with all your might! Dance before the Lord like David did. What an amazing thing to teach our children! Maybe the next generation will not be silent!
We ain’t gonna let no rocks out praise us… are we?

Praisin’ Him!
Kathy

The title of this lesson is “The ‘O’ Word”, because if I said the whole word some of you would “check out”. There are not any books on the shelves that are titled with this word. Many books, however, have this subject interwoven in them, but not as the actual theme, why not?

My experience and observation has been that most people including Christians have a hard time with the subject of obedience. Not only that they feel like it is a huge set of “rules and regulations”, but a mean watchful eye from above that demands for us to be “perfect”. Obedience is that and so much more to me… and I didn’t like it either. Most people would want you to believe that they are obedient to God’s Word and His Voice. I had been under the teaching that it is “good for you” and “pleasing to God”, but it still felt like I was choking as I feebly attempted to try to obey… miss the mark, and then, try again.

Stop right now and answer these two questions. 1) What % of time are you obedient to God’s word? 2) What % of time are you obedient to God’s voice (the Holy Spirit)? Please be honest, you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.

The good news today is that obedience is praise! That is right… praise! One of the words I discovered that was translated praise is the Greek word arÍte. The definition is, “a virtuous course of thought, feeling, and action; any particular moral excellence; praise.” Does that sound like obedience to you? How sweet that arÍte would sometimes be translated into the word praise? Now, how does the word obedience make you feel since you know it is praise? Better?

Here are some scriptures where the word arÍte is used. Read Philippians 4:8, in the NIV, “arÍte” has been translated, “praiseworthy”. The end of the verse says to “think on these things”. Read 1 Peter 2:9, “that you may declare the praises (arÍte) of Him-the obedience of being called out of darkness into the light! Read 2 Peter 1:3, this time, “arÍte” was translated “godliness”. You have been given everything you need in His “divine power” for obedience (arÍte) in “thought, feeling, and action”! That, my beloved, is amazing and wonderful! The final verse is 2 Peter 1:5, “arÍte” is translated into the word “godliness” again, and, of course, it produces, “brotherly kindness”, which is praise!

There are many reasons to obey in addition to it being praise to God as I have mentioned here. Explore these other verses where “arete” is used throughout the NT. Spend some time writing down all the blessings that come with this form of praise. Deuteronomy 28: 2-4, Romans 1:5, Deuteronomy 6:3, 1 Samuel 15:22, John 14:23, and 1 John 5:3… enjoy and experience “arÍte” today!

May this lesson on the subject of praise be a springboard to the joy of obedience for you. I have one final question, “If obedience is praise… then, how much praisin’ is goin’ on in your life today?”

I pray that you will be “set free” from your “boxed in” thinking about obedience, as I was when I discovered this remarkable Greek word for praise.

Praisin’ Him…
Kathy

I pray that this series is broadening and enriching your praise experience and is accomplishing all God would want it to accomplish in and through your life.

Why would confessing and blessing be praise? Take a moment and answer that for yourself before you read on. We will look at each word separately and then why they work together.

Confessing

… what does that word conjure up in your mind? For years, I thought that unless I was sick over my sin and burdened by it (even after I had “confessed” it), I was not forgiven. Guess what? I was wrong, so very wrong! When Jesus died on the cross for your sin, it was forgiven… ALL of it! The past sin, the present sin, and the future sin were forgiven. So, why confess you might ask? The Hebrew word “yadah” means, “to throw, to shoot, to cast down”, and it is translated 52 times as the word “praise” in the Old Testament. Doesn’t that sound like “confessing” to you? To put it in daily life, we agree with God that we have done _________ and then we throw it, shoot it, and cast it down… Jesus, while hanging on the cross, said “It is finished.” What was finished? He had removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. But… do you let Him? Or, do you let the enemy cripple you with the thoughts and guilt of it? If so, then, you have to “yadah” until the guilt is gone. The theme of confession is a huge topic and can be seen in many different ways, but in this study we are looking at it in the form of praise! Remember… yadah was translated 52 times as the word praise. Here are some of them that you can look up for yourself today: Psalm 7:17, 32:5, 35:18, 43:5, 79:13, 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 119:7, 138:1, Isaiah 12:1. Use those verses to help you gain an even greater understanding of the word praise in relation to confessing.

Now what about blessing? The Hebrew word is “eulogeo” and it means: “to praise, to consecrate, to bless, to ask a blessing, blessed”. Blessing is the outward expression of and result of confessing. We walk away from confessing a new, clean, vibrant, lighter person. The result is… blessing to others. A person who wants to bless others the way she/he has just been blessed. There is nothing more exciting than to know-that-you-know that you have been forgiven! Do you bless others? When? How? What do your words sound like (that is a great indicator)? Blessing is a form of praise! These verses will help you to understand eulogeo today in your own life. I pray that the Lord will bless you for taking the time to read them, Matthew 5:44, 26:26, Luke 6:28, 13:35, 1 Corinthians 4:12, Galatians 3:9.

Remember: all praise is outward, which results in upward praise! Let praise flow out of you today, which will be a sweet aroma to the throne! I will be watching the sky to see your aroma rising…

Praisin’ Him!

