An Attitude of Praise

King David tells us very clearly what we have access to through the power of praise and thanksgiving. He says, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving." Somebody say, "Gates." >> Gates. He said, ' And enter into his courts with praise. Somebody say courts. >> Courts. >> The reason that David identifies these two places, the gates and the courts, is because in every ancient city, inside the gates, the walls of the city, is where court was held.

This is where decisions were made. This is where citizens who wanted judgment came and found a ruling on their issue. And what David is saying you get when you have thanksgiving and praise in your life is that you go into the very courts of heaven and you receive decisions on your behalf from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

In the book of Ruth, the fourth chapter, we read about Ruth and Boaz. And Boaz decides that he wants to find out who has the legal right to marry Ruth. And so the Bible says in Ruth 4:1, Boaz went up to the gate and he sat down there.

And then he waited for the close relative to come by and he invited him to sit down with the elders of the city. Why did Boaz go to the gates? Because that's where court was held. They enter into a negotiation and 10 verses later the Bible says all of the people who were at the gate and the elders said we are witnesses today through the power of praise and thanksgiving.

You can go into the very place where decisions in heaven are made concerning your life here on earth. And the angels that surround the throne and the saints who have gone before are nothing more than witnesses to what God is declaring on your behalf. When you worship the Lord, you don't have to wait for a judge to clear his docket to hear your case because you are going to the place where there is a king who is above kings and a lord who is above lords.

It is in that court that you don't have an advocate with a good reputation for all of the victories that he's won here on earth. You have an advocate with a name that is above every name who has risen from the grave and been seated at the right hand of God the Father.

The Bible tells us that the Lord inhabits the praises of his people. Do you need God to show up in your life? Are you waiting for his hand to do something? Are you waiting for a mountain to move? Are you waiting for a breakthrough? If you need God to show up, the Lord inhabits the praises of his people.

It means he literally comes and sits down in the environment where his name is being praised. And church, let me tell you, WHEN GOD SHOWS UP, the brokenhearted are made strong and mended in his presence. WHEN GOD SHOWS UP, THE weeping that has endured for the night is exchanged for a shout of joy that comes in the morning.

When God shows up, those who are sick in their body are healed. The lame can leap, the dumb can speak, the deaf can hear, the blind can see. AGAIN, WHENEVER GOD SHOWS UP, THOSE WHO ARE IN THE BATTLE are crowned MORE THAN CONQUERORS. WHEN GOD SHOWS UP, TROUBLES TURN INTO TRIUMPHS AND TRIALS TURN INTO VICTORIES BECAUSE THAT'S THE KIND OF GOD THAT WE SERVE.

Do you need a breakthrough today? Don't talk about what you want to change. Praise the name of the God who changes everything. Do you need hell to back up today? Talk to the one that whenever he shows up, he has the keys to death, hell, and the grave.

And he has already triumphed over them at a place called Calvary. It is through your power and your willingness to give God praise and thanksgiving that you experience his presence and walk in the victory that the Bible declares you can have in Jesus' name. When you understand the power of praise, there is no REASON FOR YOU NOT TO feel like a victorious Christian. >> I think God gets tired of listening to his kids whine about what they're enduring here on the earth.

He's already given us the victory. All we have to do is give him thanks and praise for what he has done. Which is why I want you to understand today, praise is not something you feel. Praise is a fact. It's something you do whether you feel like it or not. >> Praise is an attitude.

Praise is an attitude. Have you ever met somebody with an attitude? Trust me, as many years as I've been in church, I know all about attitudes. I'm looking at several of them in this sanctuary today. You can tell who came to church and you can tell who's been brought to church.

And it doesn't matter to me. Praise is not a feeling. Praise is an attitude. Job had this attitude of praise when he had lost everything that everyone would consider dear. He lost his business. He lost his health. He lost his children. He lost everything that he had spent his life accumulating.

