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Apr 19 2021

04/18/21- Beauty for Ashes, Part 3: Praise for Despair- Pastor Adrian Mills

https://www.cotnaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/210418.mp3

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 30:56 | Recorded on April 18, 2021

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | TuneIn

http://bible.com/events/48680972

Beauty for Ashes, Part 3: Praise for Despair

Isaiah 61:1-3

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

 

 
 
“a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”
 
“spirit of despair”

-That Hebrew term for spirit is “rûaḥ” and gives the sense of something having descended on us in torment.

-As opposed to mourning, which is event-driven, the “spirit of despair” tends to “move in” and stay with a person in the form of fear, anxiety, chronic sadness.

 

 

“garment of praise”

-The Hebrew word here is like something wrapped around us. God Himself puts it on us to wear throughout our day.

-Our God wants to give you praise even in your despair.

 

 

 

Praise is God’s antidote for despair.

 

Psalms 40:1-3NIV

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth ,a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

Psalms 103:1-5NIV

1 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalms 42:11NIV

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalms 119:164NIV

164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.

When we praise God, there is renewal happening:

-renewal of our focus: praise takes the focus off of us, and puts it back on the Lord.
-renewal of our mind: the voice of despair is hopeless and overwhelming, but when we praise we are actually allowing our thoughts to be reformatted.

-renewal of our time: what if praise was so important that we plan our day around it?

 

 

 

Shannon’s Story

Experience a real life story of God’s renewal in Shannon’s life, even in the midst of despair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Qbxyw7CNQ

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