"Unfettered"

1. Let your praise be unfettered.

2. Let your worship be unfettered.

3. Let your prayers be unfettered.

4. Let your reading of the word be unfettered.

5. Let your service to God and others be unfettered.

6. Let your acknowledgement of His Presence be unfettered.

7. Let your sharing of His goodness be unfettered in your time, talents, and giftings.

(*) Unfettered

A fetter is a chain or shackle for the feet (such as the kind sometimes used on a prisoner), or, more broadly, anything that confines or restrains. Fetter and unfetter both function as verbs in English with contrasting literal meanings having to do with the putting on of and freeing from fetters; they likewise have contrasting figurative extensions having to do with the depriving and granting of freedom. The adjective unfettered resides mostly in the figurative, with the word typically describing someone or something unrestrained in progress or personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

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John 8:36 ...  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

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Start Your Day ...

Every morning - Wake up and Praise the Lord!

Psalm 5:3 ... My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 31:3 ... For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Psalm 34:1 ... I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ❤

Rejoice!!

 To Rejoice is a Choice.

Philippians 4:4 ... Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

Matthew 5:12 ... Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Romans 5:2 ... By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ❤

Garment of Praise!!

High prices for food, gas, and rents are weighing on people like never before. The Bible speaks of “the spirit of heaviness,” which is demonic oppression, and fear always accompanies demonic oppression. It can feel as if two hundred pounds have been dropped on your shoulders; as if the sun has been hidden from view, and there is nothing but darkness. That’s the reason the Holy Spirit called it “the spirit of heaviness.” 

But thank God, in this same verse the Holy Spirit also refers to “a garment of praise,” which we are to wear like clothing, to cover. That means as you adore, love, praise, thank, and worship the Lord, it covers your spirit, and it covers your soul. As you praise and magnify the name of the Lord, you will sense a euphoric spirit of joy that will fill your heart and fill your soul, but here’s the main thing: There will be no place for evil thoughts, no place for doubt or unbelief, no place for fear, no place for depression, and no place for discouragement. 

Why? Because you are praising the One who can do all things. 

Praise the Lord! 

[Frances Swaggart]

Isaiah 61:3 ... To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto 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. ❤

Praise Up!!

Like supernatural effervescence, praise will sometimes bubble up from the joy of simply knowing Christ. Praise like that is delight. Pure pleasure! But praise can also be supernatural determination. A decisive action. Praise like that is a quiet resolve. Fixed devotion. Strength of spirit.

[Joni Eareckson Tada]

Psalm 98:4 ... Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. ❤

The Heart..

Two people endure the same experience. One comes out praising God. The other comes out blaming God. The difference lies in the heart. 

1 Thessalonians 2:4 ... But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

Psalm 51:10 ...  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Matthew 12:35 ...  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. ❤

Soul Emancipation

Soul-emancipation is the noblest form of liberation and calls for the loudest praise. He who is delivered from the dungeon of despair is sure to magnify the name of the Lord. 

[Charles Spurgeon]

Psalm 71:15 ... My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.

Psalm 9:1 ...  I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

Luke 1:49 ... For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Exodus 15:2 ... The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. ❤

Praise Him!!

How heartbreaking that too many witnesses of God's goodness are silent witnesses. We must not allow this to be true of us! Praise and verbalizing thankful hearts are very becoming behaviors of God's children.  The birds rise in the morning and are saluting the rising sun with their sweet notes on the air. Thus, should we strike up our harps in praising God at the first appearance of a mercy. 

 [William Gurnall]

Psalm 117:1 ... O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

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Worship God.

Worship must not be designed to to please the unbeliever or the believer.  Worship should be designed to please God.

[R. C. Sproul]

John 4:24 ... God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Psalm 96:8 ... Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.❤

Fill My Life With Thee

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,

In every part with praise,

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy being and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor e’en the praising heart

I ask, but for a life made up

Of praise in every part!

Praise in the common words I speak,

Life’s common looks and tones,

In fellowship in hearth and board

With my belovèd ones;

Not in the temple crowd alone

Where holy voices chime,

But in the silent paths of earth,

The quiet rooms of time.

Fill every part of me with praise;

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be, and weak.

