Our Most Blessed Assignment

Today’s Word of Encouragement from Wayne

"Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord"

1 Chronicles 16: 17

David blessed Asaph the Levite and his family by assigning them to be special priests unto the Lord, in His presence, to minister to Him and "to give thanks to the Lord." You and I have been given this same blessed assignment, to be "built up a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). Asaph, who himself went on to author twelve of the Psalms (50, 73-83) wrote this, as he was in the Spirit of God, in his first psalm, "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me" (Psalm 50: 23). When we minister to the Lord there is no doubt that we are honoring God, for He Himself is the sole reason why we say Yes to being the priests Jesus Christ has made us to be (Revelation 1: 5-6, 5: 9-10).

Ministering to the Lord is our deepest confession of the existence of God because we are coming to Him in the spirit, and we abide with Him in spirit, spending actual time in His presence, on a regular basis, and this honors God greatly. What are we sacrificing when we offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving? We are sacrificing our time, perhaps our own feelings, perhaps other priorities, when we draw near to God to minister to Him. Many times this does not feel like a sacrifice at all, because we know we are blessed to be in the presence of our Abba Father ("In Your presence is fullness of Joy" Psalm 16:11). But there are times when the regular drawing near to God may appear to be a sacrifice, if we are in difficulty of circumstance or emotion. So God is definitely honored when we put Him and the glory of His presence first, even though we may not at that time feel we are in tip top spiritual shape.

God sees our abiding with Him in His presence as our honoring Him. The New Testament author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus Christ, "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13: 15). Your lips are bearing spiritual fruit when you praise God in His presence and this honors your Lord. God blesses us so much when we are in His presence and it is truly amazing, on top of everything else, for us to realize that God says "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me." Beloved child of God, I encourage you to joyfully accept your assignment today, and the honor, "to give thanks to the Lord." Hallelujah!