Fear No Fear

“to preserve those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3, MEV). Church is drudgery without praise. It’s a CHORE. To be honest, if the church as a whole isn’t praise-centric then I don’t know why anyone would want to go. Why would you want to do that to yourself? Listen to people telling you how you aren’t making it, have struggles, and if you’re really, really lucky you’ll live long enough to die and get to the real goods. No thank you. Praisey people don’t have that worldview. Their mindset is on God. We don’t have to make it because He made it for us. We don’t have struggles. We have situations and He has provided solutions for – and He doesn’t keep them a secret. We have JOY we can turn on like a lightswitch (remember Joy isn’t a FEELING). We are very much looking forward to the total fulfillment of all promises, but until we get there we’re not treading water; we’re dancing and singing with our eyes on Jesus. Praise brings life to a church. Praise brings colour to life. Praise brings spice and aroma and satisfaction to every area of life. Praise is the abundancy of an abundant life. Instead of putting on an ill-fitting, itchy set of clothes for ‘Sunday best’, put on praise and rejoice in the Lord who is MORE THAN ENOUGH – for any and everything. Wear your praise like a coat, and never take it off, no matter what weather system you’re walking through. It’ll get you to the other side comfortable, dry, and warm. It’s 100% life-proof.