So shalt Thou, Lord, from me, e’en me,

Receive the glory due;

And so shall I begin on earth

The song forever new.

So shall each fear, each fret, each care

Be turned into a song,

And every winding of the way

The echo shall prolong;

So shall no part of day or night

From sacredness be free;

But all my life, in every step

Be fellowship with Thee.

[Horatius Bonar]

Psalm 150:6 ...  Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. ❤

Grateful Heart

The grateful heart that springs forth in joy is not acquired in a moment; it is the fruit of a thousand choices.

[Nancy Leigh DeMoss]

 

Psalm 138:1 ... I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. ❤

The Thanksgiving Habit

The annual Thanksgiving Day in America, has grown to be a national festival. It is a day of rejoicing. It summons all the people to gratitude. It is fitting that a people who have received untold blessings, should set apart one day on which all should recall their mercies, think of God as the Giver of all and express their grateful feelings in words of praise.

But it is not intended that the other three hundred and sixty four days shall be empty of thanksgiving, because one is named as an especial day of rejoicing. We cannot crowd into any one day, all the thanks of a year. Indeed, on no one day can we be grateful for another day. No one person can give thanks for a whole company of people. So no one day can give thanks for any but itself. All the days should be thanksgiving days. Any that is not, lacks something, and stands as imperfect days in the calendar. We are told that we may count that day lost in which we do no kindness to anyone. In like manner may be set down as a lost day that one in which no songs of gratitude rises from our hearts and lips to God.

Anybody can be thankful on one day of the year. At least it ought to be possible for even the most gloomy and pessimistic person to rouse up to grateful feeling, on the high tide of an annual Thanksgiving day. No doubt it is something to pipe even one little song in a whole year of discontent and complaining the kind of living with which some people fill their years. God must be pleased to have some people grateful even for a few moments in a long period of time, and to hear them sing even once in a year. But that is not the way He would have us live. The ideal life is one that is always thankful, not only for a little moment on a particularly fine day. "Praise is lovely," that is, beautiful, beautiful to God. The life which pleases Him is the one which always rejoices.

[J. R. Miller]

1 Chronicles 16:34 … O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 … In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Psalm 100:4 … Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.❤

My Only Causes of Complaint

I am blessed with perfect health, and all things have been well with us abroad and at home.  My only causes of complaint arise from my depraved nature and the workings of indwelling sin. I wish I was more humbled for them, and watchful against them.   I trust I do, in some measure, know what manner of people the Lord's redeemed ought to be, and I hope sincerely to be growing and pressing forward. But indeed, I am not what I would be, or should be.

I would be thankful,  few have more evident causes.  I would be humble, none can have greater reason.  I would be more spiritually-minded for even my experience tells me that all below is vanity. Surely my lot is peculiarly favored, for the Lord has wonderfully anticipated and exceeded my wishes on every hand. But without the light of His countenance, all is faint and tasteless.  Blessed be God for the news of a better world, where there will be no sin, change, or defect, forever!

Let us praise Him, likewise, that He has appointed means of grace and seasons of refreshment here below for a throne of grace, a precious Bible, and returning ordinances. These are valuable privileges, and so they appear to us when our hearts are in a lively frame. Then everything appears little and worthless, in comparison with communion with God. O for a coal of fire from the heavenly altar to warm our frozen hearts! O for a taste of divine love and a glimpse of glory that we might mount up as with eagle's wings!

[John Newton]

Isaiah 40:31 …  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 60:1 … Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

Psalm 27:6 … nd now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.❤

Notice The Birds

Did you notice the birds singing the morning, all bright and chirping? Don't they know who is president? Don't they know about trouble in the Middle East? Didn't they hear about Russian collusion? What about gas prices and jobless rates?

Perhaps, they sing because they know whom provides for them in symmetrical harmony. Perhaps, they do not care or pine over such things that whither away like flowers in the grass. Put on a garment of praise this morning; receive a good word; never lose the sweetness of your spirit.

[Larry Gatten]

Matthew 6:26 ... Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?❤

Praise More!