Kathy

Is kneeling something you do? When? Why? Where? How often? How important do you think kneeling is in your spiritual life?

Some Christians show that kneeling is important to them and some don’t. I visit churches all over the world and kneeling is important to some and not to others. But… why do they kneel? Do they know why? Did you know that the Bible talks quite a bit about kneeling? Today, we are going to look at the kneeling that is praise. Did you know kneeling was praise?

The Hebrew word for “praise” that we are going to explore today is barak. The definition of barak is, “to praise, to salute, to curse, to bless, to kneel”. The word barak is used 311 times in the Old Testament. We will look at a couple of them today. The first scripture is Psalm 72:15 (AMP), “And He shall live; and to Him be given gold; prayer also shall be made for Him and through Him continually, and they shall bless and praise (barak) Him all day long.” Praise (barak) is kneeling when praying. The second scripture is 1 Chronicles 16:36 (Amplified Bible), “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! And all the people said Amen! and praised (barak) the Lord.” Praise (barak) is kneeling in the presence of the King-does that show reverence and honor and submission to Him? Absolutely!

What are the benefits of kneeling? For the sake of space, please look up the scripture, read it, and then read my thoughts.

Isaiah 45:23 (read)-Isaiah was giving a very familiar (to us) statement relating to the time when Jesus comes again! The word “confess” means: “swear allegiance in public” to praise (barak) Him, do you do that? There is a great benefit for you and for others if/when you do. Is kneeling to praise Him in public hard for you to do, why, why not?

Philippians 2:10 (read)-this is the same statement, but it says, “At the name of Jesus”. How reverently do you react to Jesus’ name? Our casual society does not revere the names of God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit like we should. We could take a lesson from the Hebrew people. They even wrote God, G_d, because the name is so Holy. Remember what happened when Jesus said, “I AM” in the garden? Is your faith, your reverence, your praise (barak) too casual? Have you forgotten how Holy “they” are? The benefit is placing ourselves in the correct position in relationship to our Lord.

There are many more scriptures and thoughts surrounding them, but not enough space or time today. You can purchase the whole study “Praise Him.”

Kneeling…
Kathy

“Lord, I type this prayer to you on my knees today. I praise you by placing myself at your feet knowing that it is the safest place to be. Help me to remember your Lordship today and the benefits surrounding that. Amen!”

What do you do/say to honor, glorify and magnify the Lord? What have you witnessed in others that honors, glorifies and magnifies Him? You may be surprised to discover the answer to those questions today? Stop for a few minutes and answer this question: “How do you show honor and glory to the Lord… walk through it, describe it in detail, and demonstrate it.”

Most people that I have asked to do this exercise, depict prayer, singing with hands lifted, and talking to others about God. Those are very safe “churchy” responses. They are not wrong, but very typical. You will be blessed to discover this side of praise today.  Let’s look at the definition of the key words for praise from Webster’s dictionary.

Honor: “a showing of merited respect; esteem shown to another; accompanying praise; profound respect mingled with love and devotion.”
Glorify: “bestowing honor, praise, and admiration; gratification; exaltation; a spot of light.”
Magnify: “to cause to be held in greater esteem; to increase in significance; to intensify; to exaggerate; to enlarge in fact or appearance”.

Doxadzo is the Greek word for the facet of praise we are focusing on today. The definition of doxadzo: “to think, suppose, be of opinion, to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate, to honor, do honor to, hold in honor, to make glorious, adorn with luster, clothe with splendor, to impart glory to something, render it excellent, to make renowned, render illustrious, to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged”. Now that you have read and processed that definition, how do you think we show this kind of praise… upward or outward?

Before I began studying to do this series, I would have said that praise is always upward. That is how we praise! That is what I have witnessed! But, how do you feel now?

Angels were created to praise the Lord. They and the elders sing around the throne all day and night, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and is, and is to come”, Revelation 4:8. Does He really need you to do that too? If you look at the definition for doxadzo, where do we need to “make renowned, render illustrious, or cause dignity and worth to become manifest”? Heaven already knows… all of earth does not!
Doxadzo is used 62 times in 54 scriptures in the New Testament and it is all transliterated to the word “praise”!

Look up these scriptures today and “magnify”, “honor”, and “praise” Him the way God intended… outwardly!
1 Peter 4:11, Matthew 5:16, 1 Corinthians 6:20, Galatians 1:24, Revelation 15:4 all contain the word “doxadzo” and speak of “outward” praise. Look them up, replace the word praise for the meaning of doxadzo, and manifest them today in an outward way.

Magnify, honor and glorify (doxadzo) Him outwardly today! People will be blessed… and it will result in honoring, glorifying and magnifying the Lord…

Praising (doxadzo) today…
Kathy

The part of praise that we will look at today is thanks. Webster’s dictionary definition of thanks: “an expression of gratitude; not as a result of any benefit conferred; the act of giving thanks; a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness”. How remarkable is that definition? In our western culture, we say, “thank you” when someone does or says something kind. If you read the definition again, that is not what this word “thanks” means.

Giving thanks to the Lord is thanking Him “just because”, not for any reason, gift, answered prayer, or easy day.