And there sitting on the ash heap of his life, he said, "The Lord gives and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." That's an attitude of praise. Paul and Silas had an attitude of praise. The Bible in the book of Acts tells us that they were arrested for preaching the gospel and they were taken into the innermost parts of the dungeon and they were beaten and they were chained and they were tortured.

And then it says, "But at midnight they were singing hymns and offering praise unto God, and the presence of God came and visited the jail where they were being held until the very walls shook and every chain was broken and every door was opened." Why? Because they had an attitude of praise.

David had this attitude in Psalms 34 and verse one when he said,"I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. I will bless the Lord at all times." How much? >> All times. It's easy to bless the Lord when everything's going well.

But David didn't say, "I'm going to do it in the good times." He said, "I'm going to do it at all times." David wrote this psalm in the cave of Adullum. He's hiding from Saul. He's been anointed to lead. And yet, he's hiding in darkness. And he recognizes that he can turn his cave into a cathedral.

Not because he has the ability to escape his circumstance, but because he can through the power of praise bring God into his circumstance. >> You don't change the environment, you change the atmosphere. >> David had this attitude of praise and he gets down to the point of it very quickly whenever he says, "I will bless the Lord."

Say that with me. I will bless the Lord. He lets us know very quickly that praise is personal. Praise is personal. You have to make the decision to praise the Lord for yourself. >> And I have to make the decision to praise the Lord for myself. We must never fail to gather together and worship the Lord collaboratively, collectively in the congregation.

This is what the Bible says in Hebrews 10:2, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together." Jesus told his disciples, "Where two or three of you are gathered in my name, there I will be in your midst." Every Sunday when we get together here at Cornerstone Church, the presence of Jesus Christ shows up.

How do I know? Because he promised he would be here. Our corporate worship is essential. But when we get together corporately, I have to individually bring my contribution of praise and you have to individually bring your contribution of praise. Why? Because it doesn't matter how much I worship God, my praise doesn't benefit you, and your praise doesn't benefit me.

I have to give him my sacrifice just like you do. Praise is personal. Not only is praise personal, but praise is a sign of maturity. When you worship the Lord, you are letting the world know that you recognize where your blessings come from. Nobody expects a three-month-old child to finish dinner and look up at their mom and go, "Wow, that was great."

Best I've had in 90 days. Never has a newborn entered the world and while he is being given his birthday spankings looked up at the doctor and said, "You're really good at this." We don't expect it from infants and the immature because we recognize that they're not developed enough to know where they are and why they are and how they receive what they receive.

But when that child gets old enough to vote, they better learn to be thankful. They better learn to give gratitude and thanks to the individuals who have blessed them. When they're not developed enough to recognize the source of their blessing, they get a pass. But as they mature, they need to learn to say thank you.

Parents, if you've got 25 year old children that don't know how to be thankful, you need to correct that. >> Amen. >> If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, faith would have no meaning and hope would have no future. But Jesus did rise. And the same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in every believer.

Because Jesus lives, you can walk in victory today. With your gift of any amount, you'll receive an encouragement greeting card, eight pack, and a vial of anointing oil, tools to strengthen your prayer life. And with your gift of $150 or more, you'll also receive two copies of Pastor Hegy's brand new book, From Tomb to Triumph, one to keep and one to share, plus a fruit of the spirit tumbler along with the cards and anointing oil.

This leatherbound book contains that power that you need to experience. >> Call the number on screen, use the QR code, or go to jhm.org/victory. >> Praise is not just personal, but praise is powerful. When you read the word of God, you find out time and time again what the power of praise can do.

What brought down the impossible barrier of the walls of Jericho? Nothing more than a shout of praise. When the chauffear sounded, the children of Israel shouted in triumph. And what others saw as impossible became possible because of the power of praise. King David knew that praise was powerful.

Which is why whenever he faced the giant, he didn't look at the giant and say, "Excuse me, let me consult God about how I'm supposed to handle this." Goliath looked at David and said, "Today, I'm going to feed you to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field."

