[aron]

Originally Posted by countmeworthy

PROMISE-PROBLEM and PROVISION aww...great minds think a like. Must be that our minds are being renewed!

Yes, I was thinking of something you wrote recently on another thread when I equated obstacles with opportunity for the proving of our faith. You'd mentioned the case where Paul & Silas were in jail in Phillipi, bloody and bruised, facing death. They sang hymns of praise to the Father, and the Father said, "Amen" and the earth shook. That's powerful stuff! They didn't wait 'till the doors opened to praise the Father. They praised the Father with the doors shut and the chains still bound firmly. Then the Father moved, and opened the doors.

Originally Posted by countmeworthy

We enter into HIS Gates with Thanksgiving..into HIS Courts with Praise..and into the Presence of God with Worship. We begin by confessing and repenting..to forgive as we have been forgiven, to trust in the cleansing Blood of the Lamb and to believe He makes ALL Things NEW, blessing us and granting us DIVINE FAVOUR from above.

One thing I realized recently is that we enter His Gates with (i.e. via, or because of) Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the key to enter the kingdom. I had it backwards; I thought that it was entry first, then thanksgiving. No, God wants me to thank Him by faith, before His Gates open wide.

Likewise, we enter His Courts with (i.e. via, or because of) Praise. Praise is the key to our entry into His Courts. Don't think you must wait to be placed in His Courts, before you can praise. You may have a long wait! Instead, just start praising, wherever you are. Praising is the key to our entry into His Courts. The formula is praise first, then you will enter His Courts, not praises after entry. Faith is key here.

For a long time, I was passive, waiting to be saved. Then one day I was reading those verses and I realized the entry into the kingdom of God was before me. I can praise and thank Him, and nothing can stop my entry. What a mercy to it was to see this! I was so happy when I realized what those verses meant for me.

Some of the LC'ers may say, "Yes, we have those truths", but I would reply, "They are not your truths. They are God's truths". They are freely given, and available to all.