The word “praise” in Hebrews 13:15 (above) is translated from the Greek word Ainesis, which means, “a thank offering”. Why that word was translated to the word praise, I will never know. Read it again with the word “thanks” in place of the word “praise”. That is the way it was intended by the writer. Praise is not a sacrifice of the lips for most believers, is it? But… thanks for nothing is a sacrifice. Doesn’t that make more sense? Of course, it does! It was the way we were to hear it. How easy is it for you to give thanks when your prayers have not been answered the way you prayed? When you have prayed for healing and it hasn’t happened yet? “That” is sacrifice of lips!

There are other derivatives of the word Ainesis which also explain the word praise and we will briefly look at those: 1) Aineo: “to sing your praises”, Luke 19:37, Romans 15:1, Luke 2:13, 2:20, 24:53; 2) Ainos: “laudatory discourse” (thanking out loud), Matthew 21:16, Luke 18:43. All of those verses have the word praise, but are really saying thanks. Read them and insert the word “thanks” in place of the word “praise” today. What a revelation that will be for you!

The word is a deep mine and the deeper you go the greater the treasure will be. Don’t be apprehensive about digging deep into the word. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”, don’t let that be your weakness. We need to be strong and digging makes you very strong!

“Thank you Lord for being who you are, help me to thank you for all things even when I don’t see anything to be thankful for. You are worthy of praise (ainesis-thanks) just because…”

Thankful…
Kathy

What does your praise look like/feel like? How often and for what reason(s) do you praise the Lord? Is your praise uninhibited or copycatted? The discovery of the reason for praise leads to an adventure which will take you to a height most likely not attained before. Like every time you approach the Word, do you ask God to remove your preconceived and pre-taught ideas so you can hear and experience the Word anew?

Read all of Psalm 150 right now and do what it says…

How was that? Did you do what it says? Did you use your tambourine and Shofar? If you did, fantastic! If you did not…why not?

When you delve into the Word and break it apart, you begin to experience the Word, not just read the Word. Let’s experience the Word today…

Are you a madman (madwomen) when it comes to praise? “Oh I couldn’t”, you say? “Why not”, I say? Most Christians in the United States have “proper-ized” (I know that is not a word, but it fits) themselves out of real, authentic praise and worship.  How do I know… that was me! I could let go just a bit at home, but never in public… never at Wal-Mart!

The word “praise” in Psalm 150 is the Hebrew word Halal.  It is used 140 times in the Old Testament, 12 times in Psalm 150 alone. The definition of Halal is: “to shine, to be boastful, to make a fool of, to act madly, to act like a madman.” How is that for authentic praise? Does the word “madman” scare you just a bit? I was a bit confused also, so I looked up the word “madman” in my friend Webster’s book. How amazed was I when I read, “a person who is completely unrestrained by reason of judgment, a person incapable of being explained or accounted for, a person carried away by enthusiasm or desire, a person marked by gaiety and merriment, a person intensely excited, a person marked by intense and often chaotic activity, a person who does a task to a great degree.” Does that sound like heavenly praise to you?

Your breath, the very essence of the Spirit that is inside you, should be leaping with the expectation of authentic, manifested Halal as you read this. He wants you to praise without restraint from your “properness” today. How do I know? The last verse of Psalm 150, “Let everything that has breath (the breath of God—the Holy Spirit), Halal the Lord!” that is how I know! If the Holy Spirit lives in you… you know it too!

Believers in Christ should be the ones who are madmen/madwomen in this world. We are the ones pointing the way. If you want further study and proof, read about the triumphal entry in all four gospels. If we “get” that… we will never lead others to Him in our stoic, proper, inhibited praise again!

Do you know the story of the Pied Piper? We are the “chosen” Pied Pipers for Christ, ordained before the creation of the world to lead. Will you lead in the dance today?

Halal… y’all,
Kathy

Praise is a basic way to express our faith and to strengthen it. From cover to cover the Bible shows faith is the basic response that God is looking for. Faith moves God to reveal Himself to us and do His mighty work in us, as well as for us. Faith brings victory in the midst of circumstances that don’t change.

It’s not that praise is a sort of magical incantation that makes us strong in faith and maneuvers God into doing what we want. Rather, through praise we focus on God. We fix our inner eyes on Him with a basic trust in Him. Our praise springs from this simple response of faith, this simple choice to believe God; and praise increases our confidence in Him.

Through praise you can demonstrate your faith in God to work in the present as He has in the past. All of those examples of people of great faith—Joseph, Paul, Moses, etc., your name could be listed with theirs—all it takes is great faith in a great God who wants “good” for you (You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, Genesis 50:20)

In the twenty-first century as in the first… praise can increase our faith and release the transforming power of Christ in us and our situations. Even in troubled circumstances, or when God does not choose to work in spectacular ways, praise can help us view our situation through different lenses. It can help produce within us a restful, invigorating inner climate.

So… praise brings obvious victory, or it enables us to turn apparent defeats into victories. It tunes out the conflicting voices that shatter our faith and block our love; and it tunes us in to God’s guidance, so we can discern what to do.

Praising…

Kathy