How many of you hear intimidation in that? David said, "You come to me with spear and a sword, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. You have natural weapons that you want to use against me, but my weapons are not carnal. My weapons are mighty in God for the pulling down of every stronghold and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

David had such an attitude of praise that when he faced the giant, he didn't run to God and talk to God about the giant. He ran to the giant and said, "You don't know anything about the God that I serve. If he's for me, then who can be against me?

Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. I am more than a conqueror through Christ." Was he intimidated? No. Because God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but one of power and of love and of sound mind. David recognized that if he could lift his voice and magnify the king above kings who is mighty in battle, then the giant that stood before him was nothing more than a victory that was waiting TO BE WON.

CHILD OF GOD, maybe you've been facing the impossible. Stop walking around your problem, worrying about how it's going to be fixed, AND START MAGNIFYING God that he can move mountains. If you've been waiting FOR GOD TO SHOW UP IN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE, if you've been waiting for God to defeat the giant that YOU'RE FACING, STOP TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT HOW BIG YOUR PROBLEMS ARE AND START TELLING YOUR PROBLEMS ABOUT THE MIGHTY GOD THAT YOU SERVE.

Praise is not only powerful, but whether you know it or not, praise is not optional. You don't get to choose. I just don't feel like praising today. So what? Praise him anyway. Amen. >> Why? Because the Bible says, "Let everything >> that has breath >> praise the Lord." >> Just real quick, so I'm certain that we're talking to the right audience, I need everybody to inhale.

Just go. Go ahead, take a breath. If you're a nonreather, sit this one out. But based on the breath that you just breathed, you just realized that you have been ordained as an instrument of praise. It does not matter what you feel like doing. It matters what you have been created to do.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. It's not an option. It's an opportunity to give God the praise and the glory that he and he alone is worthy of. People say, "Well, I just don't know that that's exactly accurate, pastor. I mean, I was raised to treat church seriously."

Me, too. Believe me, if you want to tell church stories, I bet I got a few more than you do. And I believe church is serious. I believe that every church is a place that is filled with people who were seriously lost >> and seriously bound and seriously living under the death sentence of sin, seriously slaves to a past that they could not escape.

And suddenly there was a God who loved you so much that he sent his only begotten son to seriously save you and set you free. When you were sick, he seriously paid the price for your healing. When you were in need, he seriously paid the price for your provision.

When you were under attack, he seriously crowned you with his loving kindness and prepared a table before you in the presence of your enemies. He has seriously set you free for whom the sun sets free is free indeed. He has broken the shackles and the chains of your shame BECAUSE OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY and behold all things have become new in Christ Jesus.

He has seriously given you the victory in your battle because he has said that you would be more than a conqueror through Christ. CHURCH, WHEN YOU REALIZE WHERE YOU WERE AND HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE, I BELIEVE THAT THE GOD WHO BROUGHT YOU THROUGH THE FIRE AND THE GOD WHO PROTECTED YOU IN THE FLOOD AND THE GOD WHOSE hand has BEEN UPON YOU, THAT GOD deserves a serious AMOUNT OF YOUR PRAISE.

SO LET everything that has breath praise the Lord. You say, "Well, I'm just not comfortable doing that." And you're going to be very upset when we get to heaven. You say, "I just don't know how to do that, liar. >> I've seen you people. You go to stadiums, >> hundreds of thousands of people there. >> Tell me about comfortable.

There's nothing comfortable about standing and staring at the back of some guy's sweaty neck, hoping that you can see the game. Having the guy behind you spit his hot dog ganachos all over the back of your hair as he's cheering on his teeth. Oh, I don't feel comfortable raising my hands in church.

I've seen you do the wave. You sit there waiting for your turn. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Oh, here it comes. Yeah. >> And then you have enough attitude to walk into church and when you see somebody who understands where their blessings come from lift their hands and raise their voice and magnify the king above kings, you give them a sideways look.