If we complained less, and praised more, we should be happier, and God would be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies, common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of them we are ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad, for the bread we eat, for the raiment we wear. Let us praise him that we are not cast out among the hopeless, or confined amongst the guilty; let us thank him for liberty, for friends, for family associations and comforts; let us praise him, in fact, for everything which we receive from his bounteous hand, for we deserve little, and yet are most plenteously endowed.

But, beloved, the sweetest and the loudest note in our songs of praise should be of redeeming love. God’s redeeming acts towards his chosen are forever the favourite themes of their praise. If we know what redemption means, let us not withhold our sonnets of thanksgiving. We have been redeemed from the power of our corruptions, uplifted from the depth of sin in which we were naturally plunged. We have been led to the cross of Christ, our shackles of guilt have been broken off; we are no longer slaves, but children of the living God, and can antedate the period when we shall be presented before the throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Even now by faith we wave the palm-branch and wrap ourselves about with the fair linen which is to be our everlasting array, and shall we not unceasingly give thanks to the Lord our Redeemer? Child of God, canst thou be silent? Awake, awake, ye inheritors of glory, and lead your captivity captive, as ye cry with David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

Let the new month begin with new songs.

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Psalm 107:8 ... Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Hebrews 13:15 ... By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Romans 15:11 ... And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.❤

Early Morning

The early morning hour should be dedicated to praise: do not the birds set us the example?

[Charles Spurgeon]

Psalm 92:1-2 ... It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:  To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,



Jeremiah 20:13 ... Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

1 Chronicles 23:30 ... And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even:❤

Praise and Testimony

There is no such thing as salvation without a testimony. The New Birth opens the heart of the regenerate and gives his lips wings of praise and testimony to the eternal change in his life. There is no substitution or counterfeiting of this process, salvation is a life changing, testimony creating miracle.

[Danny Peace]

Psalm 107:2 ... Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Isaiah 52:7 ... How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Revelation 12:11 ... And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.❤

Praise Him!

If I had as many angel's tongues, as there have fallen drops of rain since the creation; or as there are leaves of trees in all the forests of the earth; or stars in the heavens to praise him, yet my Lord Jesus would ever be behind with me.

[Samuel Rutherford]

Psalm 150:1-6 ... Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.❤

O For a Thankful Heart!

What tremendous cause we have to be thankful; what marvelous reasons we have to be grateful!  We are surrounded by mercies, both temporal and spiritual. If we look back, we ought to rejoice that God has chosen us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world;  He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins; He sent His Holy Spirit into our hearts, to convince us of sin, lead us to Jesus, and make us fit for Heaven!

We have His Word in our hands, His grace in our hearts, His mercies in our houses, His Heaven before our eyes! O for a thankful heart!  Let us take our poor, hard, ungrateful hearts to Jesus.  He can soften them and fill them with gratitude! Let us confess our ingratitude before Him, and mourn over our unthankfulness at His feet.

O Jesus, grant us a deep sense of our utter unworthiness, and of Your unmerited goodness that our souls may daily praise You with joyful lips! May we live as thankful dependents on Your gracious bounty; as grateful, loving children, before our Father and our God  and daily be thankful.

Through all eternity, to You, A joyful song I'll raise; But O eternity's too short, To utter all Your praise!

[James Smith]

Colossians 3:15 ...  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Psalm 100:4 ... Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalm 138:1 ... I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.❤

My Heart Leaps Within Me

Jesus is an ocean of delights, a sea of pleasure, a fountain of bliss! There is enough in Jesus, and in the happiness which we shall eternally enjoy:  to comfort the most dejected saint, to soothe the sorrows of the most tried soul,   to strengthen the weakest, and to stimulate the most feeble to press onward in the path of tribulation!

O for  more spirituality of soul,   more conformity to His lovely likeness,  more unreserved dedication to His holy service!

I often try thus to praise His dear name but am hindered by this heavy clog of clay,  by my evil heart of unbelief, and  by Satan presenting something to the mind to alarm, or draw me aside.

But shortly understanding, mind, will, and affections will all be sweetly engaged and employed in ascribing, "Blessing and honor, thanksgiving and power to Him who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever!"

My heart leaps within me at the thought of thus giving perfect and perpetual praise to my beloved Lord!

[James Smith]

Song of Solomon 5:16 ... His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Psalm 138:14 ... Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Revelation 5:13 ... And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.❤