Setting the Atmosphere

Every Sunday morning at my church, a group of leaders and altar workers gathers with our pastor for a short time of prayer before the church service begins. Usually, he starts with a few remarks to us, and then we all pray together. Last Sunday, my husband and I were sitting in the foyer, outside the room where we usually meet, as we chatted with people trickling in to head for the sanctuary. Our pastor slipped into the room, and I heard him beginning to pray before any of the rest of us had entered the room. Just a minute later, as we joined him, he was continuing in an attitude of praise as he paced in the room. More people joined in, and soon we were all praising and praying, asking God's presence and favor on our time together that day. It's not often that I feel the Holy Spirit's tangible presence, but that morning, I was very aware that something had shifted in the atmosphere. The sweet company of the Lord was most definitely in that place.  

An event like this one a much bigger scale happened in the Old Testament.

"Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praise the Lord, saying:

"For He is good,

For His mercy endures forever,"

that the house, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God."  

(1 Chronicles 5:13-14)

Fellow believers - think of the implications of this! Praise and thanksgiving can change the atmosphere of a place. That means that we can change the dynamic in our homes, schools, and workplaces by releasing our praise to God.  

There are problems in all these places because there are people in all these places. Sometimes we complain about what is going on to anyone who will listen. Other times we are wiser, and we pray about those problems. We ask God to change people and to solve conflicts. The first response is useless, the second is an improvement, but maybe the third is a door to allowing the Holy Spirit greater access into the situation. It's also a way to center us and remind us who is actually in control, instead of feeling that we are fighting battles of stress, conflict, and negativity alone.

God is worthy to be praised, regardless of our circumstances, so no matter the outcome, let's begin to do this regularly. Praise God in those physical spaces you encounter. Prepare the atmosphere and see what happens!

Full Price

Saturday at 5:00 a.m., my alarm jolted me into consciousness.  It was our yard sale day.  We had sorted through our belongings for months as had our son and his wife, and now it was time to let it all go.  For us, it was less about making money and more about simplifying our lives and making more room in this house that we are now sharing.

So, while it was still dark and the grass was covered in dew, my son and I made multiple trips from the basement to the front yard, carrying tables, boxes, furniture, and bags.  We woke up the other adult members of the family after the sun came up to help organize our wares and make sure we hadn't forgotten to price anything.

Since my husband and I have moved numerous times in our lives, we've had a few sales like this, and they all play out the same way.  We price things, and then all the shoppers proceed to offer much less than the number on the tag, even if we felt it was a low price in the first place.  Item after item disappears into strangers' cars for a fraction of what we originally spent.  

You could buy a brand new item from a local store and put it immediately into your yard sale with the receipt attached, but nobody would pay the price for it that you spent just an hour before. The mere fact that someone owned it first devalues it in the eyes of the buyer. It's like they always say that when you buy a new car, it depreciates the moment you drive off the dealer's parking lot.

As I counted the money that evening to be divided between the two couples, I thought about the devaluing of those pre-owned items, and then my mind skipped to the price that was paid for us.  Father God sent His precious only son, Jesus, to pay a cost for the world that cannot be fully comprehended by any of us. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Acts 20:28 says, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

Before we belonged to Jesus, we were slaves to sin, so sin was our owner.  I wanted to sell the items in my sale, but I'm sure the enemy didn't want to give up his claim on any of us. However, rather than offering a cut-rate price to redeem us from Satan's clutches, Jesus paid full price.  He found us so valuable that He gave up His own life to purchase ours. In His eyes, the fact that we were "pre-owned" didn't diminish our value at all.  So when you are having difficult days, when you find it hard to like yourself, when you are struggling because you think that you don't measure up - remember that God doesn't see you as second-hand yard sale junk, but as His invaluable purchase, His child, His precious one.