Let me tell you something. They know where real victory comes from. It comes from the King above kings and the Lord above lords. They know where real strength comes from. They know where hope comes from. They know where joy comes from. They know where peace comes from. Child of God, no matter what you're facing today, if you'll magnify his matchless name, then the God who created heaven and earth will enter your circumstance and bring you victory.

Are you sick? Praise his name because he sent his word and he healed them. Are you under attack? Praise his name because he is a banner in battle. DO YOU FEEL DOWN AND DEFEATED AND DEPRESSED? THEN MAGNIFY HIS NAME FOR HE is the glory and the lifter of your head.

Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. For the Lord is good and his mercy endures to EVERY GENERATION. GIVE GOD A SHOUT OF PRAISE IN THIS HOUSE TODAY. Remain standing. I say this in closing. Whether you praise God or not has nothing to do with your circumstances.

It has nothing to do with what you wish for and want. It has everything to do with your attitude. >> An attitude that recognizes that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. >> An attitude that recognizes that while the circumstances on this earth may change, the God that you praise is the same. yesterday, today, and forever. >> If he was worthy in the good times, then he's worthy in the hard times.

And you may look at me and say, "Preacher, you just don't know what I'm going through. You don't know what I've been through." >> You're right. There's way too many people in this church for me to know every detail about every person. That's not a problem for me because while I don't know your circumstance, I know the one who is walking through it with you. >> He said he'd never leave you nor forsake you. >> He said that he would prepare a table before you.

He said he would anoint your head with oil, that his goodness and his mercy would follow you all the days of your life. And he's never made a promise that he didn't keep. So in as much as that God is the God who's with you in whatever trial you face, I can say with full faith, confidence, and assurance today, you should praise the Lord >> because he is worthy to be praised.

Here's how we're going to end this service today. Praise is personal. My sacrifice doesn't liberate you. And your sacrifice doesn't liberate me. So, we're going to take a moment and offer God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in this sanctuary. Many of you here today and thousands of you watching, you need God to show up in your life.

We're getting ready to enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. We're getting ready to see supernatural decisions made about natural circumstances. Issues that you don't know how to solve, but he does. Problems that you can't fix, but he can. Battles that you can't win, but he's already got the victory.

He's just waiting for you to get in his presence and receive it. So, right where you are, I want you to lift your hands and raise your voice and just begin to offer him a sacrifice of praise. God, thank you. Thank you for the joy of my salvation.

Thank you for every gift and every good thing that you have given me. Thank you for the physical strength to be in your house today. Thank you for your mercy that is renewed every morning. Thank you for your grace that knows no measure and no limit and in spite of our inadequacy is sufficient.

Thank you, heavenly father, that your word does not return void but it accomplishes every purpose for which you sent it. Thank you, heavenly father, that you've given your angels charge over me to guard me and to protect me. Thank you that no weapon that has ever been formed against me would prosper.

Thank you that in the darkest of valleys, you are the light of the world who walks with me. Every step that I take. Thank you that every mountain that is in front of me, you can move it. And if you don't move it, you'll give me the strength to climb it.

Thank you that every enemy that I'll ever face has already been defeated because the battle belongs to the Lord. God, today we thank you that we can enter into your presence and into your courts with praise. Today we thank you that there's not a situation or a need that is represented in this room that you do not already know about.

Today we thank you that you have got the answer to every problem. That you have got sufficiency to supply every need. That you can and you will do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask, that we could think, that we can imagine because you are that and so much more. >> We thank you.

We thank you. We thank you. >> We have so many things to be thankful for. When you recognize that praise and worship are your all excess pass to the courts of heaven, you'll begin to count your blessings and understand that God is a good God. He's working all things out for your good.

One of the things that I'm thankful for is you being a part of this program and helping us carry all of the gospel to all of the world and every generation. To find out more how you can be a part of Hegy Ministries, please visit jhm.org. >> In a world filled with noise, one message still brings peace.

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