Where are the nine?

Last night, I had an amazing thing happen to me. I had a friend of mine give me the secret to being happy. I had never thought about it before, but when I thought about it, it made total sense. Is it possible to praise God in all situations??? I put three question marks next to that one, because it is one of the harder questions to answer, with so much pain in the world. Yet there is a truth that I never thought about before, and that is the "Power of Praise!" I have not really done that in-depth of a Bible study on this, but to me it seems that praise is where it's at. We must praise Jesus for the victory that He "IS" going to win in our lives, not for the one He "might" win. The victory has already been won in our behalf thanks to Jesus Christ, but do we believe in HIS victory? It is just as important to believe in His VICTORY as it was for those who asked for His healing to believe in Him. It is not by OUR might or by OUR power, but through Christ's. Let's not have the attitude that we are working toward perfection, because in Christ, we already are perfect. Let's thank Jesus for the VICTORY He has already won in our lives, and continue to do so each and every day. Praise Jesus for the VICTORY that HE has won. I am His child, and will be His child forever, no thanks to me, but thanks to Jesus. Jesus is the only way to be saved. You MUST BELIEVE in Him to have salvation, and you MUST follow Him. In order to do that, praise Jesus every second of every day. Let the mind be lost in Him. Who cares about all these games and junk! It's all garbage, and it is going to burn up! What matters more than anything is Praising Jesus. In order to truly praise Him, we need to thank Him personally. In order to thank Him you have to have something to thank Him for. Why not ask Him to save you, and then keep on asking Him, not because He isn't powerful enough to save you, but because we are free beings, and must be sure in our own minds, but He is sure that He will save you, if you want to be. To illustrate this point I want to look at a story in Scripture. You can find it in your Bibles in Luke 17, I will post it here so that you and I can read it :) Luk 17:11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
Luk 17:12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
Luk 17:13 and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Luk 17:14 When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
Luk 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
Luk 17:16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Luk 17:17 Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
Luk 17:18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
Luk 17:19 And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

Isn't that amazing... there were ten cleansed, and only one came back and thanked the Lord. I have to be honest I have been like those other nine lepers lately. What about you? Are you one of the nine, or are you praising Jesus because He healed you. Then again you might be like one of the disciples that are standing there wondering what is going on, not realizing that the ONE who is standing with you just happens to be the King of the Universe. Jesus has given the cure to most of our mental ailments and depressions, and that cure is praise. When we praise Jesus He lifts the clouds of darkness. Another question that may be posed is: How do we praise Jesus? We can do it through song, and we can do it through our words, and we can just audibly thank Him. I know sometimes I will be driving home, and I will audibly just thank Jesus outloud for what He has done, and it is amazing what happens in those moments. Also if you can't sing that well, try playing praise music in your home. In the fearful moments, praise is wonderful too! Let's praise Jesus because He is in charge. Maybe you might praise Him by reading His Word, not to fix your life, because Jesus will do that, but because you want to be with Jesus. Also, the Sabbath is coming up, let's praise Him this Sabbath as well:) Let's praise Him when we don't feel it, let's praise Him when we do, let's praise Him, 24 hours a day. Let's never stop Praising Him. Let's praise Him so much, that we start dreaming praise to Jesus. Let's never ever stop praising Him, as long as there is breath in us! If you are looking for things to praise Jesus for, I suggest looking at what you have. Everybody has at least something, and everyone can thank Jesus for His blood for us. Better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere. Why is this so? Because of Praise. :)

Psa 22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
Psa 22:24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.